Letter dated 13/08/2025 from Hilary Benn MP to Sir Iain Livingstone, Head of Operation Kenova, regarding the recommendations made in the Operation Kenova interim report and an update on matters in relation to the NI Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023. 3p.

Letter dated 13/08/2025 from Hilary Benn MP to Sir Iain Livingstone, Head of Operation Kenova, regarding the recommendations made in the Operation Kenova interim report and an update on matters in relation to the NI Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023. 3p.

Lords report stage first day. Amendments 1 to 8, 11, 14 to 17, 19, 22 to 25 and 30 agreed to.

Lords report stage first day. Amendments 1 to 8, 11, 14 to 17, 19, 22 to 25 and 30 agreed to.

Moved by

Lord Caine

1: Clause 2, page 3, line 11, leave out “one, two or three” and insert “between one and five”

Member’s explanatory statement

This provides that the ICRIR will have between one and five other Commissioners (in addition to the Chief Commissioner and the Commissioner for Investigations), with the actual number...

Moved by

Lord Caine

1: Clause 2, page 3, line 11, leave out “one, two or three” and insert “between one and five”

Member’s explanatory statement

This provides that the ICRIR will have between one and five other Commissioners (in addition to the Chief Commissioner and the Commissioner for Investigations), with the actual number...

My Lords, before I begin, I will take a moment to mark, on the longest day of the year, the annual day of reflection to remember the losses experienced by so many during the Troubles. It is also an opportunity to remind ourselves of how far Northern Ireland has come...

My Lords, before I begin, I will take a moment to mark, on the longest day of the year, the annual day of reflection to remember the losses experienced by so many during the Troubles. It is also an opportunity to remind ourselves of how far Northern Ireland has come...

I associate myself with the Minister in remembering those who suffered violence over the last number of years and thank him for the way in which he has engaged with Members of this House and beyond. His amendments generally improve the Bill, but I suspect that he will find this...

I associate myself with the Minister in remembering those who suffered violence over the last number of years and thank him for the way in which he has engaged with Members of this House and beyond. His amendments generally improve the Bill, but I suspect that he will find this...

I echo a lot of the comments that the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, has just made, and the Minister’s comments about remembering. It is very important that we never forget all those impacted and killed by the Troubles.

I too start by thanking the Minister for the constructive way in which...

I echo a lot of the comments that the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, has just made, and the Minister’s comments about remembering. It is very important that we never forget all those impacted and killed by the Troubles.

I too start by thanking the Minister for the constructive way in which...

I am very grateful to the noble Lord and noble Baroness for their support and kind words, and I hope that this year I might actually get some time off during the summer. That might be the triumph of hope over experience, but you never know. I take great heart...

I am very grateful to the noble Lord and noble Baroness for their support and kind words, and I hope that this year I might actually get some time off during the summer. That might be the triumph of hope over experience, but you never know. I take great heart...

Moved by

Lord Caine

2: Clause 2, page 3, line 11, at end insert—

“(3A) The principal objective of the ICRIR in exercising its functions is to promote reconciliation.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This would impose the principal objective of promoting reconciliation on the exercise of the ICRIR’s functions.

Moved by

Lord Caine

2: Clause 2, page 3, line 11, at end insert—

“(3A) The principal objective of the ICRIR in exercising its functions is to promote reconciliation.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This would impose the principal objective of promoting reconciliation on the exercise of the ICRIR’s functions.

My Lords, at Second Reading I committed to carrying out extensive engagement, which has just been recognised by the noble Lord and the noble Baroness—and I hope it is recognised more widely across the House that this is exactly what I have done. The amendments that I am bringing forward...

My Lords, at Second Reading I committed to carrying out extensive engagement, which has just been recognised by the noble Lord and the noble Baroness—and I hope it is recognised more widely across the House that this is exactly what I have done. The amendments that I am bringing forward...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his explanation of the amendments in this group about making the Bill more victim-centred. Undoubtedly, the most important people in all this are the victims. Many of them have passed on and their families—some of whom have passed on, through the passage of...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his explanation of the amendments in this group about making the Bill more victim-centred. Undoubtedly, the most important people in all this are the victims. Many of them have passed on and their families—some of whom have passed on, through the passage of...

My Lords, first, my colleagues and I associate ourselves with the earlier remarks noting and indeed supporting real victims of the Troubles. It is important that they are at the forefront of our mind as we debate all these amendments today.

I acknowledge that the amendments before us in this group...

