Theresa Villiers
Main Page: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)Department Debates - View all Theresa Villiers's debates with the Northern Ireland Office
(9 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
1. What recent discussions she has had on the security situation in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
Keeping people safe and combating the terrorist threat continue to be the Government’s highest priorities. While the threat level remains at severe, excellent co-operation between the Police Service of Northern Ireland and its partners has put violent dissident republicans under strain in recent months. There have been a number of significant arrests, charges and convictions, which are helping to suppress the threat.
Tom Greatrex
I thank the Secretary of State for her reply. When did she last discuss with the Home Secretary the issue of the National Crime Agency and its taking up functions in Northern Ireland? What assessment has she made of the effects of the delay on fighting organised crime in Northern Ireland?
Mrs Villiers
I last discussed that with the Home Secretary on Tuesday morning. There are some very good discussions under way between the Justice Minister, members of the Social Democratic and Labour party and the Home Secretary on these matters. There is some optimism that real progress is being made, and I urge all involved—I urge Labour to work with its sister party, the SDLP—to work on this, because the NCA provides excellent services. At the moment, Northern Ireland is not getting the full benefit of the protection that it can offer.
Mr Andrew Robathan (South Leicestershire) (Con)
The Secretary of State may have seen some rather surprising reports in the newspapers today. Given that she is talking about serious crime and is talking to parties in Northern Ireland about that, has she talked to Sinn Fein, because apparently the Labour party has been talking to Sinn Fein about a possible link-up after the general election? Did she see that?
Mrs Villiers
I was briefed on those stories in The Sun this morning. I certainly discuss many matters with Sinn Fein and the other Northern Ireland parties. It is crucial that all parties—Sinn Fein, the SDLP and all the parties in the Executive—get behind the introduction of the full powers of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland, because that is a means by which we can ensure that we do more to keep people in Northern Ireland safe, and it helps to relieve pressure on PSNI resources.
Mr Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)
One of the biggest threats to security in the months ahead in Northern Ireland is the continuing impasse over parades in north Belfast. Will the Secretary of State tell us what she plans to do, as this is not a devolved matter? The ball is firmly in her court after her decision at Christmas not to proceed with the north Belfast parading panel. She will know that on this side of the House we are determined not to allow this matter to be forgotten or swept under the carpet. It needs to be addressed, and the festering sore of the denial of human rights to people in north Belfast must be sorted out.
Mrs Villiers
I fully agree with the right hon. Gentleman that we cannot go on as we are—things cannot be left as they are. It is vital that we get a process in place that will help to resolve the dispute, deal with the impasse, and bring the two sides together. I am actively engaged on that, and I hope to meet him and representatives of the loyal orders soon to discuss this. I would urge a wide range of people to get involved. I accept full responsibility for seeking to drive it forward, but contributions by Church leaders have been helpful on this matter in the past. Other parts of Northern Ireland have demonstrated that input from the business community can be helpful in resolving these disputes. We need to develop an inclusive process that brings a range of interest groups together to try to find a way to resolve this dispute.
Mr Dodds
On the issue that was the subject of exchanges a moment ago—I am grateful that the Secretary of State sees the Labour party putting pressure on the SDLP—Sinn Fein is the real impediment, with a veto in the Northern Ireland Assembly in relation to the NCA. What does the Secretary of State intend to do about that? Is there not a more active role for her to play in resolving this issue, and what confidence can we have in Sinn Fein being prepared to support the NCA when one of its leading members, Gerry Kelly, having promised support and help for a victim’s family, ran around giving letters of comfort to the alleged perpetrator against the innocent family?
Mrs Villiers
I have been very actively involved in these matters for many months, and I raise the issue with Sinn Fein virtually every time I have a conversation with them. It essential that we see movement on this. The reality is that it will be more difficult to seize the assets of criminals without full implementation of the NCA. It will be more difficult to crack down on drug dealing, racketeering and serious organised crime without full powers for the NCA. I will continue to urge Sinn Fein and the SDLP to accept the extension of the NCA’s remit. The reassurances in place ensure that any activity by the NCA will be entirely consistent with the devolved policing and justice settlement.
