Northern Ireland Troubles Bill

Luke Evans Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 18th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Hilary Benn]

The right hon. Gentleman is indeed correct. That was, in part, the basis on which the Good Friday agreement was reached, and 71.7% of the people of Northern Ireland gave their support to it. Compromise, of course, is essential in the interests of peace.

There was anger from many of those who served in Northern Ireland, who saw immunity as an affront to the rule of law that they had sought to protect, and as implying some sort of moral equivalence between those who served in our armed forces and terrorists. There is no moral equivalence whatsoever between those members of our armed forces who acted lawfully in carrying out their duties, and paramilitaries who were responsible for barbaric acts of terrorism. We owe our Operation Banner veterans an enormous debt of gratitude. I say to those watching, and to those in the Gallery: your service and your sacrifice will never be forgotten. We have a duty to care for all those who served. That is precisely why we are putting in the legislation new measures that are designed specifically to protect veterans, and why the Ministry of Defence always provides legal and welfare support to any veteran asked to participate.

The safeguards that we are supplying have been designed specifically for veterans, following close consultation with veterans. Some will necessarily apply to others, including former police officers, while others will apply only to veterans. Veterans will be protected against repeat investigations. Part 3 places a duty on the Legacy Commission not to do anything that duplicates any aspect of previous investigations or proceedings unless it is essential. That is a very high threshold. If a veteran is asked to give evidence publicly to an inquest, or in the commission’s inquisitorial proceedings, they will not be forced to travel to Northern Ireland. They will be able to do so remotely.

[Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State just clarify: essential for what?

[Hilary Benn]

The commission is an independent body established—

[Dr Evans]

Ah.

[Hilary Benn]

The hon. Gentleman says “Ah”. It was established by the previous Government’s legislation. They argued very strongly that the body had to be independent. “Essential” is a very high bar. It is for the commission to make that judgment.

Oral Answers to Questions

Luke Evans Excerpts

Wednesday 21st May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Fleur Anderson]

I thank the hon. Member for raising this issue, and he is absolutely right that what we do needs to be rooted in what happens on the ground. I met the executive unit working with the police to tackle perpetrators, and they are seeing evidence of that. The legislation for our jurisdictions can be joined up—that is absolutely right—but what has come across to me on many visits is the need to tackle what happens online. The Online Safety Act 2023 is now being enacted through Ofcom, which undertook a consultation in Belfast recently on its draft guidance. It proposes practical steps for online safety, and steps to tackle misogyny, pile-ons, domestic abuse and other harms. He is absolutely right about what we can do, through our efforts on the ground, if we all work together.

[Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) (Con)]

7. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the US-UK economic prosperity deal on Northern Ireland.

[The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Hilary Benn)]

The trade deal with the USA, together with the agreements with the EU and India, are very significant. Northern Ireland exporters, including those exporting services, technology and farming goods, will benefit in the same way as those in other parts of the UK. In particular, the US deal is a major opportunity for Northern Ireland farmers to sell their high-quality beef to a US market of over 300 million people.

[Dr Evans]

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his answer, but there seem to be wildly different interpretations of what the deal means for Northern Ireland. Will he clarify what it means for imports and exports in the light of the impact of EU tariffs? Was that explicitly discussed at the EU-UK summit?

[Hilary Benn]

The hon. Gentleman is right to point out that EU retaliatory tariffs directed at the USA would have an impact in Northern Ireland, because of its dual-market access. I can write to him with further details of how precisely that would work. It depends partly on whether there is less or more than a 3% difference between the tariff in the EU and the tariff that applies in the UK.