On November 5th 2019, there was the best and the worst of party politics in the House of Commons and during General Election activities as report by national and social media. Although General Election campaigning official begins to today after the dissolution of Parliament and government Ministers and backbenchers are no long Members of Parliament but Parliamentary candidates seeking a formal mandate from their political parties to stand as Parliamentary candidates.
The members of the Westminster political media teams and 24 hour British and international news media will devote hour upon hour to covering the election campaign with British media television and radio media required to be fair and balanced, something not required by British newsprint or the majority of international broadcasters.
On one hand individual national politicians want to stop individual members of the public from criticising or exposing their short comings on social media platforms while their national parties and supporting wealthy funders and friendly organisations use technical trickery to influence, misrepresent and mislead.
I want to begin with the best of what Parliament can do. as the leaders of all the political parties worked together with state paid public officials to consider and pass within a matter of hours, legislation to provide immediate and long financial redress, and support for the victims of child abuse in Northern Ireland, following the completion of an inquiry which commenced in 2014, publishing its reporting 2016 at a cost of less than £20 million and covered the period 1922 when the British island was divided between the free state of Eire and the six counties of the north, until 1995. Since then political parties and officialdom has attempted to find a way to implement the recommendations of the Inquiry despite the devolved Parliament ceasing to function, in part because the Democratic Unionist Party had negotiated a deal with Prime Minister Teresa May to sustain her minority government in power following the 2017 general election with a public official agreement, additional money and secret undertakings.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Julian Smith) made the first of several memorable speeches in the presence of representatives of the survivor groups, including family members of those who have since died and where the initial financial redress of £10000 followed consideration of additional payments and support will be assessed by the new Victims’ Commission and Board.
He said, “ Ibeg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
It has
been seven years since the Northern Ireland Executive established an
independent inquiry into historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland. Today’s
legislation is based on an inquiry and report, undertaken by Sir Anthony Hart,
that occupied 223 days of hearings. The Hart report investigated 22 institutions,
but it identified a further 65 institutions that came within its terms of
reference. The draft legislation was subject to a 16-week consultation process
in Northern Ireland.
Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP) intervened “Right across this House, and right across Northern Ireland, there will be a very warm welcome for the Government bringing forward this legislation to get it on the statute book before Dissolution. I thank everybody involved in this House, the Secretary of State and, most importantly, the campaigners for the day we have now reached.”
Julian Smith continued “I thank the right hon. Gentleman for all that he and his party have done to help to deliver this Bill.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP) also intervened, “The House is clearly united on seeing justice and doing right by those who have been abused and who have waiting too long for recognition and a form of restitution. I thank the Government for prioritising this Bill and for getting it through before Dissolution. I particularly want to mention some of those with whom I have worked closely: Gerry McCann and others from the Rosetta Trust; Margaret McGuckin, who is in the Gallery and who has been working on this since 2008; and Anne Hunter, who is also in the Gallery and whose sister, Sadie, died at Nazareth House in 1974. Although we celebrate the Bill, it is bittersweet for those who were abused, physically and otherwise, and who cannot be here today to see the conclusion of something for which we have worked very hard.”
Julian Smith continued “ The work done behind the scenes by my right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast North (Nigel Dodds), my party’s leader in Westminster, and by my right hon. Friend the Member for Lagan Valley (Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson), our Chief Whip, and others to cajole and get this over the line. It is a fitting tribute to the Secretary of State, on this last day of Parliament, that the Bill will come into law. On behalf of the victims, their groups and people like Marty, Margaret and Gerry who contact us regularly, I thank the Secretary of State.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for
his kind remarks. He was at his most tenacious over the weekend in trying to
make this happen.
There are many more people to
thank. Unfortunately, Sir Anthony Hart, who led the inquiry, passed away
earlier this year, but through his widow, Lady Mary Hart, I thank him and his
team for their tireless work. I thank the other inquiry members, the Public
Record Office of Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland civil service, Northern
Ireland Office civil servants, the Executive Office, the leaders of the
Northern Ireland political parties and my predecessors, my right hon. Friends
the Members for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley) and for Old Bexley and
Sidcup (James Brokenshire). They have all played an important part in getting
to today.
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab) one of the members of the House not standing as
a candidate in the General Election also intervened “Does the right
hon. Gentleman agree that sometimes in this House there is a feeling that
Northern Ireland gets neglected or is a sideshow, but this measure today shows
that the Government and Opposition knew that this was a hugely crucial issue to
the people of Northern Ireland and that getting it to the House today and
through this procedure is a mark of this House’s responsibility and care for
Northern Ireland?
The Minister continued, “The
hon. Lady is right on that. I hope that if we can get this through this
afternoon, we will be able to toast success for not only the Bill and the
victims, but Northern Ireland itself.
