Speeches by Davies-Jones.

“I welcome that question from my hon. Friend, who, as the MP for Merseyside and Ellesmere Port, has been a vocal champion for the families at every stage of this process. It has been a privilege to work with him and other colleagues on this directly. He is right. This Bill might colloquially be called the Hillsborough l…”

“The primary objective of this Government, and I hope of every Government, is to protect national security and to keep our citizens safe. That is, and will continue to be, of utmost importance to this Government and to this Prime Minister. We will continue to work with the intelligence services. We have had a very colla…”

“My hon. Friend is right. This is a Bill for everyone who has been wronged and lied to and who has been subject to failures of the state when it was meant to protect them. This Bill is for much more than just the Hillsborough families; it is for the victims of the contaminated blood scandal, the LABRATS, the sub-postmas…”

“It is important to put on the record that there is absolutely no carve-out here. The Bill will apply to all public authorities, including the armed forces and all intelligence services. We have worked collaboratively with our armed forces and with the Ministry of Defence in the design and creation of the legislation, a…”

“It gives me great pleasure to confirm that, to take this forward, we have had fantastic collaboration with the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Government. Everyone has collectively been pursuing the aims of the Bill, which has been a true joy for me as a Member of Parliament from a nati…”

“I welcome my hon. Friend’s important question, which goes to the heart of exactly what the Bill is about. It is all very well for us to write fancy words on goatskin and ermine, but if we do not change the culture—the aim at the heart of the Bill—this process will have been pointless. We must change the culture, and th…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his questions and comments, and I can reassure him and everyone again that the duty of candour will apply to all public servants, including the intelligence services and individual agents. That is the intent and it will be in this legislation. We will work with my hon. Friend the Member for L…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and comments. I pay tribute to him for his collaborative work, collegiate tone and all his constructive work in the Bill Committee—the Bill is better for it. The Bill is and always has been above party politics. For anyone to seek to use it for political gain is truly shamefu…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that question, and I want to place on the record my sincere thanks to her for all her tenacious campaigning on behalf of her constituents who have been through the unimaginable pain, trauma and grief of losing their children in the most horrific circumstances and then being denied the truth. …”

“We can only be sure about the evidence we currently have, Chair. On the basis of the evidence that we have had available to us as the Ministry of Justice, 574 out of that 1,002 have been told that they are eligible and within scope. However, those who have been written to and told they are not in scope have not been to…”

“Yes, and I am aware of that. I did say to officials that, if the case was brought up and Mrs Eaton discussed her case, I would feel obliged to respond. Mrs Eaton’s case is a prime example of how the data has failed us and we have had to get more data and evidence for the case. My understanding is that Mrs Eaton was tol…”

“Well, I would accept that one person who has had to go through the arduous issue of having to provide more information is one too many. However, as you will be aware, the requirements of the Act are quite strict and therefore quite limiting on us as the Ministry of Justice. Anyone who feels like their application has b…”

“Yes.”

“I am very conscious not to talk about individual claims here.”

“Yes. Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the Committee. I was present for the last two sessions, but I have been following the Committee quite closely all day, and the direct testimony of victims in particular has been harrowing and difficult to hear. When we talk about figures and numbers, it is important to remember t…”

“Yes, that is correct, so it is out of the 1,002—around 3%.”

“It is an error rate of around 3%—around 30 people out of the 1,002.”

“Yes, and to date there have been none relating to Capture.”

“Numbers or more evidence showing that that was not the case, as was the case in Horizon. As I said, over 100 were overturned by the courts.”

“That is correct. However, Mrs Eaton was not included in that figure. She has now been added to it.”