Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What assessment she has made of the potential merits of Northern Ireland remaining in the Customs Union.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The UK as a whole will be leaving the Customs Union.
This Government is committed to delivering a Brexit that upholds the Belfast Agreement and the commitments that we have made to the people of Northern Ireland to avoid a hard border with Ireland and any border down the Irish Sea.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with political parties in Northern Ireland on equal marriage for same-sex couples.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Both mine and the Secretary of State’s position on this issue is clear and well known: me and the Secretary of State voted in support of equal marriage in England and Wales and like the Prime Minister hope this can be extended to Northern Ireland in the future. Me and the Secretary of State believe marriage should be a fundamental and common right across the UK.
However, the fundamental position remains that equal marriage is an entirely devolved issue in Northern Ireland and one that the UK Government would like a restored Assembly to resolve.