Jon Burrows
North Antrim · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“It is invasive for someone to be cross-examined by the person who has caused them grave trauma and great hurt — the person who has victimised them. Cross-examination can be done by legal counsel, which is sound.”
“It is adversarial for good reason, but there are really important things that we can do when it comes to process, the system, dealing with cross-examination, disclosure and character references. I hope that we have a victims and witnesses commissioner who is the loudest and strongest voice for victims.”
“I agree. I rang one of the victims on the evening after the conviction and apologised. Even though I had no role over Mr Campbell, I said that I was ashamed that that man, Lloyd-Lavery, was ever employed by the party or by an MLA and ashamed that the man who gave him a character reference was a former chair of our party.”
“I welcome the Bill. It is long overdue, because our justice system in Northern Ireland is tilted towards the interests of suspects and perpetrators over and above the interests of victims and the general public.”
“There is always a balance to be struck between the rights of an unconvicted person who has been accused of a crime and the rights of the victim, and we need to get that balance right. We should never forget that there have been miscarriages of justice in our country down through the years.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Education Minister should have included the measure in the School Uniforms (Guidelines and Allowances) Bill. That would have achieved it far more efficiently, but it was not done.”
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“Sometimes — I do not want to stigmatise anyone — the violence is to do with special educational needs pupils and is not an assault but about someone who is dysregulated, but, often, teachers and classroom assistants do not have the training and support that they need to manage difficult situations. However, there is a culture in schools of some pupils simply being unruly and abusive and engaging in intimidation of our teachers and classroom assistants, which is an entirely different thing. Those staff need to hear that they have our full support. I worry about the Alliance proposal to change the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14. That would make things such as bullying, assaults and even upskirting or downblousing by anyone who is under 14 legal in our country, which would be very damaging.”
“Violence against our teachers has been described to me by those who work in schools as a taboo issue. It is one that we do not want to talk about or to address but that happens in schools day in, day out. I asked the Education Authority how many teachers were assaulted last year: the figures were 598 teachers and 1,974 classroom assistants. That is 2,500 people who work in our education establishments. <BR /> <BR />When we talk about violence against women, we do not talk about the violence in our schools, but the vast majority of the people who are injured and assaulted there are female.”
“The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party said that it is a collective responsibility and included Health. Two parties collapsed the Executive, and that reduced the time that we had. We should take collective ownership of an issue that affects everybody.”
“I fully accept that we hold the Ministry. We have a key responsibility, but so do we all . I commend those who care for our young people.”
“<BR /> <BR />I fully accept and make no apologies or try to take us away from our responsibility. The Health Department needs to grapple with and develop solutions to support people after the age of 19. Some things are being done at the moment, and I will address them in a second. I speak to a number of parents, and I hear that not only do they want support for the young people, because it is right, but many of those parents want to work and are being held back. Therefore, it will be good for our economy; it is good for the young people; and I say this —.”
“We also need to look at it holistically. There is also a need for more support in the early years, because we do not give enough support to children aged from zero to five years. We do not give enough support once you are at school. We do not give the schools the resources they need to support the children when they are at school. We have SENCOs who are trying to do two jobs — to be a special educational needs coordinator and a teacher. We have young people in taxis that drive past two or three schools to go to a school at the other end of the Province. The answer from the Education Authority when they spend three hours on the road is to reduce their timetable to make sure they do not spend an inordinate amount of time away from home, which further disadvantages the young people.”
“My cousin had Down's syndrome, and his mum and dad lived with the constant worry about who would look after Ivan when they died. It is something that the rest of us do not think about, unless we are in that position. It is right that there is support.”
“Addressing the issue of special educational needs end to end is one of the greatest challenges of our time. It is the responsibility of every Member in the Chamber, just about every member of the Executive and the Economy, Health, Education and Communities Ministers in particular. It is not right that there is a cliff edge at 19. I pay tribute to Alma White and Caleb's cause and to all the other carers, families, young people and siblings who support people with special educational needs. <BR /> <BR />In the Great Hall last month, I was really moved when a young man — I am sorry that I forget his name — said, "I am my brother's future carer". He is probably only eight or nine, but he said that he will take on the responsibility of looking after his brother when his parents pass.”
“I pay tribute to those women for their courage, their resilience and their tenacity. We need to deal with the issue of character references post conviction for sexual assault, speed up our justice system and take a stand for victims, not perpetrators.”
