Contributions
1,346 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI agree with my hon. Friend, who makes the point extremely forcefully. It did not work and it was never deliverable. There never was immunity; it was a false promise made to…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesMay I say to the hon. Member that I agree with every single word that she has expressed so powerfully and forcefully? I encourage those who have been chuntering from a sedentary…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesOn inquests, there are three statutory tests that the Solicitor General will have to apply. In answer to an earlier question, I indicated what they are. Family views will be one…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI thank the hon. Gentleman for what he said. I hope he knows that I will do anything and everything I can to try to find a way forward, in partnership with as many Members of the…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he has said. I spoke yesterday to the victims’ commissioner in Northern Ireland. On 19 September when the framework was published, the…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI thank the hon. Gentleman for the role he played as Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Northern Ireland. The truth is that with the passage of time, the possibility of prosecution…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesMy hon. Friend gives me the opportunity to pay tribute to my extraordinary officials, some of whom are present today. It has been the privilege of my life to work with them on…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI note the right hon. Gentleman’s point about the past, and I am not going to dissent from what he said, but this is an attempt to move beyond the past and the history and to move…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI thank my hon. Friend for her question. She is such a strong advocate for the many veterans she represents. I encourage her to look at the legislation to see the nature of the…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI would say to the right hon. Gentleman that I am sorry to have heard what he has just said in relation to very substantial proposals contained in the framework document. I grant…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI would make two points. First, as I have alluded to, we have drawn on the experience of Operation Kenova, in that the Bill will create a statutory victims and survivors advisory…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI am grateful, as ever, to the right hon. Gentleman for his wise words, and I once again pay tribute to the distinguished role he played in trying to move forward some of these…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI thank my hon. Friend for her question, but above all for her great service in the Northern Ireland Office. It was a real pleasure to work with her, and she did so much during…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI welcome the hon. Gentleman to his new role, and I genuinely look forward to working with him on these and other matters, given his interest in Northern Ireland, which is shared…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesThe legislation is about to be published, but in the 14 months since I took up this post, I have had many conversations with families, victims, and the other organisations and…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesWith permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the legacy of the troubles, which still hangs heavily over the lives of so many people in Northern…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his response. He says that the last Government sought to draw a line, but it did not work. In the act of seeking to do that—this is the one…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI would say two things to right hon. Gentleman. First, I would not be quite so light with the importance of that commitment to allow our veterans to give evidence remotely. The…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesI will write to the hon. Gentleman in response to his last question, if I may. What the hon. Member describes is exactly what the commission is there to do. I am making a number…14 Oct 2025HANSARD Northern Ireland TroublesThe hon. Gentleman has spoken before most powerfully and movingly about the impact that the death of family members has had upon him. He exemplifies, if I may say so, what so many…14 Oct 2025