Ruth Smeeth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her powers contained in the Stormont House Agreement to determine what can be disclosed to victims’ families.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

The UK Government has made clear that it is committed to providing full disclosure to the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) for the purpose of its investigations. This will give the HIU access to very sensitive information, including information which would, if disclosed generally, damage the UK’s national security and put lives at risk.

As acknowledged in the Stormont House Agreement, the UK Government has a duty to ensure that sensitive information is not released publicly where to do so would put lives or national security at risk.