Northern Ireland Finances

Stephen Pound Excerpts

Monday 12th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

I am being corrected by the Opposition Front Bencher.

[Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (Lab)]

It doesn’t happen very often.

[Karen Bradley]

It always happens.

The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that these decisions do need to be taken. We do want to see devolved government. We want decisions and scrutiny to be undertaken in Stormont. That is the right place for those things to happen. I am not going to put a timeframe on it because we need to find something that has consent. As he will know, under the Belfast agreement, for constitutional changes in Northern Ireland, we would need the consent of all communities. Therefore, I do need to work through all the suggestions that have been put to me, but I would welcome suggestions from him, given his extensive experience of doing the job.