Reform UK’s efforts to walk away from ECHR are ‘reckless’ – Benn

Reform UK’s efforts to walk away from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) are “wrong” and “reckless”, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has said.

Delivering his speech to the Labour party conference in Liverpool, Mr Benn also hailed the new legacy framework agreed by the UK and Irish governments, saying that 200 military families are still “searching for answers”.

Mr Benn told the conference that the “Good Friday Agreement enabled Northern Ireland to move away from the bloody and brutal trauma of the Troubles, towards peace and progress”.

The agreement – which was negotiated by the previous Labour government under Sir Tony Blair – brought “stability to Northern Ireland”, he added.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has suggested the 1998 agreement, which largely ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland, could be “renegotiated” to remove references to the ECHR.

Mr Benn said: “It took courage. It took patient negotiation, and yet, what does Nigel Farage want to do?

“He actually wants to undermine the Good Friday Agreement by walking away from the European Convention on Human Rights.

“And after all that the people of Northern Ireland have been through, I cannot think of anything more irresponsible – it’s wrong, it’s reckless, and we’ve got to make sure it never, ever happens.”

Referring to the new framework published by the two governments to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles, Mr Benn said it was the “unfinished business of the Good Friday Agreement”.

He reiterated the importance of the new framework, saying it will “introduce rights and protections for veterans”.

Mr Benn said: “We need to help those families who lost loved ones in Northern Ireland and right across the United Kingdom, including over 200 military families who are still searching for answers.

“A fortnight ago, Simon Harris and I announced an agreement on a UK/Ireland joint framework.

“The Irish Government will legislate to ensure full co-operation with a reformed legacy commission, and I will soon bring forward legislation to implement our manifesto commitment to repeal and replace the Legacy Act.

“We will also introduce rights and protections never included in the Tories’ legislation that will apply to any Northern Ireland veteran.

“After all, our veterans sacrificed so much to protect the people of Northern Ireland and to help bring about that peace.

“I want also to say this about all the families who have shared with me, before I became the Northern Ireland Secretary and since, their stories of grief and loss and unimaginable pain about what happened to those they loved so much.

“When we hear those stories and they remain with us always, we have a responsibility to do everything that we can to help those who have waited so long for the truth and now a way forward is finally within our grasp.”