Speeches by Robinson.

“I am quite glad I asked that the way I did then, otherwise it would have been quite embarrassing. How do you now view the decision during Denton to share the names of alleged paramilitaries with victims’ families, given some of the issues that have arisen and, I understand, been before the courts?”

“How much is that referenced in the report?”

“The Prime Minister will be aware of the grave concerns that abound around the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, particularly among veterans and those who stand up and speak out for the interests of those who defend our nation. They have read the six protections in the Bill and they do not see them as such: they offer no …”

“The Minister will also know of the pressures that affect our health service in Northern Ireland. Alarmingly, we understand that the European Union is going to ban the sale of antimicrobial drugs without prescription. Although that should not apply in Northern Ireland, it will. Some 60,000 products are sold over the cou…”

“The Minister will be aware that the Finance Minister yesterday, in an ill-considered way, published his budget—not an agreed budget—for consultation. The Minister will know the pressures associated with that decision and he will know the challenges that brings for politics in Northern Ireland. One thing that has been a…”

“It requires legal change, but I think that legal change needs to occur. I could go to each of you, as I have a series of questions that colleagues want me to ask, but I am abusing their patience in asking these questions, although I think that planning is a huge inhibitor to economic growth.”

“I think that is fair. I am just making the point that it is 17 years on, and it is a total disgrace that a decision has not been made thus far. Yes, there are competing interests and aspirations, and I get that—I do not think it is fair to draw you in that over and above the corporate position of your council. I want t…”

“In my mind, there needs to be a statutory bar that says, “If you are a statutory consultee, and you do not respond within four weeks, it is a nil response”, and you then move on without them. There is another aspect to this, which SOLACE has a role in: the shared environmental services. They are now introducing conside…”

“Thank you; that is helpful as a scene-setter. To be fair to colleagues, I will ask you a triplet of questions of the five that you are supposed to get. You can answer them as briefly and succinctly as you wish. The Industrial Strategy Council in Northern Ireland does not have a representative. Should it have? Should th…”

“Good morning to you all. Tim, you represent NILGA, but obviously, you have more knowledge about ABC than anywhere, and we have Fermanagh and Omagh, and Antrim and Newtownabbey. Do your three respective councils use to the fullest extent all your economic development powers? I don’t mind who goes first.”

“Thank you very much for that. Do either of you have anything to add? It’s comprehensive enough for me.”

“If we are going to talk about economic growth, it is impossible to avoid planning as an inhibitor to growth. I know you are not collectively or individually solely responsible for planning; there are obviously regional aspects to it. Warren Stephens, the US ambassador, gave an address to the Northern Ireland chamber of…”

“I think it is clear that the Foreign Secretary supports the end, if not the means. I think it is also clear that she accepts the outcome, though she cannot bring herself—nor can the Government—to condone the actions of President Trump. But today we learned that the Chinese have warned against touching Venezuela’s oil r…”

“The Secretary of State will know that in my constituency we have an advanced manufacturing cluster and proudly boast over 5,000 high-skilled jobs in defence, maritime and aerospace. She will understand that last week Boeing concluded its deal to become the successor owner of Short Brothers. Will she confirm that the Go…”

“The Secretary of State is perfectly entitled to pursue a policy desire of removing immunity. Indeed, he knows that my colleagues and I support that position and we found it quite difficult that yet another Government were prepared to offer a different variation of immunity for the perpetrators of terror in Northern Ire…”

“One that they never want to refer to is the deletion of the rank of chief superintendent, which was recommended. It never seems to get much traction among policing colleagues. There are two that touch on the question that I am going to ask around challenges to recruitment. We know of, and you very often hear, the figur…”

“Good morning to you both. I wanted to ask, on the back of some of the Chair’s comments around the Patten report, how many of the 175 recommendations have yet to be implemented. Do we know?”

“There will be a few more blogs coming out of it too, Jonny.”

“That is interesting, I agree with your perceptions of PCSPs. In Belfast, we have DPCSPs and, before, we were on DPPs. My experience from the perspective of east Belfast, which, as you know, has loyalist working-class areas, is that we had a separate, distinct and more voluntary organisation called PACT—Police and Commu…”

“I am going to ask you to give me a sense of what normalisation from a security perspective looks like for you. I went to the Troubles exhibition in the Imperial War Museum two summers ago. When I walked in, two people came out and said, “Don’t worry about that. It is rubbish”. I walked in and saw this video, which was …”