Commons
Westminster Hall
2 December 2025
Homelessness: Funding
I commend the hon. Member for bringing this subject forward for debate. Across the UK, a disproportionate number of homeless people are former military personnel. Does he agree that this Government need to get real about supporting those who serve this country in their hour of need? We cannot contin…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 December 2025
Pandemics: Support for People with Autism
The hon. Member is speaking so eloquently about his constituent Ivan. Does he agree that children with autism were failed by school closures during lockdown? That was particularly difficult for children who rely on structure and routine. Research from Queen’s University Belfast shows that that measu…
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 November 2025
2 contributions
1994 RAF Chinook Crash
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) for securing this debate and speaking so eloquently on the issue, which I know is close to his heart.
This event, the tragic crash of a Chinook helicopter on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994,…
I will mention that later in my speech, but it is absolutely outrageous that families who had been seeking answers learned of it from the BBC and not from our Government.
It is difficult to summarise the failings within a 90-minute debate. Despite the repeated claim that there have been six investi…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 November 2025
COP30
We all believe in keeping our planet sustainable and being good custodians of our environment. What most people do not agree with, however, is the madness of net zero, with its astronomical cost to the taxpayer for minimal impact on a global scale and the damage that unachievable targets are having …
Commons
Debate
19 November 2025
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
Does the Minister accept that despite his opening remarks and his words about Northern Ireland, the reality and the understanding of people in Northern Ireland is very different, given that we are subject to EU law in this space? This is a very real issue for people in Northern Ireland. They want ze…
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 November 2025
Suicide: Reducing the Stigma
My hon. Friend will know that in Northern Ireland there are somewhere in the region of 200 suicides per year, which is deeply troubling and terrible for each family walking that difficult pathway. Online platforms and social media now play a huge part in some of those suicides. Does he agree that th…
Commons
Debate
18 November 2025
2 contributions
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
At the outset, let me restate unequivocally that we DUP Members will always stand with the innocent victims and survivors of terrorism in Northern Ireland. We will stand with the families whose loved ones were cut down by a ruthless and bloody terrorist campaign. Their pain has not diminished, and n…
Absolutely. That was a point well made.
This Bill speaks of inquests, and we firmly believe that every family deserves a full and fair investigation, but Loughgall—really? Not only has that event been before the European Court of Human Rights, where the UK was found to be justified, but there is to…
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
Remembrance Day: Armed Forces
Today, our nation paused together in quiet reflection. In doing so, we remembered those who stood firm in the face of fear, served with courage, and made the ultimate sacrifice so that we might live in freedom.
As a daughter of Ulster, my thoughts turn to the fields of France—to the Somme—where so …
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
BBC Leadership
Last week, we learned that the BBC upheld a complaint about presenter Martine Croxall. It is alleged that she changed—correctly —the wording of “pregnant people” to “women”. Somehow, the BBC found her eye-roll to have conveyed a personal view. There are two genders—male and female —and one of those …
Commons
Oral Questions
11 November 2025
Technology-assisted Child Sexual Abuse
Yesterday, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland reported that the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s cyber-crimes team lacked the capacity and capability to manage the threat posed by prolific online sex offender Alexander McCartney, whose abuse led to the tragic death of 12-year-old Cimarron…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
5 November 2025
Violence against Women and Girls
The Minister will know that I am unashamedly pro-life. While I strongly welcome the Government’s commitment to ending violence against women and girls, surely that must mean protecting women from harm and coercion in every setting. Given the serious safeguarding concerns and reports of coercion link…
Commons
Proceedings
4 November 2025
Sudan: Government Support
The United Kingdom has always stood as a defender of human rights. I say this with deep conviction: how many burned churches and murdered worshippers in Nigeria and Sudan will it take before we call this what it is: namely, a campaign to exterminate Christians? British aid must never bankroll corrup…
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
Welfare Spending
Nothing frustrates genuine welfare claimants more than seeing claimants who are not deserving, or who are defrauding the system. In Northern Ireland, the cost of fraud is £240 million per annum and, to be honest, that is just the tip of the iceberg, given the restrictions around investigations. In N…
Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
Supporting High Streets
The hon. Member is making a very powerful speech. High streets across my constituency are struggling, and one additional burden that they carry is a parcels border in the Irish sea caused by the Windsor framework and the protocol. It cost a children’s clothes retailer over £200 to get a delivery fro…
Commons
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Topical Questions
Asylum accommodation costs are set to quadruple in Northern Ireland, from £100 million to £400 million, and across the UK to £15.3 billion in the next decade. Before hiking taxes again, should the Chancellor not look at where the waste really lies, when we are funding an asylum system that is failed…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 November 2025
Houses in Multiple Occupation: Planning Consent
I commend the hon. Member for securing this important debate. As he said, the frustration among communities is felt deeply. Does he agree that whether it is HMOs, buy-to-lets, which are often problematic, or hostels, if there are breaches within them, or if landlords are not keeping to the rules, ac…
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
4 contributions
Public Office (Accountability) Bill
Will the Prime Minister give way?
Will the Prime Minister give way?
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
“Soldier F” Trial Verdict
I welcome the clear and just verdict delivered by Mr Justice Lynch, which rightly found Soldier F not guilty on all charges—vindication for a man who served his country with honour and distinction. Does the Secretary of State agree that this case again exposes the disgrace of vexatious prosecutions …
Commons
Proceedings
29 October 2025
Gaza and Hamas
Will the Minister give assurances to the House that this Government are utterly committed, along with our international allies, to eradicating Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure, and that they will not cease until Hamas have been fully dismantled and obliterated, and the remains of those hostages murd…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
28 October 2025
Organised Immigration Crime
Does the Minister agree that foreign nationals convicted of serious drug offences in Northern Ireland should be deported without delay? Will he ensure that his Department works with international partners and prioritises swift removal agreements to stop those involved in organised immigration and dr…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
World Stroke Day
The hon. Member is making a powerful speech. Family friend Hannah Garrity, who is now in her 20s, took her stroke at the age of eight. She was a little girl, who woke up one day and took a severe headache, and out of that, she had a very severe stroke. She is an inspiration. She is now teaching art …
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
10 contributions
Family Farming in Northern Ireland
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the impact of agricultural property relief and business property relief on family farming in Northern Ireland.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I am very grateful for the opportunity to bring forward this debate on an issue…
I thank my hon. Friend for his consistent voice on this issue. I will come to “Countryfile” later in my speech.
The vast majority of our farms in Northern Ireland are family run, often handed down proudly through several generations. The farm is not just a business: it is a home, a heritage and a l…
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Rape Gangs: National Statutory Inquiry
There should be nothing more precious in the eyes of this Parliament than the protection of children, particularly those who suffered at the hands of these barbaric individuals. Many of us are parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents and this cuts very deep. I know that the Minister cares and is a ca…
Given that two of the victims have walked away from the inquiry, will the Minister clearly state how she will ensure that a fully independent inquiry can take place and that it prominently includes victims?