Northern Ireland Protocol

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Amy Callaghan

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

Our proposals, which deal with customs bureaucracy and tax inequality, are ultimately the solution we need to deliver. If the EU has a new mandate and is prepared to look at those things, I am very clear that there is a landing zone with the EU. In the absence of that new mandate, we have to act, because this is about protecting the Belfast/Good Friday agreement and the balance between the communities in Northern Ireland. Ultimately, it is about protecting the entire United Kingdom.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

The Prime Minister told this House in 2019 that the protocol that he negotiated was a

“great success for Northern Ireland…fully compatible with the Good Friday agreement.”—[Official Report, 19 October 2019; Vol. 666, c. 581.]

So to be clear, why are the Government now abandoning their oven-ready Brexit deal?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The protocol was agreed in good faith by the Prime Minister, but it has had unintended consequences. It is the duty of the Government to restore the balance in the Belfast/Good Friday agreement.