Nigel Mills
Main Page: Nigel Mills (Conservative - Amber Valley)Department Debates - View all Nigel Mills's debates with the Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland
Nigel Mills Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Brandon Lewis
I am very happy to do that. In fact, we organised a meeting just recently for Executive Ministers and Ministers and officials from Government, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to talk through the schemes—not just the shared prosperity fund but the community renewal fund and others—because there are substantial extra funds available this year for Northern Ireland as we move towards the shared prosperity fund. As I set out earlier, part of the £400 million of new deal money will be focused on work around social fabric and potentially integrated education, and I am really keen to engage to make sure that that money is put into areas where it has the most beneficial impact and is positive for people on the ground in Northern Ireland.
Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con) [V]
Does the Secretary of State agree that the democratic institutions in Northern Ireland have a key role to play in ending this violence? Will he therefore urge all the parties not to take the step of suspending the institutions, as we have seen in recent years, and to keep talking to find a solution to take Northern Ireland forward?
Brandon Lewis
The short answer is yes, but I want to stress that the main political parties that form the Executive in Northern Ireland are all in the place that my hon. Friend outlined—working together. That is why it was really good to see them come together last week with a joint statement on this. There are five different political parties in a power-sharing arrangement in a devolved authority. Obviously, they will disagree on things from time to time. What they absolutely agree on is their right to disagree and to do so in a democratic and peaceful way, which they have worked together on very well since the re-formation after the New Decade, New Approach agreement last year, and I hope they will continue to do that. From my engagement with them all at the moment, I am confident that they will, and it is the right thing to do—it is certainly what the people of Northern Ireland want to see.