Speeches by Robinson.

“The Secretary of State will know that in my constituency we have an advanced manufacturing cluster and proudly boast over 5,000 high-skilled jobs in defence, maritime and aerospace. She will understand that last week Boeing concluded its deal to become the successor owner of Short Brothers. Will she confirm that the Go…”

“The Secretary of State is perfectly entitled to pursue a policy desire of removing immunity. Indeed, he knows that my colleagues and I support that position and we found it quite difficult that yet another Government were prepared to offer a different variation of immunity for the perpetrators of terror in Northern Ire…”

“That is interesting, I agree with your perceptions of PCSPs. In Belfast, we have DPCSPs and, before, we were on DPPs. My experience from the perspective of east Belfast, which, as you know, has loyalist working-class areas, is that we had a separate, distinct and more voluntary organisation called PACT—Police and Commu…”

“I am going to ask you to give me a sense of what normalisation from a security perspective looks like for you. I went to the Troubles exhibition in the Imperial War Museum two summers ago. When I walked in, two people came out and said, “Don’t worry about that. It is rubbish”. I walked in and saw this video, which was …”

“There will be a few more blogs coming out of it too, Jonny.”

“Let me go back to what I was supposed to ask you, which is about national security arrangements. You did touch on, with David Smith there, your concerns as to how national security is assessed, measured and monitored. Do you want to just briefly give the Committee your evidence around what your concerns are?”

“Just on this, one of the frustrations that I have picked up from my conversations with folks who are keenly interested in transition is the lack of impetus and the timescale associated with the work that Mrs Ravensbergen has been given. Do you detect that? I know of a significant group who said that they wanted to go, …”

“That is okay on an individual basis, but it does not work when you are trying to bring folk along with you.”

“The best way to herd cats is to pick one at a time and stick them in a sack, rather than trying to keep herding them. We have had transition. You mentioned the republican group. I might disagree with you as to whether it has transitioned successfully. Red Hand is in a much different situation from the UVF, and the UDA …”

“Do you not think that the pendulum has swung the other way? Recruitment to the RUC used to be very much within the working-class community. Now, because of University of Ulster requirements and the admission procedure, it is the preserve of higher levels of social status. Is that right?”

“Does it need to happen in tandem? Why is it that you cannot progress when progression can be made in individual circumstances, as has already happened with other groups?”

“Some of the perceptions do cloud people’s view as to whether it is an appropriate, safe or exciting prospect as a lifetime career. Some of the commentary around the recent recruitment drive talked about 27% of applicants coming from a Catholic community. Some of the negativity around that was driven by the fact that th…”

“Because of the nature of the process, you can apply. Getting out the other side is not aided if you have a lower level of education. Let me put it that way.”

“It is worth checking.”

“Just to be clear, it is not a slight on the University of Ulster, nor is there anything wrong with trying to professionalise or put academic rigour into training. Nursing is exactly the same. You did not require a degree. Now a degree comes at the end of the process. I suspect that there are very few recruits coming th…”

“It is a steep learning curve for some. Jonny, you are smiling at me, but what about cadets as a proposition that was there in Patten and could be a mechanism so that people could be engaged for recruitment? Then I want to move on to the 30%.”

“One that they never want to refer to is the deletion of the rank of chief superintendent, which was recommended. It never seems to get much traction among policing colleagues. There are two that touch on the question that I am going to ask around challenges to recruitment. We know of, and you very often hear, the figur…”

“Good morning to you both. I wanted to ask, on the back of some of the Chair’s comments around the Patten report, how many of the 175 recommendations have yet to be implemented. Do we know?”

“(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the latest publication from Operation Kenova and the Government’s response to its findings.”

“I am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question. I thank the Secretary of State for his response, and for being in the Chamber this afternoon to discuss Operation Kenova. I know that since he was appointed, he has spent an inordinate amount of time on legacy, and I know he is committed to the princi…”