Whilst it is true to say that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission remained silent through the worst excesses of human rights violations during the pandemic and on the coercive and discriminatory nature of some of the laws that the Department of Health produced at that time, I commend the intervention by the human rights commissioner, Alyson Kilpatrick, in which she stated that there should be a statutory duty of candour: an obligation on doctors to be fully and completely truthful in order to protect lives and stop the atrocious cover-ups that have happened in our recent past. The time for obstruction is nearly over. The time of dragging their feet, dark arts and unethical practices from the Department of Health, the BMA and others is coming to an end. I stand here in support of the Roberts family and other families who have been fighting campaigns to bring truth into the heart of our health service and the people who work there.

A statutory duty of candour on individuals would not only inject that truth into our system but arm ordinary staff members who are told by their line managers to carry out unethical practices, such as shredding paperwork, amending notes or being untruthful about the evidence. It will arm them to say, "No, it is unacceptable for you to ask me to do that. It is even unlawful". It will arm ordinary staff members — doctors, junior doctors, nurses and other staff members in our health service — to shine a light on the truth so that families get redress and the truth about what happened to their loved ones sooner.