This legislation will provide
the necessary legal framework to deliver two of the key recommendations from
the historical institutional abuse report. The first is a historical
institutional abuse redress board, to administer a publicly funded compensation
scheme for victims in Northern Ireland. This will be a multidisciplinary panel
of one judicial member and two health and social care professionals. There are
estimated to be more than 5,000 people who could apply for redress. No matter
what country they live in, I urge all victims and survivors to apply: whether
you are part of a victims group or whether you have lived with their abuse
silently for years, please make use of this redress scheme in this Bill.
Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP) said “ The Secretary of
State is right to indicate just how important that progress is today. In outlining
the steps that victims will take—those from my constituency in Kincora boys’
home, and others from right across Northern Ireland and beyond—and in asking them
to apply without delay, will he give us some sense of the timescales associated
with the process? When we get Royal Assent for this legislation, how quickly
will the panel be established and be in place not only to receive but to
consider those applications for redress?
The Minister said he was going
to mention this issue. “The second part of this Bill creates a statutory
commissioner for survivors of institutional childhood abuse for Northern
Ireland, who will act as an advocate for victims and survivors and support them
in applying to the redress board. Whether in fighting for support services or
in ensuring that payments are made as quickly and as fully as possible, the
commissioner will play a key role in delivering for victims.
.
Jim Shannon intervened
again, “ It is important not only that we have the
commissioner in place, but that the moneys available for compensation will
range from £10,000 to £80,000. I wish to make the point about the De La Salle
Brothers and what happened in my constituency at Rubane House, outside
Kircubbin, where institutional abuse, both physical and sexual, against some
young boys took place over a period. Those young people are adults now but they
are traumatised. How will the trauma, and the physical and emotional effect it
has upon them, be taken into consideration whenever they apply to the
commissioner for help?
The Minister
continued “I hope that one of the commissioner’s focuses will
to be look at the services to support those who come forward. That will require
money and organisation, but it will be a key part of the role for whoever takes
on the position of commissioner.
I have just been asked about this,
so let me say that one of the key concerns of parliamentarians and victims’
groups alike is the swift payment for victims and survivors after the passing
of this legislation. Victims have already waited too long for redress, and as
we have heard, many have died doing so. Our thoughts are with their families.
Clause 14 contains provisions that allow the redress board to pay an initial
acknowledgement payment of £10,000 to eligible victims before the full
determination of the total compensation is payable. Clause 7 allows the
redress board to take a flexible case-management approach to claims to ensure
that those who are elderly or in severe ill health are considered as a
priority. Those in greatest need of redress will get their payment more
quickly. Clause 6 allows claims to be made on behalf of a deceased person by
their spouse or children.
Other key aspects of the Bill
that are important to victims and survivors include provisions that allow the
redress board to convene oral hearings, but in a way that should not create an
unnecessary delay for those cases in which oral evidence is not required; the
ability of the redress board to determine the rate of compensation based on a
number of factors, including the duration of stay in an institution; and the ability
of the commissioner for survivors of institutional child abuse for Northern
Ireland to make representations to any person, including to the redress board.
I also wish to confirm to the House that my Department is working closely with
the Northern Ireland civil service and David Sterling to ensure that there is
adequate resource and capacity for this redress scheme, so that it can get
going as urgently as possible.
Paul Girvan (South Antrim) (DUP) said, “I am pleased to
hear about the possibility of streamlining this process. Is there any
indication that any of these payments will be made within this current
financial year, irrespective of the bureaucracy of the hearings that have to
take place? I am talking about the interim payment of the £10,000.
The Minister responded, “We
have begun a project management team between the Northern Ireland Office and
the Northern Ireland civil service. I know that David Sterling and the
Executive Office have spent time this week looking at how things can be
accelerated, but I wish both to acknowledge the need to move quickly and to
recognise the fact that this will take a bit of time. We need to get this
legislation through, and then we need to get on with how we can press forward
with this.
I want to pay tribute to the
victims groups that I have engaged with over these past few months and that
have engaged with my predecessors and other political leaders: Survivors North
West, Survivors Together, the Rosetta Trust, and SAVIA—Survivors and Victims of
Institutional Abuse. They have campaigned on behalf of the people they
represent with strength and dignity. Many victims are old and ill. They have
not only had their childhood and lives blighted, but they have had to wait,
year after year, for the child abuse and what happened to them to be recognised.
