Commons
Debate
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Nigeria: Freedom of Religion or Belief
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. The Government have made an excellent choice of him as their envoy, and God has chosen him for that position, which is more important than anything. Is he aware of the findings of the Global Christian Relief red list 2026, which identifies the t…
rose —
Commons
Debate
13 January 2026
Finance (No. 2) Bill
I appreciate the Minister giving way. I have noticed that more and more of my constituents are drinking non-alcoholic beer, and that there the number of people taking alcohol is reducing. That sometimes puts pubs under particular pressure, but people can still go out socialising and have a meal and …
Commons
Proceedings
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Storm Goretti
rose—
It certainly is, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last night you asked me whether I got home okay last Thursday—and I did, but by the skin of my teeth, because the winds were blowing the tail end of the plane. Although I got home from London City airport, many of my constituents did not get home from Heathrow,…
Commons
Proceedings
13 January 2026
Chinese Embassy
It is no coincidence that a week ago, a Protestant church in Chengdu, in Sichuan province in China, was raided by Chinese authorities. The pastor, the elders, and those who attended the church were arrested. What are the Government doing? The facts revealed in the plans for the embassy show a potent…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
4 contributions
Northern Ireland Political Institutions: Reform
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) for the way she presented the case. It is important that we do that in a measured way.
I was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for 12 years before I came to this place. Each of…
That is the issue; my hon. Friend puts it well. It is better to have it in the hands of local people.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
Arctic and High North
I commend the hon. Member for securing this debate. He is right to bring up the issue of melting ice: whether it be climate change or simply that the ice is melting, it is a key issue that cannot be ignored. The melting ice makes us more accessible, but we have forewarning, and to be forewarned is t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
3 contributions
Airport Drop-off Charges
As always, Ms Vaz, it is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship. I thank the hon. Member for Bolton South and Walkden (Yasmin Qureshi) for leading today’s debate on this matter. It is an important issue, as others have said and will say after me.
Back home, this has been a topic of conversat…
I thank the hon. Member for sharing his experiences of Belfast City. It is a good airport, by the way. I am just saying, “Follow the rules, and make sure the timings are right.” The planes are sometimes cancelled, and more often than not they are delayed, which seems to be a fact of life now. Some m…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
Academic Technology Approval Scheme
I thank the hon. Lady for always bringing forward incredibly important subjects, both to Westminster Hall and on the Floor of the House. Universities back home, such as Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, have many ATAS students and researchers who study in sensitive areas such as scie…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
2 contributions
Universities: Statutory Duty of Care
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Christopher. I thank the hon. Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for setting the scene incredibly well. I want to give a Northern Ireland perspective to the debate. Education is devolved; the Minister is not responsible for it, but the issues are …
My hon. Friend is right. The best way to approach this may be in a pastoral way, reaching out and noticing things—not that I am better than anybody else, but I do tend to see the person and perhaps see what the issues are a bit more deeply.
In Northern Ireland, results day for the transfer test—the…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
Higher Education: Government Support
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. I spoke to him beforehand to get the thrust of his comments. Does he agree that universities must cut domestic undergraduate numbers to absorb funding cuts, limiting local access to higher education, which is exacerbating the existing trend of y…
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
4 contributions
Finance (No. 2) Bill
I thank the Minister for what he is putting forward. The OBR has said that some £55.5 billion will be raised, but the money is not coming from millionaires. It is coming from lower and middle-income families, which means that some 4.8 million more individuals will be paying the higher rate and some …
A valid point that my constituents have brought to my attention is that if they pay the higher rate of tax, tax on the interest from savings rises to 40%. Those who scrimp and save and put their money away for a rainy day will be penalised. Does the shadow Minister agree that that is absolutely immo…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
Social Media: Non-consensual Sexual Deepfakes
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Secretary of State responded to another Member on the subject of Northern Ireland. Can she confirm that the Crime and Policing Bill will be modified to include Northern Ireland?
