Speeches by Robinson.

“Peter, you talked about some changes that would not be embarrassing for Government and would allow them to limit the impact. Have you had a chance to think, because you think about these issues and write about them quite extensively, whether that would have a material detriment to what the Government have planned to ra…”

“What you are suggesting is that, if you were to cash out, you would get clobbered.”

“That would be useful. Thank you. William, you said at the agriculture committee last week that, from the Ulster Farmers Union perspective, there is an urgency for specific data. Since then, we have had the letter from the DAERA Minister, and we have talked about some of the other sources available. Is that picture gett…”

“William, you made a good point about Jeremy Moody’s information not being available. You will send that through. It would also be worthwhile if he were able to review the Hansard transcript and perhaps comment on all of the issues today.”

“If you say that we are getting a more complete picture, although it is bleak, what is absent and yet would be required to give a complete picture? What dataset would it be important to have that we just do not have the ability to review at this stage?”

“That is very helpful. I appreciate it. What is the make-up of Northern Ireland’s farming sector in terms of land value, farm size and ownership?”

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. Peter, you write for the Irish Farmers Journal. You had an article on Saturday the 7th, which I found fascinating. I am going to invite you to explain to Members for the evidence session today. You indicated that HMRC had released clarification on the agricultural property relief, which contr…”

“Peter, your figure there of an average cost per acre for sale for Northern Ireland contrasts with some other figures that we have seen of around £21,000 an acre in Northern Ireland. What is your sense of the reason for the variance even within the average figure?”

“That is helpful, thank you. The DAERA analysis states, “The traditional practice in Northern Ireland is that land on a farm tends to be owned by a single person”. Is there data available to back up that claim?”

“Our judiciary are independent from the Government as well, as she knows. At first instance, in the High Court in Northern Ireland, citizens can draw upon legal jurisprudence within the European system without needing to go to the final arbitrary appeal of a third party. She knows that. The hon. Lady and I have parsed t…”

“I regard the hon. Lady as well, as she knows. She has made that point now on two occasions, and she is free to do so. I want to come back to the SPS point that has been raised on a number of occasions. Here I stand as a Unionist Member of Parliament from Northern Ireland, having engaged on these issues for the past eig…”

“This Bill does not take us back. If we are interested in building trust and resetting our relationship with the European Union, why is it not conceivable that we could get to a place where we respect one another, acknowledge one another’s purity of legal services and legal systems, and recognise the importance of the r…”

“I agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. I want to give the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Rachel Blake) another example. She will have heard colleagues in interventions, she will have heard the hon. Member for South Antrim (Robin Swann) at Prime Minister’s questions and she will have heard me at …”

“My right hon. Friend is right. That is where it becomes thoroughly obnoxious for people in Northern Ireland. They say, “Whatever the constitutional views are, and whatever the Labour position on this and the Conservative position on that, why am I being impinged on? Why am I being treated differently? If a workaround i…”

“I acknowledge the position that my hon. Friend outlines in her contribution. I wish it was not the case that so few Members will get to contribute. Indeed, I arranged for my right hon. Friend the Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson) to lead for my party on the Bill—but he decided that I should—because I want to ensure…”

“Will the Minister give way to me?”

“I am very grateful to the Minister, but could I just cautiously and gently urge her to draw back from the comments she has made about the movement and security around the border? One of the most incendiary things to occur during the discussions with the European Union and the British Government was Leo Varadkar showing…”

“I will not respond to the hon. Lady’s last line; I will leave it to others to determine. She and I have engaged with each other—sometimes helpfully, and sometimes crossly—for years. When there are opportunities to work together to benefit my constituency or anybody else’s in the United Kingdom, I will do it. What I am …”

“I will not give way to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner), because I am giving way to the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy).”

“That is a fair point, and illustrates the requirement to honour the agreement—supported by the Minister and her Labour colleagues back in February—to eradicate routine checks within the UK internal market system. Does that deal with all the issues? No, it does not. Does it deal with what is in the red lane? No, it does…”