"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 …..." Hilary Benn - View Speech
"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 …..." Hilary Benn - View Speech
"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 …..." Hilary Benn - View Speech
"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 …..." Hilary Benn - View Speech
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 …..." Hilary Benn - View Speech
"The role of the Independent Reviewer of National Security Arrangements in Northern Ireland is to monitor compliance with annex E of the St Andrews agreement 2006, reviewing the relationship between MI5 and PSNI in handling national security matters.
Dr Jonny Byrne, the Independent Reviewer of National Security Arrangements in Northern …..." Hilary Benn - View Speech
"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 …..." Hilary Benn - View Speech
"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 …..." Hilary Benn - View Speech
"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. …..." Hilary Benn - View Speech