Brian Kingston
North Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“As a DUP member of the Justice Committee, I welcome the Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill moving to Second Stage. As other Members have mentioned, we are currently handling three substantial Bills at Justice Committee: the Justice Bill, the amendments on which we completed voting on earlier today after seven days of debate; the Criminal…”
“We recognise, however, that the commissioner is not to be an appeal mechanism for when, for example, the outcome of a trial is considered to be unsatisfactory, such as when an unduly lenient sentence is handed down.”
“The special measures include ensuring that an alleged perpetrator is not allowed to cross-examine the victim of the alleged offence, including in sexual crime cases. <BR /> <BR />We heard comments from the Sinn Féin Member for Mid Ulster in praise of her party's support for victims' human rights.”
“We are aware that the trial process often focuses more on the defendant who is charged with an offence than it does on the victims of the alleged crime. Victims must be at the heart of the justice system, not peripheral to it.”
“We welcome the fact that, through the legislation, the post will be formally established and regulated. <BR /> <BR />The principal aim of the commissioner is to promote the interests of victims and witnesses. The commissioner is intended to have a strategic role rather than to become involved in individual cases. Indeed, clause 8 states:”
“Although the Minister notified us a week ago that he would make his statement, it was disappointing that we received the text of it less than an hour before he was scheduled to give it in the Chamber, which did not help us with scrutiny.”
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“There are reports that 70% of the new fund will be allocated to capital, which, if true, will greatly reduce revenue support for voluntary and community sector programmes that aim to level up society. Throughout my time on the Committee for Communities, I have raised concerns about the future of community-based employability projects that support economically inactive people into employment or training for employment. I firmly believe that such community-based projects have the ability, contacts and appeal to reach people whom statutory services are less likely to reach. With just five months of funding left until the end of the financial year, there is no certainty that those projects will continue. As it stands, the staff will receive protective notice before Christmas.”
“The Democratic Unionist Party is deeply concerned about the lack of clarity on the new local growth fund, which is supposed to replace the Shared Prosperity Fund, itself a post-Brexit replacement for the European social fund. Last week, a response from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to a question for written answer asked by our party leader, Gavin Robinson, provided no real new insight. Hilary Benn stated that his Department:”
“I welcome the Minister's statement and that he will write to council chief executives to outline their obligations under current legislation. <BR /> <BR />The Minister will be aware that there are many cases of negative experiences of HMOs as a cause of antisocial behaviour in local communities, in particular excess waste and dumping, noise nuisance and over-occupation. To which statutory agencies should residents report such concerns, and will the Minister highlight that to councils?”
“It is important that we take the necessary action to provide people with the means to exit poverty and to introduce measures that will prevent people from falling into poverty.”
“There is a heavy burden on many hard-working people who are struggling to make ends meet in a cost-of-living crisis, and, as we have heard, almost one in four children now lives in relative poverty. A severe challenge therefore lies ahead. <BR /> <BR />In the Assembly, we have discussed how unfair the two-child limit is and the real impact that it has on families. Although mitigations have been introduced, we look to Westminster to make funding available for further mitigations in order to provide for those families. Creating opportunity for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, be it through greater educational attainment, training, apprenticeships or employment, will be crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty for many. Tackling poverty is therefore an Executive-wide responsibility. Every Department has to take responsibility.”
“If you put forward costed proposals, we will look at them, but, as I said, every expenditure has an impact on the public purse elsewhere. <BR /> <BR />Child poverty does not exist in a vacuum. Rather, it affects whole families. We cannot lift children out of poverty without first addressing the needs of their parents, grandparents, carers and the other people who support them throughout their lives. It is therefore essential that we acknowledge that tackling child poverty means addressing wider issues of disadvantage in our society. Children are vulnerable. They cannot get a job to provide for themselves, which means that it is their parents' or grandparents' duty to provide that support. In recent years, many have found doing that to be increasingly challenging.”
“Perhaps the Opposition should have included those proposals in their motion. It is always convenient to produce proposals for more public funds to be spent on a need, but that money needs to come from somewhere. That is the reality of government and of being stewards of the public purse. <BR /> <BR />The DUP is committed to ensuring that each and every child has the best start in life.”
