Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
Refugee Citizenship Rights
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler, for what I think is the second time today. It is, and always will be, a pleasure.
I thank the hon. Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman). In the short time that he has been here, he has made a reputation for himself as a fi…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
2 contributions
Hospitality Sector
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I thank the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) for applying for the debate and setting the scene so well. I also thank all those who have contributed.
The Northern Ireland perspective on the hospitality se…
My hon. Friend and colleague is right. I mentioned the clear VAT imbalance. To put it in simple equations, to explain the issue and understand it better: in the simplest example, a couple getting married in Enniskillen would find that a significantly cheaper wedding reception is just a few miles awa…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
ADHD: Impact on Prison Rehabilitation and Reoffending
I commend the hon. Lady for securing this debate, and she is right to raise this issue, which is very prevalent in Northern Ireland. There is a lack of specialist staff and training in adult ADHD, which is becoming a bigger part of the conversation. More needs to be done to rehabilitate in a certain…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
4 contributions
Business Energy Supply Billing: Regulation
As always, Mr Dowd, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairship. You are maintaining the wearing of a jacket, whereas my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) and I have taken advantage of your permission because of the good weather. You have better stamina than me.
I thank t…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Perhaps the Minister will be able to tell us about the discussions that she has had with the regulator in Northern Ireland. I know she has been in discussions—I am sure of that. Any tightening of the law such as that referred to by my hon. Friend would be a step i…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
30 June 2025
2 contributions
Road Safety Powers: Parish and Town Councils
rose—
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. We do not have parish councils in Northern Ireland, but councils have an important role. They are not the enforcers of road safety like the police, but they have an active role. It is clear that local knowledge—the thing the hon. Gentleman is re…
Commons
Debate
30 June 2025
Rare Cancers Bill (Money)
Just a quick one—I had hoped to speak to the Minister before she came to the Dispatch Box. In Northern Ireland, rare cancers account for a quarter of all cancer cases in both men and women. Will there be extra money set aside for Northern Ireland, where health is devolved, to deal with rare cancers?…
Commons
Debate
30 June 2025
Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect during Appeal) Bill
First, I commend the Minister and the Government for bringing forward this Bill. There is no doubt but that it is absolutely necessary. National security is paramount when considering revoking citizenship, as the Minister has outlined, and the Bill is necessary to close a particular loophole and ens…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
30 June 2025
Defence Procurement: SMEs
I thank the Minister for her answers. She is a regular visitor to Northern Ireland and supports the SMEs there, so when it comes to the defence industrial strategy to support SMEs, could she update the House, and myself in particular, on what she and the Government are doing to help SMEs in Northern…
Commons
Westminster Hall
30 June 2025
Driven Grouse Shooting
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) for setting the scene so well. He set out the landscape and introduced all the issues, and all Members who have contributed have, by and large, comprehended the im…
Commons
Debate
26 June 2025
2 contributions
Armed Forces Day
I was fortunate to be there and had the opportunity to meet Lord Coaker. I was clear to him, as were the 60,000 people who turned out to commend and celebrate such a wonderful occasion. Will the Minister outline later on what can be done to recruit more Territorial Army soldiers? Will there be flexi…
indicated assent .
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 June 2025
G7 and NATO Summits
I thank the Prime Minister very much for his statement. Nobody in the House can doubt the sincerity of his careful words and commitment to what is best for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the G7 and NATO summit. The Prime Minister will be aware of my support for Israel an…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 June 2025
Business of the House
I wish to raise the urgent situation facing Christians in Syria, where a suicide attack on a Damascus church recently claimed the lives of at least 20 people and injured many more. The brutal assault is a devastating reminder of the threats that Christians and other religious communities continue to…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
26 June 2025
Local Bus Services
If we are to deliver local bus services, we must deliver buses that are efficient and technologically modern to ensure we can meet those targets. With that in mind, will the Minister assure the House that any action taken by Government to provide buses and local bus services will support bus manufac…
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 June 2025
BBC World Service Funding
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley) for bringing this debate today. For years, the BBC has been the trusted voice of impartiality across the globe. That reputation of trust has been hard earned. We ha…
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 June 2025
4 contributions
IVF Egg Donation: Young Women
I beg to move,
That this House has considered IVF egg donation in young women.
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate on adverts targeting young women for their eggs and attendant consequences. I know that another debate was supposed to be happening here, but unfortunate…
I thank the hon. Lady very much for that point. That is the central thrust of this important debate. There do not seem to be any controls, and donation is almost glamourised, so for those in financial need—I will talk about them shortly—it may look too good to be true. It certainly does need regulat…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 June 2025
Legislative Scrutiny: Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
I thank the hon. Member for making that statement. As everyone will know, I chair the all-party parliamentary group on international freedom of religion or belief. It is one of the issues that I am really concerned about, in this country and across the world, and I always speak about asylum seekers …
Commons
Debate
25 June 2025
3 contributions
Haemochromatosis Screening
I thank the hon. Gentleman—I am not going to pronounce his constituency, as I would get that all wrong with my Ulster-Scots—for bringing this debate forward. He and I spoke last night about HCT and its prevalence. He is right that it is called the Celtic curse. Some might say that maybe I am a curse…
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
25 June 2025
Nuclear-certified Aircraft Procurement
I thank the Minister for her answers, which have been positive and strong—it is just what this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland needs today. I welcome the news that these jets are to be procured. Having watched the Red Arrows’ intricate manoeuvres in Newtownards on Armed Forces D…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2025
Access to Banking Hubs: Hertfordshire
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I commend the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra) for securing this debate. He said that it is his first Westminster Hall debate; no doubt, now that he has the taste for it, he will be back next week for another one. I j…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2025
Flags: Public Buildings
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate, which intrigues me. Coming from Northern Ireland, we are a nation of flag fliers; I have flown a flag nearly all my life. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the only flag that should have pride of place on public buildings is the Union flag?…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2025
4 contributions
Armed Forces Recruitment: North-east England
It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank the hon. Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland) for setting the scene. I was here for his first debate in Westminster Hall; I am now here for his second, and I am sure I will be here for many more to com…
That comment is on the record.
I always wanted to be in the Army and I joined the Ulster Defence Regiment as an 18-year-old. There were different rules back in the ’70s—everyone will now be able to judge my age—and I served for three years as a part-time soldier in that regiment. It was clear that …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2025
English Wine Production
I commend the hon. Lady for securing this debate. Northern Ireland does not produce any of its own wine; we do not have the necessary climate. We could use European Union grapes to make wine, due to Brexit regulations—but that is by the way. What can we do in Northern Ireland to ensure that English …
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2025
GP Funding: South-west England
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. He is right to address this issue—I spoke to him just before his introduction. We have great difficulty across all this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland when it comes to securing GPs for practices. In recent years, I have…
Commons
Debate
24 June 2025
Speed Cameras: Installation Criteria
I commend the hon. Lady for securing this debate. She is right to mention the organisation Brake and the good work it does; it does the same good work in my constituency, and we all benefit. In Northern Ireland, speed cameras are primarily installed in locations with a demonstrated history of injury…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
24 June 2025
China Audit
I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement. It is essential that we have a fuller understanding of the reach of China, as well as of our goals. British citizens have contacted me about the human rights violations, not only against those in China but those who live on our shores. Will the Foreig…