Speeches by Benn.

“It is undertaking investigations as we speak. The courts have found some things that it says are not compliant in relation to representation for families in the public hearings and what it has called the EIP in the past, and on disclosure. I told the House last December what I proposed to do in respect of those two thi…”

“The lack of trust on the part of quite a lot of people in Northern Ireland in the commission, in the form and circumstances in which it was created, stems from two things. One is the wider context. Everything else shut down. Inquests that were taking place were closed. Civil cases stopped. In respect of civil cases, th…”

“It depends in what circumstances that was operated. I should add that, as well as providing information, there is also an undertaking to ensure that witnesses from Ireland can be called. That, too, is extremely welcome. It is a very long memorandum of understanding and reflects the unprecedented nature of the co-operat…”

“That is something that the Irish have put into the MOU. One would have to ask them the question.”

“Is that in the MOU?”

“Of course I have discussed with the Irish Government their position on having their own way of looking at it, but their position is well known. In an agreement, you are only able to agree things where both parties share the same view. The time to make that judgment about what the MOU will produce is not now. It is when…”

“I would not agree with that. For those who are watching our exchanges today, as they did when we last discussed this, the memorandum of understanding provides the opportunity for information to be provided by the Irish Government to the public inquiry.”

“For the record, what I just read out was not from the memorandum of understanding. It was from the Omagh inquiry terms of reference.”

“Subsequent to the exchange that we had last time, I looked once again carefully at the terms of reference for the Omagh inquiry. I will just try to find the section that relates to it. There is a reference in the terms of reference where it says in 2.i “Any other matters which are relevant to whether the Omagh Bombing …”

“We have yet to have a formal agreement, but we have made a lot of progress. That is what I would say to the Committee. I am keen that we are able to produce this and share it with everyone. When it appears, people will be able to see what has been agreed.”

“I am not going to give a running commentary on the nature of the negotiations, but I say to the Committee that I think we are close to being able to announce an agreement. When an agreement is announced, everyone will be able to see what it is that we have agreed.”

“In looking for the idea of an oversight board for a reformed commission, which is something it does not have at the moment that Kenova has, I am envisaging that people would apply. They could come from anywhere, including internationally, and then appointments would be made. That is a possibility, depending on who woul…”

“The issue of the contribution that the Irish Government can make to taking forward a legacy has been a very important part of the discussions that I have been having with Simon Harris. The current position of the Irish Government is that they have brought an interstate case against the UK based on the fact that the leg…”

“I am sure that you would.”

“We have been waiting 27 years to make progress on legacy. This is the unfinished business of the Good Friday agreement. Those who negotiated that extraordinary document recognised that it needed to be looked at, but they were not able to do it at the time. There have been many attempts since, including the legacy Act, …”

“I would emphatically reject the suggestion that I am surrendering anything to anybody. Since I came into post 14 months ago, committed to repeal and replace the legacy Act, I have been looking to find a way forward, which is not going to please everybody. We have to acknowledge this. I read very carefully the summary o…”

“Since I took up post, I have been making the case to the Treasury, given my job, to get the best outcome for funding from the Northern Ireland Executive. Policing is devolved. Those are decisions for the Executive to take. There are those who come to me and say, “Can you ringfence this bit of money? Can you ringfence t…”

“It is a very large question, if we are going back 800 years. There is a long story. I was a student at school when I first encountered the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, if I was paying attention at the time. When you subsequently come to learn what went on in relation to the suppression of people’s culture, their …”

“I agree with every single word of that. Of course there was an alternative, because the alternative eventually appeared in the wake of the Good Friday agreement, which has brought extraordinary progress to Northern Ireland society in the years since it was signed. Going back to the earlier question about information re…”

“I agree with that.”