Speeches by Hanna.

“I think there is a lot to commend that, and it is the case that you get slightly tweaked iterations of the same speech, back and forth. People perform for their clip rather than having that idealised form of debate. It is important to say that I think we have all had the experience where something is important enough t…”

“But I suppose—sorry.”

“We’re having a debate here.”

“It was great simply that you knew whether or not you were going to get in. Bear in mind that when covid happened, I had been an MP for two or three months; I was still learning the ropes. It meant that you would definitely prepare, and that was back when I was trying to speak on a number of things. I probably spoke on …”

“Look, it was different because it was just sitting in your back bedroom, speaking. It is just not the same as a debate. Like others, I enjoy and welcome interventions and all of that. It was not like for like, but as I say, it meant that there was a degree of assurance that you were going to get in on a debate. I find …”

“Robin had to remind me that there were call lists in the Assembly. Due to the nature of Northern Ireland politics. I was by CV an MLA for four and a half years, but I had nine months on the ball in the Chamber because of two big shutdowns, on either side. Yes, it is slightly more predictable. It is kind of a D’Hondt fo…”

“Does the Secretary of State agree that one of the major deterrents to investment and growth in Northern Ireland is the absence, 20 months after the restoration of Stormont, of a published investment strategy from the Executive with any sort of a road map for investors or businesses on the infrastructure, roads and hous…”

“I do not think anybody could fail to be moved by yesterday’s scenes of hostages finally being reunited with their families and of Gazans being able to contemplate days and nights without hunger and bombardment. I would love to be able to celebrate and believe, as they are doing and as they should be given the space to …”

“I thank the Secretary of State and his team for their work on this package, including the hon. Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson), who was so well regarded by everybody who came across her in Northern Ireland. I also thank the officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin for their work, because that partner…”

“It is in the disclosure MOU.”

“I am not going to insist that you speculate, but people will wonder whether that was a solo run or whether that idea was put in his mind in terms of the thinking and the framing of this issue within the Department. Taking into account that this is not the chief constable’s first rodeo—he has a lengthy background in han…”

“Secretary of State, disclosure, deciding who has the say over what information victims get from those who did the killing, whether in uniform or out, is, you might agree, at the centre of a lot of the paralysis—a lot of what has caused these cases, in many cases, to take decades to resolve. This touches on some of the …”

“We will pick up on disclosure. The families are participating in hope and after decades. I know that it is incumbent on everybody to make sure that their investment of time and energy, and all else, should not be in vain. It is important that they get maximum disclosure from that. Broad clauses such as that, with all t…”

“Do you have any anxiety about what that might cover?”

“There is no question that the Omagh bomb had a cross-border dimension. It is absolutely right, in terms of getting at truth for the families, that it should have disclosure and participation. That is why it was a huge error of the previous Government to establish an inquiry with no legislative vehicle, no defined MOU, …”

“That is very well said, Secretary of State. It is fundamentally about moving forward. People think this is all an obsession with the past, and it is not. It is obsession with the future. I genuinely and truly believe that, if there is disclosure and forthcomingness from the state, which is the bit that you have most co…”

“Can you understand the perception of these increasing layers, rivets and processes that have been put on for decades? Files have been sealed. We have all seen documents with page after page of redactions. People are told, “We will not tell you until you have come back to court”, but the people who go to court have aven…”

“It is a veto.”

“We have discussed the “neither confirm nor deny” policy. The chief constable outlined the way in which, from his experience, it is used liberally, prolifically and, he has said, in a way that has “stopped wrongdoing coming to notice and prevented people from being prosecuted for murder”. We have discussed—I will not re…”

“This is creating the same layers of cases being relitigated and rehashed out, and creating further years of victims having to travel. We have been talking about commentary, but I am also talking about feelings. You will be aware of the family who are having to return to the Supreme Court again. Can you understand how t…”