Northern Ireland Protocol: UK Approach

William Wragg Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

We will have market surveillance, and if people try to break the law, they will face the consequences.

[Mr William Wragg (Hazel Grove) (Con) [V]]

The way the UK and the EU seek to address “Ireland’s unique geographic situation” in the negotiations could have constitutional and practical implications for Northern Ireland’s status within the UK. Could my right hon. Friend reassure me that he can square that circle, or is it, on the current trajectory of the talks, an impossible objective?

[Michael Gove]

That circle can be squared using an exercise of what I believe in the EU is known as variable geometry. The truth of course is that Northern Ireland’s position within the UK is constitutionally secure and unchanged.