Speeches by Benn.

“The 40% of time when the Executive has not been functioning guarantees that there will be no progress on what we have been discussing for the last 10 minutes. That is very clear indeed. Notwithstanding the challenges of operating a mandatory power-sharing system, in the end this is about political choices that the Exec…”

“Do you mean a way of calculating it?”

“It is a very fair question. It was £32 million for a whole load of years, so I do not know what criteria that revealed. All I know is that, when I came into this job, it had been stuck there for a long time, and we have given the PSNI an increase. That is the criterion—I thought it should have more money and we managed…”

“The criteria for what?”

“I don’t think one is relying on the additional security funding to keep the PSNI going. It spends that money on a number of things, including operational capability, in some cases closed protection, site security, specialist capabilities and terrorist investigations—the kind of things you would expect it to be using th…”

“What the exercise consists of is Treasury officials working with colleagues in the Northern Ireland civil service and going through the budgets of all the Departments. They are understandably requesting information. The aim is to try to finish the process by the end of this month, although that may be a bit ambitious. …”

“There is a balance to be struck here, and the Government are working very hard to strike the appropriate balance. The situation that we found ourselves in most recently was that the Executive came to us and said, “We are heading for a very significant overspend.” All Governments have an obligation to balance the budget…”

“I have not seen the detail. What did he say was disjointed?”

“It is in recognition of the security situation in Northern Ireland. It has been provided over a number of years. It was higher in the past. It was then at £32 million from 2015-16 through to 2024-25. When this Government were elected, we took the decision to increase the amount, which is why it is at £37.8 million now.…”

“Of course, gladly.”

“I will have to write to you about that, because I am not represented on it. I cannot recall having seen something about it, but can I provide you with some further information? The perm sec is otherwise engaged today given current events, but otherwise she would be able to answer your question. I am sorry.”

“Sometimes, the wheels of government take time to churn. Especially when it comes to funding, there are particular fiscal events—to use the jargon—when you have an opportunity. We were successful in putting in a bid, which resulted in the £16.5 million.”

“It has raised the profile of the opportunities for trade right across the UK as a whole. It was the implementation of a commitment arising from “Safeguarding the Union”. We have now provided some funding to Intertrade UK so it can take its work forward. It is planning to run a series of events. Some people look at trad…”

“I will kick off. The stability, notwithstanding the difference of view a moment ago, is an important foundation. I have just given some of the statistics for how the economy in Northern Ireland is faring, which is certainly encouraging. On the funding that I identified in answer to the first question put to me, I shoul…”

“On that, you and I will probably disagree. The point I was making is that if you look at the Northern Ireland economy, which is the foundation of the prosperity, it is one of the strongest parts of the UK economy. As you know, economic activity was up 2.9% over the year to quarter three. It has the lowest unemployment.…”

“I will respond to that question about the funding, then turn to Matthew on the specific point that you raise about public services transformation. What are the Government doing? First, there is the record settlement that arose out of the spending review last summer—an average of £19.3 billion over the three years. Seco…”

“There has been a great deal of speculation, going back a very long time, about the identity of the alleged agent known as “Stakeknife”, but that is for others to do. The Government have a very particular responsibility in relation to “neither confirm nor deny”, because it is not just about historical matters; it is abo…”

“Matthew brings energy to the task every single day. I got the impression, though, Mr Hoare, that you were talking about the Government of the United Kingdom as a whole, not just in relation to Northern Ireland. I would not accept what you have just said. I suppose my theme for the day is about each of us doing our bit.…”

“I am sure we will.”

“I do not think that is a fair characterisation at all of what the Government have been doing. I set out in answer to the first question put to me today the steps the Government have taken to assist in terms of resources. But nothing—nothing—takes away from the responsibility that the Northern Ireland Executive have wit…”