Speeches by Benn.

“People have already had a chance to see the shape of that and it was considered by the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Other people have commented upon it. It is my intention to lay the draft remedial order, which is the second part of the process, at the same time as the draft legislation is published.”

“Indeed, yes. There is great merit in laying out the whole picture at one moment. That is why I am telling the Committee that it is my intention to lay the draft remedial order. I have published the proposed draft remedial order. I did that in December or January.”

“It is my intention to lay it alongside the draft legislation. We have been giving careful consideration to the Joint Committee on Human Rights.”

“Yes, the reason for that was that you can only use a remedial order if you are not appealing any aspect of the judgment relating to that item. I may have explained this previously to the Committee and I certainly explained it to the House in December last year. As I have said to the House, in respect of the judgment of…”

“I answered the first part of your question in answer to Mr Robinson when I said that those that had started and were terminated by the portcullis coming down under the legacy Act will be reinstated. As for the rest, we are giving consideration to what the most effective means is of taking those forward and what part se…”

“I will take that with alacrity. Thank you.”

“We are just going to have to wait and see the process that we put in place and how it unfolds. I cannot prejudge or anticipate that. I have tried to be as open as I possibly can with the Select Committee in setting out the considerations that we are looking at and deciding how to take the question of inquests forward.”

“I have a hard enough job trying to sort this all out without spending all my time commenting on other people’s comments.”

“Sorry, whose comment are you referring to?”

“I am afraid that because of the time I am not able to. That is why, as well as listening carefully to veterans, which we are doing, we also need to listen to the many families who lost loved ones, including the families of British service personnel who served so bravely. More than 200 families of UK military personnel …”

“Legacy is hard. This is the unfinished business of the Good Friday agreement.”

“If the right hon. Gentleman will bear with me, we have also heard it said that terrorists are not being prosecuted and have somehow been given immunity. I want to challenge that, both because the only thing that gave terrorists immunity was the legacy Act, and because during the troubles an estimated 25,000 to 35,000 r…”

“I did not say it was illegal; I said it was unlawful. I shall come directly to the right hon. Gentleman’s point. Look at the facts: of the 250,000 veterans who served so bravely in Operation Banner, as we heard, the number who have been prosecuted for offences has been very small. The Centre for Military Justice record…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I am grateful to the organisers of the petition, to the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) for his opening remarks, and to all Members who have spoken. In the very short time I have, I will try to answer as many points as possible.…”

“I am not going to give way. The other challenge that all of us have to face is the lack of confidence in the Act on the part of communities in Northern Ireland, and in the commission it created, which we will seek to reform so that it is more capable of commanding confidence for those who are searching for answers. We …”

“The Finucane inquiry is beginning its work. It will publish, as is normal, statements of the expenditure that it engages in. It depends how long the inquiry lasts and how much evidence is taken, but the hon. Gentleman can rest assured that he will receive an answer in due course, as that process unfolds.”

“The Government make funding available to the Northern Ireland Executive through the block grant. As the hon. Gentleman will know, it is for the Northern Ireland Executive to decide how they distribute the money between all the needs in Northern Ireland, including health, where of course there are significant pressures.…”

“The spending review gives the Northern Ireland Executive more funds to disperse as they see fit. It comes alongside the publication of the industrial strategy, the funds that the Government are making available and the £30 million that will come to Northern Ireland through UK Research and Innovation. There is funding a…”

“My hon. Friend will have noticed the funding made available for local growth. As part of the spending review, discussions on the fiscal framework will be taken forward by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Department of Finance, to talk about things like the Holtham review and capital borrowing by the Northern…”

“The spending review settlement does indeed reflect the Government’s commitment to providing resources right across the United Kingdom. A year ago, people were saying there was going to be a fiscal cliff edge, but the money being made available for Northern Ireland means that no one is saying that now.”