Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to paragraph 52 of the Joint Report of the Negotiators of the European Union and the United Kingdom Government, published on 8 December 2017, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of a Withdrawal Agreement respecting the rights, opportunities, and identity of one part of the UK population with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.

Paragraph 52 of the Joint Report recognises the identity and citizenship rights of the people of Northern Ireland under the Belfast Agreement and the associated British-Irish Agreement (the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland, done at Belfast on 10 April 1998), which gives effect to those rights under international law. Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 does not extend to Northern Ireland and nor does it impact the rights that Ireland affords its citizens. There is a similar public sector duty in section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.