Debate contribution: Racism
Debate contribution by Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly on .
- MLA
- Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 7 October 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Racism
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4579100
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for her question. The Member will be aware that that issue is under active consideration. Fundamentally, it lies primarily with the Justice Minister, but it is a cross-cutting matter, so it would need to come to the Executive, and the agreement of the House would need to be sought. Concerns have been raised about balance in all of this, particularly the absolutely core protection of the basic human rights and civil liberties in relation to freedom of speech and expression. The Member and I and many others across the House have been subject to a significant amount of hate, for example on social media, so there are problems to be addressed. However, we need to be careful, on the way forward, to have the right balance between tackling the scourge of hate online and in the world around us and those basic human and civil liberties.
150 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 (0.72).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.64).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.04 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.07 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.72 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.08 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.34 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.02 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.64 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.54 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.45 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:17 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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