The Conservative former Prime Minister Sir John Major has described the Northern Ireland Protocol as “arguably one of the worst” negotiations in recent history.
In a stinging attack on the current Prime Minister, Sir John also said Boris Johnson should resign from office if he has broken lockdown laws over parties held in Downing Street.
Sir John delivered a speech to the Institute for Government think tank on Thursday, and accused the government of feeling it “need not obey the rules”.
His comments came as the Metropolitan Police investigate 12 gatherings that took place at Downing Street.
When asked by the media if he thought Boris Johnson lied about the implications of Brexit, Sir John mentioned the protocol and described it as “arguably one of the worst pieces of negotiation we have seen in recent history”.ADVERTISING
He added: “It is causing an enormous amount of trouble.
“Whether anyone deliberately misled about that I can’t say – certainly they were mistaken.
“But it does help if you sign treaties if you understand them before you sign them.”
It comes just a week after Paul Givan resigned as First Minister as part of the DUP’s protest against the protocol, which sees Northern Ireland remain in the EU Single Market resulting in checks on goods coming here from Great Britain.
During his speech, Sir John warned that attempts to excuse the breaking of lockdown laws by No 10 is undermining trust in government and politics.
He said the “foolish behaviour” and “evasive” tactics of ministers are having a “corrosive” effect on the UK’s democracy.
“At No 10, the Prime Minister and officials broke lockdown laws,” stated Sir John.
“Brazen excuses were dreamed up. Day after day the public was asked to believe the unbelievable. Ministers were sent out to defend the indefensible – making themselves look gullible or foolish.
“Collectively, this has made the Government look distinctly shifty, which has consequences that go far beyond political unpopularity. No Government can function properly if its every word is treated with suspicion.”
Sir John, a longstanding critic of Boris Johnson, said such conduct reflects a wider decline in standards in recent years.
“Trust in politics is at a low ebb, eroded by foolish behaviour, leaving a sense of unease about how our politics is being conducted. Too often, ministers have been evasive, and the truth has been optional.
“When ministers respond to legitimate questions with pre-prepared soundbites, or half-truths, or misdirection, or wild exaggeration, then respect for government and politics dies a little more.
“Misleading replies to questions invite disillusion. Outright lies breed contempt.
“In our democracy, we are able to speak truth to power. But if democracy is to be respected, power must also speak truth to the people. And yet, in recent years, they have not been doing so.”
Relatives of Gerard Hampson outside court on Wednesday
Allison Morris, Crime Correspondent
February 09 2022 06:59 PM
When Gerard Hampson stopped calling his children in the November of 2007, they knew almost immediately that something was wrong.
While known to friends as Shorty, his family called him “Buzby” a character from the BT advertisements of the 1980s, whose slogan was ‘make someone happy with a phone call’.
He would have called his children every day and would have regularly dropped into relatives’ homes unannounced for a cup of tea and a chat.
A former republican prisoner, friends described him a ‘creature of habit’ with a routine that once broken immediately aroused suspicions.
More than that the last relative to have spoken to Mr Hampson was unsettled by his behaviour.
Mary Hampson told an inquest into the Derry man’s death, that before the end of November 2007 her uncle called to her home in an agitated state. She asked him was he okay, but he said he wasn’t and there were “boys from Derry” looking for him and he did not know where to go.
Mary said her uncle seemed to be “in real fear” and talked about going “over the hill”, a phrase she took to mean going over the Glenshane Pass.
Mary was close to her uncle, and begged him to stay in her house, but he left in a car with a man, who was later to become a key suspect in his disappearance.
After a week of no contact and being unable to reach their father by phone, the family made their first police complaint.
But it didn’t go as planned and police dismissed their concerns. Mr Hampson’s daughter Bridgeen Carlin said: “When we reported this to the police and asked for help, we were ignored. When we needed compassion and support, we were met with contempt”.
For the families it has been a 14-year wait for answers.
Clarity was finally given by Coroner Joe McCrisken on Wednesday when he said the death was “a result of the action of a third party” and not suicide as the family was originally told.
