Tag: Brandon Lewis

The statement made by Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on 7 May 2022.

Congratulations to all those who have been elected to represent people across Northern Ireland.

I encourage the parties to form an Executive as soon as possible. The people of Northern Ireland deserve a stable and accountable local government that delivers on the issues that matter most to them.

The electorate delivered a number of messages on Thursday. They were clear that they want a fully functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland, they want the issues around the Protocol addressed, and that they want politics to work better.

Over the coming days I will be meeting with all the party leaders and will urge them to restore the Stormont institutions at the earliest possible moment, starting with the nomination of an Assembly Speaker within 8 days.

The Government remains committed to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Parties and the Irish Government to deliver its vision for reconciliation, equality, respect for rights and parity of esteem.

Together, we must move forward towards a brighter future – that means delivering for all the people of Northern Ireland.

The statement made by Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in the House of Commons on 24 March 2022.

l am under a legal obligation by virtue of Section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 to ensure that the recommendations in paragraphs 85 and 86 of the 2018 Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women—“the CEDAW Report”—are implemented.

Two years after the Abortion (Northern Ireland) 2020 Regulations established the framework for abortion services, women and girls, are still unable to access high-quality abortion and post-abortion care in Northern Ireland. This is unacceptable. Without access to services in Northern Ireland, women and girls are being placed at an increased risk of harm.

It is increasingly clear that the Northern Ireland Department of Health is not going to ensure relevant healthcare services are available by the 31 March 2022 deadline that I set in my direction of July 2021. Recent events, such as the resignation of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister consequently leaving office have created a further obstacle to progress as the Executive Committee cannot meet to approve matters. This ongoing inaction leaves me no choice but to prepare work on further regulations to ensure services are commissioned.

Therefore, I am committed to return to Parliament directly following the Assembly election in May and, if necessary, make regulations and directions that will:

place a duty on the Department of Health to make abortion services available as soon as is reasonably practicable;

remove the need for executive committee approval before services can be commissioned and funded. The regulations will do this by providing that directions under the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021, which require action to be taken to implement the recommendations of the CEDAW report, must be complied with irrespective of whether the matter has been discussed or agreed by the executive committee. This means that the Department of Health will have no further barriers to commission and fund services; and

confer on me the power to do anything that a Northern Ireland Minister or department could do for the purpose of ensuring that the recommendations in paragraphs 85 and 86 of the CEDAW report are implemented.

To provide additional oversight, I am immediately setting up a small team in the Northern Ireland Office with relevant experience in reproductive healthcare and financial monitoring to provide me with expert advice and to work alongside the Department of Health.

If I assess the Department of Health is not complying with the duty I place on it, I am prepared to use my powers to intervene.

The statement made by Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in the House of Commons on 22 March 2022.

MI5 has lowered the Northern Ireland-related terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland from “SEVERE” to “SUBSTANTIAL”.

The decision to change the threat level is taken by MI5, independently of Ministers.

This is a systematic, comprehensive and rigorous process, based on the very latest intelligence and analysis of factors which drive the threat.

The fact that the threat level is being lowered from where it has been since September 2010 is a testament to the Government’s ongoing commitment to protecting the peace process and tackling Northern Ireland-related terrorism, as well as the tremendous efforts of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and MI5 for their hard-won gains over the past decade that have helped to make Northern Ireland a safer place to live and work.

Despite the change in the threat level, terrorism remains one of the most direct and immediate risks to our national security and to communities in Northern Ireland. There remains a small group of people determined to destabilise the political settlement in Northern Ireland through acts of terrorism.

“SUBSTANTIAL” means that a terrorist attack is likely and might well occur without further warning.

As ever, the public should remain vigilant and report any concerns they may have to the police.

The Government, police and intelligence agencies will continue to work tirelessly to address the threat posed by terrorism in all its forms. The threat level will be kept under constant review.

The statement made by Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in the House of Commons on 4 February 2022.

I wish to inform the House that Paul Givan has resigned as the First Minister of the Northern Ireland Executive. This decision is extremely disappointing and I want to make it clear that the Government want to see a return to ministerial roles immediately, to ensure the necessary delivery of public services for the citizens of Northern Ireland.

The Government’s priority is for a strong, functioning Executive delivering a better, more prosperous, shared future for the people of Northern Ireland. We want to continue to build on the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement’s promise of a stable, co-operative power-sharing Executive, built on respectful relationships with a shared commitment to serve all the people of Northern Ireland.

The last two years since the New Decade, New Approach agreement restored devolved Government in Northern Ireland have demonstrated the potential that can be unlocked when the political parties in Northern Ireland work together. We must not return to a state of political deadlock and inertia.

The Government recognise the impact that the Ireland/Northern Ireland protocol is having on the ground, and we have been clear for some time that the protocol has been causing a serious unbalancing of the delicate and hard-won political stability in Northern Ireland. We remain fully committed to fixing the problems with the protocol and to protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement in all its dimensions.

I have spoken to Northern Ireland party leaders and the Irish Government, to encourage a return to stable devolved Government in Northern Ireland. The Government hope that Northern Ireland’s political leaders will quickly take the necessary steps to restore the stability in the devolved institutions that the people of Northern Ireland deserve. In addition, the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petition of Concern) Bill currently before Parliament will aid and underpin stability.

The statement made by Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in the House of Commons on 20 January 2022.

I am today laying before both Houses of Parliament the fourth report by the UK Government on the use of the petition of concern mechanism in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

As part of the New Decade, New Approach deal upon which devolved Government was restored in Northern Ireland on 11 January 2020, the UK Government committed to undertaking such a report every six months.

