Oral Answers to Questions

Conor Burns Excerpts

Wednesday 27th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

13. What steps the Government are taking to attract investment into Northern Ireland.

[The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Conor Burns)]

The Prime Minister has been very clear that our levelling-up ambitions are not about points on a compass but about people and communities throughout the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland. We are delivering for Northern Ireland through our plan for jobs, our £600 million city and growth deal programme, and through the new deal for Northern Ireland, which will fund the promotion of Northern Ireland trade and investment globally.

[James Daly]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is vital that, for all the Government’s support for enterprise, innovation and new investment in Northern Ireland, they must not be frustrated and deterred by a second, unnecessary layer of bureaucracy?

[Conor Burns]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. It is absolutely the legitimate interest of the United Kingdom Government to deliver prosperity and opportunity for every part of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, and we will work in partnership with others, including the Northern Ireland Executive, to do just that.

[Marco Longhi]

I welcome the Minister back to the Dispatch Box. Does he agree that the £400 million that we are committing to implement the Northern Ireland new deal will not only boost economic growth and competitiveness but, taken with other recent investment, represents the largest boost from a UK Government in decades?

[Conor Burns]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. On top of the £400 new deal funding there is a swathe of other funding totalling just over £1 billion to small businesses and communities, delivering trader support new technology and the PEACE PLUS programme. This is the largest investment by any Government in Northern Ireland in decades, and it is warmly welcomed by businesses and communities in Northern Ireland.

[Rob Roberts]

The Liverpool city region and Northern Ireland broadly share the same population of just over 1.5 million. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that, just as Liverpool can benefit from all the economic benefits of a freeport zone, there is no reason why we cannot extend that across the whole of Northern Ireland—and, indeed, across the whole of north Wales—so that we are not just limited to 45 km, and the whole of the UK can benefit from this excellent economic plan?

[Conor Burns]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that freeports are a vital tool in the armoury to boost prosperity, trade and investment, and to attract global investment. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I are working closely with the Executive and others to find the right freeport model that will deliver for Northern Ireland.

[Stephen Farry (North Down) (Alliance)]

The primary responsibility for job creation in Northern Ireland lies with the Executive, not the UK Government, so how can the Government justify their approach to the shared prosperity fund, which takes away the spending power that the Executive previously had in relation to EU structural funds, and centralises that, stopping the Executive doing any joined-up investment in skills and job creation?

[Conor Burns]

The primary responsibility for job creation is private sector business. It is entrepreneurs; it is people who create products and sell them to customers. What we are doing is making sure that businesses in Northern Ireland, as across the rest of the United Kingdom, have the tools to create the jobs and to create wealth and prosperity across the whole of Northern Ireland.

[Ian Paisley (North Antrim) (DUP)]

The Minister will know that sport is an economic driver. He will also know of the bid for the world rally championship to take place in Northern Ireland next year. What encouragement can the Minister and the Northern Ireland Office give to ensure that that is a successful, proactive event that will lead to spin-offs and job creation?

[Conor Burns]

The hon. Gentleman is a huge champion of that project. We are well aware of the proposals that are being worked up, and I understand that the Executive and Tourism Northern Ireland are looking at them. If they come forward with proposals that work they will find a willing partner in the Northern Ireland Office. I will not commit to how many wheels or what part of the vehicles we will pay for, but we will step up to help to make this project a reality.

[Steven Bonnar (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) (SNP)]

The director of a Northern Irish retail consortium has said that Northern Ireland has a unique opportunity to become a hub of investment, because it remains within the EU single market. To have access to the EU single market is a boon for Northern Ireland, and UK Ministers who have previously defended the protocol have stated that it is a boon. Why do the UK Government deny such a best-of-both-worlds situation for Scotland, where the people also voted to remain?

