Speeches by Phillips.

“To the first question, the PSNI budget—it is seemingly a cop-out—is decided by the Northern Ireland Executive. On your broader issue around police funding, I would like the police to have the moon on a stick, with safeguards attached. Policing funding, certainly in the UK and England, has been increased by over £1 bill…”

“I have met Jon Boutcher a number of times and spent some time with the PSNI while I was over there. I was very impressed with some of the really specific targeted operations that they were doing around sexual offending online and others. Very early on in my tenure, Jon Boutcher asked to speak to me. I had a meeting wit…”

“Yes, me too.”

“Yes, of course. People have a million priorities, and I would be lying if I said that sometimes it was not challenging to make this be the priority that I would want it to be. The greatest ally in that has been the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister really understands and cares about violence against women and girls be…”

“I shall start supporting them. I have no allegiance elsewhere in this sporting game.”

“I shall try to visit.”

“Good old Ulster Rugby.”

“One of the most important things that I want to achieve with the strategy is the idea that it is your business. It is important for sports clubs to recognise that, for young women, having to use the same changing areas as men after them immediately creates a barrier of, “I don’t know whether I can go there because I do…”

“I absolutely agree. When I was running refuge accommodation, we were moving from the era of everybody living in communal refuges to a new era of people needing separate accommodation. Some of that was about the rules on safeguarding with regard to which children could and could not live together, and about boys over th…”

“Not to me, but to others.”

“I am going to Sky Sports tomorrow, so that will give you an idea. Believe you me, I hope they are not going to ask me any questions about sport. It is very important and a huge part of the Government’s strategy, especially when you are talking about post-16, really, and opportunities for congregation. We do not just wa…”

“I will be down in Devon and Cornwall next week for both business and pleasure—I have turned business into a bit of pleasure as the recess comes along. I would like to thank Airbnb for that. [Laughter.] The issue of need and how we commission services in rural areas has never been properly considered. On the basis of a …”

“It is a huge part of our strategy. It is a big part of the strategy in Northern Ireland as well, notwithstanding the difference in complexity—although not always that different, I know, as somebody who has had people campaigning outside the schools in their constituency—around the education system in a post-conflict so…”

“The answer to that question is that I do not know, which is a rare thing for a person to say. There is brilliant practice and evidence-based practice that goes on across the United Kingdom, but I do not know. Some places in Northern Ireland may also have, usually, good local services coming up with schemes around healt…”

“If I say to officials in the Home Office “How is this in Northern Ireland?” I do not feel that there is any barrier to ensuring that we can communicate with either the Executive or the people in Northern Ireland. I have to say—I am not just saying this because you are questioning me and you are all here—that the repres…”

“You make a really important point. We have what was called the domestic homicide review system in England. Wales is, incidentally, doing something slightly different, but it is in line with the Government in England. We have DHRs that are done. In Northern Ireland I think there is a similar DHR system which is slightly…”

“They are not that specific, yes.”

“It is in England. Because we have meetings coming out of our ears, I do not want people coming to a specific meeting about education if it is completely devolved, for example. In the last inter-ministerial group we had on child sex abuse online, for example, the Ministers from Scotland were on the inter-ministerial gro…”

“We have an inter-ministerial group on violence against women and girls. I do sometimes feel like such groups are coming out of my ears though.”

“Or in the tearoom.”