Ballymurphy Inquest Findings
Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Baroness Goudie
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)
I will certainly pass the request from the noble Baroness further up the ladder to the Prime Minister. The Government are looking closely at the report which has come from Mrs Justice Keegan. There are some 700 pages and, given that it came out last Tuesday, time is required to look at it carefully.
Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]
My Lords, I associate myself with the comments made by my noble friend Lord Murphy and the noble Lord, Lord Bruce. The coroner’s report emphasises the end of a legacy in Northern Ireland’s past. It is vital that the Government have a clear policy on this with timelines, as they currently have no policy and are failing. They must consult with all the families and those giving support, and the groups in Northern Ireland. Again, I emphasise that there must be a timeline, otherwise we will never see the end of this. This is not a situation for totalitarianism: the Government do not know best.
Northern Ireland: Violence
Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Baroness Goudie
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)
My noble friend makes some sensible points. He is right that the reasons for the unrest are complex and multifarious, some to do with localised issues. The House will know that 10 April this year marks 23 years since the Belfast/Good Friday agreement was signed—an achievement of which the UK, Ireland and the US are justifiably proud and which led to transformative change. Today it falls to the people of Northern Ireland to decide what sort of society they want. It is clear that they are choosing the right path, which is to build an inclusive, prosperous and hopeful society that builds on the hard-won peace.
Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]
I support what my noble friend Lady Ritchie has said. Should the Government not decide today to pledge themselves to calling and meeting urgently the parties involved 23 years ago—the British Government, the Irish Government and the United States, perhaps including the EU—and maybe bringing in other moderators to help put the deal together? We cannot now, 23 years on, go on like this. We need to take the next steps to implement parts of the Good Friday agreement that have not been implemented and to ensure that the people of Northern Ireland have a decent and peaceful life and that children can be educated.
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)
To reassure the noble Baroness, and to go further than I did before, much work is going on. The Northern Ireland Secretary is in contact with Northern Ireland’s party leaders. The collective priority at present is to work together to ensure public safety. The noble Baroness will know that the Northern Ireland Executive issued a joint statement on 8 April, which is a very welcome sign of solidarity against the despicable violence and which declared their support for law and order and policing. I assure the noble Baroness that nothing is off the table and they are doing their very best to resolve the current unrest.
Northern Ireland: Victims Payment Scheme
Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Baroness Goudie(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)
My Lords, the Executive committed to delivering such a scheme six years ago, and the UK Government have provided generous financial support to the Northern Ireland Executive. The funding of the scheme, as the noble Baroness will know, is to come from the block grant. It is a devolved matter, and devolved matters are traditionally funded from this particular part.
Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]
My Lords, the victims payment scheme must be implemented without further delay or obstacles, but the seriously injured victims themselves must be fully involved in the process. It is now almost a year since the scheme was established, and it was supposed to have opened over four months ago. Many of the victims are now elderly. They must not be denied financial security; the wait must now be over.
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)
Absolutely, the noble Baroness makes a very good point. That is why it is up to the Northern Ireland Executive to move forward as fast as they can to honour the payments that should be made to the victims; that is for the Executive, not the UK Government.
Northern Ireland: Victims Payment Scheme
Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Baroness Goudie
Viscount Younger of Leckie
The noble Lord is right. Different parties have been involved in this. I want to make it clear that the UK Government have played a strong role in taking this forward, and I reiterate that the Northern Ireland Executive made certain pledges back in 2014. I also reiterate that it is now up to the Northern Ireland Executive to take this matter forward.
Baroness Goudie (Lab)
My Lords, the Explanatory Memorandum to the Victims’ Payments Regulations states:
“The scheme will take a victim-centred approach”.
We must ensure that that is the case. The Explanatory Memorandum also states that the scheme
“will assist applicants by sourcing relevant evidence”.
That is also important. Further, it is important that the scheme has clear guiding principles and that staff maintain a fair, proportionate and transparent victim-centred approach to meet the needs of victims and survivors effectively. Have these principles been formulated? If so, where can one find them? Finally, what staff, if any, have been recruited so that the funding payments can be issued as soon as this is resolved?
Viscount Younger of Leckie
The noble Baroness hits directly on the frustrations that we have at the moment. As we know, there is an obligation to set up a board, which, with the individuals appointed to it, will make judgments on the victims and get into the details. However, until we have a designated department and there is a chain reaction to set up these important processes —again, this must be done as a matter of urgency—we will not go forward quickly. We must do so.