[Conor Burns]

The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State, Lord Frost and others have made it clear that we need to refine how systems are working in Northern Ireland. It is not working as we want it to work. It is impeding businesses, and it is disrupting communities and trade. That is why the Government at all levels are busily engaged in finding a solution that works for Northern Ireland. I am not sure that I am going to take any lectures from the Scottish National party about holding our United Kingdom together.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee, Simon Hoare.

[Conor Burns]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend the Chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and that is why the Secretary of State and I were both at this Dispatch Box yesterday for Report and Third Reading of the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill, a vital tool agreed under New Decade, New Approach to provide enhanced stability to the institutions in Northern Ireland, but ultimately it is for the parties in Northern Ireland to work together to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland.

[Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

7. What assessment he has made of the availability of agricultural labour in Northern Ireland and its impact on the profitability and viability of that sector.

[The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Conor Burns)]

We are moving to a high-wage, high-skilled economy and the Government are encouraging all sectors to rely increasingly on workers from the United Kingdom, but we have listened to the concerns of the sector and 5,500 poultry workers are now eligible to enter the UK for work, on top of the 800 butchers who were already eligible to enter the UK for six months under the skilled worker route.

[Mr Perkins]

It is all very well saying they are eligible to come in, but the industry is telling us that its ability to deliver the food needed, particularly for Christmas, is deeply jeopardised by the Government’s failure on both migration and skills to ensure the workers we need in our food processing industry are here. How can a Government who so passionately advocate for Brexit be so ill-prepared to deliver it?

[Conor Burns]

When people voted to leave the European Union, they wanted us to level up the United Kingdom and increase wages for the workforce—including, by the way, the 60% of the hon. Gentleman’s Chesterfield constituents who voted to leave the EU. We are taking the opportunities of that and I wish he would join me in promoting Northern Ireland’s vibrant agri and food sector, including companies such as Kennedy Bacon and Ballylisk Dairies, which I have visited in the last couple of weeks and are excited by the opportunities.

[Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con)]

For many years, agriculture in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK has been very dependent on overseas workers, even before the high levels of EU migration of recent years, so will the Minister do everything he can to make sure agriculture in Northern Ireland can still access the overseas and seasonal workers who are so crucial to making sure our food supply is resilient?

[Conor Burns]

My right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State speaks with great authority on these matters. There has been extensive engagement with the sector. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I had engagements around the Balmoral Show recently. We have both visited businesses in this sector and are listening carefully to their concerns.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

8. What recent assessment he has made of the stability of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

--- Later in debate ---

[Colum Eastwood (Foyle) (SDLP)]

9. What progress the Government are making on implementing the commitments set out in the New Decade, New Approach agreement.

[The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Conor Burns)]

The Government are making good progress across their commitments under New Decade, New Approach. As the hon. Gentleman will know, only yesterday, the Secretary of State and I were delivering on the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill from the Dispatch Box while he was enjoying his love-in with the hon. Member for North Antrim (Ian Paisley).

[Colum Eastwood]

I am glad to welcome the Minister to the Dispatch Box. One of the commitments that he did not mention was this Government’s commitment to bring in a package of legislation around language and culture. When are they going to do it?

[Conor Burns]

The commitment of the Government to bring forward that package remains undimmed. I would not want to deny the hon. Gentleman his anticipation and excitement by revealing exactly when, but he will not have long to wait.

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

On another important commitment, on abortion, we are clear that the cycle of inaction must end and we welcome the Secretary of State’s determination on this, but it is a serious matter that the legal obligations are still being ignored. Will the Minister confirm the report today in The Guardian that he intends to instruct trusts to commission services? Will that require primary legislation? When will he act?

[Conor Burns]

As the hon. Lady will know, the Secretary of State is leading on this, and I am sure he would be delighted to talk to her.

[Mr Speaker]

I would like to point out that the British Sign Language interpretation of proceedings for both Prime Minister’s questions and the Budget statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be available to watch on parliament.tv—[Interruption.] I think it is important that people listen to this, so I will say again that the British Sign Language interpretation for Prime Minister’s questions and the Budget statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be available to watch on parliamentlive.tv.