📍 Thank you very much Madam Deputy Speaker.

It’s not just about how people in Northern Ireland voted recently.

In August 2016, the former DUP First Minister wrote to the UK Government calling for a special position for Northern Ireland.

And people supported that.

Anyone who has been to Northern Ireland, as I was recently,

and issues that were raised here about supermarket goods,

realises there are pragmatic issues to be solved.

But they need to be solved with the EU.

So exactly how does unilateral threats and legislation

build the trust and goodwill necessary to get to the best outcome.

Foreign Secretary:

I do believe there is a landing zone.

I believe there is a negotiated outcome that can work for the people of Northern Ireland for the UK and the EU. But that landing zone does require a change in mandate. We’ve now had 18 months of discussions with the EU. Where there has not yet been agreement by the EU to change the protocol.

The protocol was never designed to be set in stone. And what we have seen is the way it’s operated is not working for the people of Northern Ireland. So of course I encourage a pragmatic solution. I encourage more flexibility from the EU. But we cannot allow the situation in Northern Ireland to deteriorate.

By not taking the actions we need to now to fix the protocol.