Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley admits she had no idea people in the country voted on...

[Denzil_DC]

2. Ignorance of Northern Irish and Irish affairs seems to be a requirement in this government

Back in May, Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes caused a stir during a "car crash" appearance at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee:

Labour's Kate Hoey said the minister "clearly did not understand" the significance of the [Good Friday] agreement after Ms Nokes repeatedly said that citizens from the Republic of Ireland were treated the same as others seeking British citizenship.

Nokes had somehow missed the key fact that under the Good Friday Agreement, those born in Northern Ireland can take either Irish or UK or dual citizenship, and the Irish Government waives any fees for those seeking its citizenship. But the prospect of Brexit has highlighted an anomaly for those born in the Republic after 1949 - even if they've lived all their lives in Northern Ireland, if they want to take out UK citizenship, they first have to apply for naturalization and attend a citizenship ceremony, all of which currently costs £1,330. In Northern Ireland there are "Passport Express" services for those seeking Irish passports at a large number of post offices, whereas the UK government provides no facilities in the Republic for UK citizens to get a passport. The argument from some committee members was that this contravenes the Good Friday Agreement.

There - now anyone reading this knows more than the Immigration Minister (and quite possibly the Northern Ireland Secretary).

Asked if she had ever read any Irish history, Ms Nokes said: "Not for a very long time."

Under pressure from MPs, the minister then admitted she had never read the landmark agreement in full.

Ms Nokes said: "I haven't. 20 years ago I was probably giving birth and I have only been immigration minister for five months."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/immigration-minister-good-friday-agreement-irish-border-caroline-nokes-a8363766.html

At the same hearing, she also admitted she'd never visited the Irish border.