At each meeting with the
victims’ groups at Stormont House, I noticed that Jon McCourt from Survivors
North West had a small battered copy of the Hart report laid on the table in
front of him. There was huge hope and trust in that copy of the report that
there might finally be acknowledgement for what he and his friends had had done
to them as children. Jon has held that copy of the report close, gripping it
tightly for three long years, meeting politician after politician, civil
servant after civil servant—anyone who could make a difference in getting
redress. The battered cover of Jon’s report, once blue, has now faded. That
report contains the grimmest details of the twisted blows laid on the hope and
innocence of the children taken into care in Northern Ireland at different
times over much of the 20th century. It details how the Kincora hostel in
Belfast was completely captured by three child abusers for the same number of
decades, leaving them free to anally rape and masturbate at will those boys
they were meant to protect.
The report details the impact
of the child migrant scheme to Australia. Witness HIA 324 describes his
experiences in his statement, as follows:
“My life in institutions has
had a profound impact on me. I have always wondered what it would be like to
have had a family—a mother and father and brothers and sisters. I never got the
chance to find out because I was sent to Australia. We were exported to
Australia like little baby convicts. It is hard to understand why they did it…
I still cannot get over the fact that I was taken away from a family I never
got the chance to know. I was treated like an object, taken from one place to
another… I have a nightmare every night of my life. I relive my past and am
happy when daylight comes.
HIA 324 was born in 1938 and
was 75 when he spoke those words to the inquiries team in Perth in 2013, but he
died before he could sign his statement.
The Hart report highlights how
the congregations that supported the four Sisters of Nazareth homes were well
aware of the physical and emotional abuse happening in those homes, but did
nothing to stop it. The report details how the Sisters of Nazareth would
regularly conceal or ignore the presence of the sisters or brothers of those
children in their care, hiding them from them. The report details the assault
of girls in Nazareth House, with one case in which a girl had her head banged
against white tiles for not washing properly. She recalled that there was blood
all over the white tiles, and she suffered hearing problems afterwards.
The report details how the
Norbertine Order, and then diocese after diocese, failed to stop Father Smyth,
a known abuser, from travelling the length and breadth of Northern Ireland and
Ireland, abusing hundreds of children. The report confirmed that at Rubane
House, boys were sexually abused throughout the four decades that the home
operated. It was not just sexual abuse; page after page of the report details
the bullying, the use of Jeyes fluid and the confidence attacks on menstruating
girls and on young children who wet their beds. The report outlines failure
after failure by statutory authorities and the Government to ask the right
questions, to show basic levels of care, or to follow up on the condition of
those children sent thousands of miles away to Australia.
The Bill, which we hope to
pass today, cannot undo the acts perpetrated on the victims, and it does not
extend to the other areas of the UK that are currently being addressed by the
child abuse inquiry here in London and a similar inquiry in Scotland, but it
will show to Northern Ireland victims that action has been taken, and I hope
that in a short time similar action can be taken, through legislation, for the
rest of the UK.
I started off by thanking the
number of colleagues who have helped to get this Bill delivered today, those
who have worked on the Hart report and those who have worked to support this
legislation, but this is not our Bill; it is the Bill of the victims and
survivors, and of their representatives, some of whom are present today. For
anyone involved at whatever stage, it has been a humbling experience to work
with Northern Ireland victims and survivors who suffered child abuse while in
care. The resilience and humanity of the victims should drive us all in our
daily responsibility to every child, whether through our families, our work,
our responsibilities or our communities.
Victims were let down not just
by the perpetrators and institutions, but by the Churches, councils and
Governments who were meant to look after them—standing by, ignoring, not
checking, turning a blind eye. People knew at the time. The De La Salle Order set
down guidelines for the physical layout of its buildings to ensure that
behaviour could be observed at all times—for example, on how windows should be
placed in doors to ensure clear sight of what was going on in rooms:
“The Brother Director shall be
careful that the parlour doors have glazed panels without curtains in such a
manner that the interior may be easily seen.”
The ultimate legacy of the
Northern Ireland victims and all child abuse victims, from the Hart report and
from the Bill, must be for us all to ensure that we do everything within our
power to protect children.
“When I was a child, I spoke
as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a
man, I put away childish things.”
Child abuse victims never had
their full childhood and were then held hostage by the experiences that they
had throughout their lives. I hope that the Bill goes some way towards
providing Northern Ireland victims with redress, and for other victims
throughout our country, I hope that their time for redress will come very soon.
I commend the Bill to the House.
For the Opposition
front bench, Stephen
Pound (Ealing North) (Lab) responded another Member of the House of
Commons not standing as a candidate in
the General Election, and a man and Parliamentarian
admired, in part because of my Ealing Borough connection where he served as a
Councillor, his
background leaving school and then becoming
a mature student resigning his Ministerial job over opposition to the Trident system for extermination civilian populations.
