Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Morgan Excerpts

Wednesday 17th January 2024 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Stephen Morgan (Portsmouth South) (Lab)]

1. What recent discussions he has had with party leaders on the restoration of power sharing in Northern Ireland.

[Stephen Farry (North Down) (Alliance)]

5. What recent progress he has made on the restoration of political institutions in Northern Ireland.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Chris Heaton-Harris)]

It will not have escaped your notice, Mr Speaker, that four years ago, on 11 January, the Northern Ireland Assembly reformed. The First Minister effectively collapsed the institutions and power sharing by resigning on 3 February 2022.

Behind these questions is a desire for the return of power sharing and the Northern Ireland Executive—a desire that I very much share, hence my most recent discussions with the leaders of most of the political parties that took place in Hillsborough on Monday, when we discussed the very many matters relating to this goal.

[Stephen Morgan]

Negotiations with the Democratic Unionist party have been ongoing for quite some time, and they have not yet resulted in the restoration of the Executive. What does the Secretary of State think the DUP is looking for?

[Chris Heaton-Harris]

I cannot answer for the DUP, and would never seek to do so, but behind all this is the concern that it had about the Northern Ireland protocol as we left the European Union and how, as a consequence, goods were gradually being removed from Northern Ireland’s supermarket shelves—a visible sign that Northern Ireland was being pulled away from the United Kingdom’s sphere of influence and into the European sphere. I believe the Windsor framework set that straight.