Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland Sub-Committee.
Kate Nicholl: ...with all the increases in the household bills, and their benefit entitlements do not match the rise in the cost of living. The lack of certainty about what is ahead hurts families like that in Northern Ireland. Action for Children's crisis support service can only help so far. More food banks are not the solution, and one-off payments are not the solution. What they need is an Assembly....
Lord Benyon: We recognise the importance of ensuring that everyone in Northern Ireland is able to observe their chosen faith fully, and without hindrance. This includes those of Orthodox Jewish faith, who rely on free access to kosher meats and groceries. We have previously been made aware that a supplier decided to stop supplying kosher foods to Northern Ireland. They explained that this was owing to...
Lucy Frazer: The Government is currently considering options for the future of the Trader Support Service and will ensure customers continue to receive support in meeting customs requirements under the Northern Ireland Protocol. Traders and businesses will receive further updates in due course.
Baroness Smith of Basildon: .... Noble Lords will know that one issue we feel very strongly about is that nations should hold to agreements that have been made, which is why there were some murmurs earlier today when the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill had its First Reading. Abiding by agreements is essential but we have to treat with caution any agreement with President Putin. We need an absolute commitment to pursue...
Northern Ireland Protocol Bill - First Reading
David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill on the UK’s international reputation; and what discussions she has with Cabinet colleagues on the compatibility of that Bill with the UK's international legal obligations.
Graham Stuart: Both the Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland engage with businesses regularly, as did their predecessors. The Foreign Secretary recently chaired a roundtable with key business representatives who reiterated a wide range of issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol and officials in departments across Government are in regular contact with business representatives.
Carla Lockhart: ...to wreck this Bill have been defeated, safe in knowledge that they were more about grandstanding than actually helping the businesses and constituents who, day in, day out, are affected by the protocol. The Bill, as it is, certainly does have the potential to restore devolution in Northern Ireland and preserve the constitutional balance. Although the SDLP Members have consistently called...
Baroness Williams of Trafford: ...achieving alignment with the definitions currently used operationally and set out in the existing statutory guidance for England and Wales and the equivalent non-statutory guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland. I was most grateful to be able to speak to the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, earlier. One thing that noble Lords quite often do, particularly during the passage of legislation, is...
Baroness Williams of Trafford: ...in alignment with the definitions of a victim contained in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, otherwise known as ECAT, and the United Nations Palermo Protocol. It is intended that signatory states interpret and apply ECAT’s rights and obligations. I can be clear that our definitions are compliant with ECAT’s definitions of slavery and human...
Stephen Farry: ...and they have to be sustainable and legal solutions. I very much supported New Decade, New Approach; I did not support the UK Internal Market Act, because that diverged from that. Of course I want Northern Ireland to have full access to Great Britain and Great Britain to have access to Northern Ireland, and to reduce the impediments as far as possible. We have discussed at length on many...
Michael Ellis: ...hon. Members, who have all spoken passionately. I will try very briefly to address some of their points. The hon. Member for North Down (Stephen Farry) asked about the impact of CJEU provision on Northern Ireland access to the EU single market. When he raised the point, I reiterated the importance of cross-community consent; I should also reassure him and the Committee that we want and...
Northern Ireland Protocol Bill (Programme) (No. 2)
Northern Ireland Protocol Bill
Further considered in Committee [Relevant document: Oral evidence taken before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on 29 June 2022, on Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol, HC 285.] [Dame Eleanor Laing in the Chair]
Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland Sub-Committee.
Boris Johnson: I completely disagree with that. The whole objective of the Northern Ireland (Protocol) Bill that we have passed is to support the balance and symmetry of the Belfast/Good Friday arrangements. I was very pleased that the Bill advanced to the House of Lords with no amendments.
Kwasi Kwarteng: .... Under the extension, the following changes will come into force:The maximum amount of external finance available will be £2 million per business in Great Britain; for businesses in scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the maximum amount will be £1 million per business.The requirement for businesses to certify that they have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic will no longer...