He said “I have to say that this is not an easy day to be in the
House—it is not an easy time to hear the Secretary of State’s words—and I pay
wholehearted tribute to him for quite simply one of the most powerful speeches
I have ever heard in my 22 years on these Benches. He spoke from the heart and
he spoke from a deep humanity. We have to pay tribute to him for those words,
which were extraordinary and remarkable. Please God, may they provide a grain
of comfort to some people who have suffered for so long.
It is also appropriate that we
mention Sir Anthony Hart, who did an extraordinary amount of work. We must pay
credit to him. I also pay credit to the Secretary of State’s predecessor, the
right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley), who is present.
She dedicated a huge amount of energy to this issue, as did her team and the
Secretary of State’s team. I also pay credit to the Northern Ireland Office and
the Northern Ireland civil service for the amount of work that has been done.
How painful and agonising it must have been for them to have had to work in
these circumstances. For me, to read the words is almost unimaginable, yet
those to whom they refer are suffering a hundred times more than any of us
could ever be.
As the Secretary of State
said, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister agreed the terms of
reference back on 31 May 2012; however, the inquiry goes back nearly 100 years,
to 1922. Who can even begin to imagine the cavalcade of agony that has passed
in those 100 years? Who can imagine those children whose bodies were broken,
but whose hearts and spirits were also broken—who suffered in a way that,
please God, we will never, ever have to contemplate again? When the Secretary
of State quoted from St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, it made me think
about what the victims thought as children. What did those children think of
the adult world—the place of safety that they were being taken to? What did
those children think? As adults, did they have any trust, faith or belief in
the base humanity, having faced that?
Today, we are undertaking a
unique piece of legislation. There has never been a Bill like this on the Floor
of the House—it has never happened in this way before. It is absolutely right
and appropriate that we take extraordinary, unusual steps, because this is such
an extraordinary occasion. We must place on record, here and now, our
determination that this will never, ever happen again. Every one of us, be we
lay, be religious, be we politicians—whomsoever we be, anyone of us who has any
contact with children’s services must make absolutely sure and swear in our
heart of hearts that we will never, ever walk by on the other side of the road.
We should never, ever be those people who turned a blind eye, as we heard in
the agonising statement from the priest that was read out earlier.
We cannot make it right—we
cannot repair those broken hearts and broken bodies—but by doing what we will
today, by offering some form of redress, some form of compensation, we will
hopefully allow closure. We will hopefully be able to say that this House has
heard. The right hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson) spoke
magnificently earlier about the way the House has risen. When we think of some
of the activities that take place in this House, today’s statement shows in
sharp relief some of the things that happen here that are less noble—that are
often ignoble. Today, the House has risen to a higher standard. It is entirely
appropriate that is on this occasion that we have risen.
There are many questions still
to be asked. This is still a draining emotional occasion. We should pay
tribute, once and for all, to the right hon. Secretary of State for the
footwork he has shown. It is unheard of for legislation to come through in this
way. As recently as last week, we heard that the Whips Office would not allow
it and it was not going to happen, yet somehow, with the involvement of the Government,
the Opposition, officials, civil servants and even the palace, the Bill has
come to the House and will go through.
Let us thank Brendan
McAllister, the interim advocate, for the work that he has done. Let us follow
up on some of the interventions that have been made already by right hon. and
hon. Members representing Northern Ireland parties, and let us take the
opportunity to say that this is one of the rare occasions when the House comes
together, regardless of our party and of any form of religious, political or
social affiliation. We are as one in this House in swearing that this cannot
happen again, this must not happen again and the victims must get redress, must
get compensation, must get respect and, please God, must get closure on this.
The behaviour of politicians
of all parties and of all communities in Northern Ireland has been exemplary. I
know how difficult it is. I have met victims groups, as has the Secretary of
State. To sit in a room opposite someone describing the most appalling
nightmare—a nightmare that is hard for any human being to envisage—is an
experience that none of us came into politics to undergo, yet it is right that
we came into politics to resolve this horror and this agony. I cannot say too
much about how impressed I was by the victims groups that I met. Their courage
and bravery is astounding. I hope—I know—that all Members in this House feel
the same way and say with one voice how much respect we have for them.
I hope that some of the
technical questions that were asked earlier by right hon. and hon. Members from
Northern Ireland can be addressed. The question of the speed of the recompense
payments is, of course, an issue to be resolved. It would be marvellous if some
indication could be given to the victims before Christmas—it would be wonderful
if they at least had some idea about what was happening. In addition, we would
like to know when the staff will be in place for the redress board. It is
important to say that we have to establish the bureaucracy, if it has not
already been established.
