BRITISH-IRISH PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY FIFTY-SEVENTH PLENARY SESSION Monday 22 October 2018 The Assembly met at 9.34 am BRIEF INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS BY CO-CHAIRS The Co-Chair (Mr Seán Crowe TD): Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the fifty-seventh plenary session. You have all been circulated with an up-to-date list of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly membership in your briefing packs, and we are welcoming the following new BIPA Members: Gavin Newlands MP, replacing Deidre Brock MP; John Blair MLA, replacing David Ford MLA; and from the States of Jersey, David Johnson and the new Associate Member, Simon Crowcroft, replacing Chief Minister John Le Fondré and Minister Kevin Lewis. We are delighted to welcome back John and Kevin to our plenary as observers. I have to inform the Assembly also that, in accordance with rule 2a, the following Associate Members have accepted the invitation of the Steering Committee to assume the powers and responsibilities of Members for the whole of this session: the Viscount Bridgeman, Vernon Coaker MP, Stephen Doughty MP, Vicky Ford MP, Rt Hon the Lord Kilclooney, Colm Brophy TD, Senator Gerry Horkan, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD, Pauline McNeill MSP, and Dai Lloyd AM. We have apologies received from Seán Canney TD, Kathleen Funchion TD, Pat the Cope Gallagher TD, Baroness O’Cathain, Conor McGinn MP, Stephen Hepburn MP, Andrew Bridgen MP, Mark Griffin MSP, and Steffan Lewis AM. Just before I hand over to Andrew, we have just got some sad news that a former Co- Chair, Seymour Crawford, has died. He died yesterday in Ireland, and may we just formally extend our deepest sympathy to his family? Maybe Members may get an opportunity later on in the day, particularly constituency colleagues, if they want to say a few words. The Co-Chair (Andrew Rosindell MP): Thank you very much, Seán, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to formally welcome Members here today for the fifty-seventh plenary session of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Members will have received a copy of the proposed programme of business for the coming two days. During the next two days, we will resume our discussion on political developments with Brexit and continue our engagements marking the centenary year of votes for women. We have a strong panel of speakers over the next day and a half, including two Ministers: the Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, our Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. We also look forward to hearing from the ambassador Adrian O’Neill, ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom, and he is going to speak about promoting diplomatic relations in the context of Brexit. It is of the utmost importance that we continue to build on the strong links forged in this Assembly as we navigate the challenging months and years ahead. The Assembly will be formally welcomed today by Councillor Ayas Miah, speaker and civic mayor of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The elements of the Sligo programme marking the centenary of votes for women were very popular, and we will continue these discussions and hear from Maria Miller MP and Dr Mari Takayanagi on this important issue. The programme of business today will conclude with an address by the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tony Lloyd MP. We expect today’s session to conclude around 5.30 pm. This will give Members an opportunity to freshen up ahead of travelling to the reception at the Mansion House, to be hosted by the Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of the City of London. On Tuesday, we will hold the plenary session in the Attlee Suite of the Palace of Westminster. The Assembly will formally be welcomed by the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Rt Hon John Bercow MP. Graham Stuart MP, Minister for Investment, Department for International Trade, has unfortunately had to withdraw due to conflicting commitments. However, we are delighted to be able to inform you that the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Tom Tugendhat MBE MP, will be addressing the Assembly. There will be a short break between the two morning sessions, and during this time the Co-Chairs, myself and Seán, will invite Members of the Assembly to join us as we lay wreaths at the south window of Westminster Hall to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the ending of the first world war. After this ceremony, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, will address our Assembly, and the Assembly will adjourn not later than 12.15 pm. It is very fitting to have a plenary in this magnificent city of London, the capital city of the United Kingdom, as we discuss future challenges impacting not only on politics, but on all the lives of our citizens. My lords, ladies and gentlemen, I now formally move that the adoption of the proposed programme of business be agreed to. Is that agreed? Programme of Business agreed. The Co-Chair (Andrew Rosindell MP): Thank you very much, and I will hand over to Seán Crowe. WELCOME BY THE SPEAKER OF TOWER HAMLETS The Co-Chair (Seán Crowe TD): I am now pleased to invite Councillor Ayas Miah, speaker and the civic mayor of Tower Hamlets. We share historic links with London and we are delighted to be attending this plenary in this wonderful, vibrant and dynamic city. [Applause.] Councillor Ayas Miah: Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. As the speaker and the first citizen of Tower Hamlets, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to our borough— London’s traditional east end and one of the UK’s most culturally vibrant and diverse areas. The east end has long been a place where people have arrived in London for a better life, whether fleeing persecution or seeking a better life for them and for their family. In Tower Hamlets, most notable were Huguenot refugees, who created Spitalfields in the seventeenth century, Ashkenazi Jews, the original Chinatown in Limehouse, and more recently, in the twentieth century, the Bangladeshi, especially Sylheti Bangladeshi. Today, one of the defining characteristics of our community is its diversity. In Tower Hamlets, 69 per cent of our residents are black and minority ethnic, and 43 per cent were born outside of the UK. In addition, the transformation of the Docklands, here in Tower Hamlets, means that it now houses the second largest business district in the UK, Canary Wharf, with further growth and rapid change ongoing. Tower Hamlets is fortunate to be one of the London boroughs that border with the Thames. This reflects the history of migration, which, of course, includes the legacy of Irish immigration. There is a long and proud tradition of Irish community in the east end. In common with many of the immigrants who came to the east end, they worked in the clothing industry and many were weavers and worked in the docks. Generally, wages were low and they lived and worked in poor conditions. They then played their part in influencing moves for equality. The historian William Fishman said that in 1936 he was moved to tears to see bearded Jews and Irish Catholic dockers standing up to stop Mosley at the battle of Cable Street. There continues to be a large Irish population in London, estimated at around 900,000. Additionally, it is estimated that as many as 6 million people living in the UK have at least one Irish grandparent—around 10 per cent of the UK’s total population. Today, Ireland is the UK’s fifth largest export market and the ninth largest source of imports. In 2017, the UK exports to Ireland were worth £34 billion and imports from Ireland were worth £21.8 billion. We get on well in our part of the east end and I am delighted to welcome you today to an outward-looking borough to celebrate the relationship of cooperation between our two great countries. Thank you. [Applause.] The Co-Chair (Seán Crowe TD): Again, Members, on your behalf, I want to thank Mayor Miah for his contribution. The Co-Chair (Andrew Rosindell MP): Ladies and gentlemen, we are now expecting the arrival of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley. I think she is just about to arrive, so if Members could just wait for a few seconds, and hopefully Karen will be joining us. 9.45 am ADDRESS BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND The Co-Chair (Mr Andrew Rosindell MP): Ladies and gentlemen, can I call the Assembly to order? Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to invite our first guest speaker of today, and that is the Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Karen will address the Assembly and then there will be some opportunity for questions. It is a great pleasure today to welcome the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley. [Applause.] Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP): Thank you very much, and it is a great pleasure to be with you in these magnificent surroundings this morning for the biannual plenary session of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and to have the opportunity to update you on the current situation in Northern Ireland. At the outset, I would like to thank the Co-Chairs, Andrew Rosindell MP and Seán Crowe, for their kind invitation to address you, and their warm words of welcome.