Speeches by Benn.

“The hon. Gentleman will be aware of the protections that we have put into legislation following the discussions that we have had with veterans, which I referred to earlier. I join him in again paying tribute to the extraordinarily brave service of all those who served during the time of Operation Banner in trying to pr…”

“The Irish Government do not have a veto. I stood next to the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, and I made commitments on behalf of the British Government and he made commitments on behalf of the Irish Government. All of us in the House who wish families to get the answers for which they have been searching for so long should wel…”

“I will do so when we have been able to inform the families in those cases. I hope that the hon. Gentleman would accept that it is only right and proper that we inform the families first, and then I will make a list available. On the reason for the Loughgall inquest, he will be aware that the former Attorney General sai…”

“I say to the hon. Member that the Saville inquiry report made for very sobering and distressing reading for all of us. Like many Members present, I was in the House to hear the former Prime Minister, Lord Cameron, make that apology to the families—something for which they had campaigned for years and years when justice…”

“It would indeed be possible for them to refer the case to the commission.”

“It is a fundamental principle of our legal system that we accept the verdicts of the courts, even if we may not agree with them. The hon. and learned Gentleman is a distinguished lawyer, and he expresses his views regarding the basis of that prosecution. The only point that I am making is that that decision is made by …”

“Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. What I said was absolutely accurate, as the right hon. Gentleman well knows. On the circumstances of the trial of Mr Downey in relation to the Hyde Park bombing, the reason why the judge called that to a halt was set out. But subsequent statements made it quite clear that tho…”

“I would cite to the right hon. Gentleman the case of Mr John Downey, to whom I have referred in the House before. He received one of those letters, and as a result his trial for the Hyde Park bombings was halted by the judge, but the public record will show that Mr Downey is currently awaiting trial for two murders com…”

“The legacy Act offered a false promise of immunity. It was found to be incompatible with our obligations, and it had no support in Northern Ireland. At some point, Opposition Members must recognise that it had no support there. How can Northern Ireland move forward if the basis of the last Government’s legislation lack…”

“There will be a protocol in relation to protection from cold calling or letters landing on your doormat that you were not expecting. The plan is to have protocols in respect of both the commission and the coroner service that if they wish to speak to a veteran, they will tell the MOD. I suspect that, in practice at the…”

“We stood together—Tánaiste Simon Harris and myself—at Hillsborough on 19 September. I made commitments on behalf of the British Government; he made commitments on behalf of the Irish Government. I have no doubt at all that the Irish Government will honour its commitments. We have already demonstrated, with the publicat…”

“And I didn’t. I was very careful not to say that everything was rosy, because in my preamble I accepted producing those statistics. I entirely get why businesses say, “Well, why are we having to march further up the regulatory hill, when we can see the promised land of the SPS agreement beckoning from the distance?” It…”

“I am not sure I understand the question.”

“It is not a game—it is really practical, in order to bring relief to the people of Northern Ireland.”

“I did indeed, and that is exactly what they said too. There is clear evidence that there are businesses in Northern Ireland that absolutely get the benefit that comes from having dual market access. I think it is all of our responsibility to promote that and to generate the understanding. In my experience, businesses w…”

“There are a number of questions there. I met it last at the East-West Council, and I met individual members—Roger Pollen, for example—when I met the FSB recently. It was presenting its work programme to the East-West Council. I am grateful to all the members for agreeing to take on this task; they have a very important…”

“A lot of the recommendations in Lord Murphy’s report relate to the Government. They are things that are within our control to deal with—anything that is relevant to the operation of the Windsor framework that does not go beyond the essential element that the Windsor framework is here and is the best means we have avail…”

“Businesses decide where they buy from and where they sell to. It is certainly not my understanding of the operation of the Windsor framework that there is a role for anyone else to tell businesses where they should buy from or to whom they should sell their goods. Is there?”

“Always. Q126   Katrina Murray: The answer that you have given, Ms Johnson, is very helpful, because I particularly want to look at the real-life situation. Secretary of State, I think that every time you have come to this Committee to talk about the work of the Department, you have been asked a question about…”

“Fleur, I am going to turn to you at this point.”