Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay
You are very kind, Mrs Hobhouse; thank you very much. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship. I congratulate the hon. Member for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier) on setting the scene. This issue affects every single constituency in the United Kingdom.
When babies are born, it is a time …
Commons
Debate
23 October 2025
Black History Month
I commend the Minister and the Government for bringing us this debate. What the Minister said applies to my constituency of Strangford. People from Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Pakistan and India contribute to the work-life and economy of Strangford, as well its culture, religion and history. I th…
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Business of the House
I am deeply troubled by the horrific rise in attacks against the Christian community in Nigeria, including the destruction of churches, kidnapping and the recent murder of 13 Christians in Plateau state on 14 October. Will the Leader of the House join me in condemning those appalling attacks and urg…
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund
I thank the Minister very much for her answers to all our inquiries. I absolutely welcome the fund and thank her for the goals that match the funding. However, with the Northern Ireland funding allocation for fishermen being based on the Barnett consequentials, I do not feel that the £10 million des…
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Alleged Spying Case: Role of Attorney General’s Office
I welcome the Solicitor General to her new role and wish her every success and happiness in it—hopefully it will not be as hard the next time round. As the Chinese spy prosecution case rolls on and on, concerns on the ground are growing about the state of national security and our intelligence commu…
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
23 October 2025
Topical Questions
On the infected blood compensation scheme in Northern Ireland, as of 21 February, 149 people had started the process, with 38 offers made totalling some £48 million. What assessment has been made of the time taken from when an application is made to when a payment actually arrives through the door?
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
23 October 2025
Public Sector Reform
I thank the Minister for his very positive answers. What steps have been taken to improve community healthcare services, to ease the pressures on our hospitals and encourage more care in local areas?
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 October 2025
Building Safety Regulator
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I commend the hon. Members for Milton Keynes North (Chris Curtis) and for Northampton South (Mike Reader) for introducing the debate. It is always great to be here to give a local perspective from Northern Ireland.
I commend the Governmen…
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 October 2025
2 contributions
NHS Workforce Levels: Impact on Cancer Patients
It is a real pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for raising this matter, which affects constituents in every part of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I always admire the hon. Gentleman becaus…
I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s encouraging intervention. That is what it is all about. Of course, I attend my own party’s conference—I am not sure I would attend anyone else’s. Party conferences are a great opportunity to meet groups that are working hard, and they come to our conference too. That b…
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 October 2025
Work of the County Court: Government Response
I thank the hon. Gentleman and his Select Committee for all they have done. I understand that the recommendations in the report are specific to England and Wales, but the issues, difficulties, problems and shortcomings the hon. Gentleman has referred to are the same in Northern Ireland. Ever mindful…
Commons
Debate
22 October 2025
Mental Health and Hoarding
I congratulate the hon. Lady for bringing forward this issue. She is a dear friend of mine, and I always look forward to her contributions to this Chamber and Westminster Hall. I often think of a TV programme on this subject. Perhaps I did not always understand the obsessive behaviour of hoarding, b…
Commons
Debate
22 October 2025
Devolution in Scotland
I commend the hon. Gentleman on including some positivity in his speech. Does he agree that we do not want my Gaelic brothers and cousins, the SNP Members who are sitting in front of me, to leave the Union? I want them to stay in this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland foreve…
Commons
Debate
22 October 2025
2 contributions
Renters’ Rights Bill
Will the Minister give way?
I welcome what the Minister has proposed. More and more of these issues have come to my attention in my constituency. Tenants then have to find alternative and affordable accommodation that is close to their work and close to their children’s education. I know this legislation applies to England and…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 October 2025
Heathrow: National Airports Review
I very much welcome the Secretary of State’s statement—her positive words are encouraging. This is an economic advantage for everyone, and I thank her for that. The fact that Heathrow’s numbers look set to surpass last year’s numbers, with 8 million passengers in August 2025 alone, demonstrates abun…
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 October 2025
Coal Tip Safety and New Extraction Licences
I am old enough to remember the Aberfan disaster, unfortunately—all the things that happened and the lives that were lost. Northern Ireland has some coal tips, primarily from historical operations at Ballycastle and Coalisland. They have not been active for some years, but does the hon. Lady agree t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 October 2025
Trade Union Workplace Access
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing the debate. I want to tell a short story very quickly, for the record. When as a 20-year-old I went to work for Henry Denny in Belfast, the guy says to me, “You have to be a member of the union.” I said, “I’m not so sure whether I want to be or not.” He said…
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 October 2025
Korean War: 75th Commemoration
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I commend the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for securing this debate. I always come along to support him because his heart is always in the subject matter. Today he illustrated that incredibly…
Commons
Westminster Hall
22 October 2025
Financial Inclusion
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this important debate. I am a firm advocate of local credit unions that provide access to affordable loans and help with learning how to save. Does he agree that financial inclusion must be available in small villages and towns through sound help and advice?…
Commons
Debate
21 October 2025
Social Housing: South Cotswolds
I commend the hon. Lady for bringing forward this debate. I spoke to her beforehand to get an idea of what she would be referring to. We had a debate in Westminster Hall this morning on homelessness, and one point that came through very clearly was affordability. House prices can sometimes be over 1…
Commons
Debate
21 October 2025
Sentencing Bill
What the right hon. Lady is putting forward is a very logical and sensible way forward, but I am conscious that young people in particular can do something wrong in life, and then return to the area that they came from. They are subject to peer pressure, and can be affected by all the things that ha…
Commons
Proceedings
21 October 2025
Rape Gangs: National Statutory Inquiry
I thank the Minister for her answers. I know her heart is in this to get justice, and I do not think that there is any doubt about that. However, it is difficult to hear the news that these victims, who have already been denigrated and treated as voiceless and worthless during their initial abuse, h…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Mandatory Digital ID
I congratulate the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart) for securing this debate. There is no doubt that this is a contentious issue for many, but the position of me and my party is clear. It is one of opposition at every stage. The intention of these online IDs is blurry, and it i…
How will the Minister and the Government react to the united political opposition from both sides of the community in Northern Ireland, nationalist and Unionist, to the ID card? How can the Minister and the Government pursue something that is so unanimously opposed by everyone in Northern Ireland?
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Local Government Funding: North-west England
I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing forward this debate. He is absolutely right to underline the importance of local government. I served as a local councillor for some 26 years before I came to Parliament, so I understand the importance of local government. He is outlining why Government need…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Ending Homelessness
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I thank the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for setting the scene so well, and I wish the Minister well in her new role. I will ask her for one thing at the beginning. This morning I met representatives from Centrepoint, which loo…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Co-operative Sector: Government Support
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon) for securing this debate. The hon. Gentleman is right that co-operatives are incredibly important, including in Northern Ireland. I will give some examples from my …
I absolutely agree. I spoke to the hon. Gentleman beforehand; I was fairly sure that he would come up with a Portaferry connection to the debate, because he has family connections down there. I am very pleased to see him doing so well. He had to leave Portaferry to come here and do well, but those w…