Naomi Long
East Belfast · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“Underneath the Facebook posts to say that he had passed away, people speculated with such comments as, "Probably high on drugs", "Probably drunk", and, "Typical boy racer". There was all of that speculation. It was hurtful to the family, and it was inaccurate.”
“There are circumstances that we need to consider and be careful of. I was told, for example, that, when the issue of good character references at trial was being looked at in New South Wales — Committee members may wish to look at this for themselves — one of the groups that opposed their removal was representative of domestic abuse victi…”
“It sets out the strategic direction adopted by the Department and key partners to tackle those appalling crimes and protect vulnerable victims of exploitation.”
“The provision seeks to provide protection, via legal advice and representation for complainants, against the use of non-relevant personal material and evidence of previous sexual history being used in the court process.”
“<BR /> <BR />On the wider issue of ensuring that a withdrawal of services never happens again, I think that most of us agree that, although everyone has the right to take industrial action, no one has the right to derail and hold to ransom the entire justice system in that way.”
“Those measures will go some way towards helping to support complainants and enable them to have input into the decision-making process about what records containing their personal and sensitive information are required to be shared with the defence.”
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“If we are talking about reform and transformation of the justice system, does the Member accept that the trial that has been done about using the remote evidence centre for domestic abuse contest cases has been an outstanding success, with well in excess of 95% conviction rates, because the victim is empowered to turn up, as they would not have been before, there is often a guilty plea immediately on them doing so, and those who have been asked for their views of how it has worked have said that it has been very impressive?”
“To correct the Member, the PPS is not part of the Department of Justice.”
“We benefited from mutual aid in the summer, when, sadly, we had to call on those arrangements. Of course, it is not free. It comes at considerable expense. The force that requests mutual aid has to pay for it. There is a full-cost-recovery system. However, it is important that, at times — for example, when the police are stretched thinly because of a number of competing operational demands — we can make that call and have that additional support. For me, the fundamental issue around policing is that we have a shared objective, which is to keep people safe. That is what needs to be upheld, whether by bringing police officers to Belfast or by using officers from Northern Ireland elsewhere on occasion.”
“I agree that the Chief Constable is best placed to make that call. That is what I have said throughout my response to the question for urgent oral answer. It is not for any of us to decide, based on whatever perspective we might have, whether it is appropriate for officers to be deployed in any situation. Making those decisions is for the Chief Constable, who is ultimately accountable to the Policing Board. By all means, Mr Chambers, as a member of the Policing Board, you can hold him to account as well as its other members can.”
“I am not sure whether the Member or I should feel queasy if we are in such complete agreement today, but, yes, I agree that every Member has a duty to uphold the operational independence of the PSNI and to hold it accountable through the appropriate structures. Those are the arrangements that were put in place to build confidence in policing, and part of our role, as political leaders, is to build that confidence through using the structures properly.”
“I am well aware that matters to do with policing can become politically fraught. It is therefore important that the decisions on the allocation of resources to policing and policing structures, and the prioritisation and distribution of those resources, remain a matter for professional police officers. As armchair generals, we may all wish to give our opinion on what we see as priorities, but I prefer to leave that to the professionals, who have to do the job and who can be held accountable at the Policing Board for how they do it.”
“The Member sits on the Policing Board, so he will have every opportunity to ask that of the person who made the decision. If the Member wants me to make the decisions here in the Chamber, that will mark a departure from the view of his predecessors, who jealously guarded the tripartite arrangements for policing in order to prevent political incursions into the operational space. It seems that the SDLP is more concerned with scoring cheap political points than it is with the substance of the issue, which is that the Member sits on the Policing Board and has every opportunity to challenge the Chief Constable, both about the speed of response in the Member's constituency and about his decision-making on mutual aid.”
“As I stated in my original answer, it is in the best interests of the public generally that all police forces across the UK can call on support to help maintain safety and public order. The PSNI provided mutual aid assistance to the Metropolitan Police at the weekend. Requests for such assistance are coordinated by the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC), and I believe that it is important that the PSNI have recourse to that resource when it is required.”
“We see political policing in other places. We understand from our own history the dangers of it, and that is why we have a Policing Board and a separation of powers. Members should be wary of trying to undermine it.”
