My Lords, the barbaric attack in north Belfast on Monday evening was truly sickening and our thoughts are with the victim. Will the Minister join me in commending the bravery of the public who intervened and the swift response of the Police Service of Northern Ireland? Does she agree that nothing ju…
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for making herself available today to take this Statement and answer questions on the important Supreme Court judgment; I appreciate that she has a very busy portfolio, so I am grateful.
Can the Minister tell the House what the urgency was that required the S…
My Lords, there are many parts of the Windsor Framework, and every time I have a conversation or a briefing about it, there is always something new, and a new part of that world. However, puffins was not where I believed today’s debate was going to go. I hate to disappoint the noble Lord, Lord Empey…
My Lords, a 164-page report really should have been accompanied by an Oral Statement by the Government in Parliament. The report contains much uncomfortable reading, and our sympathies are with those who lost loved ones. We also recognise again the immense role of the RUC, the Armed Forces and the i…
My Lords, as part of the small team that helped my noble friend Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton draft his apology for Bloody Sunday, I stand by every word in that Statement. But in the case of soldier F, 15 years after the 12-year Saville inquiry, the judge was clear that the evidence presented fell…
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for repeating the Secretary of State’s Statement. At the outset, it is right that in approaching this issue, first and foremost in our thoughts are the victims and survivors of the Troubles. Over 3,500 lives were lost, tens of thousands more were maimed and in…
The noble Lord knows the arrangement with respect to Northern Ireland and its place within the United Kingdom. On his broader point about the importance of the Armed Forces, I was in Newtownards to celebrate and mark Armed Forces Day, and there were over 50,000 people there. I know the noble Lord ha…
The noble Lord makes a genuinely important point about how sport should be used as a vehicle for bringing people together. There is a responsibility for the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, and all local politicians and local community activists to make sure that is true.
We all want to see all power and strength to Yorkshire. None of us would be without our Yorkshire Tea, would we? It is very important. At the moment, local government is engaged not only in local government reorganisation but in the devolution project. We will consider whether any further realignmen…
My Lords, I rise to give strong support to the amendment moved so ably by my noble friend. Like other noble Lords, I do so on the basis of some experience.
In November 2021, I was invited to join the Government as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office. I had been i…
First, I thank all noble Lords—and the noble Baroness—for their support for the extension of the non-jury trial provisions.
Before I move on to the substance of what we have been talking about, I want to reference something that the noble Lord, Lord Caine, rightly raised: today is the anniversary o…
Like magic, a piece of paper has arrived that confirms that the Secretary of State—
No, I will not, because once again I emphasise that this was a decision made by the Government in order to be able to invest in the over 93% of our children who are educated in state schools. On the point about school closures, yes, every closure of a school is sad; I can understand why people will …
My Lords, the recent scenes of civil disorder that we have seen in Ballymena have no place in Northern Ireland. The attacks on police officers as they work to keep people safe, and on property, are wholly unacceptable. I express my sincere thanks to the PSNI, the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue S…
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his comments, especially about our incredibly brave security and police personnel, who have been running towards danger, as many of us have watched on television over the last 48 hours. The noble Lord raises an appropriate point about conversations between the Se…
My Lords, the noble Lord knows the answer to the first question. With regards to conversations with the Irish Government, he will be aware that we are working closely with them as the co-guarantors of the Good Friday agreement. At the recent BIIGC, both Governments reflected on the positive and cons…
My Lords, I am extremely grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, for asking this Question for Short Debate. I agree very much with the noble Lord, Lord Caine, that the terrorist actions of the IRA could never be justified. Therefore I begin by reflecting on some of his points and by reiterating t…
My Lords, clearly the comments attributed to the band Kneecap go beyond anything that is remotely acceptable in a democratic society. While this is the worst example that has come to light, it is the latest in a line of incidents which, in 2022, saw them commission and unveil a mural of a petrol-bom…
My Lords, as somebody who lives in Leeds—I was in Headingley on Friday evening— I add my own support and thanks to the police and emergency services for their very swift responses, commend the bravery of those members of the public who intervened and wish the two women who were harmed a very speedy …