Patrick Finucane: Supreme Court Judgment

Scott Benton Excerpts

Monday 30th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

I hear what the right hon. Gentleman has said. We have a core judgment that outlines that we have not yet fulfilled the article 2 obligations. We are clear that we will seek to do that. This is the next step of the process. As I say, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the police ombudsman are independent in terms of coming to those conclusions and decisions. We will let them do their work. I agree with his point about people across Northern Ireland who have lost their lives, been injured or lost loved ones in the troubles. It is important that we all do all we can to get to the bottom of what happened. It was unacceptable and we should work together across parties, across civic society and with our partners in the Irish Government to get as much information as we can for those families, so that we can understand what happened and move forward into a period of reconciliation.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, and specifically the decision not to proceed with a full public inquiry at this time for the reasons that he outlined. Does he agree that there is so much more we can do to help individuals in Northern Ireland on both sides of the community to heal the wounds from the past? The broad approach outlined in the legacy proposals can help to deliver that in a fair, consistent and clear manner.

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. He is right that there is not just a duty on us, but a desire in all of us to give people the ability to reconcile and move forward. I have seen some of the really interesting work that has been submitted to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in its report on legacy. We will engage widely with civic society as well as political parties and our partners in the Irish Government to so that Northern Ireland can look forward, while never forgetting the past, to reconciliation, with information for survivors and victims at the heart of that.