“In effect, he called all his victims liars, yet, on his conviction, two members of our society, including one who holds a senior position in the Law Society, felt that it was it right to give that individual a character reference. <BR /> <BR />The case also throws up the issue of delay. The time between the victims giving a statement to the police and the verdict was six years. Many victims, of sexual and domestic violence in particular, cannot withstand the pressure of giving evidence over a six-year period. Often, suspects delay their plea — in this case, there was a not guilty plea — until the last minute, in the hope that a victim will break.”
“It is shameful that, at one stage, he worked for the Ulster Unionist Party, in that he worked for an MLA. No association should change our ability to stand up and say that his behaviour was vile. <BR /> <BR />The case brought up the issue of character references. One was given by David Campbell and another by David Lavery, the first of whom is a former a chair of my party, I am ashamed to say, and now works for the Loyalist Communities Council. The second of those people holds a high position in the Law Society. Let me make this clear: when it comes to a trial, people should be able to put forward evidence if they want to make the case that someone is innocent, but, once that person has been convicted of sexual assault, there is no place for a character reference. In this case, the defendant, William Lloyd-Lavery, denied the offence.”
“I pay tribute to the six women who recently secured the conviction of William Lloyd-Lavery for sexual abuse in a school in the seventies. The victims displayed great courage, resilience and tenacity in securing that conviction after all these years. Two of the victims, Nicola Bannon and Lynne Darcy, waived their anonymity. Collectively, in making the case so public, the victims have, I hope, inspired other victims to come forward and give evidence. <BR /> <BR />The publication of 'The Katie Simpson Review' report and the sentencing of William Lloyd-Lavery should make last week a seminal moment in Northern Ireland. There is an opportunity for us to make a clear and unequivocal stand against any form of abuse, degrading behaviour or sexual assault against women or girls. <BR /> <BR />Lloyd-Lavery's offending was disgusting.”
“Sinn Féin is allying itself with the Brits to try to advocate its cause. I will say one thing for Scottish and Welsh nationalists: at least they never blew people up to try to get their independence; at least they never chained people to steering wheels and turned them into human bombs. They believe in peaceful politics, and, for that, they have my respect.”
“People are wondering about the cost of filling up their car; the cost of their car insurance; the cost of hiring workers; the cost of putting their heating on; or the cost of filling up a basket of groceries. Sinn Féin's fixation on constitutional change is starting to hurt its vote down South. <BR /> <BR />There is an irony in Sinn Féin's position: when it comes to Great Britain, it has become the party of partition. Sinn Féin wants to partition the island into three constituent parts. Its youth wing has a lovely picture of Ireland from space, saying, "Where's the border? Ireland is an innate island. Why would you have an artificial border on it?", but, of course, Sinn Féin wants to have "artificial" borders to separate England, Scotland and Wales. It is the party of partition.”
“Here is a reality: most people in Northern Ireland want us to get on with making things work. This is a distraction from the fact that Sinn Féin does not make things work. Its contribution in Economy has cost us jobs. Man landed on the moon in 1969, but, in Infrastructure, Sinn Féin cannot deliver smooth roads in 2026. The rates Reval was disastrous. Every ministry that Sinn Féin holds is a disaster. Deflection, deflection, deflection. <BR /> <BR />Here is another reality: the people of the United Kingdom stand together. What you are hearing is that people want change from the same politics and the obsession with pet projects like constitutional change.”
“It is somewhat a sign of Sinn Féin's desperation that it is searching for more evidence of its false momentum towards Irish unity by looking at the election results in Scotland and Wales. It is false because, of course, the majority of people who cast their vote did so for pro-Union parties. Across the United Kingdom, in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we know that we are better together. Here is a reality: Sinn Féin needs to keep doing that because its promised project of Irish unity failed. It did not happen in the years after the Belfast Agreement. We have had so many different dates: 2016, 2025 and 2030. I suspect that we will be here in 50 years' time, with relatively youthful Sinn Féin Members saying that, in 2060, a border poll will be just around the corner and just within reach.”
“Does she agree that it is time for a fundamental reset so that we protect victims, protect the public and do not always err on the side of the suspect's rights?”
“I welcome the Minister's statement. Katie Simpson was an innocent women murdered by an evil man. <BR /> <BR />The issue of bail pops up. Despite being charged with murder, facing a trial, living near the border and having already tried to interfere with witnesses and pervert the course of justice, Jonathan Creswell was granted bail. That is inexplicable. That decision allowed him to commit suicide and deny justice to the family. Does the Minister agree that there is something deeper in our justice system — I have warned about it for a long time — including our Police Service, whereby the rights of the suspect are given too much weight and the rights of the victim and the need for public protection are not given enough weight?”
