Debate contribution: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Mr Eóin Tennyson on .
- MLA
- Mr Eóin Tennyson
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 15 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5705843
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for giving way. Again, this is where I think that, at times, common ground in the debate is lost in the heat of media commentary. I agree. People should be free to express views, to seek to influence others and to seek to persuade others. The problem that the Bill seeks to remedy is where people are coerced, where they are humiliated, where they are fearful that, if they do not bend to the will of the perpetrator, they will come to harm. That is what we seek to remedy in the Bill. It is important that we are really clear: the line has been drawn between what is expressing a view and what is coercing an individual to bend to your will. We draw that line already, for example, on female genital mutilation and child marriage, where some would claim that there are cultural and religious sensitivities. However, we as a society say that the harm associated with them is not acceptable.
I thank the Member for giving way. I assumed that that would come up. It is based on engagement with the offences and penalties team in the Department of Justice. It is quite normal in cases of domestic abuse, stalking and harassment that there is no right to claim trial by jury in the Magistrates' Court — not the most serious offences in the Crown Court, but in the Magistrates' Court. The purpose of that exclusion from the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 is to ensure that the victim is not further traumatised. Again, we have applied the same standard in this Bill as is the case for domestic abuse. The answer to the points about coercion and suppression is that it is both. Both suppression and coercion — and harm — have to be present for an offence to be found. It is not one or the other.
317 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.08 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.91).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.85).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.07 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.04 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.05 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.07 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.91 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.08 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.85 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.14 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.99 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 16:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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