Speeches by Benn.

“This is the case currently, and that is another misunderstanding about the current ICRIR. It already has the capacity, if it encounters evidence that it might think capable of leading to prosecution, to pass that over to the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland, and the Public Prosecution Service looks at tha…”

“That is a really important question. The Government are allocating £250 million to the work of the commission, but a bit of that will apply to part 4 of the existing Legacy Act. Let me take this opportunity to make it clear: part 4 of the 2023 Act remains. People look at the Bill and say, “What’s happened to part 4?” I…”

“That is reassuring.”

“That is a very good question. I would have thought that that would be welcomed—that somebody would not be capable of being appointed where others may perceive that it seems like a conflict of interest. We will have to work out in the appointment process exactly how that provision is applied. It is something for the pan…”

“In terms of the commissioner roles and the two co-directors of investigation, it will be a new start. I will review the job descriptions. There will be an invitation for applications. Those who are currently serving are of course perfectly free, as I think I said to you, to apply if they wish to do so. With the taking …”

“Yes, we can. Simon Harris himself has said that the MoU is in place, and they have committed to passing legislation to enable witnesses to come and give evidence to Omagh in time for the next session, which I understand starts in March. So that is a commitment that they have given, and I am sure that, in line with all …”

“That is a very important question. As you will be aware, the ICIR was the subject of the last agreement that was reached between the UK and Irish Governments back in 2014 in Stormont House. What is the purpose of the ICIR? It is to say: might there be another means by which people are prepared to come forward and say w…”

“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…”

“The clauses that would implement the protections in relation to veterans and others are clauses 30, 31, 36, 51, 54, 56, 69 and 84.”

“The Government are absolutely committed to the European convention on human rights. I very much regret that the current Opposition have moved away from that historic support, which goes right back to Winston Churchill, as the hon. Member has set out. It is highly irresponsible to suggest picking away at one of the esse…”

“That is no doubt an issue that the House will discuss as the Bill is considered in detail. I think that “compelling” and “essential” is a pretty high bar. It will be for the commission to interpret that, but no doubt we will continue to discuss it.”

“The legacy commission has the right to receive all information that it requires to do its job. We are proposing in the legislation to amend the arrangements for disclosure, to require the Secretary of State to conduct a balancing exercise, which was not in the previous Act, and to require the Secretary of State to give…”

“The provisions that apply exclusively and only to service personnel are: first, the arrangements to prevent cold calling—a protocol will be agreed with the commission in relation to that—and secondly, not being required to rehearse the history when the Ministry of Defence would be perfectly capable of providing that in…”

“It certainly does make it more important, because it is a piece of legislation that has not worked and did not command support in Northern Ireland. If legislation is passed in this House that does not command support in Northern Ireland, how on earth can we expect the answers that families are seeking, which the right …”

“On the first issue that the right hon. Gentleman raises, for anyone who was serving a sentence for a troubles-related offence, part of the Good Friday agreement was that they were released after two years. The people of Northern Ireland voted for that by about 70%. It was part of the agreement. On his second point, the…”

“I know from my discussions with the commission that it is working hard with the 100 or so cases that it is already dealing with to go through that process and start producing reports for families. We know that many families have decided not to engage with the commission because they objected to the legacy Act and, in p…”

“There certainly will, because with the commission as it is now and with the commission as it will be reformed by the troubles Bill, any incident relating to the troubles anywhere in the United Kingdom can be referred into the commission. The M62 coach bombing, the Kingsmill massacre and the Warrenpoint massacre are all…”

“I have had many such discussions, as I indicated in my statement to the House yesterday, and those have informed the package of veterans protections contained in the Bill, which the Government have set out.”

“The 2023 legacy Act was rejected by our domestic courts, as well as by victims and survivors across Northern Ireland, not least because it proposed giving immunity from prosecution for the most appalling terrorist crimes. Any incoming Government would have had to fix this mess, and that is what this Government are seek…”

“The Government are committed to safeguarding Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market and to implementing the Windsor framework in good faith. The internal market scheme enables traders to move goods from Great Britain into Northern Ireland tariff-free and, since May, with significantly reduced paperwork and …”