It’s been a lengthy battle for truth. Having been first told that their father was ‘on the run’ and then later that he had taken his own life, they were determined to get to the truth.
The inquest heard that in 2007 a forensic report had linked Mr Hampson to a kidnapping earlier that year in Mullingar in Co Westmeath.
The PSNI originally took the view that Mr Hampson went to ground as he was wanted for questioning.
Mr Hampson was aware that police wanted to speak to him, and met his solicitor to discuss the options available to him, but before a date for interview could be arranged, he had disappeared.
The day before his disappearance, he called one of his children and asked would they drop him off a phone charger and some clothes. They dropped the items off to a local bar and that was the last time he was seen alive by his children.
The family later found he’d spent that night with two men – who would become suspects in his murder – in Magherafelt, before travelling to Swatragh.
His mobile phone was used at 9.58pm on November 30, and never used again.
One of the men in his company later claimed to have dropped the deceased off at a bus stop.
Records show that by late December 2007 police changed the status of the investigation into Mr Hampson’s disappearance from a missing person to a wanted person.
One family member said they were told by a PSNI officer that their father was “probably in France or Spain being looked after by his friends”.
On December 18, Garda officers’ detained the two men last seen in Mr Hampson’s company at Connolly Station in Dublin.
One of them was found to be in the possession of a false passport and two mobile phones. When asked about Mr Hampson his first comments to Garda officers were that if PSNI did not have him, then “someone has done him in”.
The family’s frustrations meanwhile were growing; they knew the character of the man and said he would never have left them worrying over the Christmas holiday period.
On January 9, a man out walking his dog found Mr Hampson’s naked body washed up on the shores of Lough Neigh, near Toomebridge.
The witness who lived and worked in the area said when he found the body he sent for a priest and also sprinkled Holy Water on the corpse.
The man said that if a body had been placed in the Moyola River it could wash down into Lough Neagh
The inquest later heard that statements were given by two men in 2015.
Witness Y claimed that Witness X told him that he and two others had killed Mr Hampson saying it was “the hardest thing he ever had to do holding that man under the water”.
Witness X and Witness Y refused to give evidence to the coroner in person. Mr McCrisken said the only statutory powers he had was to fine them £1,000 each, which he did.
The other two suspects in the case are now dead – both took their own lives.
Witness X told Witness Y that the one of the men had taken a secret to his grave. The witness also said if it came out that he had spoken he would not be able to stay in Northern Ireland as “someone is going to shoot me”.
Mr McCrisken commended the Hampson family for their “patience and fortitude” over the last number of years.
He added that it was unfortunate that no one had been made amenable for Mr Hampson’s death.
Mrs Carlin said she was overwhelmed, saying it had taken 14 years to be “told what we knew from day one”.
Following a Police Ombudsman’s report released in 2016, eight PSNI officers were disciplined in relation to the case.
There were two arrests in 2016 and 2019 but no charges due to lack of evidence.
Throughout the 14 year battle for truth the family were supported by Sara Duddy of the Pat Finucane Centre, who has lived and breathed every step of the family’s campaign for truth.
She said it was “emotional” to be in the inquest court when the verdict was delivered.
She added that the family were “exhausted, but delighted to have answers”.
“It’s been challenging. They’ve had to listen to some very difficult evidence, they will now be taking time to consider the coroner’s written verdict and take stock and consider what their next step is,” Ms Duddy said.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians has welcomed an upcoming hearing by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States Congress. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, February 15 under the guding title “Northern Ireland: Accountability at Risk. ”The commission is named after the late Congressman Tom Lantos of California. A Holocaust survivor, Lantos chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee before his death in 2008. The commission bearing his name, however, has continued to function.
“The AOH is proud to have worked with the commission staff to make this hearing possible,” said a statement from the Hibernians.
“We thank and congratulate Co-Chairs (James) McGovern and (Chris) Smith not only for the hearing but for releasing this today, the same day Operation Achilles Final Investigation Report was released,” said AOH National President Danny O’Connell.
