Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Office; Chris Flatt, Director, Strategy, Northern Ireland Office; Brendan Threlfall, Director General of Union & Windsor Framework, Cabinet Office
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00:00 So, yes, is the obvious answer. I can absolutely shoot it. I'm pretty sure that you'll find
00:08 that my department very quickly clarified the statement on Monday and the comment should
00:13 not be considered any shift in government policy. I'd just like to assure the committee
00:19 and all that serve on it that the government is unwavering in its commitment to all strands
00:25 of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, not least the principle of consent and the need
00:28 to exercise parity of esteem for the identity, ethos and aspirations of both communities.
00:33 The agreement's clear that any change to the constitutional position of Northern Ireland
00:38 would require the consent of a majority of its people. In fact, the agreement makes clear
00:42 that it would be wrong to undertake any constitutional change without this fundamental principle
00:47 of majority consent. And in accordance with that principle of consent, Northern Ireland
00:51 will remain part of the United Kingdom for as long as its people wish it to be. And we're
00:55 absolutely clear there is no basis to suggest that a majority of people in Northern Ireland
00:59 wish to separate from the United Kingdom. Is that clear enough?
01:03 I'm very grateful to you for both the succinctness and clarity, Secretary of State. And that
01:09 fox has now not just been shot, but stuffed and mounted. You regularly update Parliament,
01:19 the media and other fora of indicating significant progress with talks, not exclusively but predominantly
01:31 with the DUP to restore Stormont. We then get some sort of rebuttal stuff, which is,
01:38 well, you know, nobody's talking to us and there's nowhere near making a resolution to
01:44 this, etc. And for the outside world, those twin analyses are quite difficult to reconcile
01:50 from time to time. So in the privacy of these four walls, are you able to give us a robust
01:57 and frank update with regards to where you think things are at and a timetable to which
02:07 you have got sketched out in your mind? And I know as a Secretary of State, you don't
02:11 like putting end dates and no Secretary of State does, but are things imminent? Are we
02:16 looking well into next year?
02:20 So I will be very, forgive me for being circumspect and fairly careful.
02:25 Yes, no, I'd expect nothing less.
02:28 You know, I try not to talk about the ongoing conversations that are happening and are important
02:38 because my primary focus, the Department's primary focus is to get the Executive back
02:43 up and running so the people of Northern Ireland have decisions being taken for them by people
02:50 they've elected to take those decisions. I mean, we've had long and ongoing talks over
02:57 the summer and actually I will, if I may, use this occasion to thank my civil servants
03:04 and all those that have been working. I know you'd expect them to work hard over the summer,
03:09 but who have been working hard on this over the summer and our interlocutors and all the
03:14 party leaders who have been trying to keep updated as best I can without disclosing the
03:23 nature of the talks. But I would, I mean, I've characterized it and I think it's true
03:26 that they are in their final phases and in a much more positive space than they've been
03:35 previously.