I have tried my best to understand the concerns of Unionism, and I think the European Union and the British Government have as well, to be fair. That is why we have the Windsor framework. If there are still outstanding issues, let us talk about them. Even when we were threatened with a hard border, we did not walk away from government. We did not stop working in the institutions. We wanted to sit down and continue to work with our neighbours—even those who we disagreed with—because that goes right to the heart of the Good Friday agreement.
Walking away and boycotting will solve nothing, in our strong view. If there are outstanding issues, and if there are solutions that do not impact upon the principle of protecting all-Ireland trade and avoiding a hard border, we will be open to looking at those and to working with the right hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson) and his colleagues to achieve some modicum of change around that. My appeal to him is this: let us sit down, work together in our substantial common interest, work the common ground, get back into Stormont and try—as hard as it might be—to begin to fix some of the problems that beset all our people.
2.48 pm