Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland's place in the Union.

The Windsor Framework protects and strengthens Northern Ireland’s place in our Union and this will be reinforced by the changes we are making to domestic legislation.

As well as ensuring goods available on the shelves in Great Britain are able to move freely to Northern Ireland, the agreement safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market through agreements on medicines, VAT and State aid.

The agreement ensures that Northern Ireland will benefit from the same VAT and alcohol taxes as apply in the rest of the United Kingdom.

With the agreement, we have restored sovereignty by putting the people of Northern Ireland in charge and eliminating the democratic deficit.

Northern Ireland’s businesses have access not only to the UK market, but also to the European single market and the agreement provides Northern Ireland with excellent opportunities for economic growth. In so doing it supports the prosperity of both Northern Ireland and the whole of the UK.

As Tony Blair recently noted, political stability is the best way to protect the union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and by fixing the problems with the Protocol and restoring the delicate balance inherent in the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, we have provided a sound basis for Northern Ireland to move forward economically and politically as an integral and prosperous part of the United Kingdom.