I noticed that no additional
resources were allocated in the recent Budget. Does that mean that they will
actually come within the next financial year? Following the question from the
hon. Member for South Antrim (Paul Girvan), will they come from this year’s
budget, or will there be some additional funding mechanism? Those are technical
questions. In some ways, they are almost otiose in the context of what we have
heard today. Technical questions, compensation and redress are important, but
the single most important thing that we in this House do today is to pay credit
and tribute to the victims, to their families and to their relatives, and to
say that politics in the past may have let them down, but today, politics and
this House will not let them down. We will respect them, we will cherish them
and we will do everything—everything—we can to ensure that they finally receive
the redress that they so deserve.
Madam Deputy
Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing) “Order. It
is very sad that the hon. Member for Ealing North (Stephen Pound) is leaving
the House after today. I think that everyone present will agree with me that
his last speech in this Chamber will be remembered as one of his best.
Karen
Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con) “ May
I say, Madam Deputy Speaker, what a privilege it is to have you in the Chair
for this debate? I know that you have such humanity and that you will be
touched by this debate and all that you have heard. I know, too, that you will
be pleased that you were chairing this particular debate.
I also thank my right hon.
Friend the Secretary of State for his incredibly moving and powerful speech. I
congratulate him on our being here today. I also join you, Madam Deputy Speaker,
and everyone in this House in saying that the hon. Member for Ealing North
(Stephen Pound) made one of his finest speeches. It is his last speech, which
is a great shame to so many of us who know just how he has worked for his
constituents, for the people of Northern Ireland as a shadow Minister, and also
for this House, because he is a true parliamentarian and will be desperately
missed.
We stand here today just
before we go into an election. We are going into an election because politics
is broken, yet here we can prove that it is not broken. Here, we can prove that
we can come together and do something. We can deliver something that is right
for people who have been through the most agonising, dreadful experiences— experiences
that no person, and particularly no child, should ever suffer. We have a chance
to make that right today. I trust and know that we will come together, that we
will pass this Bill and that, by this evening, this Bill will have Royal
Assent, and then we can get on with delivering redress for those victims. They
need it, they deserve it, and it needs to happen as soon as possible.
One of the privileges of the
job that I used to do, that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State does
now, and that my right hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (James
Brokenshire) and others have done, is to realise that, very often, we are in
the presence of people who have suffered the most incredible, dreadful
experiences. Northern Ireland is like no other part of the United Kingdom for
having put people through experiences that no one should ever have to go
through. I, as Secretary of State, spent time listening to people who had been
through horrendous experiences in the troubles and who had been treated in a
way that nobody should be treated, and listening to people who were victims of
historical institutional abuse. As Secretary of State, or any Minister in the
Northern Ireland Office, one cannot fail to be touched by that and to be
determined to do everything possible to help those victims. I was absolutely
determined that we should do that, and I am so proud that we have got here
today, but it had to be done in a way that was sustainable and robust. Neither
I nor my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State could just wave a magic wand
and make it all right. We have to go through the proper processes, because we
must make sure that this redress scheme and the measures that are put in place
will be robust, will not be challenged and will be delivered—and delivered as
quickly as possible for the victims.
That is why it was a matter of
the most enormous regret that the Hart report was delivered at the point that
the Executive collapsed. Had the Executive not collapsed, we would have had
ministerial direction to know what Ministers thought of the recommendations. We
would have had something to work with. In fact, had the Executive been there,
they could have delivered interim payments without the need for primary
legislation. They could have delivered so many of these things so much sooner,
but they were unable to do so, which is why we had to go through a long
consultation process that victims felt was delaying matters and making them
worse. It was not doing so; it was there to give a robust legal framework so
that we could deliver this scheme.
I want to pay tribute, as my
right hon. Friend did, to the six parties. Earlier this year, when we were
starting on a talks process, we got all the parties from Northern Ireland in
one room and used that opportunity to get them to talk about this matter, so
that we could have a united position from them. Although we may still not have
an Executive, it will be those politicians and those parties that will have to
administer this scheme as Ministers. Therefore, it was absolutely right that it
was they who helped to draft this legislation. If that had not been done, and
we had used the normal primary legislation route in this place, it would have
taken far, far longer, which would have meant that victims had to wait longer
.
I have to say to the parties
in Northern Ireland that this really needs to be a wake-up call. Yes, we are
putting this Bill through here today—I know the hurdles that my right hon.
Friend has had to go over and how he has had to jump over obstacles and
everything else to get this Bill here today. I know full well what he has come
up against, trying to get matters such as this through the collective
responsibility of Government, but he should not have had to do that, because
there are politicians in Northern Ireland who are elected to do this work. This
needs to be the wake-up call. They should put their differences aside. I know
that they want to go back into Government and do the right thing by the people
of Northern Ireland. This is their opportunity. Please, I say to them, do the right
thing for those people.