Lady Hermon (North Down) (Ind)
What additional measures have been put in place by the UK Border Force to enhance the security of this country to ensure that young British people who go out to Syria or Iraq and become radicalised jihadists there could not easily slip back into the Republic of Ireland, cross the border with Northern Ireland back into the UK and commit the most appalling acts of terrorism? What is being done to improve that situation?
Mrs Villiers
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has a range of measures in place on those matters, including the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill which is under discussion in Parliament, which in certain circumstances would enable UK nationals not to be admitted back into the country. The hon. Lady is right to raise the threat from international terrorism, which we must remember is a threat in Northern Ireland as it is elsewhere in the United Kingdom. I had the opportunity to discuss these matters with senior members of the PSNI last week. They stand ready not only to play their part in Northern Ireland, but to provide assistance and advice to police services in the rest of the country.
Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)
2. What recent steps she has taken to ensure that the Police Service of Northern Ireland has adequate resources to guarantee security for the people of Northern Ireland.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
The Stormont House agreement included an undertaking by the Northern Ireland Executive to protect the PSNI’s budget from significant reductions. I very much welcome the additional £20 million for the police in the Executive’s final budget for 2015-16. This is in addition to security funding of £231 million provided by this Government to help the PSNI tackle the terrorist threat.
Rosie Cooper
The letter bomb sent to the PSNI headquarters earlier this month is a shocking reminder of the great sacrifices made by officers across Northern Ireland. How closely is the Secretary of State monitoring the resource needs of the PSNI?
Mrs Villiers
This is of course something I take a very close interest in. That is one of the reasons why the Government have provided the extra security funding and why we included provision in the Stormont House agreement to link our funding package with a commitment by the Executive on police resources. Clearly, the threats to police officers continue to be real and significant, and I welcome the success that the PSNI and An Garda Siochana have had in significant arrests and disruptions, which I believe have contributed substantially to suppressing the terrorist threat.
Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)
13. How can the PSNI possibly meet its resource requirements to keep the peace when it has to make budgetary savings of over £51 million by the end of this financial year?
Mrs Villiers
As I said, the resource position for the police has been improved with the changes in the draft final budget. The position of the police would be further improved if the NCA were to operate to its full capacity in Northern Ireland, because at present the PSNI is doing work that would otherwise be done by the NCA. The establishment of the Historical Investigations Unit in the coming months will further relieve the PSNI of responsibilities in relation to policing the past, freeing up time and resources for policing the present.
David Simpson (Upper Bann) (DUP)
Does the Secretary of State agree that as well as securing resources for security for the PSNI, we need to focus on rural crime, attacks on our elderly and the drugs issue, all of which are increasing in Northern Ireland?
Mrs Villiers
These matters are crucially important. The crime figures in Northern Ireland continue to make it clear that Northern Ireland is one of the safest places in Europe and has some of the lowest levels of crime, but I know that the PSNI takes very seriously the regular crime that is the bane of people’s lives and is working hard to combat it, in addition to its duties in relation to national security.
Naomi Long (Belfast East) (Alliance)
The hon. Member for West Lancashire (Rosie Cooper) referred to the attack on PSNI headquarters in my constituency. In addition to being under threat when in uniform and on duty, officers are often under threat in their own homes. The PSNI needs resources to be able to provide adequate security measures at officers’ homes if it is to retain officers who have been trained. What can the Secretary of State do to allow additional funding for the PSNI to ensure that that happens?
Mrs Villiers
As I said, one way to do that would be to take burdens off the PSNI’s shoulders by implementing the NCA. Continued focus on trying to resolve parading disputes is also important, given their potential impact on police resources. It is crucial that we get the new institutions on the past up and running as soon as possible to provide that relief to PSNI funding, and, as we discussed in the House yesterday, we need to consider whether any of the £150 million for dealing with the past can be deployed prior to the establishment of the HIU to help on these matters for the PSNI.