Sign up today to get daily, up-to-date news and views from Irish America.Sign UpCongressman Smith is a New Jersey Republican while Congressman McGovern is a Massachusetts Democrat.
Added President O’Connell: “The Lantos Commission over the past decade has held several hearings highlighting issues like the Ballymurphy Massacre and collusion, which were considered controversial when held, but the Commission’s human rights concerns have been proven to be well founded.
“The commission’s hearings on Irish legacy justice have given hope to victims’ families during times when justice seemed unattainable. As the British government considers new legislation which would take away legal channels to truth, the Lantos Commission’s announcement of this hearing is deeply welcome and vitally necessary.”
Said a statement regarding the hearing: “On July 14, 2021, United Kingdom Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis submitted a position paper to the UK Parliament proposing a law that would grant immunity to those responsible for the more than 3,500 people who died and the tens of thousands injured during the Northern Ireland conflict known as the Troubles, which stretched from the late 1960s to the Good Friday agreement in 1998.
Keep up to date with the latest news with The Irish Echo“The proposed law imperils the fragile peace in Northern Ireland, and is inconsistent with the terms of the 2014 Stormont House Agreement that provided for an Historical Investigations Unit to facilitate prosecutions for these crimes.”The bill has garnered widespread condemnation from Northern Irish political parties, both Republican and Unionist, and from United Nations experts Fabian Salvioli, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, and Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. “They urged the British authorities to ‘refrain from regressing on their international human rights obligations through the establishment of a statute of limitations for conflict related prosecutions and barring all related investigations, inquests and civil claims.'”Witnesses will analyze the proposed law and examine its consequences for victims of the conflict.”This hearing will virtual. Pursuant to H. Res. 965, Members of Congress and witnesses will participate remotely via Cisco WebEx. Members of the public and the media may view the hearing by live webcast on the Commission website. The hearing will also be available for viewing on the House Digital Channel service. For any questions, please contact Patrick Harvey (for Co-Chair Smith) or Kimberly Stanton (for Co-Chair McGovern).”Against the backdrop of the impending commission hearing the AOH is hosting a webinar focusing on the aforementioned Operation Achille. The webinar ill be the latest in a series of online gathering focusing on collusion.Said a statement: “Family members of eleven south Belfast murder victims, will give their reaction to damning findings of Royal Ulster Constabulary collusive behavior in these killings, on a live webinar broadcast on Saturday February 19th. Operation Achille, is the second report in three weeks by Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson, vindicating family claims of British crown force involvement in these murders. The live webinar broadcast, hosted by The Ancient Order of Hibernians, will take place on Saturday, February 19th, at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, 4 p.m. Irish time.”Once again American and Irish politicians and members of Irish American organizations including the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, Brehons, IAUC and Irish Northern Aid, have been invited to join.”The Operation Achille findings of RUC ‘collusive behavior,’ made by Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson, were the latest in a series of investigations and legal proceedings, upholding charges of British state force involvement in murders. The 344-page report investigated RUC misconduct in relation to 11 murders and an attempted murder carried out in south Belfast between 1990 and 1998.”The attacks, including the murder of five people at the Sean Graham bookmakers in 1992, were attributed to the UDA/UFF, but the families always contended there was British crown force collusion. Their claims were found to be ‘legitimate and justified.'”Victims included Christy Doherty, Jack Duffin, Peter Magee, Willie McManus and 15-year-old James Kennedy who died in the 1992 Sean Graham’s bookie shop massacre.”The investigation also covered the murders of Harry Conlon and Aidan Wallace in 1991; Michael Gilbride in 1992; Martin Moran in 1993; Theresa Clinton in 1994, and Larry Brennan in 1998. It also covered the attempted murder of Samuel Caskey in 1990.”Ms. Anderson said she was ‘deeply concerned’ by the scale and scope of RUC failings revealed in her latest investigation. Eight UDA/UFF members linked to the murders and attempted murders of 27 people were RUC informer agents. Targeted victims were not warned they were under threat, forensic and identification leads were not followed and weapons were allowed provided for killings.”Guest speakers for the webinar will include Mark Sykes, who survived the Sean Graham’s massacre despite seven bullet wounds. Other victims’ family representatives are being confirmed through Relatives for Justice which represents several the families.For Zoom Registration go to https://aoh.com/WebinarRegistration; Watch on youtube at https://aoh.com/Live or https://youtu.be/D28sRcRownY
Ancient Order of Hibernians National Freedom for All Ireland Chairman Martin Galvin stated: “This damning report on south Belfast collusion murders, following the Operation Greenwich findings, is more proof that RUC complicity in murders was part of a deliberate policy carried out across the six counties.“British Secretary Brandon Lewis is in Washington, trying to justify his proposal to end Ombudsman investigations, criminal cases, Historical Investigations, Inquests, or civil suits, or anything else which could give the truth in hundreds of crown force or collusion killings.“The families of those victims, who have spent decades fighting for justice, are appealing for American help to stop Britain’s planned amnesty whitewash”
The Police Ombudsman has released her reporting into collusion between the RUC and loyalist paramilitaries.