Finally, I just want to talk
about the victims, many of whom I can see today. I know that we should not
refer to those in the Gallery, but I will, because those victims are there. I
had the honour and privilege of meeting them. I sat through meetings in which
they told me about their experiences. There is nothing more humbling than
listening to people telling you what they have been through—especially when it
is something that they should never have had to go through. This is a Bill for
them. This is something that we are delivering in this broken Parliament for
people for whom we should be standing up. I congratulate my right hon. Friend
the Secretary of State on this Bill and I will wholeheartedly support it here
today.
Emma Little
Pengelly (Belfast South) (DUP) “ I am so
very glad that we are here today and that we are getting to the final stage of
this process. It has been a battle throughout, not least for the many victims
and survivors of this terrible abuse. It has even been a battle just to get
this legislation through the House today, and I pay tribute to everybody who
has worked incredibly hard get us to this point. My colleagues and I, other
parties, the victims and others across Northern Ireland have lobbied incredibly
hard to get this legislation through, and I am really grateful and glad that we
have been able to achieve that. At times we expressed frustration and anger
that these provisions were potentially not going to go through the House, but
the Secretary of State did his best and succeeded, and we see the evidence of that
today. This Bill will go through the House in exceptional circumstances, with so
many people across so many different elements of the system having worked to
make this happen, and I am so very glad—not for us, but for the victims and
survivors of this dreadful abuse.
I am glad that those who have
suffered through this process will be able to see the genuine care and empathy
of all Members who have spoken on the issue thus far. The Secretary of State
made a wonderful speech that was very much from the heart, and we could see
that. I hope that the victims and survivors get some comfort from the fact that
many people care deeply about this issue. I also pay tribute to the shadow
Minister, the hon. Member for Ealing North (Stephen Pound). Once again, he made
a beautiful and poignant speech that was truly from the heart. That will be
picked up, heard and listened to by the victims and survivors, and I hope that
it gives them some comfort.”
Mr Gregory
Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP) “The
victims are very grateful for and conscious of the Bill’s progress today, and
we hope that it will proceed apace. In addition, though, some have said to me
that they are appreciative of and grateful for the empathy, support, sympathy
and solidarity with them from across the community, as well as the concrete
steps being taken today. Does my hon. Friend agree?”
Emma Little
Pengelly ,”I absolutely agree with all
that my hon. Friend has said. I am so glad that this legislation for the
victims and survivors of abuse is one of the last things that this House will
have achieved in this Parliament. This is a Parliament that has been dominated
by a small number of big issues, and we know very well what those are; I am not
even going to say the word. Yet I know that Members from every single party
right across this House and the elected representatives in Northern Ireland get
into politics because they want to make change on these types of issues. They
want to make changes on education, health and public services, and to address
great wrongs and injustices. It is such a good thing that we are ending this Parliament
on such an issue, and that the many hundreds and thousands of people who
suffered appalling abuse, as the Secretary of State outlined, will finally get
the last piece of this process: redress. But redress will not be closure. It
will never undo the dreadful wrongs that happened to all those children in those
settings.
Karen Bradley also intervened, “The
hon. Lady was instrumental in setting up the inquiry from the beginning. Let me
make a point to her that always struck me when I was in the Home Office dealing
with these matters for England and Wales, which is that to call this historical
abuse is absolutely wrong. It is not historical; it is current and present. It
is with the victims every single day.”
Emma Little
Pengelly, continued, “Absolutely. I was
involved in this process right from the start, seven years ago. I pay tribute
to the right hon. Peter Robinson and the late Martin McGuinness, because I was
present at the meeting when the victims and survivors came in and told us of
the terrible, terrible experiences they went through, and both those men were
genuinely moved. Who could not be moved by hearing those personal experiences
and the terrible wrongs? But both of those men were very moved, and they worked
together, and tasked me and some others to go away and try to drive this work
forward. Throughout those seven years, civil servants at all levels, the late
Judge Hart and all those who gave support and help were really motivated to get
through the process and to do so swiftly, because they had heard the terrible
things that had happened and had seen the injustice that they wanted to
address.
I have to say that I am angry
that it has taken this long to get to this point of redress. The inquiry was
unusual in that the timeframe was put down in legislation. The late Judge Hart
made it absolutely clear that, yes, he would request the extension that he was
allowed by the legislation, but he would also meet the timeframes set out, so
we always knew when the inquiry was going to report, because he made that clear.
I and others made representations to those who pulled down the Assembly, asking
them not to do so in order to allow the report to come forward, and I am
genuinely angry that it happened. I am angry that we have had to wait for those
years for the victims and survivors to get the redress they deserve and that we
knew was coming.
But today is not a day about
recriminations. In fact, this has been a good example of how the political
parties can work together and the difference that they can make—not, perhaps,
on the bigger issues that will always be challenging, but on these types of
significant issues that are so meaningful to people’s lives.
