TRUSTPOLITICS
Hilary Benn

Hilary Benn

Labour — Leeds South

Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 January 2026

Debate

Northern Ireland Troubles: Legacy and Reconciliation

Contribution

We have had a very full and wide-ranging debate in which many different contributions have been made, demonstrating once again just how difficult it is to deal with legacy—I think that is a truth around which we can all rally. If it were easy, it would have been dealt with a very long time ago, but its difficulty does not mean that we should not attempt to deal with it. The hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Alex Burghart) made his case. I gently say that I was slightly disappointed when he suggested at the end that the Government are doing this for reasons that are, in some way, hidden or unknown, or that may only be discovered in the years to come. I hope he would accept that the Government’s reasons are very clear. First, the order will deal with the failure of the previous Government’s legacy Act, for the reasons that I tried to set out in my opening remarks: failure legally and failure because it gained no consent from people in Northern Ireland.
← Previous speaker
In this debate
Next speaker →
In this debate

More from Hilary Benn

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

View Hilary Benn's full report card →

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

For Hilary Benn's full parliamentary record including voting history, expenses and all other contributions, see the Hilary Benn report card.