Speeches by Benn.

“To be clear, having no need to travel would relate to inquests or hearings of the commission. If I may, you have raised a number of points in putting that question. Let us go back to the start. In the case of Mr Downey—this is a matter of public record—the court reached its verdict in relation to the Hyde Park bombing,…”

“No, it is not.”

“It does matter, yes.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I am grateful to the organisers of the petition, to the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) for his opening remarks, and to all Members who have spoken. In the very short time I have, I will try to answer as many points as possible.…”

“I did not say it was illegal; I said it was unlawful. I shall come directly to the right hon. Gentleman’s point. Look at the facts: of the 250,000 veterans who served so bravely in Operation Banner, as we heard, the number who have been prosecuted for offences has been very small. The Centre for Military Justice record…”

“I am not going to give way. The other challenge that all of us have to face is the lack of confidence in the Act on the part of communities in Northern Ireland, and in the commission it created, which we will seek to reform so that it is more capable of commanding confidence for those who are searching for answers. We …”

“I am afraid that because of the time I am not able to. That is why, as well as listening carefully to veterans, which we are doing, we also need to listen to the many families who lost loved ones, including the families of British service personnel who served so bravely. More than 200 families of UK military personnel …”

“Legacy is hard. This is the unfinished business of the Good Friday agreement.”

“If the right hon. Gentleman will bear with me, we have also heard it said that terrorists are not being prosecuted and have somehow been given immunity. I want to challenge that, both because the only thing that gave terrorists immunity was the legacy Act, and because during the troubles an estimated 25,000 to 35,000 r…”

“I echo the hon. Gentleman’s point, having driven along the road myself. My notes helpfully say that average speeds on the A75 and A77 are lower than on several other Scottish trunk roads—you can say that again. I think that the Secretary of State for Scotland has written to him and offered a meeting to discuss the issu…”

“The Union connectivity review recognised the importance of the A75 and A77 roads for passengers and freight between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The Government have therefore allocated up to £5 million to support a feasibility study into bypass options for the A75 and have also encouraged the Scottish Government…”

“It certainly would. It is a rare agreement that invites so much praise, certainly across the range of opinion in Northern Ireland. We all want to see it progress as quickly as possible, so we have got to turn it into a legal text and sort out our own legal rulebook. The benefits will then flow for businesses right acro…”

“On the agricultural machinery point that the hon. Member raises, if the machinery is coming into and staying in Northern Ireland, it can be brought in, subject to cleaning, with a plant health label that is relatively straightforward. Only if it might move into Ireland would it need to go through the red lane. I will m…”

“It is the requirement of the Windsor framework, which the last Government negotiated, to address the basic problem of having two different systems and an open border. Everybody knows that agricultural machinery needs to be properly cleaned. If that is the case and the appropriate label, which is straightforward, is app…”

“The answer to the right hon. Gentleman is that it is additional.”

“We will continue to consult as widely as possible in taking forward the agreement that has been reached and outlined with the European Union. There is help available for small businesses. It is important that it is as effective and easy to understand for those who seek to trade. I will look carefully at the report that…”

“Goods flow freely from Northern Ireland to the rest of the United Kingdom. Further, one of the great advantages of the trade agreements that have been negotiated with India, the United States of America and the European Union is, in the case of India, a significant reduction of tariffs on whisky, which will benefit pro…”

“There are other small businesses that are able to trade perfectly—[Interruption.] The point that the hon. Gentleman needs to recognise is that if some small businesses manage to move their goods from GB to Northern Ireland, others can do so. In the end, it is a decision for an individual business where it chooses to se…”

“I was interested by that observation in the FSB report because, as the House will testify, I spend a lot of my time extolling the virtues of the dual market access that Northern Ireland has as a result of the Windsor framework. I meet companies as I travel around Northern Ireland who tell me about the benefits of it th…”

“I regularly meet the Northern Ireland Finance Minister to discuss funding. The Government will provide Northern Ireland with a record settlement of £19.3 billion per year on average—the largest in the history of devolution—and the Executive will also continue to receive over 24% more per person, in line with their inde…”