Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what support his Department is providing to (a) the Northern Ireland Executive and (b) journalists in Northern Ireland to ensure that they receive sufficient protection in response to threats made against them in the course of doing their job.

Journalists play a vital role in our society, as do the public representatives who have defended press freedoms. It is unacceptable that they should find themselves threatened for doing their job. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland made this clear last month when he signed the public statement issued by the National Union of Journalists, calling for the freedom of the press to be respected and protected.

Plans for the National Committee and the National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists are currently being developed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, but have been necessarily delayed as the Government turns its attention to supporting newspapers through the current Covid-19 crisis. However, the Committee and the Action Plan remain priorities for the UK Government.

Her Majesty’s Government gives the fullest possible support to efforts to tackle the threat from the groups involved in terrorism and paramilitarism in Northern Ireland, supporting the Police Service of Northern Ireland with additional security funding and the Northern Ireland Executive’s programme to tackle paramilitary activity, criminality and organised crime.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland works tirelessly to prevent crime and harm to individuals, including journalists, protect the vulnerable and detect those who commit crime and bring them before the courts.