Contributions
574 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsMy hon. Friend eloquently makes a point. We have said that we will not put a border in place, the Irish do not want to put a border in place, and the EU do not want to put one in…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsI thank my hon. Friend for that, and he makes a very good point. The British public do want us to get on with this, and the best way we can get a deal is continuing serious…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsNorthern Ireland is key to the Government and the Prime Minister. In fact, it is the principal discussion point with the Commission. The Prime Minister has said that we want to…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsI agree with the hon. Gentleman: the Good Friday/ Belfast agreement is essential. Where we differ is on where we feel conflicts may be brought about on that agreement. He feels…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsThe Government are actively getting on with it, and that is what the negotiations are about. I would gently say that revealing the detail of our negotiating position—the technical…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsTo be clear, we have given technical non-papers. We will give the proposal to the Commission shortly.01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsI thank my hon. Friend and his constituents who overwhelmingly supported Brexit. I can confirm that plan A is to get a deal, and that is what we are working towards and why there…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs Arrangementsindicated assent .01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsI thank the hon. Gentleman for his question because it gives me the opportunity to say how things have changed. There was a time when Michel Barnier was saying, “No more…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsSpecifically on alternative arrangements, there is an architecture that supports these discussions. There is a technical-level group, which is chaired by the Secretary of State,…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsThe hon. Gentleman says he does not believe it. I chaired the group last time, along with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. There is…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsI am unclear what the hon. Lady means by “what we learned overnight”. If she means the press report on RTÉ in Ireland, I can tell her that it simply is not true. I can…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsWe are trying to get Stormont back up and working.01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsThere are different people in this Chamber: some have a legitimate desire for Brexit not to happen; equally, some Members have genuine concerns and recognise the legitimate…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsI thank the hon. Gentleman for all the work that he is doing. There are themes in which I have seen him very much engaged. I am not sure that I have seen the specific paper that…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsThe point of the business consultative group that met in Belfast a few weeks ago was to share ideas in confidence so that the UK Government could develop their position and feed…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsWe need to find a solution to the border issue, and the original withdrawal agreement gives us extra time beyond exit date to do so. We are trying to bring forward those issues,…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsI am tempted to give a simple answer to a straight question, but, because it relies on detail, I will write to the right hon. Gentleman and confirm what I think is the bleeding…01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsBoth.01 Oct 2019HANSARD Irish Border: Customs ArrangementsThe answer to the second part of my right hon. Friend’s question is that there are established systems that can also be used. The issue of Northern Ireland is incredibly…01 Oct 2019