Patrick Finucane Report

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that facing up to the past in this way and looking at these awful events is a crucial part of the healing process that Northern Ireland so desperately needs?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is immensely painful to do, but I think the Government have shown that they are prepared to do it, and others must do the same in all parts. That, I think, is how we can come to terms with the past. I hear very clearly the remarks of Opposition Members about trying to create a single process, and obviously I listen to that, but in the end the best way of coming to terms with the past is to be open, frank, clear and transparent about what happened, and to apologise when that is appropriate.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2012 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

1. What recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr Owen Paterson)]

The threat level in Northern Ireland remains at severe, meaning that a terrorist attack is highly likely.

Despite overwhelming community rejection of their murderous activity, terrorist groups continue to carry out indiscriminate attacks, as we saw in Londonderry last week. The Government remain committed to countering terrorism in all its forms.

[Jack Lopresti]

What measures is my right hon. Friend taking to ensure that young people do not gravitate to joining paramilitary organisations?

[Mr Paterson]

My hon. Friend touches on an important point. The problem cannot be solved by containment alone, although we pay full tribute to the Police Service of Northern Ireland and all those who are working in our security effort. The Prime Minister said that he wants a shared future, not a shared-out future, in Northern Ireland, and we are working closely with the devolved Administration. Only last week, Eamon Gilmore, the Tánaiste, was in Northern Ireland talking to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister about the very schemes to which my hon. Friend refers. A review is taking place to see which are the most effective, and which could be endorsed for a future PEACE IV programme.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Wednesday 19th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

1. What recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the threat from dissident groups.

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

3. What recent assessment he has made of the threat posed by terrorist groups in Northern Ireland.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

11. What recent assessment he has made of dissident activity in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jack Lopresti]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the recent unanimous support from all parts of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Police Service of Northern Ireland in dealing with the dissident threat sends a clear message that those organisations will not succeed?

[Mr Paterson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question, which follows on from what I have just said. He is absolutely right to draw attention to the fact that we now have a police service that is wholly accountable to a democratically elected Justice Minister and a democratically elected Policing Board, on which all parties sit.

Public Disorder

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Thursday 11th August 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I would welcome that, because the point is that the police availability figure today is only 12% of police officers on the beat at any one time. The hon. Lady, like me, is a Thames valley MP, so let me just repeat what Chief Constable Sara Thornton of Thames Valley police said, which is that

“what I haven’t done at all is reduce the number of officers who do the patrol functions, so the officers you see in vehicles, on foot, in uniform, on bicycles. We haven’t cut those numbers at all.”

We have not cut the number of officers or police community support officers in neighbourhood policing teams either. Thames Valley is a big force, and as the hon. Lady and I have sometimes argued against previous Governments, it is not always a very well funded force. If it can do it with these budget reductions, other forces can do it too.

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

Will elected police commissioners have the power to authorise the use of water cannon, troop support and such measures, or will they have to let others further up the chain of command make those decisions?

[The Prime Minister]

Those decisions must always be an operational matter for the chief constable. Let us be clear—I do not think that the right hon. Member for South Shields (David Miliband) fully understood this—that we are talking not about electing chief constables, but about electing commissioners who will replace the police authorities and to whom the chief constable will be accountable.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Wednesday 27th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

5. When he expects the first payments from the big society bank to be made.

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

11. When he expects the first payments from the big society bank to be made.

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr Oliver Letwin)]

The first payments will be made in the next few months. The exact timing and amounts will be decided by the Reclaim Fund once it has assessed the amounts that it has received from the banks and the amounts that are likely to be reclaimed from depositors.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jack Lopresti]

Is the latest estimate of money to be raised from dormant bank accounts still £400 million, and what progress has been made in securing an additional £200 million from the UK’s largest banks?

[Mr Letwin]

Yes, the estimated amount to be raised from dormant accounts remains at £400 million. The Reclaim Fund will now assess the exact amount that it can release in the first year, and the current estimate is somewhere between £60 million and £100 million. Then there are, of course, the negotiations that my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General is having with the four main lending banks that were party to the Merlin agreement about another £200 million of funding. Altogether, there should be a considerable amount of funding coming through this year and in following years.