This report covers the period from 12 July 2021 to 11 January 2022 during which no petition of concern has been lodged against any motion in the Assembly.

The fact that there have been no uses of petitions of concern since the restoration of the political institutions is a positive reflection of the conduct of business within the Assembly. However, I want to take this opportunity to reinforce the importance of a stable, mature, functioning Executive and Assembly that is focused on addressing the issues that really matter to daily lives.

The UK Government are standing by their commitment to bring forward legislation that provides the necessary reforms to the petition of concern mechanism. The Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions Of Concern) Bill has completed report stage in the House of Lords. Once this legislation has completed its passage through Parliament and received Royal Assent, it is crucial that the Assembly reflects the detail of these reforms in its Standing Orders to ensure the full implementation of these aspects of the New Decade, New Approach deal.

This is the final report of this Assembly mandate under the UK Government’s commitment to report on the use of the petition of concern. As there have been no uses of the petition of concern mechanism since the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, we conclude that no further reform is necessary at this time.

The statement made by Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on 23 July 2021.

The Omagh bombing was a terrible atrocity that caused untold damage to the families of the 29 people who were tragically killed and the 220 who were injured. The reverberations of that awful event were felt not just in Northern Ireland, but across the world.

I want to put on record my deep regret that the families of those killed and wounded have had to wait so long to find out what happened on that terrible day in 1998. They deserve answers and I have great respect for their patience, grace and determination.

We recognise that today the Court has set out that there are ‘plausible allegations that there was a real prospect of preventing the Omagh bombing’ and that more should be done to investigate this.

The UK Government will take time to consider the judge’s statement and all its recommendations carefully as we wait for the full judgment to be published.

The comments made by Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on 24 June 2021.

Our Trees for Schools initiative fulfills our promise of building back greener across the United Kingdom and, in addition to marking the Centenary, leaves a positive environmental legacy for the people of Northern Ireland.

This great opportunity is open to every school in Northern Ireland, and over one thousand trees will be offered to mark this significant year for Northern Ireland and the whole of the UK.

I would like to thank Craigmore Trees for delivering this important project for the benefit of Northern Ireland’s schoolchildren and generations to come.

The statement made by Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in the House of Commons on 13 May 2021.

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the findings of the Ballymurphy inquest. I want to put on the record the Government’s acknowledgment of the terrible hurt that has been caused to the families of Francis Quinn, Father Hugh Mullan, Noel Phillips, Joan Connolly, Daniel Teggart, Joseph Murphy, Edward Doherty, John Laverty, Joseph Corr and John McKerr.

I also want to pay tribute to the great patience with which the families have conducted themselves during their determined campaign, which has lasted almost 50 years. The Prime Minister is writing personally to the families, having yesterday expressed his deep regret to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and apologised unreservedly on behalf of the state.

The findings of the coroner are clear: those who died were entirely innocent of wrongdoing. The events at Ballymurphy should never have happened. The families of those who were killed should never have had to experience the grief and trauma of that loss. They should not have had to wait nearly five decades for the judgment this week, nor should they have been compelled to relive that terrible time in August 1971 again and again in their long and distressing quest for truth.

Over the course of the troubles, more than 3,500 people were killed, and tens of thousands injured, with families torn apart forever. The majority of those killed were innocent civilians, such as those on the streets of Ballymurphy.

The vast majority of those who served in Northern Ireland did so with great dignity and professionalism, but it is clear that in some cases the security forces and the Army made terrible errors too. The duty of the state is to hold itself to the highest standards at all times. When we fail to meet these high standards, we must recognise the hurt and agony caused.

There is no doubt that what happened in Ballymurphy in those awful few days also fuelled further violence and escalation, particularly in the early years of the troubles. The Government profoundly regret and are truly sorry for these events, for how investigations after these terrible events were handled, and for the additional pain that the families have had to endure in their fight to clear the names of their loved ones since they began their campaign almost five decades ago.

In order to make lasting change, actions are required as well. The Belfast Good Friday agreement was the defining action that allowed Northern Ireland to begin to move away from violence, but the events of the past continue to cast a long shadow, as we have seen. Those who were killed or injured during the troubles came from all communities, and they included many members of the security forces and armed forces. Immense and difficult compromises have since been made on all sides, including the early release of prisoners, which was so difficult for many people to accept.

To a very large extent, Northern Ireland has moved away from violence, so we stand by those compromises and the progress made towards a more peaceful society. Yet the desire of the families of victims to know the truth about what happened to their loved ones is strong, legitimate and right. The campaign for justice in Ballymurphy has reminded us all of that—if we needed to be reminded at all.

Twenty-three years after the signing of the Belfast Good Friday agreement, thousands of murders remain unresolved and many families still yearn for answers. With each passing year, the integrity of evidence and the prospects of prosecution diminish, and the Government are not shrinking away from those challenges. We are determined to address them in a way that reflects the time that has passed, the complexity of Northern Ireland’s troubled history and the reality of the compromises that have already been made. But above all, we are determined to address them in a way that enables victims and survivors to get to the truth that they deserve. We must never ignore or dismiss the past; learning what we can, we must find a way to move beyond it. The coroner’s findings this week are part of that often very painful process.

The Government want to deliver a way forward in addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland; one that will allow all individuals or families who want information to seek and receive answers about what happened during the troubles, with far less delay and distress. We want a path forward that will also pave the way for wider societal reconciliation for all communities, allowing all the people of Northern Ireland to focus on building a shared, stable, peaceful and prosperous future. I commend this statement to the House.