From the report overview:
Mrs Anderson found that concerns about police actions expressed by bereaved families and survivors were “legitimate and justified”, and said her investigation had identified a range of collusive behaviours by police, which included:
Intelligence and surveillance failings which led to loyalist paramilitaries obtaining military grade weaponry in a 1987 arms importation;
A failure to warn two men of threats to their lives.
A failure to retain records and the deliberate destruction of files relating to the attack at Sean Graham Bookmakers;
The failure to maintain records about the deactivation of weapons – “indicating a desire to avoid accountability for these sensitive and contentious activities”;
The failure of police to exploit all evidential opportunities;
Failures by Special Branch to disseminate intelligence to murder investigation teams;
An absence of control and oversight in the recruitment and management of informants;
The continued, unjustifiable use by Special Branch of informant(s) involved in serious criminality, including murder and the passive ‘turning a blind eye’ to such activities.
Ms Anderson revealed that officials from her office have identified eight UDA/UFF members linked to the murders and attempted murders of 27 people.
None of this is likely to be news to most people. Umpteen investigations over the years have shown direct links between the security forces and paramilitaries throughout the troubles.
So far most of the attention has been on Loyalist paramilitaries but I predict with the upcoming Stakeknife report that focus will shift to security force control of Republican paramilitaries. At some stage, we will likely find out about security force agents involved in the murders of police officers, soldiers, MPs and civilians.
It is hard not to feel that we were all just pawns in some big spook chess game.
Boris Johnson is coming under fresh pressure as three Tory MPs join efforts to oust him as prime minister.
Ex-minister Tobias Ellwood said he had submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM earlier, amid the ongoing row over lockdown parties in No 10.
He has now been joined by backbenchers Anthony Mangnall and Sir Gary Streeter in calling for a vote on his future.
The BBC is aware of 17 Tory MPs who have submitted letters of no confidence.
Of these, only nine have publicly confirmed that they have taken this step, and the situation remains fluid. Only the chairman of the backbench 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady knows the exact number.
At least 54 MPs need to write to Sir Graham to trigger a vote on the PM’s leadership of the party.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries attacked the latest MPs to put in letters, claiming they were “a handful of egos [who] want to make it all about them.”
She added: “It’s selfish, doing Labour’s work and it’s really not helping their constituents.”ADVERTISEME
Mr Johnson continues to face questions about parties in government buildings held whilst Covid restrictions were in place.
Only a dozen Conservative MPs have called publicly for Boris Johnson to go. More of them privately have claimed to have sent letters of no confidence, though well short of the 54 required.
So far, this effort has not been hugely co-ordinated.
One of the PM’s longstanding critics told me that today’s three letters felt like “a wave” of opposition, but it would take more to sweep the PM from power.
And over the next 48 hours there will be discussions aimed at better managing the process.
