John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): The DUP is understandably very unhappy about the customs and single market arrangements in the agreement, so will the Government table a free trade agreement and get on with it, because that would help?
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr Julian Smith): I am not responsible for the European negotiations.
October 22, 2019
Perhaps you could pass the message on to someone who is responsible then Mr Smith??
zorro
October 23, 2019
You say the DUP are understandably very unhappy, and you are right – but you last night voted to support the deal that makes them unhappy, and moreover the deal which locks us into the EU as a vassal state until 2022, inferior to the ECJ – the deal which is NOT Brexit. It seems you are neither a Unionist nor a Brexiter
Reply I made the case for just leaving without the Withdrawal Agreement and was on my own. I then had a choice of voting against Brexit or for this bad bill to gave a second reading.
October 23, 2019
You voted FOR these arrangements! Mrs May refused to divide the UK along the Irish Sea, but Johnson’s deal does exactly that – and you voted for it. Sir, don’t you dare ever call yourself a Unionist
October 23, 2019
More and more citizens of the UK are turning away from being Unionist – in 2 areas. The decades of difficulty, the manipulations, the bribery required, the excessive government time, the bailouts….
Perhaps we are nearing a campaign for a Ref on Independence in 2 places!
October 23, 2019
While I do not support the WA I do not blame you for voting for it – the pro’s and con’s are fairly even and in theory we are out.
But now it is clear parliament want to mess around with it, a FTA after leaving looks much better.
October 23, 2019
The Northern Irish MPs seem to want an agreement that is all ends up. They want to retain Irish passports so that they can retain freedom of movement within the EU, how does this affect EU citizens moving to Northern Ireland? How are we to deal with Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man with relation to the SM and CU?
They seem to want to retain their rights to outdated legislation relating only to them in the United Kingdom is the marriage of United Kingdom citizens a devolved issue?