Government has done ‘some decent stuff’ in Northern Ireland – Heaton-Harris

The Government has done some “decent stuff” in Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris has said.

The Northern Ireland Secretary, who is not seeking re-election at the General Election, said he would leave it to other people to “mark his homework” over his time in the region.

He was speaking in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter during a visit by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as campaigning for the election continues.

Asked to assess his time in Northern Ireland, Mr Heaton-Harris said: “I will let other people mark my homework.”

He added: “I have been privileged to be the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, privileged the Prime Minister reappointed me to this role.

“A lot has happened in that time.

“The Prime Minister negotiated the Windsor Framework which solved a lot of the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“We together did the Command Paper that got Stormont up and running.

“So, I think we have done some decent stuff.”

Mr Heaton-Harris said: “I’d like to thank the Prime Minister for all the support and the flexibility you have allowed me to get some of this stuff over the line.”

He was first appointed as Northern Ireland Secretary by former prime minister Liz Truss in 2022 and was retained in the role by Mr Sunak.

Mr Heaton-Harris was heavily involved in efforts to negotiate an agreement to ease DUP concerns over post-Brexit trading arrangements, after the unionist party collapsed the Stormont executive in February 2022.

The DUP ended its two-year boycott of devolved government in Northern Ireland in February this year after its leadership struck a deal with the Government over measures to address the so-called Irish Sea trading border and sovereignty.

This led to the Government publishing its Safeguarding the Union Command Paper.