Contributions
536 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) BillWill the Minister explain to the House how it is right for the Government to cover the extra national insurance contributions of those working in the public sector, for example in…19 Mar 2025HANSARD Welfare ReformParity in our welfare benefits is a key feature of our Union. When the last Government introduced their welfare reforms, the Northern Ireland Executive saw fit to introduce…18 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Mr Stringer. Surely the abiding question that arises from this debacle is: what is the point in having an ombudsman if,…17 Mar 2025HANSARDWomen’s Changed State Pension Age: CompensationThis matter goes to the very heart of public confidence in our system of Government. I started by saying that Governments get things wrong, and people think they get things wrong,…17 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI have previously urged the Secretary of State to liaise with the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland over its pitiful pursuit of benefit fraud. In the same vein, is…17 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsAcross the United Kingdom, inquests are defined as being for the purpose of finding out who the deceased was, and how, when and where they died; they are not trials and they are…11 Mar 2025HANSARD European Remembrance Day for Victims of TerrorismAs someone who had the honour of hosting an event on this day for all the years I was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, I commend the right hon. Member for securing this…11 Mar 2025HANSARD Crime and Policing BillThere is much that is good and necessary in the Bill, and I welcome the fact that 51 of its 137 clauses will apply to Northern Ireland. I have some disappointment about some of…10 Mar 2025HANSARDSyriaWas the delisting of 24 institutions from sanctions on Friday the product of engagement with the interim Government? If so, in the light of the gruesome mass murders of Saturday,…10 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor FrameworkI think the Secretary of State should listen to himself. What he is saying to the House is that we should be grateful for some sort of dud mechanism to deal with the situation…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsWith farmers protesting again in Westminster today, why is the Chancellor of the Exchequer running away from meeting farming unions from across this nation? Why do those who feed…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor FrameworkIn a moment, perhaps. I need to make sure I get through what I need to say. It is beyond doubt, I would respectfully say, that there has been trade diversion. Back in September,…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor FrameworkThat is the point, because it is an EU border. EU trade laws govern the Irish sea border. EU officials, under the protocol, have the right to supervise checking. When we have the…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor FrameworkI agree. Let us just think about the Irish sea border. Given the infinitesimal amount of goods and trade that cross that border—infinitesimal when compared with the proportion of…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor FrameworkThat is the absurdity of where we have got to, and it has been accentuated by our subjection to the EU’s general product safety regulations. Those regulations provide that if a…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor FrameworkThe right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Business is like water: it follows the easiest course. When we were an integrated part of the UK economy, the easiest and cheapest…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor FrameworkI will give way.04 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor FrameworkNot just the previous Administration; I think there has been gross, calculated and deliberate misleading about the protocol from day one. We were told that the green lane was…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor FrameworkThe way not to deal with it is to say, “We, the United Kingdom, will hand over part of our territory to EU jurisdiction. We will put it under the EU’s customs code, which will…04 Mar 2025HANSARDTrade Diversion and Windsor Frameworkindicated dissent.04 Mar 2025