European Council

Mark Harper Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman is right: obviously there is a set of circumstances, but the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has looked at this issue and it is not right to have a border poll at this stage. What we should all be focusing on is bringing the parties together to ensure that we can continue to see the devolved Administration in Northern Ireland working, as they have done, in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland. We want to see that devolved Administration being formed, and that is what all the parties should be looking for at the moment.

[Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean) (Con)]

Is it not clear from the European negotiations that a lot of the detail will not be finalised until the end of the process, and therefore that the timetable set out yesterday by the First Minister for a premature second independence referendum is an excuse, not a reason? Should we not listen to the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), who referred to the last independence referendum as a “once in a generation opportunity”?

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend rightly points out that we have a timetable of up to two years for the negotiations, and it is possible that the details will not be finalised until close to the end of that period. He is also entirely right to suggest that those in Scotland who talk about having a second referendum should remember what the right hon. Member for Gordon said: it was a once in a generation vote that took place in September 2014. It seems that a generation is now less than three years.