Speeches by Reid.

“I am sorry, but I will not, for reasons of time. East Kilbride is Scotland’s second largest town, with its own economy, its own economy, its own identity—”

“Chief Constable Kennedy, as the Chair said, I want to move on to information about the suspect and how that was communicated. In the immediate aftermath of the murders, did you receive clear guidance and advice from the CPS about the communications of the man you had in custody?”

“Thank you. That is very clear and thorough. To clarify, you feel that there was not a consistent approach from the local CPS and national CPS?”

“Was there a consistent approach and advice at a local level and a national level? What you are saying is that there was not and in fact that there was conflicting advice.”

“Following that, you have said subsequently that ideally you would have liked to have released more information about the Southport murders. Were you thinking specifically about the publication of the religion of the suspect?”

“Was there any other information that you would have liked to have shared that you were unable to share, based on advice from the CPS?”

“After the incident that you spoke about where there was a miscommunication and you did not receive the information from the national CPS. Was that a turning point in the relationship with the national organisation? Were you then able to have a direct line of communication so you would have clear guidance and advice on …”

“Thank you. That is very clear and thorough. To clarify, you feel that there was not a consistent approach from the local CPS and national CPS?”

“Chief Constable Kennedy, as the Chair said, I want to move on to information about the suspect and how that was communicated. In the immediate aftermath of the murders, did you receive clear guidance and advice from the CPS about the communications of the man you had in custody?”

“Precisely that, they mentioned the national function, looking at it from a national level, so the Government is not very far forward in any thinking around a possible national function for monitoring of policing in relation to social media?”

“I think you were here when we were discussing the role of social media, particularly in relation to Southport and the subsequent disorder. Have the Government done any assessment or any systematic analysis of the role that social media played in that disorder? Also, are there any thoughts around what can be done to dea…”

“You will be focusing on supportive functions in the initial?”

“My final question to you is—and I am asking you to speculate—in your professional opinion, do you think that being able to share more information about the suspect on 29 July in the way, in which you could not, may have prevented disorder from escalating?”

“Was there any other information that you would have liked to have shared that you were unable to share, based on advice from the CPS?”

“Following that, you have said subsequently that ideally you would have liked to have released more information about the Southport murders. Were you thinking specifically about the publication of the religion of the suspect?”

“My final question to you is—and I am asking you to speculate—in your professional opinion, do you think that being able to share more information about the suspect on 29 July in the way, in which you could not, may have prevented disorder from escalating?”

“Was there a consistent approach and advice at a local level and a national level? What you are saying is that there was not and in fact that there was conflicting advice.”

“I just wanted to ask you briefly about the role of social media and your approach to dealing with that during this period. It is of course a weapon of choice for a range of actors to promote hatred and provoke violence. Could you give us an overview of how you dealt with the illegal content that you saw online and if y…”

“After the incident that you spoke about where there was a miscommunication and you did not receive the information from the national CPS. Was that a turning point in the relationship with the national organisation? Were you then able to have a direct line of communication so you would have clear guidance and advice on …”

“Minister, you have mentioned in passing the new National Centre of Policing. Are you able to give us any more information about the functions or what exactly that will look like, particularly in relation to public order?”