Potentially rebellious ministers and ex-ministers had wanted to make their move only after the full Sue Gray report was published or after May’s local elections, whichever was the sooner.
The assessment was that there would be more chance of unseating Mr Johnson at that stage, with bad election results or bad behaviour providing ammunition.
Because while it takes 54 MPs to trigger a confidence vote, 180 would then be required to ensure his removal.
With some of the rebels motivated not by ideology but by a desire to protect the party’s – or their personal – reputation, the prime minister’s position remains delicate.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, the prime minister refused to confirm press reports that he was at a party in his Downing Street flat on 13 November 2020.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford claimed Mr Johnson misled MPs in December last year when he denied being at this event.
“Surely he doesn’t need to wait for an investigation to tell us exactly where he was?” asked Mr Blackford.
Mr Johnson said processes had to be followed and he was getting on with delivering the government’s recovery plan.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.44.11/iframe.htmlMedia caption,Tobias Ellwood MP says the Conservatives “require a new leader”
Mr Ellwood, who chairs the Commons Defence Committee, called on the PM to “cut to the chase, to call a vote of confidence in himself” and said the party was on a “glide path to a very, very dark place”.
He told the BBC the prime minister had not shown enough “contrition” in his Commons statement on Sue Gray’s report, on Monday, and had already had plenty of time to make the changes he had promised.
Anthony Mangnall, Tory MP for Totnes and South Devon, also revealed shortly after PMQs he had submitted a no-confidence letter in the PM.
He tweeted: “At this time I can no longer support the PM. His actions and mistruths are overshadowing the extraordinary work of so many excellent ministers.”
Writing on his Facebook page, South West Devon MP Sir Gary Streeter, a Eurosceptic who was first elected to Parliament in 1992, said he had not taken the decision “lightly” to submit his letter.
But he added: “I cannot reconcile the pain and sacrifice of the vast majority of the British Public during lockdown with the attitude and activities of those working in Downing Street”.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.44.11/iframe.htmlMedia caption,Watch: Ian Blackford says If the PM is fined for attending a lockdown party, he must resign
Another former minister told the BBC on Wednesday they had resolved to submit a no-confidence letter in the PM, but they are waiting until they are sure he would lose the subsequent vote.
They added that colleagues “didn’t want to jump the gun,” because if Mr Johnson won a no-confidence vote then under Tory rules he would be safe from another challenge for a year.
Speaking to the BBC, backbencher Simon Hoare said he had given “serious thought” to sending in a letter, but he was persuaded the PM “gets the scale of the challenge”.
But he warned: “I’m not saying we’re in the last-chance saloon, but closing time is getting closer.”
Savile remarks row
Mr Johnson is also facing calls to withdraw a claim he made in the Sue Gray debate on Monday that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile when he was director of public prosecutions (DPP).
Tobias Ellwood and other Conservatives have criticised the PM for these comments, with Mr Ellwood suggesting it was one of the reasons he decided to submit a letter of no confidence in him.
Sir Keir has called Mr Johnson’s comments a “ridiculous slur” – and he made a brief statement on them at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Addressing Conservative MPs, the Labour leader said: “Theirs is the party of Winston Churchill. Our parties stood together as we defeated fascism in Europe.
“Now their leader stands in the House of Commons parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try and score cheap political points. He knows exactly what he was doing. It’s time to restore some dignity.”
The Labour leader was head of the Crown Prosecution Service in 2009 when Surrey Police interviewed Savile and consulted a CPS lawyer, who decided there was insufficient evidence for a prosecution to take place.
The CPS has said Sir Keir was not the reviewing lawyer on the case, and there is no mention of his involvement in a 2013 review into the case.
Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for the North West, said on Monday: “It’s not true. I was there. Keir Starmer had nothing to do with the decisions taken.”
On Wednesday, senior Tory Sir Bob Neill called on Mr Johnson to withdraw his claim – calling it “baseless and unworthy”.
He joins former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith, who said on Tuesday the PM’s accusation was “wrong and cannot be defended”.
