Commons
Westminster Hall
9 July 2025
Neighbourhood Plans: Planning Decisions
I congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate. On the devolved issue, which is slightly different in Northern Ireland compared with the rest of GB, there has been a planning proposal in my area for about seven years to develop a good-quality hotel close to where the Open golf championship wi…
Commons
Oral Questions
8 July 2025
Prison Officer Morale: Pension Age
There is a problem in our prisons across the United Kingdom. It is a two-spectrum problem, in that there is an increase in turnover, with prison officers leaving early, while the problem of the pension continues. Can the Minister increase the intensity of discussions with the POA to try to reach a m…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2025
2 contributions
Alcohol and Cancer
I congratulate the hon. Member on the timeliness of her debate. Does she agree that we need more research on the health costs endured by society and the NHS due to this problem? That has to be offset against the tax revenues that accrue from alcohol overconsumption. Those things have to be analysed …
My hon. Friend is talking about an educational approach and trying to advise rather than force people; does he agree that the younger we start doing that, the better? Although they are not exclusively the target audience, we need to focus on teenagers and those in their early 20s, because lifestyle …
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
2 July 2025
Investment: Technology Businesses
Tech businesses in Northern Ireland could take advantage of a Heathrow logistics hub. Ballykelly in my constituency has a large available land base, a seaport close by, an airport next door to it, and a railway line that runs through it. Does the Minister think that is an excellent location for such…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
Business Energy Supply Billing: Regulation
I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate. She is raising what sounds like outrageous treatment of a customer and consumer. Does she agree that the Ofgem report was very clear that suppliers should treat domestic and—particularly in this case—non-domestic customers fairly and give them …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 June 2025
Glastonbury Festival: BBC Coverage
I thank the Secretary of State for her statement and the sentiments contained therein, but would she agree that in the run-up to the festival it was clear to many of us, given the track record of some of the participants, that this, or something like it, was going to happen? The Government were awar…
Commons
Oral Questions
Science, Innovation and Technology
25 June 2025
Health Science and Innovation
The Minister will be aware that the life and health sciences launchpad in Northern Ireland has so far funded 32 business-led projects. That is good news, but 23 of the projects are in the Greater Belfast area. Will the Minister join me and others in our efforts to ensure that there is greater knowle…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 June 2025
Topical Questions
Can the Foreign Secretary declare from the Dispatch Box that an Iran with no nuclear weapons is now a more likely prospect as a result of the actions of the Israeli and American forces over the past 10 days?
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2025
2 contributions
War Memorials
I congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate. Does she agree that the desecration of such memorials almost defies belief? It was reported to me today that a granite memorial to the men who died at the battle of Somme, which we commemorate next Tuesday on 1 July, was stolen from a small memo…
Oh, I am sure they do.
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2025
2 contributions
VAT Registration Threshold: SMEs
I do not know if the hon. Member is aware, but just this morning the Federation of Small Businesses in Northern Ireland released a report about the complications that the Windsor framework is creating for small businesses in Northern Ireland. Does he agree that SMEs are the backbone of the UK econom…
Does my hon. Friend agree that in recent years, because of inflation, even small businesses in the retail trade that try to maintain a level just below the threshold find that they must pass on rising prices to the consumer? That means they will inevitably come to or above the threshold, and even an…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
23 June 2025
UK Modern Industrial Strategy
The Secretary of State will be aware of the future towns funds, one of which is in Coleraine in my constituency. I want to see many more apprenticeships created through that fund. Will the modern industrial strategy that he has unveiled today be flexible enough to allow funds like that to utilise it…
Commons
Proceedings
19 June 2025
Business of the House
Electronic travel authorisations were first introduced in Northern Ireland just six months ago. Despite having put down several written parliamentary questions, I cannot seem to establish from the Home Office how many people have not had a valid ETA in the past six months. May we have a debate in Go…
Commons
Oral Questions
Solicitor General
19 June 2025
People Smugglers: Prosecution
Does the Solicitor General understand the frustration, annoyance and anger of many people in the United Kingdom about the fact that we are paying the French authorities many millions of pounds to do what appears—at the moment anyway—to be very little to smash the gangs that we keep being told will b…
Commons
Oral Questions
19 June 2025
Public Bodies: British Produce
Many GB-based horticultural companies, as well as other companies, want to supply British produce into Northern Ireland, but have difficulty with the bureaucracy and paperwork required by the procedures implemented some years ago. Will the Minister operate in concert with his colleagues in Cabinet a…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 June 2025
Political Prisoners
As the right hon. Lady is posing her questions to the Minister, perhaps she will come to this one, but if she does not, will she agree to add that the Government need to get together a coalition of international Governments who are on our side—she has already named some—to put significant pressure o…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 June 2025
Future of the Gas Grid
My hon. Friend talked about Phoenix, and the other company is Firmus Energy. Consumers want to see more competitive pricing. In Northern Ireland, there is some degree of competitive pricing, but because the two companies operate in separate parts of Northern Ireland, they do not compete directly wit…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
10 June 2025
Warm Home Discount: Extension
Happy birthday to you, Mr Speaker. The Government are targeting measures based on people’s income, but will they look at the issue of rural homes? Many thousands of people live in poorly insulated homes in isolated areas; families there are left in the cold in the winter.
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2025
Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme: Capital Disregard
I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate. I and many others have watched the film. Does he agree that although many of us are very critical of the media—I am among them—on this occasion, a matter was brought to wider attention that otherwise might not have been? We owe a debt of gratit…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2025
2 contributions
USAID Funding Pause
On the question of whether the Government’s decision was driven by financial motivations, does the hon. Member agree that whether it is 0.7% or 0.3%, the key is that UK GDP must rise, as her own Chancellor has said? If our economy shrinks, the 0.7% figure becomes almost irrelevant because it is 0.7%…
On the NGOs and the other groups helping people at home, the House of Commons Library summary indicates that over a quarter of UK aid has been spend on refugees based in the UK. Does my hon. Friend agree that that would be better deployed overseas to try to assist the economies of developing countri…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 June 2025
Disadvantaged Communities
On lower educational attainment areas, does my hon. Friend agree that young men in particular find it difficult to go back to education after leaving school, and that apprenticeships can be used to address poverty in the areas that he is describing?
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 June 2025
Decriminalising Abortion
The hon. Lady mentioned Northern Ireland, and I accept that there are fundamental differences between our positions. She introduced the Northern Ireland legislation, but does she accept that the views there—among both the general public and their representatives—are quite different from those in Wal…
Commons
Oral Questions
21 May 2025
Economic Growth
Economic growth will be supported by physical connectivity. One example is the new Grand Central station in Belfast, where there is some controversy over Irish language signage. The Secretary of State has commented that there are
“so many more important things”
in which to be involved, but, settin…
Commons
Proceedings
20 May 2025
Points of Order
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. You will be aware that I and other colleagues have been raising the issue of UK residents in Northern Ireland, many of whom have lived here for decades as taxpayers and voters, but who were born a few miles across the border in the Irish Republic. They have…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 May 2025
UK-EU Summit
The Prime Minister has spent the past hour and a half indicating the benefits that he sees from the deal. Does he recognise that a potentially toxic side effect of the deal is that some on the left of UK politics will see this as the first step towards rowing back on what the people voted for nine y…
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
20 May 2025
Topical Questions
The roll-out of banking hubs is helping to a small degree, but what plans do the Government have to increase the number of banking hubs beyond those in the pipeline?