“Human rights lawyers have used endless inquiries that have lined the pockets of a small number of solicitors in Northern Ireland, yet Dublin has not instigated any inquiry into those bombs that originated from the Irish Republic. The UK Government's handling of legacy has been disgraceful. They have allowed history to be rewritten; they have allowed terrorists to turn the tables on the honourable men who served; they have been led by the Dublin Government; and they have had rings run round them by republican lawfare. I now ask that the Government take steps to find out why explosives came from Irish Industrial Explosives without checks.”
“The security forces in Northern Ireland have been accused of collusion simply for missing a piece of intelligence or not having the opportunity to interview one witness, yet, over many years, tons of commercial explosives from a factory in the Republic of Ireland end up in the murderous hands of the IRA. That issue was raised multiple times, and little or no action was taken. Why is that? The scale of the leak of explosives is vast. In 1973, 1974 and 1982, it is clear, if you review Hansard, that all gelignite recovered by the security forces emanated from that factory in the Republic of Ireland. <BR /> <BR />This is a matter of profound public importance. It goes to the heart of how the IRA sustained its bombing campaign. Our victims need the truth.”
“The concerns were not isolated; they were raised repeatedly. However, no action was taken on the loss of explosive material from that factory. <BR /> <BR />A former colleague of mine has spent years researching evidential and archival material from the 1970s and 1980s, and it shows that a very substantial proportion of the high explosives that were in the hands of the IRA and that were recovered by the security forces from either undetonated devices or searches originated from a single source: the Irish Industrial Explosives facility in Enfield, County Meath.”
“The scale and duration of violence during the Troubles demands not only remembrance but rigorous examination. Regrettably, that examination has been lopsided. All violence was wrong, but, too often, history has been rewritten north of the border and untold south of the border. For more than two decades, over 10,000 explosive devices were deployed across Northern Ireland and Great Britain, mainly by the Provisional IRA. That bombing campaign destroyed infrastructure, cost billions of pounds and destroyed lives. The question of who armed the Provisional IRA before Semtex arrived from Libya has never been asked. Evidence presented at Westminster and the Houses of the Oireachtas over many years has pointed to the loss, theft and diversion of commercial-grade explosives from a factory in the Irish Republic.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am humbled when I go into schools and meet the men and women who support our children with special needs. I thank them and value them, and I want to make sure that they see that value in their pay packet, in their terms and conditions and in their professional accreditations.”
“I am moving slightly away from the subject, but summer schemes for children with special educational needs last for only two weeks. I know parents who want to work and contribute to the economy, but they cannot, because they have to look after their child as their school is closed. Not investing in such schemes costs us more than we are saving. Moreover, children who have progressed in school are considered to be going backwards because they have not had the routine of being in their school for six weeks or eight weeks. <BR /> <BR />I support the motion and am glad that it was tabled for debate. The Executive and society collectively need to take an honest, hard look nationally at the exponential rise in special educational needs to determine how we are going to manage the situation end to end throughout its life cycle.”
“If we do not, we face a future in which the children will not get the help that they need, in which our workforce will not have the people it needs and in which parents at home will not have the support that they need.”
“I raised the issue in Westminster and said that, at some stage, as a nation — I will include the Republic of Ireland, because we had the North/South Ministerial Council statement today, so I will extend it to the five regions that make up our two islands — we need collectively to look at what is happening across Europe and understand the issue with SEN. There is an increase in numbers that teachers have never seen before. The whole Executive need to grapple with the issue, because, otherwise, education is going to cost far more than it ever has done before. That is the reality. That involves looking at early years and at nought-to-five, which is an issue for the Department of Health, as well as for parents. It is a societal issue that we have to grasp.”
“Absolutely. The need for reform is absolutely compelling. Of course, reform has to be the correct reform. It has to be sustainable. It has to make sure that there is no burnout. If we are honest, there are some children who will never go into the workplace. Some of them are in my family. They just need support, love and care and to be given the best quality of life. However, there are children who can go into the workforce, have a job and do all those things, which is why this is so important, because it will combat future economic inactivity. That is why we need to find the money to get special educational needs provision right. <BR /> <BR />I fully support the motion. I am glad that it was moved.”
“I do not know whether, as a society, we have fully understood what that means for us, what is causing it, how we should deal with it, how we should support parents who are dealing with it and how we should look at the impact that it might have in the future. If we give those young people the right support, many of them will be able to go on and have a job, but unless we get it right —.”
