Simon Hoare, the Conservative chairman of the Northern Ireland Business Committee, spoke during a debate in which both those for and against the government’s plans to give ministers powers to ignore parts of the post-Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland , claimed that patriotism supported their position.
Mr Hoare said he had “serious concerns” about the Northern Ireland Protocol bill, which he described as “a failure of state capture”.
Foreign Minister Liz Truss, when asked in the Commons why she did not use the dispute mechanisms included in the treaties agreed with the EU, said that part of the reason why she submitted the bill , was “because I’m a patriot”.
Mr Hoare intervened to say: “Is she seriously disputing the patriotism of colleagues across this House who are concerned about her bill? I find this a false confluence. “
Elsewhere in the debate, Conservative former Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her opposition to the government’s plans, saying the bill would violate international law, adding: “As a patriot, I would not want to do anything that would hurt this country. do not diminish. of the world. “
Former Labor minister Sir Tony Lloyd made a similar point, saying to be able to ask others to comply with international law and standards because the UK does “is true patriotism”, which he says does not simply come from “jingoistic flag not waving “.
Ms Truss’s comment on patriotism came in response to Labor’s Hilary Benn (Leeds Central), who said: “I suspect that when she campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU, she never thought in a million years would she stand here a Bill of this kind proposal. ”
He asked: “Why does the government not propose to use the legal method to raise these issues with the EU through the treaty it has signed rather than one that claims necessity, while the foreign minister has given me another should give some example when the British Government has demanded the need for the repeal of a treaty that has been negotiated and signed? “
Ms Truss replied: “The reason I am submitting this bill is because I am a patriot and I am a Democrat, and our number one priority is the protection of peace and political stability in Northern Ireland and the protection of the Belfast Good Friday agreement, and nothing (he) suggested will achieve that goal. ”
After the exchange, Mr Hoare said: “The Minister of Foreign Affairs knows that I have serious concerns about her bill.
“But can I ask her to just think cool about auxiliary prayer patriotism as a defense of it.
“Is she seriously disputing the patriotism of colleagues across this House who are concerned about her bill?
“I find this a false confluence.”
The Foreign Minister replied: “I have responded directly to the point of the honorable gentleman asking me why I campaigned in the referendum in one way and am now working to ensure that the Brexit negotiations we reach for the people of Northern Ireland work. ”
Speaking later in the debate, Mr Hoare said: “I think this bill is a failure of state capture and it jeopardizes the reputation of the United Kingdom.
“The arguments that support it are weak at best, and irrational at worst.
“This is a bill that jeopardizes economically damaging retaliation, a bill that risks shattering our reputation as a protector of international law and the rules-based system.
“How in the name of heaven can we expect to speak with authority to others, when we ourselves are avoiding our legal obligations for a moment?”