“The Member will not be surprised when I say yes. The Policing Board is the correct place to raise those issues and to hold the Chief Constable operationally accountable for his decision-making. Sometimes, in the desire to be critical of the answers that Ministers give, there is an intention to encourage Ministers to step outside the strict responsibilities that they have: I warn people against doing so. Were I to behave in a politicised manner — directing the police, telling them where to go, what to investigate, whom to charge, how to handle cases — you can just imagine the reaction that I would get in the Chamber on a week-to-week basis. Not everything that I might prioritise would be what you or the police might prioritise. Inviting me to step into a space into which I will not be drawn sets a dangerous precedent.”
“At the end of the day, it is not for me to decide what the police do and how they do it; it is for the Chief Constable to decide that. They are proscribed organisations, and that is the rationale for the arrests that took place. Again, it is not for me to defend the policy, because it was not made here. It was made in Westminster. It is a reserved matter, so I will not opine on it. However, it remains the law across the whole jurisdiction, whether in Northern Ireland or in the rest of the UK. When it comes to policing, as I said, officers act at the direction of their commanding officers on the day, and that would be the service to which they are deployed, which, in this case, was the Metropolitan Police, which was acting to deal with the protest issues that it had on Saturday.”
“<BR /> <BR />With respect to rolling back on protests, parades and other gatherings in Northern Ireland, we have no plans in the Department of Justice to do that.”
“The right to peaceful protest is an intrinsic part of living in an open and free society, and it is important that people are free to engage in such demonstrations. It is, however, a qualified right, as are all such rights, and it is one that requires a balance in its impact on competing rights that are being exercised in the same space at the same time. <BR /> <BR />It is not for me to opine whether the Met Police did their job correctly. Most people, even those who mock the fact that the police are operationally independent of me as Justice Minister, accept that directing the Met is well outside my remit. However, it is a matter for the Met, and, when PSNI officers are deployed under mutual aid, they act at the direction of their commanding officers in the force to which they are deployed. It is not a matter for us.”
“I look forward to the police being able to resolve who made those threats and deal with the matter appropriately, but they will do so independent of my direction.”
“First of all, I would be surprised if the Member was surprised at me stating the fact that the police are operationally independent of me and my Department. That begs this question: why did the Member ask the question in the House at all? It is clear from previous Speaker rulings that I am not answerable for the operational decisions of the PSNI. I and my officials were was not consulted because it is solely an operational decision. <BR /> <BR />The Member commented on the policing of threats from paramilitary organisations. The Member will be well aware of my view of such threats. There should be no paramilitary threats, no paramilitary intimidation and no attacks on either politicians or public servants who are working for the council. There is no excuse for that happening.”
“The deployment of additional officers to other regions of the United Kingdom requested under mutual aid arrangements is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, who is accountable to the Northern Ireland Policing Board. It is in the best interests of the public generally that all police forces across the UK can call on support to help maintain safety and public order.”
“That could not happen. It is not possible.”
“I have been clear that that alone will not deliver change, but neither will Justice alone. A number of Departments have footprints in these issues, such as Communities for housing; Education for the integration of newcomers and school bullying; the Department of Health in ensuring that NHS workers are safe; and the Department for the Economy in encouraging employers and supporting them. All of those Departments and the Executive Office have a really significant role to play. <BR /> <BR />I recognise that a statement issued with well-meaning, warm words will not solve the problem, but it is a start, and I want to see more action built on that. The first step forward is for us to find a consistent vision of what we want society to look like. For me, it is not one that is marked by that kind of hatred and division.”
“People are afraid to go to the shops at the weekend without wearing their work clothes in case they are stopped and their papers are demanded, as though we are living in some Nazi state, by vigilantes who have no authority or right to harass those people. A lady who had just finished a 12-hour shift in a nursing home in my constituency was accosted on the Holywood Road and had her papers demanded by somebody who clearly had nothing better to do and was not in work themselves. We have to be clear, when we talk about legal and illegal migration, that it is for the Government to resolve. It is not for individuals on the street to take matters into their own hands by harassing people who have a right to be there. <BR /> <BR />We have to challenge all forms of racism, sectarianism and hostility towards people from different backgrounds.”
