Speeches by Benn.

“The provisions relating to a border poll are clearly set out in the Good Friday agreement. There is one criterion that governs such a decision, and at the moment there is no evidence that there is a majority for a constitutional change in Northern Ireland. I commit to the House, as I have done before, that I will uphol…”

“I agree with my hon. Friend. The Government have taken a decision to enable the Executive, if they wish to do so, to agree a multi-year budget. Discussions are taking place, we have had the open book exercise and I hope that the Northern Ireland Executive, given those considerable additional resources, will be able to …”

“I join my hon. Friend in what she says about the recent conviction for the brutal murder of Natalie McNally, and the deaths of Amy Doherty and Ellie Flanagan. It is a source of enormous sadness and—I would hope—shame that Northern Ireland is the one part of the United Kingdom where it is most dangerous to be a woman, i…”

“We have already made that clear in the protections that are contained in the Bill, including the right to give evidence remotely, application for anonymity and no cold calling. Veterans have welcomed the fact that we are now planning to put those protections in place.”

“Any citizen of the United Kingdom, as the hon. Member is well aware, has a right to bring a judicial review against any decision that has been made. It is for the courts to determine that. Having seen what the original judge said in throwing out the case, and given the fact that the inquest found that the use of force …”

“I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that economic growth is the answer to many of the questions that the Executive and the Assembly are facing. Northern Ireland, with its dual market access, along with its innovation and ingenuity, has an extraordinary opportunity. Being in government requires taking difficult decisi…”

“I can assure the hon. Gentleman that there will be genuine protections. On the question of legal aid in Northern Ireland, that is a matter, as he well knows, for the Northern Ireland Executive. Given the case that he has cited, I was not aware that the previous Government at any point considered removing the right to b…”

“I do not accept the right hon. Gentleman’s characterisation of what the Government are doing. We have brought economic stability to the country after the disaster of the previous Government, we have given record support to the Northern Ireland Executive and we are working through our negotiations with the EU to reduce …”

“I am always happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, and the House will have an opportunity in due course to consider the amendments that he has put forward. Most of the victims I have met—I am sure the same is true for the victims and families he has met—are looking for answers. Most of them recognise that, with the passage …”

“I do not accept the hon. and learned Gentleman’s argument in relation to the Good Friday agreement. When it comes to the Windsor framework, those who advocated to leave the European Union did not think about the consequences for having two entities and one open border and how we could ensure that goods crossing the bor…”

“It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi), who chairs the Select Committee with such distinction, on securing the debate. I thank the members of the Select Committee who have come today, including those who I know have made…”

“I am not joining in with this one.”

“How very exciting for them. They are clearly enjoying themselves!”

“The Fiscal Council has a different role; it is not undertaking the open-book exercise, because that is done by Treasury officials. The Fiscal Council has recently produced a report on the current state of the finances, and I look forward to meeting Sir Robert Chote again soon. It has a job to advise if it is requested …”

“I definitely wouldn’t use the word reprimand. The answer is that it depends on what the open-book exercise identifies. We will need to let the process take its course. I very much welcome it, because we hear people say, “Well, I’ve got all these pressures,” and, as I indicated in answer to the previous question, what e…”

“To look at the books relating to all areas of Northern Ireland Executive expenditure.”

“It is Treasury officials.”

“As I was trying to explain to the Committee, it is not a budget allocation. There are two separate things here. There is the budget, which is set in the spending reviews and the figures are published, and what is called the cash requirement, which is the money that is actually transferred to the account. Someone listen…”

“Absolutely.”

“If I may add one point, there is an example of the issue you alluded to at the beginning of your question, Ms Eastwood, about the different Government Departments. The report by the inquiry on how covid was dealt with and what Lady Justice Hallett had to say had lessons for all parts of the United Kingdom—all. But I th…”