Lord Caine:

I will try to answer the questions as rapidly as I can. On SPS, based on what I am hearing from the UK Government, that is not being considered in the short term at least. On unilateral action, I agree entirely with Lord Jay of Ewelme that it is not always the right approach. Everything I am hearing is that the UK Government will not rule out unilateral action if it deems it necessary.

Lord Jay of Ewelme is quite right that legacy issues are outside the remit of our committee. As somebody who was involved with legacy policy for nine years and was involved in the Stormont House Agreement, I am happy to take any conversations offline if anyone wants to talk to me about that. We should not underestimate the extent to which issues arising out of the protocol are exercising some of my colleagues in Westminster, particularly within my own party in the House of Commons. I agree with Baroness O'Loan that with the application of a bit of common sense and pragmatism, we ought to be able to work through most of these issues.

The papers this morning in GB and NI are full of David Frost saying the protocol in its current form is unsustainable. He is not saying there is not a need for some kind of protocol; he is talking about its current form. Jeffrey Donaldson is making it clear progress will be needed on the protocol and, without it, the resolution of other sensitive issues in Northern Ireland will be more difficult. That could put pressure on the institutions come the autumn. We need to be realistic. It is exercising people in Westminster and at the heart of government. We have to find a way through.