“<BR /> <BR />That has also led to the affront of people who are here legitimately — I say "legitimately" because, if you are a refugee fleeing terror, you have a legitimate reason to be here, so it is not just those who have a visa but those who are applying for the regularisation of their position who are here legitimately — having to mark their home with their national flag to show which community they are from, sticking labels in their window that say, "I work in the NHS" or, "I'm employed in such-and-such a place". I drove through Ballymena. I know that you represent it and that you share my concern. It was biblical. It was like the Passover. People are marking their homes.”
“Sorry, I am short of time. <BR /> <BR />The violence and the sentiments have been whipped up in places such as online spaces, and a lot of the riots were organised and orchestrated events. The people who are orchestrating the violence want no migration, legal or otherwise. They want no immigration. In many cases, they are white supremacists and white nationalists who are inflaming the situation online. If you read some of the stuff — I have to say that it comes not just from the UK and Ireland — you will see that, across the board, there is a strong white nationalist sentiment, and we should be concerned about that. No level of immigration will be acceptable to those people.”
“The starting point is for us to show strong political and community leadership that not only condemns without equivocation the marginalisation, dehumanisation, targeting and threatening of people because of who they are, where they are from or the colour of their skin but actively rejects and challenges anti-migrant sentiment, which is so often predicated on false narratives. We need to use the platform that we have to discuss the issues in a measured and considered manner so that it does not fuel and amplify those who are, without doubt, committed to racism and racial inequality. <BR /> <BR />I also want to avoid the good immigrant/bad immigrant narrative: it is dangerous.”
“We have already reflected that the £5 million of resource that was diverted could have been better spent, frankly, on increasing police numbers or investing in communities. Healthcare workers have had their life disrupted, businesses have lost skilled staff who have returned to their home, people have been intimidated out of their home and children and adults are frightened to go to school or to work or to use public transport. Those are not acceptable behaviours, and I have been consistent in my advocacy of strengthening cross-departmental action to address racial inequality, prejudice and hate crime. <BR /> <BR />There is no shortcut to tackling these complex issues.”
“<BR /> <BR />During critical periods of unrest in August 2024 and June 2025, in response to the racist incidents and public disorder, DOJ activated established multi-agency strategic and operational mechanisms to address violence and racially motivated hate crimes and to offer support from the relevant agencies to members of the ethnic minority communities. Whilst there was an effective response to the initial disorder, I am clear that we now need a longer-term response to the ongoing emboldening of prejudiced attitudes and behaviours in wider society. The anti-migrant unrest and the attacks on black and minority ethnic people over the past year have impacted on families and communities in many ways.”
“However, I have also been clear with colleagues that the stabilisation plan requires the full £200 million to be made available and that, without it, the value of single-year commitments is extremely limited. It is, therefore, vital that, in subsequent years, the business cases are supported. There is a five-year business case with three years of stabilisation and two further years to ensure that it beds in. It is important that that happen as part of the forthcoming three-year Budget process.”
“I am focused on working with the Executive to redress the imbalance and to tackle some of the delays in the system through, for example, transformation funds, where my Department has been successful. I have continuously engaged with the Finance Minister and other Executive colleagues to advocate a better financial settlement for my Department, and I will continue to do so. <BR /> <BR />The Executive commitment to specifically increasing police numbers is reflected, first, in its inclusion as a commitment in the Programme for Government and in the approval by my Department and the Department of Finance of the PSNI's workforce recovery business case and the prioritisation of the bid for year 1 funding in the forthcoming monitoring rounds.”
“I also agree that it is vital to have an effective, responsive and visible criminal justice response to hate crime offences in Northern Ireland. Enhanced legislation is only one part of delivering that. However, I also recognise the importance of increasing resources across the criminal justice system to ensure a timely and effective response, which is crucial for building confidence. The matter is not solely for me but for the Executive as a whole to prioritise, and, while I agreed with much of the DUP's amendment, I was disappointed that, again, it is about the justice system funding itself. We have no means of doing so, and we need to get support from across the Executive. We have faced a squeeze that, by comparison, is disproportionate to that in other Departments, and it has impacted on every part of the system.”
“I am aware that the programme team has, on a number of occasions, offered to provide the SDLP representatives with a briefing on the programme but that that offer has not yet been taken up. If the leader of the Opposition and his colleagues would find it helpful, we are still happy to do that.”
“It will also help inform decision-making on the best method of systemically addressing the complex challenges of dealing with paramilitarism, organised crime and new and emerging threats in the longer term.”
