Speeches by Robinson.

“Lord Murphy’s review is looking at some of the practical outworkings of these mechanisms. The impediments that have come up thus far include a lack of political will on the Committee to explore individual issues in depth, which seems to be borne out of whether you are pro or anti-EU, so there is no effective scrutiny o…”

“Lisa, have you had an opportunity to consider the Government’s response to the notification of the pulling of the Stormont brake? What does that say or point to in relation to EU alignment and the Government’s intentions in that regard?”

“I think they are hellbent on as much alignment as they can get for the entirety of the country, and that is their political raison d’être. You mentioned the response to the Stormont brake being pulled, and the Government's response highlights one of the deficits. The brake was pulled because the Chemical Industries Ass…”

“Thank you. Joël, do you have reflections on that discussion about the frailties of the process? Last Thursday, the Government decided to add three new chapters on critical minerals and tariffs emerging from Ukraine and Moldova. They did that without seeking an applicability motion from the Northern Ireland Assembly. So…”

“On Moldova and Ukraine, there was a tariff agreement that was almost a reiteration of a pre-existing agreement, save that we are now incorporated in EU quotas, which was not the case before. Somebody might say that was inconsequential and that it was almost a roll-over, but is it not the case that this UK Government ar…”

“They clearly don’t.”

“No.”

“indicated dissent.”

“May I thank the hon. Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst) for making that reference? Although it is natural that we refer to Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, it is important for Members of this House to recognise that there are also four plaques in this Chamber for Ian Gow, Airey Neave, Robert Bradford and Sir Anthony Be…”

“Thank you. Baroness O’Loan, you have experience of this in many regards—with Police Ombudsman work and with the steering group of Operation Kenova and others. Do you feel that there is an appropriate way in which the NIO should approach the financing of these investigations? Baroness O’Loan: I think there is a way that…”

“Rather than consider this in the round and talk about the potential back and forth between the Executive, the NIO and your own budget, this is an opportunity for us as a Committee to have this inquiry and make recommendations to Government. I would ask for a PSNI response, and then perhaps Baroness O’Loan and Sir Iain,…”

“Good morning, everyone. Chief Constable, I think it is fair to say that you have been brutally but appropriately frank about the financial situation that the PSNI finds itself in. One of your predecessors lamented the fact that the police are spending so much time policing the past, and that is having a fundamental imp…”

“I think all that is accepted. Baroness O’Loan: I just wanted to make the point.”

“But from the perspective of somebody who is in a position, it is not an academic discussion; it is a live, real discussion.”

“The bias, in my view, should be challenged.”

“Baroness O’Loan? Baroness O’Loan: Thank you, Mr Robinson; I am just looking back at my evidence to you. I think I gave evidence to the effect that those who had held very high office in the RUC, PSNI, armed forces, Ministry of Defence, GCHQ or security services should be excluded from any senior role in the legacy body…”

“This is an interesting conversation in an academic sense, but we are not in an academic phase of this discussion. There are individuals in senior positions who have a past, and that is why I find some of this so repugnant. It all seems very personal and counterproductive to the pursuit of a settlement on legacy. Barone…”

“Sir Iain, do you have any brief comments to make on the financing of legacy or do you concur with what has been said?”

“Baroness O’Loan, you mentioned in response to Ms Hanna the political and jurisdictional difficulties around the Omagh inquiry, in particular. We are aware that a memorandum of understanding was published within the last fortnight between the Omagh inquiry itself—its chairman—and the Irish Government. Have you read that…”

“I think you are right to mention that they will have to legislate on the provision of intelligence information. As it stands, the memorandum of understanding is in line with the terms of reference of the Omagh inquiry, which is to assess whether the UK authorities could have prevented the atrocity. There is no introspe…”