Speeches by Hanna.

“Does the Minister acknowledge that at the time of the Good Friday agreement, the parties did not arrive together at consensus, and nor did they with the likes of the St Andrews agreement, when things were distorted? Does he agree that it is unusual for all the parties to arrive at a fully formed agreement, and that a d…”

“The hon. Gentleman asked me to intervene. Unfortunately, the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister) would not take my intervention, and I am sad about that. I was seeking to clarify whether his party’s position had moved from being the quite radical one—more radical than my position or that of the hon.…”

“Will the right hon. Member confirm whether he believes that the Assembly has or should have responsibility for international affairs, which is included in the Windsor framework, and can he outline where cross-community consent for Brexit was demonstrated?”

“rose—”

“Who collapsed it?”

“Bluntly, my view is that the agreement is trying to salve, resolve and manage a centuries-old division—a society that has been divided into two tribes. It is not my belief that creating a third tribe is the solution to that, but I understand that it is important that all parties feel that they are represented. As I hav…”

“Clearly, we are a more pluralist society. I am unashamedly a new Irelander, and that is an important part of my identity. That is a factor in our politics, as is the legitimate position of Unionists, so we cannot wish it away. We cannot say, “I don’t see colour or designation,” but for so many of us it is clearly not t…”

“The hon. Member is absolutely right. Those subsequent changes, particularly at St Andrews, have distorted the institutions away from a place of consensus and towards veto, brinkmanship and power struggle. There is a lot in the agreement that the SDLP would like to revisit—not least strand 2, which has shockingly underp…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I confess that I have not been in Westminster Hall for a while; I was watching the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) to see exactly when I should stand up. I thank the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) for securing the debate, which is an im…”

“Q7. Even its strongest advocates acknowledge that Northern Ireland is trapped in dysfunction—not because reform is not possible, but because the DUP and Sinn Féin have not allowed it. We have become a political “Hotel California”, where the past is always around but the future never arrives. There is growing public con…”

“The Minister will be aware that for a number of months, I have been raising concerns about the local growth fund and its impact in Northern Ireland. Just before Christmas, organisations got the devastating news of a large cut to the local growth fund, which will devastate a number of support jobs and work done to help …”

“8. What recent engagement he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive.”

“That is what you will get from Sinéad; I cannot promise what the Assembly will do.”

“We are exporting our best resource.”

“In relation to the A5, I think the judicial proceedings indicated that it is compatible with the ’22 Act; it is departmental bungling that has got us to this point. I suppose that is a story running through some of the issues. At the risk of getting you in trouble, Tim, I thought you made very practical and astute comm…”

“I just want to come back on some of those and maybe draw out some of your comments, Alison. Obviously, yours is a border region, so it is most astute, but clearly the island economy is vital for all parts of the region. You mentioned, and I was going to ask about, an investment strategy and, I suppose, the failure in S…”

“My colleague Sinéad McLaughlin in the Assembly is bringing forward a regional imbalance Bill, and she just got the green light from the Speaker before Christmas that that will come through in this mandate. Obviously, it is about a mindset shift as well as targets and monitoring. That is open for consultation, but are t…”

“So it is culture as much as strategy as well. Do either Tim or Steven have anything to add?”

“Back to your point about agility, really. Obviously, businesses want to trade in the north, south, east and west as well. Gavin referenced the challenges that that really positive Encirc facility is facing. Is there more that the UK Government could be doing as well? Notwithstanding some of the Brexit frictions, do you…”

“Jonny, you said there that you were not suggesting a Patten II and that it is perhaps a catch-all term for a review. Do you see the need for a check-in or a review? You have both rightly indicated that policing has been one of the relative successes when you see where some of the other institutions are. How do we get t…”