Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: Border Arrangements Debate
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Laurence Robertson
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Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: Border Arrangements
Laurence Robertson Excerpts(6 years, 9 months ago)
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Mr Lidington
I always welcome parliamentary consensus where it can be built, but if the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) looks at the Prime Minister’s record of being here, giving statements after her main European meetings and answering questions at length, he should agree that it is a pretty good one.
Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the European Union continues to put the cart before the horse on this aspect? Surely we cannot know with any degree of certainty what arrangements will be needed on the Irish border, if any at all, until we know what kind of trade agreement we are going to strike.
Mr Lidington
My hon. Friend makes an important point. That is precisely why not just the Prime Minister but the Taoiseach believe that by far the best option is to settle the issue of the border in the context of the overall economic partnership between ourselves and the European Union.