“We need to arrive at that position, but we also need to look at the wider pressures that SENCOs face from excess bureaucracy. They face a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy. Things are not streamlined. There is insufficient support from the EA. All of that needs to be looked at. It is not simply about saying that a SENCO should be non-teaching. That is one vital aspect, but it needs to be backed up by giving SENCOs the proper skills, proper accreditation and proper support, by reducing the administration and by letting them do their job, which is to coordinate the best care for children who have special educational needs. <BR />I agree with Mr Martin's comment. We have an issue in our society with the exponentially growing number of children with special educational needs.”
“I will be brief, because there is a unanimous view in the Chamber that SENCOs are worth their weight in gold, as are classroom assistants. They provide support to the most vulnerable in our society, and it is right that we support them. If we are honest about the situation, they are being asked to do too many things. Coordinating the special educational needs provision for our young people is a vital, highly skilled and highly demanding full-time role. For SENCOs to do that while dealing with the excess bureaucracy that they face as well as being teachers is not sustainable and is not fair. I therefore support the motion. <BR /> <BR />It is clear from my engagement with the teaching profession that teachers, almost without exception, believe that being a SENCO should be a full-time role.”
“On the special educational needs aspect of the statement, can any learning be elicited from the increase in the number of children turning up at school who are behind on major milestones such as toilet training? That seems to be a major issue; I am sure that it is island-wide.”
“Does the Minister agree that there is a responsibility to deal with those issues, including the issue of sub teachers and that of EA-induced bureaucracy? I am told that, every week, the EA sends a dump of emails to school principals who then have to disaggregate it all and decide who to send it to, which takes them a lot of time. Does the Minister agree that, while there is much merit in the action plan, there is much more to do to support teachers against workplace violence, deal with the EA's bureaucracy and fully support teachers who need to get sub teachers?”
“I welcome the Minister's statement. There is much merit in some aspects of the action plan. At the outset, I will say that some of the conduct today has been really disappointing. One area that we should not have a political slanging match about is our children's education. <BR /> <BR />I will make a couple of points. Burnout is about more than workload. It is about feeling valued and about a person's overall morale. I worry about some issues in schools that are described to me as "taboo", such as workplace violence. I speak to teaching assistants and teachers who are being bullied and injured in their workplace, some of whom end up in hospital with concussion and broken bones. That is a significant issue affecting teachers' morale, and we need to deal with it. I keep being told that sub teachers —.”
“Patsy Gillespie was made into a human bomb and made to drive to a checkpoint. His only crime was to work for the security forces in a canteen. That is the legacy that you have left. I am glad that you no longer support violence today, but, if you really want to make a contribution to people in the years and decades ahead, stand up and say that it is never right and that it was never right and call on your entire community to turn their backs on dissident republican terrorism, to turn their backs on the narrative that terrorism can be OK and to fully support the PSNI and give it the intelligence that it needs.”
“They are following your ideology, and they are following your textbook. Violence was not wrong because you said that it was wrong, and it was not right because you said that it was right. <BR /> <BR />The most powerful thing that you could do is, at some stage, stand up and show leadership and say to the entire republican community, "It isn't right, it won't be right and it is never right to blow people to smithereens, to murder people, to injure people, to bereave people, to orphan people and to widow people in the name of politics". If you did that, you would remove the legitimacy that those people cling to. Remember the moral responsibility: it was your party that wrote the manual for what those people do now. The difference between the dissidents and the Provisionals is that you were, hard as it is to say, better at it.”
“As I look at the Minister Muir, standing in for the Justice Minister, it is also incumbent on us to ensure that we get full resourcing of the PSNI, which is both trying to deal with normal policing today, including domestic violence and child abuse images, and tackle a threat that is principally lined up against it. <BR /> <BR />I join other unionists in challenging Sinn Féin, because the dissident republicans are the latest in a continuum of republicans who have justified using death and destruction for political ends. You give them legitimacy when you say that it is OK in principle, if the time is right, if the circumstances are right, to kill people for a political objective.”
“The attack on Dunmurry police station was reckless and reprehensible. We are fortunate that we are not dealing with the death and murder of a man, woman, child or, as it transpired, a baby. <BR /> <BR />We should keep the level of threat in context. Dissident republicans have been heavily infiltrated and highly degraded in their capability, but there is no such thing as complete security and no such thing as total intelligence. There are occasional gaps. Whilst they have in their heart the desire to murder and some capability, they remain a clear and present danger. It is incumbent on us all to condemn terrorism completely and encourage people to support the PSNI to plug the intelligence gaps.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. It is shocking that some perpetrators deny their victim the ability to build up a credit rating, which means that they cannot get private housing either. Would a statutory duty on the Housing Executive to provide priority access for victims of domestic violence be beneficial?”
