Labour government announces inquiry into Pat Finucane murder
Labour government announces inquiry into Pat Finucane murder, Sept. 11, 2024
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00:00We now come to the next statement. I call the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,
00:05Hilary Benn.
00:08With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the death of Patrick
00:13Finucane. Patrick Finucane was a human rights lawyer. On 12 February 1989, he was brutally
00:21murdered in his home in North Belfast by loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association
00:29in front of his wife Geraldine, who was wounded, and his three children, one of whom is now
00:36the Honourable Member for Belfast North. From that day onwards, Mrs Finucane and her family
00:43have campaigned tirelessly in search of answers about the killing of their loved one. In 1990,
00:50an inquest was opened and closed on the same day with an open verdict. Subsequently, a
00:57number of investigations and reviews were conducted. In 2001, following the collapse
01:04of powersharing, the UK and Irish Governments agreed at Western Park to establish public
01:10inquiries into a number of troubles-related cases, if recommended by an international judge.
01:18Judge Peter Corry was appointed to conduct a review of each case, and in 2004 he recommended
01:25that the UK Government hold public inquiries into four deaths—those of Rosemary Nelson,
01:32Robert Hamill, Billy Wright and Patrick Finucane. Judge Corry also recommended that the Irish
01:40Government establish a tribunal of inquiry into the deaths of former RUC officers Bob Buchanan
01:48and Harry Breen. Inquiries were promptly established in all of these cases,
01:56with one exception—the death of Mr Finucane. Meanwhile, in 2003, the third investigation by
02:05Sir John Stevens into alleged collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries
02:12had concluded that there had been state collusion in Mr Finucane's killing.
02:20That investigation was followed by the conviction in 2004 of one of those responsible, Ken Barrett.
02:29With criminal proceedings concluded, the then Northern Ireland Secretary,
02:33Paul Murphy, made a statement to Parliament, setting out the Government's commitment to
02:39establish an inquiry, but despite a number of attempts the Government were unable to reach
02:44agreement with the Finucane family on arrangements for one. In 2011, the coalition Government decided
02:54against an inquiry. Instead, a review of what had happened, led by Sir Desmond de Silva QC,
03:01was established. Sir Desmond concluded that he was left
03:07in no doubt that agents of the state were involved in carrying out
03:12serious violations of human rights up to and including murder.
03:20The publication of his findings in 2012 led the then Prime Minister, David Cameron,
03:26to make an unprecedented apology from this dispatch box to the Finucane family on behalf
03:34of the British Government, citing the, and I quote,
03:38shocking levels of state collusion, end of quote, in this case.
03:44In 2019, the Supreme Court found that all the previous investigations had been insufficient
03:52to enable the state to discharge its obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention
03:58on Human Rights. The court identified a number of deficiencies in the state's compliance with
04:03Article 2 in particular. Sir Desmond's review did not have the power to compel the attendance
04:09of witnesses. Those who met Sir Desmond were not subject to testing as to the accuracy of
04:15their evidence, and a potentially critical witness was excused from attendance.
04:21In November 2020, the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that he would
04:27not be establishing a public inquiry at that time, pending the outcome of continuing investigations,
04:34but that decision was quashed by the Northern Ireland High Court in December 2022.
04:43Mr Speaker, this Government takes its human rights obligations and its responsibilities
04:48to victims and survivors of the Troubles extremely seriously, and the plain fact is
04:56that two decades on, the commitment made by the Government, first in the agreement with
05:03the Irish Government and then to this House to establish an inquiry into the death of Mr Finucane,
05:10remains unfulfilled. It is for this exceptional reason that I have decided to establish
05:18an independent inquiry into the death of Patrick Finucane under the 2005 Inquiries Act.
05:26I have, of course, met Mrs Finucane and her family, first on 25 July to hear their views,
05:34and again yesterday to inform them of my decision. Mrs Finucane asked the Government to set up a
05:41public inquiry under the 2005 Act, and as I have just told the House, the Government have now
05:48agreed to do that in line with both the 2019 Supreme Court ruling and the Court of Appeal
05:56judgment in July this year.