My Lords, first, my colleagues and I associate ourselves with the earlier remarks noting and indeed supporting real victims of the Troubles. It is important that they are at the forefront of our mind as we debate all these amendments today.

I acknowledge that the amendments before us in this group...

My Lords, today, the Day of Reflection, was proposed many years ago by Healing Through Remembering. It is a very symbolic day, as noble Lords have noted, for families of victims, and we tonight, as they remember the dead and support the injured, are debating a Bill which takes away...

My Lords, today, the Day of Reflection, was proposed many years ago by Healing Through Remembering. It is a very symbolic day, as noble Lords have noted, for families of victims, and we tonight, as they remember the dead and support the injured, are debating a Bill which takes away...

My Lords, the Minister was at pains to point out that Amendment 2 is all about reconciliation, yet no matter how much you search through the Bill, there is no definition of reconciliation in it. I am having difficulty, as are my colleagues, in being reconciled to the Bill and...

My Lords, the Minister was at pains to point out that Amendment 2 is all about reconciliation, yet no matter how much you search through the Bill, there is no definition of reconciliation in it. I am having difficulty, as are my colleagues, in being reconciled to the Bill and...

My Lords, I know my noble friend Lord Weir touched on this, but Amendment 3 requires the ICRIR to

“have regard to the general interests of persons affected by Troubles-related deaths and serious injuries”.

I ask the Minister to clarify: have the Government failed conclusively to rule out perpetrators, including those who...

My Lords, I know my noble friend Lord Weir touched on this, but Amendment 3 requires the ICRIR to

“have regard to the general interests of persons affected by Troubles-related deaths and serious injuries”.

I ask the Minister to clarify: have the Government failed conclusively to rule out perpetrators, including those who...

My Lords, I place on record my thanks to the Minister for introducing Amendments 85 and 86, which, in essence, as he has said, are the same amendments that I tabled in Committee and were

recommended by the victims’ commissioner, Ian Jeffers. It is a very welcome and common-sense change...

My Lords, I place on record my thanks to the Minister for introducing Amendments 85 and 86, which, in essence, as he has said, are the same amendments that I tabled in Committee and were

recommended by the victims’ commissioner, Ian Jeffers. It is a very welcome and common-sense change...

My Lords, I agree with every word spoken by every Member of this House who has taken part in this very brief debate. First, I thank the Minister for certainly improving what was there before—there is no question about that—but it does not, of course, go to the heart of...

My Lords, I agree with every word spoken by every Member of this House who has taken part in this very brief debate. First, I thank the Minister for certainly improving what was there before—there is no question about that—but it does not, of course, go to the heart of...

My Lords, again, I am very grateful to those who have participated in the admirably short debate on this group of amendments.

Returning briefly to the issue of personal impact statements, as I set out, these are designed to give victims and families a voice in the process, and an opportunity...

My Lords, again, I am very grateful to those who have participated in the admirably short debate on this group of amendments.

Returning briefly to the issue of personal impact statements, as I set out, these are designed to give victims and families a voice in the process, and an opportunity...

Moved by

Lord Caine

3: Clause 2, page 3, line 26, at end insert—

“(4A) In exercising its functions, the ICRIR must have regard to the general interests of persons affected by Troubles-related deaths and serious injuries.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This would require the ICRIR to have regard to the interests of various categories of...

Moved by

Lord Caine

3: Clause 2, page 3, line 26, at end insert—

“(4A) In exercising its functions, the ICRIR must have regard to the general interests of persons affected by Troubles-related deaths and serious injuries.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This would require the ICRIR to have regard to the interests of various categories of...

Moved by

Lord Caine

4: Clause 2, page 3, line 26, at end insert—

“(4A) At least three months before the start of each financial year the ICRIR must—

(a) produce and publish a work plan for that year, and

(b) give a copy of the plan to the Secretary of State.

But this duty does...

Moved by

Lord Caine

4: Clause 2, page 3, line 26, at end insert—

“(4A) At least three months before the start of each financial year the ICRIR must—

(a) produce and publish a work plan for that year, and

(b) give a copy of the plan to the Secretary of State.

But this duty does...

My Lords, I will again try to be mercifully brief given that, with one technical exception, I have retabled these amendments from Committee, where they were debated extensively. They are designed to amend operational matters in the legislation. I hope noble Lords will bear with me as they are very...

My Lords, I will again try to be mercifully brief given that, with one technical exception, I have retabled these amendments from Committee, where they were debated extensively. They are designed to amend operational matters in the legislation. I hope noble Lords will bear with me as they are very...