I pay tribute to all the
victims and survivors, who have been on this journey right from the start,
including Margaret, Kate, Gerry and Jon McCourt, all of whom have been
mentioned in this debate. They have done incredible work because they have
represented not just themselves, but the many thousands of victims across
Northern Ireland—in fact, across the world—who perhaps could not step forward.
They were brave enough to do so no matter how difficult it was, and it must
have been incredibly difficult for them to tell their own stories again and
again and again to try to get the inquiry and the justice they deserved.
I have been involved in this
process for seven years, so it is really good to see it come to an end today,
but the victims and survivors have been involved for decades and decades before
that. As I have said in the House many times, many of these children came from
very challenging and difficult circumstances, and what they needed was love,
protection and support. But when we read the report and listen to their
experiences, we know that what they got was cruelty, depravity and harshness.
That is appalling. Right from that very first meeting with Martin McGuinness
and Peter Robinson, those who were in the room were absolutely struck that the
right thing to do was to try to get justice for the victims. There is very
broad consensus on that in every political party and right across this House.
I pay tribute to all the
victims and survivors. This is not the end of their journey. They will continue
with all the pain and suffering—the legacy of what happened to them. I hope
that this redress and financial support—and what it symbolises—will be of some
comfort, as well as a recognition of their hard and incredible work to stand up
and address the terrible, terrible wrong that was done to them and many
thousands of other children.
Sir Peter
Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con) It would
be a good idea for others to look at the last two pages of the historical institutional
abuse inquiry report, which is available at hiainquiry.org. In those pages, Sir
Anthony Hart—to whom tributes have properly been paid—set out the six points that
he thought were the most important. It is now two years after he had hoped that
the compensation payments would be made. Let us also remember the survivors who
were over the age of 18 —people who he was not able to look at. I think there
is unfinished business in this part of our kingdom. We have to remember that
there will be further reports on the rest of the United Kingdom to come in
time.
Ian Paisley
(North Antrim) (DUP). When the Secretary
of State made his poignant remarks to the House today, he quoted from
Corinthians on the views and perspective of a child—what children see. The
beginning of that chapter says that faith is so powerful that it can move
mountains, but without charity, compassion and love, it is nothing. This House
today, through the actions of this Government that have been brought here, has
demonstrated that through compassion it has been able to move bureaucratic
mountains. It has been able to move those things that stood in the way, and it
is not as nothing; today this House is something. It has done something
incredibly powerful and incredibly important for victims across Northern
Ireland, those here on the mainland, and, indeed, those who are located across
the world as a result of the abuse that took place in these locations in
Northern Ireland.
It is important that the
Secretary of State is able to set out, and this legislation sets out, the
schedule of when moneys will be paid, because that is a practical issue. It is
also important that we make sure that help is given to the victims’ groups
going forward from now on, because they have been brought to the top of the
mountain. Today is, if I can use the word appropriately, an exciting day in
that they have now achieved this, but there will then be the cliff edge of what
happens next. Those victims’ groups will have to be wrapped in compassion,
charity, help and assistance so that they can then move to the next phase of
this, because it is not going to end very quickly. There will probably now be a
process put in place, and it is important that practical help is given to take
the groups through that to make sure that they can get the other end of this as
quickly and expeditiously as possible. I hope that we will see that. I hope
that we mark this very poignant and historic day with an appropriate mark of
respect and an appropriate celebration that this House is not as nothing; it
has achieved something today.
The Minister, Julian Smith concluded, “With
the leave of the House, Madam Deputy Speaker, I just want to come back on a few
points that I was asked about. Before I do, may I thank my ministerial
colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office? No Secretary of State could ask for
better colleagues than the two on either side of me at the Dispatch Box today,
who have also played an incredible part in trying to move this Bill forward.
The hon. Member for Ealing
North (Stephen Pound) raised the issue of the financing of the scheme and the
timetable. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, officials in the Executive
Office are already working on the implementation programme. They aim to make
shadow board appointments to work on policies, procedures and standards so that
the board can start considering claims as soon as practicable after it is
officially launched. Officials in the Executive Office are also working hard to
ensure that the consideration of claims can begin as soon as practicable after
the Bill becomes law, and exploring the possibility of opening up applications
in advance of the establishment of the board. Obviously, we will all want to do
whatever we can. In particular, the Government will do whatever we can to make
sure that we play our part in moving things forward as quickly as possible
The funding for the scheme
comes from the block grant, but clearly we will be making sure that we do
everything we can to support the Executive Office.
Gavin Robinson mentioned
that the Secretary of State is injecting
a bit of positivity and we hope that this will progress quickly. On 6 December,
he is mandated to lay reports under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation
and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018. Given that we are going to have to do that
process anyhow, could a line on progress updates and the processes that follow
be inserted in the Bill?
