Currently, the Northern Ireland protocol is failing to deliver what it was designed to do and this is putting the Good Friday Agreement under strain and peace in Northern Ireland at risk.
The Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to Northern Ireland, is a sacrosanct treaty that we must uphold. I support this Government in upholding the Agreement and our first preference to do this is by renegotiating the Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU. However, the EU has not been engaging, despite acknowledging that the Protocol is not working.
By bringing in this Bill, the Government are strengthening their negotiating position with the EU. I will not undermine that position. Everyone will remember the previous Parliament undermining the Government's negotiating position which frustrated our ability to deliver Brexit.
The Bill contains solutions to the four principal issues with the protocol — burdensome customs processes, inflexible regulation, tax and spend discrepancies and democratic governance issues — but I actually hope that in the end we will not need to pass it. I hope the Bill unlocks the negotiations with the EU, thereby leading to a result that is mutually satisfactory for not only the Government and the EU but, most importantly, for the people of Northern Ireland.
I will put the text of my speech in the comments - or you can read it in the context of the whole debate here.