Commons
Proceedings
12 January 2026
New Medium Helicopter Contract
We all know that the Minister is a very honourable man, and we like him for the answers he gives us, but today we need confirmation of the dates—everybody has asked similar questions. He will be aware that delays in UK Ministry of Defence contracts create cash flow challenges, forcing delays in the …
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
12 January 2026
National Register of Electricians
I thank the Minister for her answer. The House Builders Association covers electricians and what they do. Councils also have a role when it comes to pointing out those who should be registered but are not. My question is simple: what has been done to encourage those who are not members of any electr…
Commons
Debate
8 January 2026
Human Rights Abuses: Magnitsky Sanctions
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. He is right to bring this issue forward. Some 229 people have designated by the United Kingdom, and 3,000 Russians have been designated after the invasion of Ukraine. However, weak enforcement risks hollowing out the regime. To date, no fines have bee…
Commons
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Subsea Telecommunications Cables: Resilience and Crisis Preparedness
I very much welcome the Select Committee’s report. The very nature of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in being a member of NATO, means that it has protection, and therefore the connection from the mainland across the Irish sea to Northern Ireland is protected. However, what…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 January 2026
Road Safety Strategy
I thank the Minister very much for the statement; there is much positivity in it. Anyone who has to declare a health issue on their driving licence will know that it becomes much more complex—I declare an interest as a type 2 diabetic. They need a full MOT and an eyesight test before they get their …
Commons
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Business of the House
I thank the Leader of the House for the opportunity to ask an important question, and this week I would like to turn our attention to Nicaragua. The country has witnessed a recent severe escalation in human rights violations and religious persecution. The Nicaraguan Government have banned the Bible—…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Local Bus Services
rose—
I thank the Minister for his answers to the seven questions on the Order Paper about buses. The Holy Bible refers to seven as the perfect number. If we are to improve local bus services, we need to improve the type of buses that are manufactured, make them energy efficient, and provide an hourly ser…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 January 2026
6 contributions
Myanmar: Religious Minority Persecution
I beg to move,
That this House has considered religious minority persecution in Myanmar.
This is something that has been on my mind, and the mind of lots of us, for some time. We may not know very much about Myanmar in relation to religious persecution, but I am glad to see my friend and colleague…
I thank my hon. Friend—he has been my friend for all the time I have known him—for his intervention. He is absolutely right, and he has outlined, in those two or three sentences, what this debate is all about. It is an opportunity to highlight religious minorities and persecution, with a focus on My…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 January 2026
Ukraine and Wider Operational Update
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. We are all encouraged by him and what he has said, and encouraged by his and this Government’s leadership. That gives us heart, so I thank him for that.
Russian fighter planes are contravening fellow NATO countries’ skies, cables under the sea are b…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Rural Communities
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I commend the hon. Gentleman. He is putting forward good points about agriculture and how the economy can build off it. Northern Ireland has £6 billion-worth of manufacturing and exports, and it is critical for it to do well, as well. One thing that holds us back is veterinary and medicines, and the…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
Jury Trials
I thank the shadow Secretary of State for bringing this issue forward. Just to give an example for when he is looking at options, in Northern Ireland we had cause to use Diplock courts on many occasions. In 2023, they were used on 0.8% of occasions. Terrorist trials and serious criminal trials do no…
Commons
Westminster Hall
7 January 2026
Rural Fuel Duty Relief
Thank you very much, Ms Furniss, for again inviting me to speak early. It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship. I also thank the hon. Member for North Devon (Ian Roome) for securing this debate on a very important issue.
When we look at the price of petrol at the pumps and consider that…
Commons
Westminster Hall
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Meat Exports to the EU
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. To add to the complexity of the matter—there is always more complexity —on 1 January, new rules for veterinary medicines took effect in Northern Ireland, meaning that 40% of veterinary medicine pack sizes available to NI farmers could be disc…
I do not want to put the Minister in an awkward position—it is not the way I do things—but I asked a fairly complex question, in support of the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) but also to highlight the peculiarities of the Northern Ireland farmer, about the fact that, th…