Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:00 pm on 27 June 2022.

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Photo of Iain Duncan Smith Iain Duncan Smith Conservative, Chingford and Woodford Green 5:00, 27 June 2022

If I heard him aright, the right hon. Gentleman indicated earlier that the Government should have used article 16. He said, “They have not yet used article 16”, indicating that they should use it before going down this road. It was, however, Louise Haigh, who I think is the shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, who said that triggering article 16 would “prolong and deepen” uncertainty in Northern Ireland and pose another huge risk to stability there. Does this now mean that the Government should have triggered article 16, or that they should not—or maybe that there is a disagreement, or maybe that it will not be decided until after the passage of the Bill?