Speeches by Benn.

“When they introduced immunity, the previous Government said that it would apply not just to veterans but to others, including terrorists, and that is what the legislation did in those circumstances. There are provisions that apply to witnesses, but the reason for the package is the determination of the Government to pr…”

“The hon. Gentleman, for whom I have great respect, asks what is, in fairness, a totally hypothetical question. [Interruption.] Well it is a hypothetical question. The fact is that it will be for the commission to interpret the legal obligation that will be placed upon it by the legislation, which refers to such reinves…”

“I 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 of changes in the commission to create greater confidence on the part of families to come forward. I have great respect for Sir Declan Morgan …”

“The 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 people in Northern Ireland say when they meet us and talk to us: some will open up and some will weep, and some will not be able to open the…”

“I suppose I should take that praise from the right hon. Gentleman at face value. The fact is that sections 46 and 47 were found to be incompatible, but I have listened, and I hope Members of the House will find me willing to listen. I must, however, correct him, because when it comes to the immunity provisions, they we…”

“I have great respect for the right hon. Member and his service, both as a Minister and in our armed forces. I gently say to him that protections are not being stripped away because they never existed in the first place. It is important for the House to appreciate this: the provisions that were passed in the legacy Act …”

“I 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 Minister for the Armed Forces and I have both spoken to veterans for whom having to go back to Northern Ireland would bring back memories that …”

“I say to the hon. and learned Gentleman that we can remain stuck in the past and think of a thousand reasons why, “This isn’t good enough,” and, “We shouldn’t do this,” or, “We shouldn’t do the other.” The responsibility on the House is to try to find a way of moving forward, because the fact that so many families do n…”

“I 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 him that the Bill will be published shortly, and he will have a chance to read it. I have been accused of many things in my time in public li…”

“The coroner decides whether to accept the PII application. That has been the case for a very long time.”

“It depends. Those that had started—that had actually begun—yes, as I have said repeatedly, they will be restored. How they then unfold depends on the considerations that I have just set out to the Committee, in particular in relation to sensitive information. We know from previous experience that there are coroners who…”

“It would not be right to assume that. What I am putting to the Committee is that there will need to be a mechanism for determining the answer to the very fair question you have asked.”

“I have made it clear that those that had already started will resume. For the others, there are two issues. First, what is the speediest and most effective way of making progress in looking at a particular case? As I have come to learn more about the inquest process in Northern Ireland, I think it is fair to say that i…”

“Would you like to comment on that?”

“I did say, “Fine”. In which case, on the basis of what I have just said to you, Dr Pinkerton, it would seem reasonably sensible to say, “The commission can see a connection there. Can we make that connection ourselves?” We are still reflecting on precisely how that might work. It is very much a demand-led model, and th…”

“I said, “Fine”—I hope I said, “Fine”.”

“We are thinking about that. I think that I am right in saying that one of the requests I received was to say, “We would like to link this investigation to another investigation”. Have I got that right?”

“I certainly have thought about it, because it seems a roundabout route. I get a letter saying, “We would like this to be investigated but we cannot post it direct to the commission so we are going to post it to you. Then you can put another stamp on it and post it on to the commission”. It does not seem very sensible t…”

“The first thing I would say is that information retrieval mechanisms should be available to anyone who wants to come forward and provide information for families. That is important. The presumption is that it will be non-state actors who will be making use of it, but that may not be the case in all circumstances. Secon…”

“That was the basis on which Stormont House was agreed. It is the basis of the ICLVR, which has succeeded in recovering the remains of a number of people murdered and disappeared by the IRA and buried. It is searching again, I think I am right in saying, as we speak, for Columba McVeigh. His family and all the families …”