“Wait until I have got through my points, and I will then give way. <BR /> <BR />Are the Opposition aware of the long waiting lists in the Department of Health, of the high demand for special educational needs provision in the Department of Education, of the investment that the Department for Infrastructure needs to make in roads and to address the situation with potholes that people encounter every day, of the shortfall in police officer numbers in the Department of Justice and of the need for DAERA to clean up Lough Neagh? All those issues have been raised, and the Opposition will table other motions about them. To where would they make cuts?”
“<BR /> <BR />We welcome today's debate on the Opposition motion, which, again, proposes mitigations for the welfare system, funding for which would come out of the public purse for public services in Northern Ireland. The Minister has already committed to mitigations for the bedroom tax and the benefit cap and has extended them until March 2028. Introducing further mitigations would impact on the funding available for other, much-needed public services. Do the Opposition have proposals for from where they would make savings? Are they aware of the demands in the Department of Health —?”
“The core purpose of the Assembly is to provide for the citizens of Northern Ireland, to provide a prosperous economy, to grow our economy and to provide circumstances in which people, families and households can thrive. That is reflected in our Programme for Government priorities: the growth of our economy; the provision of childcare; cutting health waiting lists; the provision of more housing, particularly social housing; and support for vulnerable people. The DUP Minister for Communities, on behalf of the Executive, has brought forward an anti-poverty strategy that seeks to reduce the risk of people falling into poverty, to minimise the impacts of poverty and to help people exit poverty. It seeks to address the root causes of poverty and to support and enable people to provide for themselves and their family.”
“Does the Member consider every resident who objects to having an Irish language street sign added to be sectarian?”
“I appreciate that it was not the Member's speech, but the last speech did not address the topic, which is about street signs. What is the Member's message to residents of a street where the majority have voted against having the street sign added in Irish? What is his message to those residents? Should they just suck it up, or will their wishes be respected?”
“I said that I recognise that Alliance is not supporting applications where a majority of residents have indicated that they do not want it. The point, therefore, is this: should that not be included in the policy, rather than its being left to the whim of how parties choose to vote and how they would change how they vote? It needs to be included in a review of the policy.”
“I heard the statistic of 2·9%. Does the Member accept that there are a number of streets where a majority of residents have opposed the signs? We have said that we will not oppose Irish street signs where there is no opposition to them. However, there are streets where a majority of residents are against them. Should the wishes of those residents not be respected?”
“The problem is that such signs are being pushed through by nationalist and Green Party councillors. The Alliance Party voted in a policy that it cannot control. The policy needs to be reviewed and changed. I strongly believe that the policy is damaging community relations in Belfast, particularly in mixed areas. I therefore urge Members to support the motion's appeal to Belfast City Council to carry out a review and change its unfit policy.”
“No. I am going to run out of time. <BR /> <BR />In reality, most unionists do not wish to have a dual language street sign on their street, and they have the right to not want it. Those who say that no one should oppose an Irish language sign expose only their own arrogance and their dismissal of the wishes of residents. To be clear, everyone who speaks Irish can speak English perfectly well, so the requests for those signs are not based on necessity, nor are they based on historic roots, because the majority of Belfast street names do not come from Irish; some do, but the majority do not. <BR /> <BR />In closing, I expect that the Alliance Party will point out that its councillors have voted against adding an Irish language street sign where a majority of residents are against it.”
“What I am saying is this: if you attend meetings with the police, they will tell you that location is important. Union flags and bunting are, thankfully, welcome on the Shankill Road, but I accept that there are areas where they would not be welcome. Location is important. It is important to listen to the views of the local community and not to impose things from afar.”
“<BR /> <BR />As we know, in Northern Ireland, there is a strong overlap between community identity, culture and politics; I am not saying that they are one and the same, but there is a strong correlation. Irish language street signs are viewed as indicating a nationalist-majority area. Whether we like them or not, we have a number of arrangements in Northern Ireland regarding where cultural expressions can or cannot take place; where parades can and cannot take place; and where flags can be flown and where they would be considered contentious. Location is paramount in these cultural matters. <BR /> <BR />Residents who are surveyed expect their views to be respected. When they are ignored, residents feel aggrieved, outraged and imposed upon.”
