Contributions
439 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Investigation of VeteransMy hon. Friend makes a very important point about people facing current cases, regardless of whether we wish to design an alternative process that may mean in future many of them…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransLet me first address the right hon. Gentleman’s point about whether this is a matter for the Ministry of Defence or the Northern Ireland Office. He is of course right that the…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransI assure the hon. Gentleman that this issue has not landed on anybody’s desk in the Northern Ireland Office out of a clear blue sky—it has been taking up a very large proportion…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. I certainly did not want to imply that we are countenancing being leisurely about this. This situation has been wrong for many years. The only…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransThat is precisely why we need to come up with these proposals as fast as we can. It is clear from both sides of the House that the time for action is now—well, it was probably…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransAs my right hon. Friend rightly points out, he was given a medal for it. The only point on which I would pull him up is that, although the practical effect may feel the same, the…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransI could not agree more. My right hon. Friend rightly points out that he has stood in my shoes on this issue. I am sure he is absolutely right that, to anybody serving in Her…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransThe Northern Ireland letters of comfort, as I have already said, do not stop prosecutions under the latest legal guidance. Therefore, we have to come up with something that gets…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransMay I start by saying that I certainly agree with the underlying premise of the hon. Gentleman’s point, which is that we need to make sure that we are doing the right thing by our…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransExactly so. Unless there is something that is brand new and that was not available at the time—in the vast majority of cases that is not the case—then at that point people should…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransMy hon. and gallant Friend speaks with huge authority given his personal background and experience in the armed forces. I think the whole House understands that the examples that…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransThe straightforward answer to that last question is yes, and I do not think there is any disagreement, on either side of the House, about that central aim. The question, of…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransThe simple answer to that is that the analysis is only just starting to emerge now, and I have not seen it broken down in the way that my right hon. Friend describes, so I am…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransI think the hon. Gentleman is making a central and uncontroversial point, but we need to be very careful in how we approach it. He has to be right that outright crimes such as…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransTo vote on it, and to confirm the important point, on which my right hon. Friend and I agree, that no rancid deals have been done. My right hon. Friend asked whether Sinn…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransExactly. My right hon. Friend also made a point about the letters of comfort that were issued by a previous Government. I reassure him and other Members that legal reports have…16 May 2019HANSARD Investigation of VeteransI begin with an apology because, as everybody will no doubt have observed by now, I am not the Secretary of State for Defence—I don’t have her hair. I wanted to explain why there…16 May 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland ExecutiveI was about to sit down. I have one minute, but then I really must conclude.23 Apr 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland ExecutiveI think I just set out the next steps. Clearly, it will then be for the people involved in the talks to bring them to fruition. They have to be led and convened by the Government,…23 Apr 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland ExecutiveI accept that there will be different views about whether some Departments are using those powers to their full extent and others are not. To coin the phrase used by the hon.…23 Apr 2019