Speeches by Robinson.

“I caution the Secretary of State that he should be adhering to the three-stranded approach, and where it is appropriate to talk to the Irish Government, it should be within that context. He should not be subjugating our responsibilities on legacy, but he should not be letting the Irish Government get away with their ob…”

“The Secretary of State will know that, as part of a Northern Ireland Affairs Committee inquiry, we have been engaging with victims across Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom to assist them in their quest for some personal closure, truth and justice on legacy. Veterans, like many other victims, have indi…”

“Successive Governments and successive Parliaments have caused unnecessary and at times intolerable damage to our Union. We recognise the reductions in some checks on some issues, but can the Prime Minister explain why, if animals and animal products are now suitable to come to Northern Ireland free of checks, the Europ…”

“Commissioner, I was going to ask you the same question anyway; I can see that you are keen to answer. Can I ask for a view, please, on behalf of the commission, on the reintroduction of inquests?”

“Mr Albiston, you were talking earlier in answer to Ms Murray about people’s perceptions and how two individuals who come from different backgrounds could read the same material and will take from it what they wish. You will know from your experience in Northern Ireland that, since the Belfast agreement, there is an awf…”

“It is really just for other panellists at this stage to outline your view of perception and whether it is important to consider families’ perception of independence, or lack thereof, but then to contextualise that. Should the NIO be stronger, as in my view it should, in pushing back on perception based on prejudice?”

“Yes, correct. My point is that he is appointed to that role. My point is that he is appointed to the role of chief constable through a panel including a former member of the IRA. Do you mind if we open that up?”

“It has been raised since that evidence session that we had—because there was a bit of surprise, particularly given that a lot of this seems to focus around one, or potentially two, individuals, is quite personal and does not feel legal, safe or sensible to me, and certainly not to others within any normal course of how…”

“Are you able to share with us the basis of that understanding? Is that through consultation with the NIO? Is that through public commentary from the NIO?”

“That is quite interesting. Some of the criticism around ICRIR and the need for inquests is what you have mentioned: next of kin participation, legal representation, an independent judge, the inability for anyone from the Executive side of Government to rewrite findings or to be the conduit through which findings are pu…”

“Mr Schmidt, I am going to ask you the same question about your view on the reintroduction of inquests. Drawing on what Mr Holmes said, there has been recent commentary around a number of inquests that highlights the fact that their role is to establish what happened, where it happened, when it happened, how it happened…”

“Good morning, gentlemen. Mr Holmes, can I ask you to outline why you would be opposed to the reintroduction of inquests? What impact do you think the reintroduction of inquests will have on dealing with the legacy of the past?”

“Mr Albiston, do you have a view from the Retired Police Officers Association on the reintroduction of inquests?”

“That is important. Drawing on some of the comments you made, Mr Albiston, you talked about the coronial process and how some inquests may be infected by the person conducting the process, the coroner. I do not think that it would be helpful to talk about distinctions between individual judges in this forum. Casting our…”

“The proposal for a multilateral bank is a fascinating, but part of this debate has been to focus on some of the inhibitors on providing private finance and investment in the United Kingdom. The situation is getting worse with large-scale pension funds. My hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) mentioned th…”

“Do you agree, Lisa, that there seems to be a number of issues at play here? One is that a lot of people talk of AI and do not really understand what they are talking about. That is true of the UK Government; they know that they will have to legislate or regulate in this area but are not entirely sure how, so they are a…”

“Good morning, Dr Dunbar. Thank you for joining us this morning. You are not a member of the veterinary medicines working group—is that right?”

“You are a member?”

“Reflecting on what you have said this morning, are you outlining that you do not have information gleaned from that veterinary medicines working group, or that you are not in a position to share that information this morning?”

“Okay. If I put some things to you, would you tell me if they sound wildly inaccurate?”