Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)

The noble Baroness demonstrates, as she has previously, the heartbreak and the personal cost that too many Members of your Lordships’ House have faced, and that there is a face behind every one of the statistics and the stories that we read out. There is nothing I can do to fix some of that hurt; I wish there was, but this is our final attempt to do what we can, so that people can access the information and the answers they have waited for, in some cases for over 50 years. On the specifics that the noble Baroness asked for, she raises an important point. Noble Lords will be aware that I am an honorary captain in the Royal Navy. I consider myself part of the military family—although on the periphery, unlike some of my noble friends, who are at the heart of it—and I also have the privilege of being allowed to wear a uniform, so the veterans’ provisions are incredibly important to me personally. But there is an issue here about the victims; we need to make sure that we are moving forward for them and that they are able to access what we put in as protections—as many protections as we can reasonably do for veterans. The noble Baroness raised a very interesting point about the number of prosecutions and the number of people previously charged. As regards the current prosecutions that are under way, there are currently 10 live proceedings, six of which are about republican and paramilitary activity, two about loyalist paramilitary activity, one RUC and one military. When you look at those numbers, it is still quite clear that, although some of the narrative is elsewhere, the focus is still on the actions of the paramilitaries, as it should be. That does not mean we should not put the protections in place. In terms of the specifics, I am not a business manager of this place or the other place, but noble Lords will have heard that the gracious Speech, which we are still discussing, referenced the Troubles Bill, and we will be discussing that in your Lordships’ House in due course.