Oral Answers to Questions

Bell Ribeiro-Addy Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)]

10. What steps he is taking to mark the anniversary of the Good Friday agreement.

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) (Lab)]

11. What steps he is taking to mark the anniversary of the Good Friday agreement.

[The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Hilary Benn)]

On 10 April we will celebrate the anniversary of the Good Friday agreement, which nearly 30 years ago brought an end to the troubles and enabled Northern Ireland to establish a power-sharing Government. In the years since, Northern Ireland has been transformed, and I look forward to working with everyone to make further progress.

--- Later in debate ---

[Hilary Benn]

I agree with my hon. Friend. The biggest lesson of the Good Friday agreement is that it takes immense political courage to say yes, rather than to go on saying no. To pick up her point, at the end of last year the Foreign Secretary convened the western Balkans countries under the Berlin process at Hillsborough castle, where the First and Deputy First Ministers talked through how Northern Ireland has made this extraordinary progress. That is one example of how the lessons of that agreement are being heard around the world.

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy]

The Good Friday agreement recognised the importance of addressing the suffering of victims of the troubles. Legislating for that remains unfinished business, as does the implementation of a border poll, for which there is significant support in the north. As we approach the anniversary of the agreement, does the Secretary of State agree that it is time to take action on both of those?

[Hilary Benn]

The provisions relating to a border poll are clearly set out in the Good Friday agreement. There is one criterion that governs such a decision, and at the moment there is no evidence that there is a majority for a constitutional change in Northern Ireland. I commit to the House, as I have done before, that I will uphold in letter and in spirit that bit of the Good Friday agreement.