International Day of Democracy — Pat Finucane Inquiry

Part of Members' Statements – in the Northern Ireland Assembly am 12:45 pm ar 16 Medi 2024.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Jonathan Buckley Jonathan Buckley DUP 12:45, 16 Medi 2024

Another week in Labour la-la land. Another episode of 'Carry On Keir'. I thought that we were told that 'Things Can Only Get Better'. That tells me much about a Prime Minister who is more concerned about which donor will buy his latest designer suit or glasses than about dealing with the pressing priorities that people across the country face.

Just last week, on Saturday, 800 illegal immigrants crossed the English Channel. Sadly, eight of them lost their life. Just last week, there was a vote in Parliament on the Labour Government's decision to cut winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners. The very next day, whilst pensioners fear for the winter, the Labour Government announced £600 million in additional funds to fight the war in Ukraine. Just last week, Sir Keir Starmer released 2,000 prisoners from our jails, with one being arrested and detained on the very same day, following a sexual assault. To me, this does not seem to be a Prime Minister who is in touch with the issues affecting citizens every day.

There is a two-tier approach to victims being taken. Just last week, the Government announced a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane. Every family that suffered during the Troubles has a right to access justice, but I cannot but say that there has been a two-tier approach taken to addressing the carnage, brutality and barbarity of the acts carried act by the republican movement. I think of Alan Black, a friend who was shot 18 times on a roadside in Kingsmills. Ten of his colleagues were killed in the most brutal sectarian act of our Troubles. Sinn Féin members refused to take part in the recent inquest. Alan Black is not the only example. There are countless people out there who are crying out for justice, but whom do the Government seek to protect? I cannot but draw the conclusion that it is an attempt to spare the blushes of an Irish Government that refuse to cooperate or, indeed, those in the Sinn Féin ranks who continually conceal information about what they know to have happened in the murderous past.