“As a result of the additional funding, over 20 grants were awarded to groups across the city during 2024-25, with the range of projects being supported including community engagement events; resources to encourage the reporting of hate crime; youth diversionary and education sessions; and cultural awareness and celebration events. <BR /> <BR />Addressing the part of the motion that refers to tackling paramilitarism in Northern Ireland, I will say that my Department has committed to reviewing the Executive programme on paramilitarism and organised crime (EPPOC) in its entirety during 2026-27. That work is already in progress. The review will provide Ministers with an evidenced, fulsome assessment of the progress that has been made by the programme and of lessons learned.”
“That service supports victims of hate crime through the criminal justice process, signposts them to relevant support services and can assist with third-party reporting to the PSNI. A range of measures is also in place to protect vulnerable groups from intimidation. My Department, together with the Northern Ireland Policing Board, provides annual funding to policing and community safety partnerships (PCSPs), and they play a key role in the Department's operational response to community safety concerns, including addressing hate crime. Following the incidents in Belfast in the summer of 2024, that joint committee provided a small additional award to the Belfast PCSP.”
“It is therefore important that those services be able to address not only the signal offence but the underlying attitudes that were a driver for it. Perhaps equally powerfully, strengthening the legislation also sends a clear signal that hate crime is not tolerated by us as an Assembly. It supports an underlying commitment to valuing the diversity in all our communities across Northern Ireland, including newcomer and ethnic minority communities, LGBTQIA+ communities and people with disabilities. <BR /> <BR />When it comes to supporting victims of hate crime, direct support is already provided through the Hate Crime Advocacy Service, which is jointly funded by the PSNI and DOJ.”
“That staged approach means that hate crime provisions should be in place sooner than might otherwise have been possible, with, of course, the cooperation of the Committee and the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />Strengthening hate crime legislation not only gives the police, the prosecution, the judiciary and others additional tools with which to ensure that the hate element of any crime is recognised and addressed in sentencing but, importantly, allows rehabilitation, whether by the probation service or by prisons, because, of course, not everyone will end up in prison, and the probation service does an excellent job. I keep hearing about people being behind bars, but maybe some people can be reformed without being put behind bars.”
“It will allow all existing criminal offences to be aggravated by proven hostility based on membership or perceived membership of a protected group — race, religion, disability or sexual orientation — and will allow intersectionality to be recognised. It will also include a power to add further protected groups by way of secondary legislation, if the evidence shows that that is required. It is important to have that flexibility to respond. <BR /> <BR />Additional support for victims and witnesses will be included in the victims and witnesses of crime Bill, which will include provisions to allow automatic eligibility for consideration of special measures and protection from in-person cross-examination by the defendant in hate crime cases.”
“Those were his words. <BR /> <BR />On my return to office, it was clear that we could not introduce four or five Bills, as I had hoped to do, in four or five years. The intended hate crime Bill would have fallen owing to legislative time constraints and would have had to start again in the following mandate. Recognising the urgency of the problem, however, I prioritised delivering the most impactful recommendations on hate crime. They are being progressed through the Department and legislative drafting process and will be introduced via a sentencing Bill and the victims and witnesses of crime Bill. <BR /> <BR />The statutory aggravator model, which will be included in the sentencing Bill, will become the core method of prosecuting hate crimes in Northern Ireland.”
“It is a nice try, but I will respond to the Member in writing on that point. He has approached me on it in his role as party leader in the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />Judge Marrinan also noted that the provisions that I am progressing in this mandate:”
“Contrast the time being taken by my Justice Bill, which has been with the Justice Committee for the past year, with the statutory 10 working days that MPs would have in Westminster for a similar Bill.”
“That first stage covered the aggravation offence model and special measures for victims in court proceedings, as recommended by Judge Desmond Marrinan in his comprehensive review of hate crime legislation and his subsequent report, which was published in late 2020 and for which I remain very grateful. Like me, he has expressed disappointment at the pace of change, but he has recognised that the delay is not due to any lack of urgency on either my part or that of my Department but, rather, to the length of time that it takes to progress legislation through these institutions.”
“My Department is engaged in a wide range of work to support effective responses to hate-motivated attacks and to strengthen support for all victims of hate crime and those who fear that they may be vulnerable to attack, whether in the workplace, at home, in school or in the local community. <BR /> <BR />In the previous mandate, I took forward the first stage of policy development and consultation to develop the legislative protections for victims of hate crime, with the intention of undertaking consultation on the remaining recommendations at the start of the new mandate, and bringing a consolidated hate crime Bill as the fourth Bill in this new mandate in 2026.”
