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345 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEngagementsAnyone who saw the six-year-old girl fleeing the flaming shelter where her family were killed by an Israeli air strike will carry those horrific images with them forever. These…04 Jun 2025HANSARDEconomic GrowthI regularly receive representations from businesses, some of our biggest employers, who are frustrated by the apprenticeship levy. They pay in like businesses in Britain, but…21 May 2025HANSARDEngagementsQ2. Today, the Trump Administration will announce new tariffs that will hurt working people in the US and around the world. Does the Prime Minister agree that, at a time when big…02 Apr 2025HANSARDEngagementsLá Fhéile Pádraig shona daoibh agus Seachtain na Gaeilge daoibh. Deis lenár dteanga agus ár gcultúr a cheiliúradh ar fud an domhain. Happy St Patrick’s day, everybody, and happy…12 Mar 2025HANSARD European Remembrance Day for Victims of TerrorismI thank the right hon. Member for giving way; I know his time is precious. I want to associate myself with the remarks he made about Members of this House who were lost and about…11 Mar 2025HANSARDEmployment Rights BillI congratulate my hon. Friend and his colleagues on advancing the Bill—eight months into their mandate, we are at the remaining stages. In Northern Ireland, 13 months after…11 Mar 2025HANSARDEngagementsQ15. People in Northern Ireland are sick to the teeth of paramilitaries, the menace of sectarianism and keeping people stuck in the past. In the light of the announcement…26 Feb 2025HANSARDIndependent Reporting Commission: Seventh Annual ReportAfter all these years, people are bewildered that we are still talking about transitioning paramilitary groups, which have continued to recruit, to grip and to poison communities…26 Feb 2025HANSARDClonoe InquestThroughout the troubles, both state and non-state actors committed unlawful killings that have created harm and scarred families across both our islands. Does the Secretary of…11 Feb 2025HANSARD High Street RetailersThe challenges we are experiencing on Saintfield Road and Sandy Row sound very much like what the hon. Gentleman will be dealing with in Coleraine and Dungiven. Retail provides…05 Feb 2025HANSARD Environmental ProtectionAs I am sure the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) would attest, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful estimates that we have 420 million plastic bottles and 90 million cans in…21 Jan 2025HANSARDLegacy Discussions4. What progress his Department has made on reforming the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.15 Jan 2025HANSARDLegacy DiscussionsNobel laureate Seamus Heaney described Sean Brown as a man of “goodwill and integrity” who represented something better than we have grown used to. We meet the day before his…15 Jan 2025HANSARDEngagementsLast week, my neighbours Omar and Delal Al Shaqaqi, who serve south Belfast as a doctor and a classroom assistant, received the news they have been dreading. Delal’s mother and…11 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI do not intend to speak long; that will allow others to get in, but it is primarily because we have spoken about this issue morning, noon and night for much of the past eight…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillIs it not the hon. and learned Member’s position that Brexit does not require cross-community consent? In the eight elections since Brexit, the people of Northern Ireland have…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI was agreeing with the right hon. Member that the trade rules have nothing to do with the past. I was also hoping to remind him that the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillWill the Minister indulge me for a moment? Can we just kill off this canard about mutual enforcement? The Bill goes much further than suggesting mutual enforcement. It seeks to…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI will tell the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim that our constituents elect us not to mine grievances, or to use the protocol as a receptacle for every bit of frustration…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillOf course I was listening. I do listen, and as the hon. and learned Member said, I try to find consensus, but people were forced to listen, because—for whatever reason—large parts…06 Dec 2024