“I therefore call on the Minister for Infrastructure in particular to visit Kilrea and speak to the people to whom I spoke. Let us get the bridge built for Kilrea.”
“Secondly, the Department for Infrastructure should start to develop a contingency plan now to scope out what a temporary bridge would look like should the bridge have to be closed again for unforeseen reasons. Let us plan for a temporary bridge now so that the Department is shovel-ready. Thirdly, the Department for Infrastructure needs to take immediate action to begin a phase 1 feasibility study on a new bridge. <BR /> <BR />People across Northern Ireland see the Executive dither and delay, unable to agree a multi-year Budget and arguing about all the wrong things. The Executive need to listen to local businesses, local citizens and local farmers, who rely on them to pull their finger out to get a bridge sorted out and to start delivering for the people of Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />The bridge is vital, as it really connects the people of that region of Antrim, Londonderry and Tyrone. I spoke to one farmer who lost £10,000 in the three months that the bridge was closed. There is now real demand that the Executive get their act together and sort out a new bridge for Kilrea. The people of Kilrea are proud of their historic bridge, but, alongside it, they need a new bridge. A new bridge needs to be commissioned and a feasibility study done. Progress needs to be made on getting that bridge in place. <BR /> <BR />I call for three clear actions. First, there should be a better inspection and repair regime for the existing bridge, which, I am glad to say, is open again, to ensure that it stays open for as long as is needed until there is a new bridge.”
“On Friday, I met Kenny Bradley, a businessman and the owner of Kenny's garage, along with other business persons and local people, to discuss Kilrea Bridge. Kilrea Bridge is a historic bridge that has served the people of Northern Ireland since before the French Revolution. In fact, it had been standing for 120 years before the first car drove over it, but the bridge has not been properly inspected and maintained. Last September, it had to be closed suddenly, and it remained closed for three months. The bridge's closure caused devastation in the area. It delayed public services from doing their important work and children from getting to school. Crucially, it decimated local businesses, which lost hundreds of thousands of pounds.”
“— with withdrawal. That is me concluded, Mr Deputy Speaker.”
“I conclude by saying that I welcome the motion, although we have an issue —”
“I pay tribute to them. Having spoken to more farmers since I started in this place, I am in awe of them. Their knowledge of science and innovation and their desire to innovate and do things differently are amazing. <BR /> <BR />I will conclude —.”
“Yes: 100%. Those are the intricacies that the public do not listen to when we are interested in just a TikTok click, a sound bite or in digging at each other. I welcome the Member's intervention. <BR /> <BR />There is much merit in the motion. I am delighted that we are talking about it, because we should be debating these very issues.”
“We need to reduce the cost of things such as fuel but accept that there will sometimes be an offset of that. <BR /> <BR />I will bring this back to the nub of the issue: we need to find balance in life and in law. There is now a need to revise the targets. That is not to say that they should be withdrawn — throwing the baby out with the bathwater — but that there should be sensible revision so that we can build and we can look after food security and so that people can live comfortably today but that, in the future, we will have the cleanest possible planet.”
“We absolutely should revise them. If you fail to make the small, incremental changes as and when, you will end up on a completely different flight path from the one that you intended to go on, and you will crash into a mountain: that is the reality. <BR /> <BR />Let me say a couple of other things. Infrastructure is an issue when it comes to climate. It is not just about setting the targets. There are farmers in my constituency who want to put in a more environmentally friendly facility but cannot do so because of delays in planning, and they cannot access the grid or water. All those things are our responsibility. At times, people in our society and in our politics hammer the farmer and do not take cognisance of the people who are struggling with the cost of living.”
“Nobody should suggest that we should throw out stretching targets that make us work and flex every sinew, but they have to be achievable. If your targets are not achievable, you will undermine your own cause, because you will fuel the climate change deniers by creating cynicism, and you will get people's backs up as they see the cost of living soaring and projects not being delivered. <BR /> <BR />There is therefore a need for that elusive Goldilocks balance, but we have not got it. There should be no shame in saying that, having passed legislation, you sometimes have to revise it. You might revise targets up or down; you change with the facts.”
“That does not mean that you throw out your wanting to get to the destination. It just changes the flight path — the way and the "how" of getting there — and the cost that you are prepared to incur in the meantime. <BR /> <BR />We believe in a clean world and a healthy planet, with clean water and clean air. We also believe in our farmers. I will put on record the fact that our farmers in Northern Ireland feed about 20% of the United Kingdom. I am very proud of that; I come from and represent North Antrim, and that is the heartbeat of our constituency. <BR /> <BR />We have to have SMART targets — we all know the acronym: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely — but they should be stretching.”