“Such hateful conduct not only damages the reputation of Northern Ireland as a welcoming and safe place to live, learn, work and visit, but the prejudice on which it is predicated is utterly corrosive to our ambition of building a truly shared, safe and inclusive future for all our people. <BR /> <BR />Clearly, my Department and I have a key role to play, alongside justice partners, in addressing those issues, which is why I offered to respond today. However, that alone is not enough, nor can it protect people from harm, as many Members have recognised. A wider response across Departments and society is required to tackle the root causes of hate and prejudice in our communities, and to proactively invest in and promote inclusive, shared and vibrant communities.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am grateful to the leader of the Opposition for moving this important motion. In recent months, we have seen shameful acts of racist, sectarian, homophobic and transphobic intimidation and hate on our streets, targeting black and ethnic minorities, migrant workers, refugees, young families and vulnerable and defenceless individuals. I am clear that there can be no place for violence or the threat of violence, and that nor is there is any place for the rise in intimidating vigilantism and harassment that we have seen recently.”
“The Member is, of course, correct, and that is one of the reasons why, in speeding up justice, we are looking at the increased use of out-of-court disposals. However, his colleague consistently criticises the use of those out-of-court disposals, even those that the PSNI brought forward as recommendations. If we want to speed up access to the courts, we need to use those disposals, which are measures that are used throughout the rest of the UK, in a proportional way.”
“The Member stood in the Chamber and implored, I think, the Finance Minister, when that Minister was bringing legislation before the Chamber, to move it by amendment so that it could be introduced more effectively to the Committee. Therefore, why the difference when it comes to the Justice Bill and legislation from other Ministers?”
“I appreciate the Member being generous. I reassure him that the model that is proposed by Judge Marrinan and that will be taken forward by the Department is an aggravator to existing crime. It is not creating a whole new raft of crimes. If, for example, you hit somebody, and it is motivated by racism, sectarianism or whatever it is, an aggravator will be applied to the sentence, but it does not create new offences. If that gives the Member reassurance, that might be helpful.”
“The sentencing Bill will be with the Assembly by the end of the year and the victims and witnesses Bill in early spring. Will the Member clarify whether he would prefer that we had a stand-alone hate crime Bill or that we expedited those most impactful elements of the hate crime recommendations from Judge Marrinan? The stand-alone Bill would be introduced in the next mandate, and the bit that I am doing will be in this mandate.”
“We are working in the family courts space to promote alternative dispute resolution and mediation. We would very much like to see that, because we know that it is preferable to having to go through the courts. That is not always possible. Ultimately, however, the management of cases and the time that they take falls to the judiciary. Whilst we can try to streamline the processes and procedures that it has to follow, it is for the judiciary to do the scheduling.”
“The options that we are looking at include out-of-court disposals, addressing, for example, the jurisdiction of some of the courts and looking at where there are alternative means of dealing with crimes.”
“Matters to do with the family courts and scheduling of business more generally are largely judicial issues, but I referenced earlier in Question Time the work that is being done to speed up justice.”
“I continue to work closely with partners through the OCTF and JATF not only to manage the threat from drug-related crime, including on a cross-border basis, but to target those in the gangs and the supply routes that are used. <BR /> <BR />Separately from corresponding with the Home Secretary, I recently attended a UK-wide drugs ministerial meeting with the Health Minister. It provided an opportunity for us to shine a light on the Northern Ireland position, including those concerns, as we discussed things such as drug enforcement and prevention. I want to collaborate with our colleagues in these islands to ensure that Northern Ireland does not become a major route for drug trafficking through the islands and onwards to Europe.”
“I want people to be assured that robust mechanisms are in place for law enforcement agencies to work collaboratively and on a cross-border basis to tackle the threat posed by drugs through the joint agency task force (JATF). The cross-border policing strategy also acts as an overarching delivery strategy for the JATF's work, and one of its six priority areas focuses on drugs. I get six-monthly updates on the work of the task force through the intergovernmental agreement arrangements, and I then provide a statement to the Assembly on the relevant matters in that. Tackling harm caused by organised crime is also one of my key priorities.”