Commons
Proceedings
16 December 2025
Chagossians: Trust Fund and Resettlement
The Minister is an honourable and just man, but I do have to ask this question. Does he accept the reasons that Chagossians are concerned about the delivery of the UK-funded trust fund? They are concerned that the fund will not help to resettle Chagossians, but will be used by other settlers. How ca…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
Online Misogyny: Victims
It is quite clear that it is important that we all work together across the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Indeed, we should take that a stage further and work together with the Republic of Ireland to ensure that we both can combat online misogyny. What discussions has the Min…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
Quarries: Planning Policy
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I thank the hon. Member for South Leicestershire (Alberto Costa) for leading the debate. I will give a Northern Ireland perspective, but first, I want to say that quarries bring economic life to communities. They create jobs. All the debat…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
No Recourse to Public Funds: Homelessness
I commend the hon. Lady—I spoke to her beforehand. It has been brought to my attention in this last period of time that there is a proportion of people in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland who are survivors of trafficking. They were brought to the UK with unresolved status and…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Grassroots Cricket Clubs
It is always a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) for setting the scene so well.
I have to say, I was never much good at cricket, to be truthful, but I loved it. I was one of those guys who went to the crease and would …
I certainly do. The hon. Gentleman is certainly right to highlight the issue of Derbyshire, as I and the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) will do shortly; we will also highlight the attributes and the plusses of Leicestershire cricket team as well.
I love the fact that sport draws peo…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
Budget 2025: Impact on Graduates
I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing this debate to the House. The plan 2 student loan repayment threshold was frozen until 2030 under new announcements in the Budget. That means that graduates begin repaying sooner, but it is also almost like a hidden tax on career incomes, whereby students wi…
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 December 2025
2 contributions
Transgender People: Provision of Healthcare
Will the hon. Member give way?
I am reminded of last year when a mother came to me back home. Her son wanted to transition. The mother was under real pressure, as was the young boy. We tried to help as much as we could through the health system back in Northern Ireland. Does the hon. Lady agree that there is a journey not only fo…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
2 contributions
Sudden Cardiac Death in Young People
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. In the time he has been in this House, he has proven himself to be assiduous, committed and a hard-working constituency MP; I think every one of us is impressed by his efforts in this Chamber and in Westminster Hall, and we thank him for that. T…
I thank the hon. Lady for making that point, and I thank the hon. Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards) for his intervention. Throughout my constituency and indeed Northern Ireland, defibrillators have been supplied to every school and community centre. The communities in Ards, Bally…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
2 contributions
Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill
rose—
I welcome what the Minister has said; he has clearly underlined that all parts of the United Kingdom can benefit. As the Minister will know, we are very fortunate in Northern Ireland to have a very strong agrifood sector, which promotes itself wherever it can across Europe, across the mainland and f…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Employment Rights Bill
My colleagues in the other place all expressed concern about open-ended, unlimited compensation. That is a concern not only for them and for colleagues here, but for businesses back home. I know the Minister means well, but for goodness’ sake, this will not work for business.
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Jimmy Lai Conviction
First, I associate myself with the Foreign Secretary’s comments and send my and my party’s sympathies to those affected by the murders on Bondi Beach this weekend. They are very much in our thoughts and prayers. I believe the Government should also support the Australian Prime Minister and Governmen…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Sudan: Humanitarian Situation
I thank the Minister for his strong answers. The situation in Sudan is deteriorating every hour, yet the anguish that people are suffering is fresh and new. For Christians in particular, the murder, rape and systematic violence happens daily. Every day, another child loses their mother or father, th…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
I thank the Minister very much for her answers. I know that she is in regular contact with the Minister back home in Northern Ireland and that there is a deep relationship between them. The Simon Community in Northern Ireland has revealed that, between October 2024 and March 2025, 609 households pre…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
NHS: Winter Preparedness
I thank the Secretary of State very much for his answers—the BMA is losing public support, and clearly the Secretary of State is gaining it. I wish him well in his role.
Official figures show that flu cases in Northern Ireland nearly doubled to 954 in recent weeks, and flu-related admissions also d…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
15 December 2025
Topical Questions
Thales and Spirit in Northern Ireland are leading the way in cyber-security and engineering. What steps are being taken to fund a potential Typhoon supply chain programme in which Northern Ireland can play its part in contributing to aircraft production across the United Kingdom?
Commons
Proceedings
11 December 2025
Business of the House
There are reports that the authorities in Saudi Arabia use wide-ranging internet censorship, automated surveillance, and prosecution under cyber-crime or counter-terror laws to punish online religious expression and dissent. Will the Leader of the House urge the Foreign Secretary to set out the conc…
Commons
Proceedings
11 December 2025
US National Security Strategy
I thank the Minister very much for those very careful responses encapsulating where we are. It is incredibly concerning that President Trump continues to assist in weakening Europe, and there is now a danger of the US abandoning support in the Russia-Ukraine war. Given the Prime Minister’s supposed …
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
11 December 2025
Paternity Leave: Low-income Earners
I thank the Minister very much for that helpful response. Many low-income workers often cannot afford unpaid or low-paid leave, so fathers feel obliged to return to work to receive full pay. What steps can the Government take to increase statutory paternity pay to match the reasonable proportion of …
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 December 2025
Oil Refining Sector
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I thank the hon. Member for Brigg and Immingham (Martin Vickers) for leading the debate. The very thrust of the issue that the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) underlined, and that I endorse, is how it changes communities whenev…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 December 2025
2 contributions
Fairtrade Certification
It is always a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) for excellently setting the scene, for his contribution today and for his hard work on this subject over the years, which is not forgotten about and provides extra cont…
I certainly do. I am greatly encouraged by what the hon. Gentleman said, and by those three young children in particular in relation to their work on palm oil. That is one of the campaigns that school children in Northern Ireland are also part of. The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight that, and I…
Commons
Debate
10 December 2025
Cammell Laird Workers’ Imprisonment: Public Inquiry
I commend the hon. Lady for securing this debate. I also attended the 2023 debate in Westminster Hall with her and other Members, and I fully support the campaign. During the earlier statement on resident doctors, she referred to standing on a picket line. Like her, I have stood on the picket line a…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 December 2025
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action
I congratulate the Secretary of State and I fully support his stance on the resident doctors’ strike action. “Stand firm” is the message that I send to him, and I ask that God bless him and his team.
This will be the 14th strike since March 2023 and it is expected to cause major disruption. With th…
Commons
Debate
10 December 2025
Seasonal Work
I thank the shadow Secretary of State for introducing this incredibly important debate. I must say, with respect, that the Government will have a lot to answer.
In the Northern Ireland agrifood sector, the licensing process is so laborious that it is putting people off, which means that when we nee…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
10 December 2025
Unfair Dismissal: Protected Characteristics
I thank the Minister for that answer. When ladies are dismissed, many feel they have been dismissed unfairly, and that men would not find themselves in that position. It is important that ladies feel they are getting equal opportunities and fairness under the law. How can the Minister ensure that la…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 December 2025
2 contributions
International Human Rights Day 2025
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. We owe a big thank you to the hon. Member for Penrith and Solway (Markus Campbell-Savours) for setting the scene incredibly well—well done him. I should declare an interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for internati…
The hon. Gentleman is right to bring up that issue, which has figured in every question about the subject. The Government must take action on that. If there is an evidential base, we need to act on it.
Levels of oppression across the world have reached near-genocidal intensity in some regions, so t…