Irish Border: Customs Arrangements

I am grateful to the Minister for his reply, but we are not much the wiser. Today, there are no b...

There were eight or nine questions there, and I will try to cover them all, but if I do not, perh...

In his discussions with businesses, is the Minister finding the same as I am, which is that the r...

I thank my hon. Friend for that, and he makes a very good point. The British public do want us to...

Let us return to the question of the Irish border, because it matters. The Good Friday agreement ...

I agree with the hon. Gentleman: the Good Friday/ Belfast agreement is essential. Where we differ...

The country is facing no deal precisely because the Government have not published a Brexit plan, ...

The Government are actively getting on with it, and that is what the negotiations are about. I wo...

You’ve given it to them!

To be clear, we have given technical non-papers. We will give the proposal to the Commission shor...

The future of peace and normality on the island of Ireland will critically depend on the actions ...

Northern Ireland is key to the Government and the Prime Minister. In fact, it is the principal di...

Will the Minister confirm that it is the Government’s position that they want to leave with a dea...

I thank my hon. Friend and his constituents who overwhelmingly supported Brexit. I can confirm th...

As a Member who lives in the non-customs zone that has not been discussed, and given that we will...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question because it gives me the opportunity to say how things...

Many people speak on behalf of the communities affected in Northern Ireland, but what have the Go...

Specifically on alternative arrangements, there is an architecture that supports these discussion...

You don’t believe that.

The hon. Gentleman says he does not believe it. I chaired the group last time, along with the Sec...

Section 10(2)(b) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, on the Irish border, says there can...

I am unclear what the hon. Lady means by “what we learned overnight”. If she means the press repo...

Does the Minister agree that this whole Northern Ireland-Republic border issue is confected nonse...

There are different people in this Chamber: some have a legitimate desire for Brexit not to happe...

On the “Today” programme this morning, the Prime Minister said that he would like to “veil” the G...

The point of the business consultative group that met in Belfast a few weeks ago was to share ide...

Given that we cannot know what is needed to make the Irish border work until we have sketched the...

We need to find a solution to the border issue, and the original withdrawal agreement gives us ex...

I want to take the Minister back to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey ...

I am tempted to give a simple answer to a straight question, but, because it relies on detail, I ...

The British Government are not going to build a hard border in Northern Ireland, the Irish Govern...

My hon. Friend eloquently makes a point. We have said that we will not put a border in place, the...

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland told BBC Radio Ulster this morning:

“I’m clear ...

Both.

Will my hon. Friend, with his customary good grace, take this opportunity at the Dispatch Box to ...

The answer to the second part of my right hon. Friend’s question is that there are established sy...

A significant proportion of the exports of the Northern Ireland food industry, particularly ready...

We are prioritising free flow across the border rather than customs revenue in the case of no dea...

As the Minister will know, in a deal or a no-deal Brexit, the use of the transit convention will ...

I thank my hon. Friend for all his work on the short straits. I understand that the Chancellor of...

Does the Minister accept that any new infrastructure or surveillance at or near the border carrie...

As I have said, I went to the border. It does not take long to feel the pain, the fear and the un...

During my time in the Cabinet Office, some colleagues and I produced a paper based on customs col...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for all the work that he is doing. There are themes in which I have se...

Ministers regularly refer to their commitment to the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. Even the Prim...

Obviously I recognise the importance of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. As for the specific te...

Given that 95% of cross-border trade on the island of Ireland is engaged in by trusted traders wh...

It is a complex situation, but one to which we think we can find an answer. A category of “truste...

Let us try again. Can the Minister simply confirm that any new physical checks or infrastructure,...

I think I have already answered that question in part. I have agreed to write in response to the ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that at this stage of the negotiations, it is not unreasonable to be ab...

I recognise that as a potential way forward. I think it would limit the Government’s negotiating ...

The House is being asked to take it on trust that the Government have credible proposals for alte...

That is certainly our intention. While on my feet, may I take the opportunity to say that I think...

Anyone with any business experience knows that complex and sensitive negotiations are not best co...

I know it to be true because, before my hon. Friend came to this House, I had to negotiate the co...

I think that the Minister is seeking to assure us that there will not be any customs posts, check...

indicated assent.

But the Prime Minister has said this morning that Irish customs checks will be the reality after ...

The right hon. Gentleman is right in his first statement. I am entirely trying to reassure the Ho...

Is it not the case that whatever is put forward as the solution to the Irish border will not be s...

I thank my hon. Friend for that supportive comment. We are resolved. We will press on. We will tr...

Governments are notorious for getting IT projects wrong in terms of both cost and time for implem...

As tempting as it is, I have been clear that I will not get into the detail of those proposals or...

May I remind everybody that this Government are creating a new customs border because they want t...

That is clearly a very important issue. It is one of the issues that I looked at when I was on th...

Has the Minister read the non-papers? If he has not, how can he say what is or is not in the non-...

First, I have not said what is or is not in the non-papers. As a Minister, I see all the papers I...

Despite the fact that border checks or infrastructure are not mentioned in the Belfast/Good Frida...

I thank the hon. Lady. It is important that, as well as my saying it, Government communications r...

Can we just be clear here? The Minister said earlier that there would be no customs checks at the...

To clarify, the Government have no plans to put in those checks. We clearly cannot compel the Iri...

There has been much talk of a 10-mile buffer zone on the border. Can the Minister outline the sta...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his continued support and thoughts on this issue. He and other col...

I crossed the border several times this weekend, and what was remarkable about the crossing was t...

Unlike the hon. Lady, I do not want to put a border in Northern Ireland or in Scotland. I believe...

The Minister will know that the Good Friday agreement provides for a referendum for the people of...

The hon. Gentleman accused me of dividing the kingdom, but he asked specifically in the same sent...

In order to make a proposed border solution work, there will have to be an element of Northern Ir...

We are trying to get Stormont back up and working.

The Minister said there would be no hard infrastructure at the Irish border. Does the term “hard ...

I do not want to get into the detail of the actual proposal, but I will say that while there are ...

Will the Minister accept that customs clearance sites would involve physical infrastructure, and ...

I have been very clear that there will be no infrastructure on the border. I have also been clear...

The Irish Government stated last night that these non-papers are a non-starter. With just 30 days...

The Prime Minister has been very clear: that will happen before this weekend.

Over the last 15 minutes, the Minister has been at pains to stress the distinction between techni...

First, may I thank the hon. Gentleman genuinely for his service on the Front Bench? When I took o...

The Prime Minister has said that there will be checks, so whether at a border or a non-border, th...

Before the weekend.

So far, we have had nonsense and non-answers on these non-papers, so can we have a clear answer o...

Is the hon. Gentleman asking whether the Minister will rule out imposing direct rule?

Temporarily, for the border arrangements.

That is not the Government’s plan. The Government’s plan is to get Stormont going.

I thank the Minister for acknowledging that the Belfast agreement is not a one-dimensional docume...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question because it gives me the opportunity to note how much...