Mr Ivan Lewis (Bury South) (Lab)
The Conservative party seems to want to introduce new protocols to the House, believing everything in The Sun and demanding that the Labour party take responsibility for problems that are clearly the responsibility of the Government.
Yesterday, the Secretary of State was unable to tell us how long it would take the PSNI to review the case of all those covered by the on-the-runs scheme. When will she be able to answer that question? In lieu of the creation of a new architecture to deal with the past, what will the PSNI be doing in the meantime to deal with some of the unresolved murders?
Mrs Villiers
How to deal with such cases, the priority given to them and the length of time it will take are matters for the PSNI, but it has said publicly that it will take some years to progress through the cases under Operation Redfield. As I told the House yesterday, it is important for us to consider whether any of the £150 million that is to be devoted to matters relating to legacy cases can be used to assist the PSNI in its work prior to the establishment of new institutions to look at past cases.
Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)
4. What steps she is taking to safeguard records relevant to the work of the Historical Investigations Unit, the Independent Commission for Information Retrieval, inquests, and other inquiries into the past.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
The Northern Ireland Office takes responsibility for safeguarding its records very seriously and will continue to follow existing protocols.
Mark Durkan
The Secretary of State gave the commitments on behalf of the British Government in the Stormont House agreement to ensure that whenever the new mechanisms come into place all records will be given to them. What steps is she taking to make sure that all current records will still be available? She knows that there have been many cases where files or their contents have disappeared, to the dissatisfaction of those dealing with them. What steps is she taking to safeguard against that?
Mrs Villiers
The Northern Ireland Office undertook a review of record keeping in the wake of the problems that occurred in relation to the cases involving the RPM—royal prerogative of mercy. We are satisfied that all necessary measures are in place to ensure that records will be available for transfer as appropriate, but we will also take steps to make sure that sensitive material is protected from onward disclosure by the institutions concerned.
Dr William McCrea (South Antrim) (DUP)
In 1976, 10 innocent Protestant workmen were brutally slaughtered by the side of the road at Kingsmills. The Historical Enquiries Team report now reveals the chilling fact that a large number of the terrorists responsible included neighbours based in the village of Whitecross just over 1 mile from the scene of the atrocity and close to where many of the innocent victims lived. Does the Secretary of State not accept that it is sickening to think that these men were part of that murdering team, when the victims needed neighbours to be faithful most of all?
Mrs Villiers
The Kingsmills tragedy was an appalling terrorist atrocity. I have met the families, and they have my deepest, deepest condolences. Every effort should continue to be made to bring to justice those responsible for this horrific episode in the troubles.
Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (Lab)
Further to the question by my hon. Friend the Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan), I am sure that the whole House welcomes the new architecture proposed as a result of the Stormont House agreement. Will the Secretary of State give us some indication of the time scale and, crucially, say whether it will require legislation in this House? Frankly, the victims’ families have waited too long—they need answers and they need them now.
Mrs Villiers
I am meeting the leaders of the Northern Ireland parties on Friday to agree an implementation plan on the Stormont House agreement. It is highly likely that we will need at least some legislation both in Westminster and in the Assembly. We will talk to the Northern Ireland Executive about the balance between the two to ensure that we get these institutions up and running as soon as possible, because current systems are not giving the right outcomes for victims, and that needs to change.
Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)
5. What progress she has made on implementation of the Stormont House agreement; and if she will make a statement.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
The Government are committed to timely implementation of the Stormont House agreement and we are making progress—for example, on corporation tax devolution. We hope to agree an implementation plan for the agreement at our first formal review meeting with the parties on 30 January.
