Contributions
1,346 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillI am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for raising that point, which we have discussed in the House before. As he has acknowledged, there is currently a public inquiry, set up…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillThe commission is an independent body established—18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillI will give way, and then I will make progress.18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillAnd Warrenpoint, indeed. It is already investigating those terrible incidents, and I encourage anyone who is looking for answers to approach the commission and see the changes…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillI have given the House a very clear assurance on this point. I point out to the hon. Gentleman that nowhere in the legacy Act, which is the previous Government’s legislation, is…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillI shall come on to this point, but decisions about prosecutions are made by prosecutors independently—that is the absolute foundation of our independent legal system—based on the…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillI would ask the hon. and learned Gentleman to reflect on what I have just told the House: anyone who was previously involved in paramilitary activity will not be appointed to the…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillThe right hon. Gentleman is indeed correct. That was, in part, the basis on which the Good Friday agreement was reached, and 71.7% of the people of Northern Ireland gave their…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillIf the right hon. Gentleman will bear with me, I shall come to his question a bit later. Crucially—this is something that the House has to recognise—the 2023 Act failed because it…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillNo; I am going to have to finish, because many people want to speak. Part 5 makes provision for the inclusion of personal statements, allowing families to describe what the death…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillI shall do that. If my hon. Friend will bear with me, I shall come to that directly.18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillMy hon. Friend raises an extremely important point. It is for the simple reason that the commission has the power to see all the information and evidence—everything. It is already…18 Nov 2025HANSARDNorthern Ireland Troubles BillIn 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that the detention of Gerry Adams—who was interned in July 1973—was unlawful because the interim custody order was not personally signed by…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillI will make progress. There are those who have claimed, wrongly, that this legislation will somehow lead to a huge increase in prosecutions of veterans, or that it is only…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles BillThe hon. Gentleman says “Ah”. It was established by the previous Government’s legislation. They argued very strongly that the body had to be independent. “Essential” is a very…18 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles LegacyI congratulate the right hon. Member for Goole and Pocklington (David Davis) on having secured this debate. The legacy of the troubles cast a long, dark shadow over the lives of…13 Nov 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland Troubles LegacyHe is.13 Nov 2025HANSARDIndependent Monitoring Panel Report: January to June 2025On 24 February 2025, I informed the House that an Independent Monitoring Panel would scrutinise the operation of the internal market guarantee set out in the “Safeguarding the…05 Nov 2025HANSARDNorthern IrelandThe protections were put in place for veterans after consulting veterans, and they are not unimportant: the ability to stay at home and give evidence; the protection from repeated…04 Nov 2025HANSARDNorthern IrelandThe protections were put in place for veterans after consulting veterans, and they are not unimportant: the ability to stay at home and give evidence; the protection from repeated…04 Nov 2025