Speeches by Robinson.

“Yesterday, in an atypical fit of pique, the Secretary of State failed to answer my question as to whether the Attorney General, Lord Hermer, had been excluded from the legislation or had personally recused himself. So today I have an easier question. Given that the Secretary of State yesterday highlighted the protectio…”

“First, I welcome the Minister to his place and to the Department, and I welcome the new shadow spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats. I personally thank the hon. Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson) for the role she played in her time in the Northern Ireland Office. That the announcement with the Irish Government was ma…”

“Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I think it is appropriate that on behalf of the Democratic Unionist party, and indeed on behalf of all Northern Ireland parliamentarians, I extend our condolences to the Liberal Democrats and to the colleagues who knew Mr Campbell better than I did. I first came across Sir Mi…”

“Through the Secretary of State, may I thank the Minister for Digital Government and Data, who is sitting to her left? He was in Belfast last week and engaged with the Minister for Communities in the Northern Ireland Executive. He will know, and she should know, that our principled and practical objections to this propo…”

“In November 2022, the hon. Members for Widnes and Halewood (Derek Twigg) and for Angus and Perthshire Glens (Dave Doogan) and I were in Ukraine with the Defence Committee when there was an onslaught of rockets fired into that country, one of which errantly fell into Poland and killed two Polish nationals. On that day, …”

“Over the last 10 days in my constituency, there have been five of the most appalling and violent acts by self-styled vigilante groups. In each case, they livestream on Facebook Live and TikTok LIVE. Those videos disappear, and the creators remain anonymous. There will be a criminal justice response, but may I ask the M…”

“It is the same issue. The terms of reference are framed around answering whether UK state authorities could have done more to prevent the atrocity. That means that it is outwith the terms of reference as to whether the Irish authorities could have done anything to prevent the atrocity, which is why Lord Justice Horner …”

“With the greatest respect, Secretary of State, you just read out one paragraph of the memorandum of understanding, which reiterates the frustration in all of this. It is about identifying what UK state authorities could have done to prevent the atrocity at Omagh. While you were presenting it as significant progress, an…”

“Will the Irish Government’s position have progressed in relation to the Omagh inquiry from the MOU to more substantive and practical engagement with the issue of the Omagh bomb, rather than satisfying the terms of reference for a UK inquiry?”

“My question to you was, “Are we to assume that the 24 that have not commenced will go straight to the commission?” Not so, you say.”

“Good morning to you all. Secretary of State, what issues remain outstanding for agreement with the Irish Government?”

“Are there any outstanding issues for agreement, or has agreement been reached?”

“Secretary of State, when the legacy Act was passed, in 2023, I think there were 38 inquests that were stopped. Of those, 24 really had not got going and 14 were in train but had not concluded their findings. Are we to understand that the 24 that have not yet commenced will go straight to the commission?”

“Some of that politically is very much, “An individual served in the RUC and we don’t like him. He served in the RUC, he lived in the north-west, he is a Catholic and we don’t like him”. That is the nub of some of the commentary that has been made, not by everybody. There are others that just raise perceptions around co…”

“I agree, but it is the prejudicial part of the comments that have been made and the fact that that may impinge upon confidence. You have mentioned that somebody may need to recuse themselves if there is a need to encourage confidence in the process. My fear is that unless we repudiate the prejudicial comments that have…”

“Secretary of State, you will know that, both during our inquiry and in a lot of public commentary, there have been quite a number of comments that are deeply prejudicial and, at times, personal when considering the issues around conflict of interest. I have discussed with you in the past my frustration, it seems, at so…”

“That is to answer one question, but not to answer the other side of a very important coin.”

“Secretary of State, the Omagh families will be sitting there today and will have only taken from your answers that you are not doing anything to push the Irish Government to create a parallel inquiry or, through this negotiation, encouraging them to engage in a way that does not answer whether it was solely the respons…”

“Is that the sum total?”

“You will accept that John Downey, the Hyde Park bomber, escaped prosecution on the basis of a letter of comfort. He was not prosecuted because of the letter of comfort. The letters of comfort were not in isolation either. They came on the back of prisoner releases, a commitment that anyone convicted would only serve tw…”