BRITISH-IRISH PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY FIFTY-NINTH PLENARY SESSION Monday 21 October 2019 The Assembly met at 9.36 am. PLENARY BUSINESS The Co-Chairman (Mr Seán Crowe TD): I call the Members to order. The Assembly is now in public session. First, I would like to remind everyone present to turn off mobile phones and other electronic devices. Secondly, I ask Members to clearly state their name and legislature when they are invited to contribute from the floor. Finally, I remind Members that the proceedings of this body do not attract parliamentary privilege— Senator Terry Leyden: Unfortunately. The Co-Chairman (Mr Seán Crowe TD): Unfortunately. So just be careful what you say. NEW MEMBERS The Co-Chairman (Mr Seán Crowe TD): I welcome Members to the Forest of Arden for the 59th plenary session of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. You have all been circulated with an up-to-date list of the BIPA membership in your briefing packs. I must inform the Assembly that, in accordance with rule 2(a), the following Associate Members have been accepted, at the invitation of the Steering Committee, to assume the powers and responsibilities of Members for the whole of this session: Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Senator Gerry Horkan, Senator Ian Marshall, Viscount Bridgeman, John Grogan MP and Lord Kilclooney. We also welcome one new member, Caroline Jones AM. You are very welcome. Apologies have been received from Pat the Cope Gallagher TD, Kathleen Funchion TD, Fergus O’Dowd TD, Senator Frank Feighan, Senator Diarmuid Wilson, Lord Lexden, David Morris MP, Gavin Newlands MP, Baroness O’Cathain, Steve Aiken MLA, John Blair MLA, Willie Coffey MSP and John Scott MSP. PROGRAMME OF BUSINESS The Co-Chairman (Mr Andrew Rosindell MP): Thank you, Seán. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to welcome Members here today for the 59th plenary session of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Updated copies of the programme of business are provided on your tables. During the plenary session, we will focus our discussions on the urgent challenges that face us as parliamentarians. The Assembly will shortly welcome the leader and mayor of North Warwickshire Borough Council, Councillors David Humphreys and Brian Moss. In an update to the programme, we will hear from two United Kingdom Government ministers. First, we will hear from the Rt Hon Chris Pincher MP, Minister for Europe and the Americas, from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Following that, we will hear from Robin Walker MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Scotland. 1 The Assembly will then hear an address by the shadow secretary of state for foreign affairs, the Rt Hon Emily Thornberry MP. Before lunch, we also look forward to hearing from the Irish Ambassador to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Adrian O’Neill. It is very fitting that we are having a plenary session in this beautiful and historic countryside of Warwickshire as we discuss the future challenges that will impact on not only politics but the lives of all our citizens. We are delighted to be here, and we thank the people of Warwickshire for their welcome and, in particular, for the magnificent evening that we had last night at the historic Warwick Castle. Without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to invite the Lord Empey to formally move that the adoption of the proposed programme of business be agreed. The Lord Empey OBE: I so propose, Chair. The Co-Chairman (Mr Andrew Rosindell MP): Is that agreed? Programme of Business agreed. WELCOME BY THE LEADER AND MAYOR OF NORTH WARWICKSHIRE BOROUGH COUNCIL The Co-Chairman (Mr Seán Crowe TD): I am now pleased to invite the leader and mayor of North Warwickshire Borough Council, Councillors David Humphreys and Brian Moss, to formally welcome Members to North Warwickshire. Councillor David Humphreys: Good morning, everybody, and welcome to Warwickshire. I have been warned to say just a few words, which is all that I intended to do. This is a very small borough. We actually have only 67,000 residents, with 27,000 homes in 110 square miles of countryside. Sixty-two per cent of the area is green belt and, as you can see, it is a wonderful environment. However, the growth in the area has been phenomenal over the last 20-odd years. In the first 10 years of this century, the number of people increased by only 100. However, for some strange reason, we have to increase the number of houses that we have to build by another 9,000, which is actually bringing in houses for Coventry, Birmingham and Tamworth. Just to show how big the growth has been in terms of work, every day, we import 18,000 people to work along the M42 and A5 corridor. The growth has been obvious. As you can see, we have companies such as TNT, FedEx, Aldi, BMW, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Jaguar Land Rover and MIRA. Of course, our biggest problem is that most of those are involved in logistics. We are looking to grow businesses with the higher-rated and skilled jobs that we are hoping for in future. I am glad that the Assembly has come here for your 59th plenary meeting. I will say one more thing. A while ago, we were considered to be the second-fastest growing borough in England, second to Hounslow. It has an airport, and so do we, although obviously Hounslow’s is much bigger. There was a survey that showed that people are happy living and working in North Warwickshire. I hope that you have a great and productive meeting, that you are happy to be present in North Warwickshire and that you enjoy yourself for the rest of the day. Thank you. [Applause.] 2 Councillor Brian Moss: Welcome. Everybody knows South Warwickshire, with Stratford-upon-Avon and its illustrious resident. North Warwickshire is less well known, despite all our claims to fame that the council leader has just outlined. There are some very attractive places in North Warwickshire. There is also a lot of growth of industry. If you did not meet all the lorries when you were coming here this morning, I am sure that you will meet them on the way home. Anyway, thank you very much and have a successful conference. [Applause.] The Co-Chairman (Mr Andrew Rosindell MP): Ladies and gentlemen, on your behalf, I thank the mayor and leader of North Warwickshire Borough Council for their warm welcome to the borough. It is a great pleasure to be here. They are most welcome to stay to watch our deliberations. We wish you and the people of North Warwickshire all the very best. Thank you very much indeed. [Applause.] ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR EUROPE AND THE AMERICAS The Co-Chairman (Mr Andrew Rosindell MP): We now move on to our first major session, which is an address by the Minister of State for Europe and the Americas at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I am pleased to invite our guest speaker, the Rt Hon Chris Pincher, to address the Assembly. As Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, he covers two parts of the world that are very important to Britain and, of course, Ireland. We look forward to hearing from him at this important time. Without further ado, I ask the Minister of State to address the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. [Applause.] 9.45 am Minister of State for Europe and the Americas (Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP): Thank you, Andrew and Seán, and everybody else. All politicians love to hear applause at the start of their speeches, just in case there is no applause at the end, so thank you very much for that unsolicited testimonial. At this point, I am afraid, necessity overtakes vanity, and I have to put on my glasses so that I can see what I am going to say. However, whether I am wearing glasses or not, I want to tell you what a great pleasure it is for me to be here today as the warm-up act for Robin Walker and, more particularly, to be so very close to my constituency. It is a fitting reward for the hard graft of Saturday that the BIPA should hold its plenary session so close to Tamworth. It is just rather unfortunate that on the one occasion when I am able to spend my Sunday in my constituency, I had to spend Saturday in London—but there you go. Anyway, it is a great pleasure to be here. It is fitting that BIPA is holding its plenary session here, because as Members might or might not know, this region has a large Irish community all of its own. Warwickshire has the most Gaelic games clubs in England outside London, although I am sorry to say that we have not beaten a club from Ireland at hurling since 2017. While reading up on the matter, I was surprised that we had beaten a club from Ireland at hurling at all, but apparently we last won in 2017. I particularly thank the Co-Chairs, Andrew Rosindell and Seán Crowe. I know that they come from quite different political traditions, but they share a genuine commitment to strengthening links and mutual understanding, to exploring solutions to shared challenges, and to promoting 3 friendly relations among the BIPA membership and beyond. They both deserve our appreciation for their tireless efforts, so I thank you very much, gentlemen. This is my first time at the Assembly, but I already know about, and can feel, its incredible value to maintaining and enhancing relationships across our islands.