Written Question
Thursday 10th October 2024
Asked by:
John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question
to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many times Ministers in his Department have visited the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Hilary Benn
- Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Office Ministers have enjoyed visiting and engaging with communities, businesses, and organisations in many areas in Northern Ireland. This has included visiting the following areas close to the Border with the Republic of Ireland.
I visited Trinity Church in Clogh, Roslea Co Fermanagh where my great, great grandfather Dr. Thomas Graydon is remembered on a family gravestone; and I attended the Centre of Cross Border Studies Conference in Co Louth.
I have visited various businesses and organisations in Derry/Londonderry on 2 separate occasions.
Minister Anderson has visited communities in Newry and on two separate occasions has also visited organisations in Derry/Londonderry.
Written Question
Question Link
Monday 24th May 2021
Asked by:
John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question
to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the (a) recommendations of the report by the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on abortion law in Northern Ireland and (b) majority judgments of the Supreme Court in In the matter of an application by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2018] UKSC 27.
Answered by Robin Walker
We recognise that access to abortion services is an emotive and sensitive issue for many. In July 2019, Parliament imposed on the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a duty under section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 to ensure all of the CEDAW recommendations are implemented in Northern Ireland. This is a matter of domestic, not international, law.
The devolution settlement does not absolve us of our responsibility to uphold the rights of women and girls, given the duty in section 9 of the EF Act did not fall away with the restoration of the Executive, nor with the making of the initial regulations that came into force on 31 March 2020.
While we made the Regulations last March providing the framework for access to abortions, and some service provision commenced, this has not discharged those legal duties in full. We carefully considered the views and evidence presented through the consultation - including those who took the time to share individual, and often deeply personal experiences, to help shape the final framework for Northern Ireland. The CEDAW Report and recommendations require that evidence based protocols are adopted in terms of provision of services in Northern Ireland, and we took particular account of the views and evidence provided by experts and medical professionals, alongside the views of other respondents in making decisions on the final proposals. We considered the range of views in light of our legal obligations, and took evidenced based decisions, in order to bring forward a new legislative framework that is operationally sound, works best for Northern Ireland and that delivers on the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s duty. To this end, we developed an abortion framework that provides access to services consistent with what the CEDAW Report and the section 9 duty require.
We consider the Regulations to also be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and we are confident that the legal framework put in place, and the ongoing efforts to ensure the CEDAW recommendations are implemented, is lawful in light of case law and the statutory obligations imposed on the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Speech in General Committees - Mon 26 Apr 2021
Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
"The hon. Lady has cited the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Stella Creasy) and what she said at the beginning of this process. At that time, she described the efforts that she was making as a mission to address “international obligations”. Are these international obligations or are they, as the explanatory …..."John Hayes - View Speech
View all John Hayes (Con - South Holland and The Deepings) contributions to the debate on: Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
Speech in General Committees - Mon 26 Apr 2021
Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
"What my hon. Friend is saying is, frankly, shocking. She is saying that, far from the claim that we are bringing Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland’s laws on abortion will be entirely different from those that pertain to the rest of the …..."John Hayes - View Speech
View all John Hayes (Con - South Holland and The Deepings) contributions to the debate on: Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
Speech in General Committees - Mon 26 Apr 2021
Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
"Will my hon. Friend allow me to intervene?..."John Hayes - View Speech
View all John Hayes (Con - South Holland and The Deepings) contributions to the debate on: Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
Speech in General Committees - Mon 26 Apr 2021
Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
"My hon. Friend is making an extremely contentious point, of course, with his usual style and elegance. He is saying that the Court took the view that it was better able to judge sensitive, controversial matters than democratically elected people are. That is, by the way, precisely the same view …..."John Hayes - View Speech
View all John Hayes (Con - South Holland and The Deepings) contributions to the debate on: Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
Speech in General Committees - Mon 26 Apr 2021
Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
"It is a cause of regret when a confused Parliament does the wrong thing, but it is a cause of sorrow when a Government make that worse. The prevailing parliamentary confusion is based on a calumnia. To highlight the absurdity of where we stand, the Government now effectively acknowledge that …..."John Hayes - View Speech
View all John Hayes (Con - South Holland and The Deepings) contributions to the debate on: Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
Speech in General Committees - Mon 26 Apr 2021
Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
"I will come back to those matters in a moment; first, I happily give way to the hon. Lady...."John Hayes - View Speech
View all John Hayes (Con - South Holland and The Deepings) contributions to the debate on: Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
Speech in General Committees - Mon 26 Apr 2021
Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
"But these regulations apply to Northern Ireland, and what I said was that the people in the Committee who are elected in Northern Ireland by the people of Northern Ireland have spoken with absolute clarity about the views there—expressed not only in the Assembly and by both communities in Northern …..."John Hayes - View Speech
View all John Hayes (Con - South Holland and The Deepings) contributions to the debate on: Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
Speech in General Committees - Mon 26 Apr 2021
Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021
"I will. I am going to give my hon. Friend a short lecture on law in a minute, because he is confused about it, as he was the last time we met in this Committee. Before I give way, perhaps he will chew on this. The Act to which the …..."John Hayes - View Speech
View all John Hayes (Con - South Holland and The Deepings) contributions to the debate on: Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021