SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan has reiterated his call on the British government not to begin the formal process of triggering Article 50 on withdrawal from the EU until its proposals have been fully debated in the House of Commons and voted upon by MPs.
Speaking last night during a Westminster debate on ‘Parliamentary scrutiny of leaving the EU’, Mr Durkan said:
“When we debated the Bill that is now the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, Brexit was not listed as a mind-altering substance, but it clearly is, given that it has completely transformed the view and changed the character of the Secretary of State and many of his colleagues in relation to the primacy of Parliament and his disdain for, or concern about, the use of the royal prerogative.
“We cannot subscribe to the government’s outrageous arrogance as they say, ‘It’s okay, we’ll use the royal prerogative for now, but there will be true parliamentary accountability and control after that’.
“We as a Parliament have the right and the duty to ensure that we best consider how these matters are dealt with. We now have a government who are surprised to be the government, following a government who were also surprised by the result.
“The idea seems to be that Parliament has no role whatsoever, and can entrust these matters entirely to the royal prerogative and the three egos – for they are certainly not three amigos – who are meant to be leading the process.
“That constitutes a request for us to commit a dereliction of duty.”
“Like other Members, I am open about the fact that I voted remain. I am glad to report that my constituency (of Derry) voted overwhelmingly to remain, by over 78%, as did the people of Northern Ireland, by over 56%. Northern Ireland is a place where many of us have worked hard for many years to establish the principle of consent as the basis for our working institutions.
“In regard to the Good Friday Agreement, the government need to stop going on about the question of a hard or soft border and about consulting the Executive.
“They need to tell us whether the provisions in annex A of the Good Friday Agreement relating to the opportunity for a united Ireland and the provisions in schedule 1 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 will specifically be written into a UK-EU treaty, because they will have to be.”
