I welcome today's motion and the opportunity to discuss the crucial issue of trade between Britain and Northern Ireland. I particularly welcome the opportunity to recognise the critical role of road hauliers, who play a vital role in our trade ecosystem and have faced multiple challenges since 2016.

It will be said many times in the debate that Britain is the key trading partner for Northern Ireland and rightly so, because, of course, it is. It is in all our interests to ensure that the trading relationships between our two islands remain strong and that we work together across the Chamber to break down barriers to trade on this island, North and South, and with our neighbours across the water. Trade sits at the core of our economic prosperity and of the opportunities in our communities.

Since 2018, trade from Northern Ireland to Britain has risen from £10·6 billion to £12·8 billion, although it has not yet fully recovered to its peak of £14·2 billion in 2016. We said many times that it was always going to be impossible to ensure a completely frictionless Brexit, given the magnitude of that ill-fated decision. Its impact has played out in our communities through the loss of funding, which we discussed on the Floor of the House last week; through our diplomatic relationships, which are only beginning to recover; and through the immediate economic shock and the longer-term hit to our prosperity.

In that context, those who are at the nucleus of our trading relationships, including road hauliers, have been forced to contend with new barriers in an unpredictable and changing landscape. Those workers help to literally keep our economy on the road by bringing opportunities and growth to people around these islands. I take the opportunity to recognise their concerns, as well as the work of the Road Haulage Association in dealing with those concerns. I recognise those who have taken practical and pragmatic approaches and sorted out help for their members in navigating the new arrangements, particularly relating to the Trader Support Service.

We also want to support road hauliers by ensuring that there are no barriers to trade across the island. The all-island economy is crucial in supporting the RHA, because the right policy development can align standards between the North and South where possible to support those movements and navigate relationships on these islands, especially during the next phase of implementation of the deal at the end of September.

We always said that pragmatic politics and sensible solutions would be the way to deal with any barriers to trade, not pulling this place down or stopping Stormont operating. We said that that would not help trade, and we can see that it has not. That approach will be complemented, hopefully, by a new approach from the Government in London who have started to build back relationships with our European neighbours and colleagues. Momentum is building around that approach, and, in fact, it is the only approach to take when dealing with partners across the continent. We need good, close working relationships with all our neighbours. It is in marked contrast to the approach of the previous Government and those who sought to tear up those relationships for the sake of appeasing the most extreme on their flanks. We need the new Government to continue on the path of engagement and dialogue in Europe and to build momentum at pace. That momentum will drive us on a path to trade that is as frictionless as possible. It will also help to ramp up the opportunities that we now have as part of the new set of relationships.

It is always misguided to discuss the real challenges in trade without recognising the unique opportunity that we have now for largely unfettered trade between our islands and with Europe. The goodwill generated by any reset of European relationships must go hand in hand with an acceleration of work in the Department to put in place a dedicated strategy to maximise opportunity, particularly for places like the north-west, which has so much untapped potential.

Colleagues, dealing with those issues requires serious work by the Assembly. It is yet more evidence for why we should be in the Assembly. I hope that we can go forward in that spirit together.