The Minister said, “I will do
whatever I can, within the constraints of the purdah period, to update right
hon. and hon. Members and the public.
My right hon. Friend the
Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley) referred to the fact that
this legislation is the most robust basis for the redress scheme and the
commissioner. That is worth reiterating. It would not be on as sound a footing
if we had not got what we hoped to get today, so she is absolutely right. She
is also right to point to the fact that hopefully after the election we can get
the Executive and the Assembly going, because that is the best place to do all
NI legislation.
The hon. Member for Belfast
South (Emma Little Pengelly) was very clear about how productive the Northern
Ireland Assembly and the Executive had been around the time of the Hart report,
and on other issues. That period gives us all hope that we will get back to a
position where we will restore the Executive and the Assembly.
My hon. Friend the Member for
Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley) made an extremely valid point. It is
something I was worrying about last night as I re-read parts of the report.
There are many, many people of different ages—people who may not have been in
care but may have been abused in other settings—who will no doubt be the
subject of reports going forward
I thank all colleagues for all
their kind remarks, and again pay tribute to the victims’ groups who are
sitting here today. They may have missed their current flights, but we have
arranged for them to be able to go later. I hope we will all be able to
celebrate with them shortly.
Question put and
agreed to.
Bill accordingly
read a Second time.
Motion made and
Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 63(2), That
the Bill be committed to a Committee of the whole House.—(Maggie
Throup.) Bill considered in Committee.
The House of Commons then
moved into Committee with Dame Rosie Winterton in the Chair
She asked if the Causes and
schedules of legislation were agreed and these were agreed without or vote
The Deputy
Speaker resumed the Chair.
Bill reported,
without amendment.
Third Reading
Th Minister “I beg to move, That the Bill be now
read the Third time.
That was, I think, one of the
shortest Committee stages in this Parliament’s history. Having been Government
Chief Whip, I only wish that another policy area of this Government could have
been covered so quickly.
As has been said during the
course of this debate, in powerful speeches from Members across the House, this
is a day for victims—the victims from Northern Ireland who are in the Public
Gallery today, the victims from Northern Ireland who are sitting at home, and
all victims of child abuse who are yet to have redress and a full
acknowledgment of what they went through. I am extremely grateful to the House
for all the support and for all the civil service support, and I think this is
a very fitting way to finish this Parliament.
The Shadow Secretary
off State for Northern Ireland Tony Lloyd
(Rochdale) (Lab) “Let me join the Secretary of State in applauding the fact
that the House has seen fit to move the Bill so swiftly through the House
today. I want to place on record our thanks to my colleague Lord Hain and Lord
Duncan, the Minister involved, because they were instrumental in ensuring that
this House had the opportunity to move things forward.
I want to say to those with us
today who are victims, representing many other victims, that this Bill would
have been necessary had there only been one victim of this kind of abuse. We know
that many thousands suffered—thousands more than will come under the ambit of
the scheme, because many of them have already died, and we cannot offer
anything by way of recognition or compensation to those people. But today we
are saying to those who are with us that we recognise what took place, and it
is a matter of real and profound shame to every one of us in this country. It
is also a matter of anger, and we should use that anger to ensure that we are
determined to do everything we can to insist that this cannot be the pattern
for the future. We know that sexual abuse will take place in Northern Ireland
and in the whole of the United Kingdom. This should impel us to do everything
we can to protect our young people and those who are victims, because we have
to learn the lessons of the past.
That is the triumph for those
who have been through this campaign. They have campaigned for themselves and
those they represent, but they have also campaigned on a much wider basis—they
have campaigned for decency and justice for people across this land of ours.
The real emotion that was rightly expressed by the Secretary of State, by my
hon. Friend the Member for Ealing North (Stephen Pound) and by others is not
just about empathy. It is because we profoundly believe in the need to ensure
that there is justice for those who have campaigned and those they campaigned
for and, in the end, to set a different moral tone around this issue for the
future. This is a good Bill, and I thank all our colleagues for making it possible
to pass it today.
.
Madam Deputy
Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton) “The
Secretary of State referred to the fact that the Bill went through Committee
very quickly; I do not think I have ever chaired such a quick Committee. That
indicates the unity in the House around this Bill, and I know that if it were
not for the special circumstances we are in, many more Members would have
wanted to be here to show their support.
Question agreed
to.
Bill accordingly
read the Third time and passed.
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Ordered,
That, at this day’s sitting,
the Speaker shall not adjourn the House until he has reported the Royal Assent
to any Act agreed upon by both Houses.—(Maggie Throup.)
The Bill was immediately sent
to the House of Lords for its consideration where it was agreed without debate
and then the in the Commons the Deputy Speaker advised that the Bill had been
given the Royal Assent and had become law.
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