“Some might laugh at that, but it is a reality. It is widely viewed as cultural branding of their street, the equivalent of painting kerbstones red, white and blue or, in this case, green, white and gold. <BR /> <BR />The 'Belfast Telegraph' reported two weeks ago that, since the rules came into force in 2022, fewer than one in eight Irish language street signs approved in Belfast — just 12% — were supported by 50% or more residents of the street. The same article revealed that, out of 228 streets approved for Irish language street signs, the level of support among respondents in 42 of the streets was 25% or less. A recent LucidTalk poll for the 'Belfast Telegraph' found that less than a third of voters agree with the current council policy.”
“No. I need to make progress. <BR /> <BR />Ben Madigan Park South is another example in North Belfast: 23% were in favour, but 26% were against, and, again, the sign was forced through, disrespecting the majority wishes of respondents. <BR /> <BR />I have been visited at my office by residents who are outraged by such outcomes, which have confirmed our fears about an unfit process causing resentment and damaging community relations on streets that are quietly mixed. Some have said that it has caused them to seriously consider moving. Many have said that it will reduce the value of their property by reducing potential interest from the unionist community —”
“The point is this: residents' wishes should be listened to. People have a right not to have an Irish language sign if they do not want one. If they do not want that cultural branding, they have the right not to have it. I will come on to that point.”
“— Ben Madigan Park South. I will give way briefly. Yes, Danny.”
“I was also going to give the example of —”
“Indeed. We remember the calls of those who said that we could not have majority rule when unionists had a majority in councils and in the Assembly, but how things change when other parties have the majority.”
“<BR /> <BR />In the early days of the new policy, councillors adopted a convention of not approving an Irish language street sign where more residents voted against than for. However, since March this year, nationalist councillors, supported by Green Party councillors, have been forcing applications through, ignoring the majority wishes of residents and the objection of unionist and even Alliance councillors. In my constituency of North Belfast, for Sunningdale Park North, 22 residents voted for an Irish language sign, but 33 voted against it. Some 60% of respondents were against, yet the sign was forced through by nationalist and Green Party councillors.”
“As a result of that drastic change, the system has been overwhelmed with requests for surveys, at a rising cost to ratepayers. <BR /> <BR />Let me be clear: where residents consent to an Irish language sign with no or little opposition, the DUP does not oppose the request. However, we oppose, and will continue to oppose, applications for which a majority of residents who have responded to the survey say that they do not want a dual language sign in their street. It should be noted that, in most cases, the majority of residents do not even respond to the survey. Residents are given only 14 days in which to respond. The DUP tried to increase the deadline to 28 days, but nationalist parties would not support that.”
“It was astonishing to hear the Sinn Féin group leader proposing an ever-reducing percentage of residents that would be required for approval of a dual language sign, which the Alliance Party group leader kept agreeing to as though it were a reverse auction. They were asked, "Would you accept one third?", then, "Would you accept 25%?", and then, "Would you accept 20%?". Finally, they consented to just 15% of residents. The new policy was forced through the council by Sinn Féin, the SDLP, People Before Profit, Alliance and the Green Party despite opposition from all unionist councillors from the DUP, UUP and PUP. The new policy is that a survey can be triggered by a request from just one resident in a street or by a councillor for that district electoral area (DEA) who does not even have to live in the street.”
“In 2020, Sinn Féin sought to change those thresholds, and, with the support of the SDLP, People Before Profit, Alliance and the Green Party, they were drastically reduced. That has resulted in a policy that disrespects residents' views and, as I said, in our view, has damaged community relations, particularly in streets that are quietly mixed and where residents from different community backgrounds otherwise live side by side peacefully and with a large degree of tolerance. <BR /> <BR />I was present at the council's strategic policy and resources committee meeting in October 2020 when the new draft policy was tabled.”
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. Our motion asks Members to recognise that Belfast City Council's current policy on dual language street signs is flawed, disrespects the views of residents, damages community relations and needs to be urgently reviewed and changed. <BR /> <BR />When I commenced on Belfast City Council in 2010, there was a dual language street sign policy and a steady flow of applications under it, most adding the name in Irish but some adding the name in Ulster Scots. The thresholds then were that a petition from one third of residents in a street triggered a formal survey and that the agreement of two thirds of residents was required for a dual language sign to be approved.”
“I welcome the Minister's reiterating his condemnation of the acts of intimidation and violence that have occurred. We will all agree with that. I met affected families this summer and with Clanmil, in particular, pushing for rehousing to be done according to those families' wishes. Clanmil tells me that it is working hard but that rehousing depends on the availability of social houses in the desired areas. Does the Minister agree that, as a point of fact, the more restrictive people are about where they want a new social house of the appropriate size, the longer it is likely to take to meet their requirements?”
