Ms Gr?inne Teggart:

In terms of the work and how this is prioritised within Amnesty, it is led by me in our office in the North. I work closely with colleagues in our Dublin office and they have joined me in meetings on this with the Department of Foreign Affairs. That is how it sits as a priority at present.

As to the international implications of the Bill, as a global movement we take the firm view that we are very concerned about the dangerous precedent the Bill could set, and that there are other authoritarian regimes across the world that would be happy to see the UK Government legislate in this manner. An amnesty as proposed in the Bill is, in many respects, internationally unprecedented. As members will have heard previously, it goes much further than other amnesties. Therefore, as a global movement we are concerned but the work is led locally.

In response to a question Mr. Finucane asked, which I should have responded to earlier, we have been engaging with the Department of Foreign Affairs, and a meeting with the Minister is pending. We have also been engaged in the UK universal periodic review, UPR, which is the United Nations review process. Through our engagement with multiple countries in that regard, we have been raising the issue of this Bill and the threats to the Human Rights Act. I understand several countries have picked up on those recommendations and have relayed them during the universal periodic review session today.