A few days ago a significant person on twitter posted the following comments directed to Keir Starmer and she also posted this image which comes from John Major who was our Prime Minister 1990-1997. In addition to these elements there was also some very helpful comments from Peter Kyle, the Hove MP for Labour who is also the Shadow Secretary for Northern Ireland. The statements from Peter Kyle took place on the 9th of March under the headline of Northern Ireland Protocol. The person who posted her twitter did so on 22nd March. She is Emmy van Deurzen and she describes herself on twitter as “Philosopher, psychologist, existential therapist, human rights activist. Eighteen books. Principal Existential Academy and New School.” Along with the image from John Major above she stated here

@Keir_Starmer They went too far with Brexit, Keir. They threw the baby out with the bath water. A European nation cannot survive without access to the single market. Don’t wait for the conservatives to steal your thunder on this. #BrexitFoodShortages

The debate on the 9th of March can be obtained from here and the following text come from the comments from Peter Kyle and his response from Brandon Lewis who is the current Government Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Kyle: The Prime Minister has told Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson that negotiations on the protocol have only a 30% chance of success. Does the Secretary of State share that assessment?

Lewis: I am not sure I am in a position to give betting odds in terms of percentages. The experience we have had with the EU so far, in the past six to nine months, has shown us a lack of the pragmatism and flexibility that we need to see. We have not seen the EU move in a way that allows us to resolve the issues of the protocol, either the trade issues or the wider issues of identity and sovereignty. It is important that we do that. We have to be realistic about the reality of that lack of progress and flexibility, which is why I am clear that we take no options off the table.

Kyle: The reason the Secretary of State cannot give a direct answer to the question is because Ministers and the Prime Minister have been telling so many people informally so many different answers. That is a reason why there is such a lack of trust in the Government at the moment. Queen’s University Belfast has just carried out a poll, which found:

“The UK government is by far the most distrusted…of all actors”.

That is because so much is happening in the shadows; Ministers are telling people different things behind closed doors. Since the Executive collapsed, there has been no statement to the House. Following five rounds of negotiations between the UK and the EU Governments, there has not been a single statement to the House. Will the Secretary of State promise to bring discussions out of the shadows and start making statements to the House, so that we can have things on the record and not behind closed doors?