Results 1-20 of 3,053 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Shaun Woodward

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Saville Inquiry (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: Lord Saville recently informed me that he does not expect to deliver his report until the week beginning 22 March next year.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Saville Inquiry (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: The House will understand that it is not for me to speculate on dates of general elections. I can, however, tell the House that I have again met the families and the soldiers, and I am grateful to hon. Members for facilitating those meetings. The families are deeply disappointed by yet another delay; it is agonising for them. The same is true for the soldiers and their families. This delay is...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Saville Inquiry (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: I had the opportunity to meet the hon. Gentleman in his constituency only a week ago, when I was also meeting the families. I am particularly concerned about the delay. With great respect to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, the date of a general election is a matter for him. However, there should be no delay in publishing this report. I have urged Lord Saville, and made every effort...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Saville Inquiry (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: The report has taken more than 10 years to produce, and it has cost nearly £200 million, half of which has been spent on legal aid. The report has been crucial to the peace process, and we will study its findings carefully. I say that because I think that the House will want a debate on it, and the Government would want to grant it a debate on the report and its findings.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Saville Inquiry (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: The hon. Gentleman will know the concern that I have, for both the families and the soldiers who are part of the report. I am very concerned about the delay, and I very much hope that Lord Saville not only takes my representations seriously but finds the opportunity to read the Hansard of today's questions, because it is extremely important that he understand the genuine concern across the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: I have today placed in the Library a copy of the Independent Monitoring Commission's 22nd report on the activities of paramilitary groups, in which the IMC states: "Dissident republican activity since the early summer of 2008 had been consistently more serious than at any time since we had started to report in April 2004."

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: In answering the hon. Gentleman's third question, may I associate myself firmly with the remarks made in his two previous ones? In response to his third question, I urge him to read the IMC report, which makes it clear that such activity cannot be attributed to the organised activities of those who may have represented paramilitary activity in the past. The report is extremely clear in laying...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: The hon. Gentleman will understand why I may not wish to speak about the particular individuals who have been charged with the murder of Constable Carroll, but I will say that the IMC report—I urge all hon. Members to read it—is very clear about where some of the recruitment, particularly of young males, is coming from and why it is happening. Within the report, there is also a...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: You might me rebuke me, Mr. Speaker, if I chose to answer all of those questions. I will none the less try to find an envelope that might succeed in answering the purport of the question. The report is very clear about the problem that we are facing in Northern Ireland today as a result of criminals calling themselves dissidents. It is very clear that there is a political solution and the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. It might be worth drawing the attention of the House to one of the remarks in the IMC's report today, which is that the activities of these dissidents "represent a challenging of the peace process by groups always violently opposed to it", but critically at the moment "not an unravelling of that process." We have a duty to ensure that that peace...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: I very much join the right hon. Gentleman in those remarks and I thank him for the role that he is playing in trying to drive forward progress on completion of devolution. I would none the less remind him that paragraph 5.1, to which my right hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Mr. Ingram) referred, is very clear in saying that "the early devolution of...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: I am happy to pass on those remarks to the PSNI. I am sure that the House would warmly welcome the new Chief Constable, Matt Baggott, who has taken over control of the PSNI. The PSNI does an extremely brave job, as this report demonstrates, in extremely difficult and challenging circumstances.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: The hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to the importance of the shared future. There has been a lot of discussion about community confidence being built before devolution can take place. The report puts clearly before the House and the public of Northern Ireland that the real challenge to community confidence is the threat posed by dissidents. We have a choice, and we can act: early...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and I would like to mark our thanks to the Opposition parties who have helped in supporting the financial package put forward by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to enable early devolution to take place. The hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to the part of the report relating to the security issue, which goes on to say that the challenges...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Paramilitary Activities (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: The hon. Gentleman is right: it is up to the four parties. But let us be clear: as the report highlights, this is perhaps a moment when whatever individual issues might still prevent parties from moving forward, they should now set aside their differences, find the points of common unity and purpose, and ensure that the dissidents do not become a major threat to people in Northern Ireland.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Loyalist Decommissioning (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: The House will note the report from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, which was placed in the Library last month and which records very significant acts of decommissioning by loyalist groups. The House will also know from my right hon. Friend the Minister of State that the decommissioning order will end unequivocally on 9 February next year.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Loyalist Decommissioning (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: The answer to the hon. Gentleman's second question is yes. As for his first question, we are making that requirement clear. That is why we are, I believe, making substantial progress on decommissioning, although we expect more. [ Interruption. ]

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Loyalist Decommissioning (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: As the hon. Lady knows, as part of the process there will at the end of it be a full statement by the IICD.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Devolution (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: It is for the parties in Northern Ireland to decide when to request transfer. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made a settlement of upwards of £800 million available to the parties if they reach agreement.

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Devolution (4 Nov 2009) has video

Shaun Woodward: Yes.