Asked by: Lord Garnier (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent work by the Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government remains committed to protecting Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market. The Independent Monitoring Panel’s insights play a vital role in evaluating this commitment in accordance with the UK internal market guarantee.
In accordance with the Panel’s recommendations in its first report, the Government is working to improve the quality of guidance and support to businesses through a ‘one stop shop’ advice service. The Government has also provided clear guidance on its approach to deforestation-free products and carbon pricing, which is relevant to businesses trading with Northern Ireland.
The Government looks forward to receiving the Panel’s report for its next monitoring period, from 1 July 2025 - 31 December 2025, in due course.
Asked by: Lord Garnier (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent Northern Ireland veterans facing further legal proceedings relating to their service during the Troubles.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will ensure a fair and transparent framework that gives all communities confidence in legacy processes and will allow victims, survivors and their families, including service families to obtain the answers they have long sought. Alongside this, we are putting in place robust, deliverable protections specifically designed to support the welfare of veterans, including protection from duplicating investigations.
This measure will ensure that the Legacy Commission and coroners conducting inquests will be required not to duplicate the work of any previous investigation or inquest unless doing so is essential, which is a very high threshold in law.
Asked by: Lord Caine (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 14 July (HL1786), whether they will now answer the question asked; and if the commitment in Annex B of the Command Paper Safeguarding the Union to publish a series of papers that make the case by sector for Northern Ireland’s place in the Union is still being pursued, what is the timetable for publication.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 14 July (HL1786), which outlines how the referenced commitment is embedded throughout the continued work of the Government.
The implementation of several Government strategies have been accompanied by the publication of Northern Ireland-specific papers that evidence the mutual benefits of the Union and include long-term plans to support specific sectors. For instance, the launch of the Industrial Strategy in June 2025 was complemented by the publication of a Northern Ireland-specific paper. This paper analysed the Northern Ireland industrial sector, identified the key areas that add significant value to the UK as a whole, and outlined the long-term plan to support and grow the sector.
Through this approach, the Government is moving beyond high-level commitments to deliver tangible results that demonstrate the mutual benefits of Northern Ireland’s place in the Union.
Asked by: Lord Caine (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether proposed reforms to Northern Ireland’s political institutions will be discussed in accordance with paragraph 15 of the consultation paper Ground Rules for Substantive All-Party Negotiations, published on 15 March 1996, which states that negotiations will involve the British Government and the political parties and that the Irish Government would be kept informed of progress through agreed liaison arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland recognises the growing discussion among the people in Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland parties, about how the political institutions could work more effectively and collaboratively.
The UK Government remains open to discussing any proposals put forward by the parties that could command the widest possible support.
The Irish Government is a valued partner and co-signatory to the Good Friday Agreement. We remain in regular dialogue on a range of issues, through established fora.
Asked by: Lord Garnier (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide an update on the work of the East-West Council established under the command paper Safeguarding the Union (CP1021), published on 31 January 2024.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government is continuing to implement the Safeguarding the Union command paper, which includes delivering regular meetings of the East-West Council.
The most recent EWC meeting took place in January on the theme of Connectivity: improving East-West trade and community links across the UK. This meeting included four UK Government Ministers from three departments, demonstrating the Government’s broad and deep commitment to delivering for people in Northern Ireland. We intend that the Council will next meet in autumn 2026.
Asked by: Lord Caine (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on securing the ongoing status of Northern Ireland as an integral part of the UK; and what plans they have proactively to support and strengthen this status, including making the public case for it.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This Government continues to support Northern Ireland within the Union. We remain focused on delivering real, tangible benefits of the Union for everyone in Northern Ireland. This includes delivering economic growth in every postcode, providing practical support for families in Northern Ireland and across the UK, and working in partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive for the benefit of the people of Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Caine (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 8 May (HL6823), what progress has been made on the independent public history examining UK Government policy in Northern Ireland during the Troubles; and what is (1) the current projected budget for this project, and (2) the timetable for completion.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government remains committed to an independent and objective examination of UK Government policy in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and progress continues to be made. Supported by the project’s independent expert advisory panel, the recruitment of a team of historians is now in its final stages, and we expect to make further announcements on this in the near future. The total budget for the project is £3.6 million over its life cycle. The estimated timetable for completion is five years.
Asked by: Lord Garnier (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make further progress with the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government is committed to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill which will replace the flawed Legacy Act with a fair, transparent system that will allow victims and their families obtain the answers they have long sought, and provide robust and deliverable protections for our former service personnel.
Asked by: Lord Caine (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will rule out stating the criteria that would be used to make an assessment as to whether the criteria requiring them to hold a poll in accordance with Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 has been satisfied.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In accordance with the Good Friday Agreement and the Principle of Consent, Northern Ireland will remain part of the UK for as long as its people wish for it to be.
There is no clear basis to suggest that a majority of people in Northern Ireland presently wish to separate from the United Kingdom.
As set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the duty to call such a poll rests with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland alone.
Asked by: Lord Caine (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the work to date of Fleur Ravensbergen, Independent Expert on paramilitary group transition to disbandment, since her appointment on 23 September 2025.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Fleur Ravensbergen is undertaking this scoping exercise independently of the Government. To protect the independence of this role we have not been assessing her work as it progresses. We expect to receive her report in the Autumn and will take time to carefully and thoroughly consider it.