“I listened to what the Member said about the Assembly being down. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the current Justice Minister has been in post for all but 16 months of the time since January 2020. That is over 75% of the time. That is my reading of the dates: she has been Minister for three quarters of that time.”
“We have a duty to deliver that strategic change.”
“I am astonished that Alliance has said that it will vote against the motion. Does it reject the CJI report? The actions called for in our motion are the actions called for in the CJI report. Scrutiny, criticism and recommendations are the pathway to improvement. When criminal justice does not perform effectively, there is a significant impact on victims, defendants, witnesses and their families.”
“In other words, an efficiency drive. <BR /> <BR />Now that it is 11 months since the report was published, our motion asks the Minister what progress has been made, whether the recommendations have been achieved — if not, why not — and what the action plan and timescale are for achieving:”
“and various chief officers "should review" various elements of the criminal justice structure”
“There are two operational recommendations. One of those is for the PSNI's strategic transformation board. The other is:”
“The report is helpfully brief. It makes just one strategic recommendation and two operational recommendations in order to focus minds. Its single strategic recommendation is that, within six months of the publication of the report last November, the Criminal Justice Board, which the Minister chairs, should agree:”
“The report concludes that the Criminal Justice Board, which, I understand, the Minister chairs, is:”
“It is now 15 years since justice was devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive and the Assembly in 2010, so the inspectorate and the public will rightly ask what improvements have been made to reduce delays. The inspection report, however, states that there has been:”
“The executive summary begins by describing the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland as:”
“Those figures have not improved. DOJ figures for 2024-25 show that Crown Court cases in which someone had been charged with an offence in Northern Ireland took an average of 542 days to complete. That is still over twice the UK average of about 225 days. Summons cases in the Northern Ireland Crown Court last year took twice as long again, an average of over 1,200 days, to complete. <BR /> <BR />Our motion focuses on the Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland report 'Transforming the Criminal Justice System', which was published in November last year. The report was certainly critical of our criminal justice system. Chief Inspector Jacqui Durkin wrote in her foreword:”
“As a new member of the Justice Committee, I am doing a lot of reading to better understand the operation of the various agencies in the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. It is certainly a complicated structure, and, it has to be said, our justice system is not performing efficiently compared with justice systems elsewhere in the UK. <BR /> <BR />The Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) report 'Speeding up justice: avoidable delay in the criminal justice system' stated in 2018:”
“I join others in welcoming the Minister's announcement of the new £12·4 million initiative. Will the Minister tell us more about the differences between this JobStart scheme and the past programme?”
“Does the Justice Minister agree that the mutual aid arrangement is a positive for law enforcement across the United Kingdom and that, at times, we in Northern Ireland have to be prepared to give as well as to receive?”
“Let us not be blind to the dangers of intolerance and antisemitism in society in Northern Ireland. Let us be mindful of the impact of words, and let us support the needs of our cherished Jewish community.”
“The blue plaque marked the birthplace of Chaim Herzog, who served two terms as president of Israel, an honoured position that is now held by his son Isaac.”
“This is relevant to that, in that words have impact here.”
“Sadly, we have witnessed antisemitism in Belfast, with attacks on the headstones of Jewish graves in Belfast city cemetery and the removal by a community group of a blue plaque in Cliftonpark Avenue marking the birthplace of —.”
“What happened in Manchester is a realisation of those worst fears of antisemitism: Jewish people killed purely because of their religion. In Northern Ireland, we have also witnessed terrorist attacks on places of worship. We think of the appalling murders at Darkley Pentecostal Church and the murders of Gerard Kiely and Kevin Ballentine outside St Brigid's Church in Belfast, and we remember Mary Travers. <BR /> <BR />Our Jewish community in Northern Ireland is small but vulnerable. Phillip Brett and I greatly value the synagogue in our North Belfast constituency, and we have been honoured to attend events there over the years. Since last Thursday, I have spoken to members of the Hebrew congregation to reiterate our support and to the PSNI commander for north Belfast about security arrangements for that community.”
“In all debates about the situation in Israel and Gaza since October 2023, I and others have warned that strong words here will have little impact on the situation there but will have a major impact on community relations here, particularly for our vulnerable Jewish community.”