Mr Bain
I welcome the Stormont House agreement as further strengthening devolution across the United Kingdom and offering the Northern Ireland Executive nearly £2 billion in new finance and loans. What process will the Secretary of State propose to deal with the unresolved issues of parades, flags and cultural identity?
Mrs Villiers
The SHA sets out a clear pathway for reaching a resolution of those issues with the commission on flags, which was first proposed by Dr Richard Haass. It is right that we have a broader engagement with the public on the matters relating to identity. The SHA commits the Executive to producing options for a new system of parading that could be devolved, we hope, in future.
Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)
Does the Secretary of State agree that the Stormont House agreement, with the boost to the economy that should come as a result of the corporation tax decision, the reduction in the size of Government, and the provisions on no rewriting of the past and no expansion of cross-border bodies, means that we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make significant progress in Northern Ireland?
Mrs Villiers
I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Gentleman’s description of the Stormont House agreement. It was balanced and fair, it comes with a significant financial boost for Northern Ireland, and it guards against the dangers of those who would attempt to rewrite history. Corporation tax devolution could be genuinely transformative for Northern Ireland as a place sharing a land border with a low-tax jurisdiction.
Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)
Further to the question on corporation tax, will the Secretary of State have immediate discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive to force home the point that that lever should be used to bring about balanced regional development in terms of inward investment locations for projects? [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. Let us make sure we hear the Secretary of State’s answer on the Stormont House agreement.
Mrs Villiers
Both the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are united in our efforts to rebalance the Northern Ireland economy, and we both share the determination to ensure that economic prosperity and the boost that will come with corporation tax devolution are shared throughout all towns, cities and rural areas in Northern Ireland.
Mr Ivan Lewis (Bury South) (Lab)
The Stormont House agreement states that corporation tax devolution will not take place until 2017, subject to various conditions, so will the Secretary of State tell the House what tangible benefits the economic pact has so far delivered to Northern Ireland’s economy? When did she last meet the Business Secretary and the Foreign Secretary to talk about how the UK Government can support Invest Northern Ireland?
Mrs Villiers
I regularly discuss such matters with my colleagues in Cabinet. We have rolled out a range of measures under the economic pact—devolution of corporation tax is one, and the investment conference following up on the G8 is another. We are seeing real progress on projects such as the Lisanelly shared campus, as well as increased take-up of the Government’s financial schemes to promote lending to business, so the economic pact is already delivering for Northern Ireland in a range of ways.
Pamela Nash (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab)
6. What steps the Government are taking to tackle youth unemployment in Northern Ireland.
Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
7. What steps the Government are taking to strengthen the economy of and increase inward investment to Northern Ireland.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mrs Theresa Villiers)
The Government’s long-term economic plan is working for Northern Ireland, as shown by the good news on employment statistics last week. We have introduced a Bill to devolve corporation tax-setting powers, which will act as a significant marketing tool to attract foreign investment to Northern Ireland.
Bob Blackman
I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Does she agree that reducing corporation tax rates would enable greater employment prospects and a brighter future for the people of Northern Ireland?
Mrs Villiers
I agree with my hon. Friend. That change has great potential to transform the Northern Ireland economy, which is already starting to recover. Since the election, employment is up by 31,000, private sector employment is up by 51,000 and unemployment is down 6,000, and the claimant count in Northern Ireland has gone down for 24 consecutive months.
Dr Alasdair McDonnell (Belfast South) (SDLP)
The Secretary of State will be aware that strengthening the economy and increasing investment require multiple factors, not just the reduction of corporation tax. Does she appreciate how critical regional connectivity is, particularly the air links between Belfast and London and Dublin and London that go into Heathrow? Will the Heathrow slots be protected if International Airlines Group takes over Aer Lingus?
Mrs Villiers
It is not for me to speak for IAG, but it is vital that Heathrow maintains its links with Belfast and Dublin. I agree that a corporation tax reduction on its own is not enough for economic recovery; it is crucial that economic reform and investment in infrastructure accompany that change.