“As no such legislation will now emerge…”

As the UTV hosted PA report notes, the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has published an interim statement on its inquiry into a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. From the interim statement

8. When we launched this inquiry early in 2009, it was our intention to comment on the proposals made by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and on the Government’s response to them in the expectation that legislation might be forthcoming within the lifetime of the present Parliament. As no such legislation will now emerge, we believe it would be improper of us to bind a future Northern Ireland Affairs Committee to a particular position. Therefore, we have chosen in this Report to publish the evidence that we have received from organisations and individuals in Northern Ireland and to suggest to our successor Committee that it may wish to consider future proposals on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland as part of its work programme.

9. None the less, in order that a new Parliament may be as fully informed as possible, we join the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in urging all those who have the best interests of Northern Ireland at heart to study what is proposed for a future Bill of Rights and to give the Northern Ireland Office their views, whether in favour of or in opposition to a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.