Contributions
418 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget BillI beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. As the House well knows, Northern Ireland has now been without a functioning Executive for almost three years. Since May,…30 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019My hon. Friend makes the important point that the extension of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 comes to an end in the second week of…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019I think I should move on with my speech, Madam Deputy Speaker. Similarly, the decision on Ulster University’s proposal for a medical school on its Magee campus is a devolved…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019I will not detain the House for long, given the late hour. The hon. Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth) made a series of important points. I will read the report she referred…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019I will be updating the House in respect of the first point. Welfare is a devolved matter, but I realise that it is important to Northern Ireland, and over the coming days and…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019My right hon. Friend is right that the Assembly was reconstituted last Monday. I took some hope from the fact that people were speaking in the Assembly, but we needed it to run…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019My right hon. Friend has raised the issue of Westminster’s powers consistently and has strongly represented these views. I believe that the best way to deliver for Northern…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019I want to focus on the things that need to be worked through. Those things are immediate. Those things require time now, and they cannot be delayed. Therefore, my focus is on…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019I think it is best that I swerve that question. There are some extremely important issues in Northern Ireland that require immediate attention and I want to focus on them with…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019I beg to move, That this House has considered the Report pursuant to section 3(5) of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, which was laid before this House on…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019The consultation paper makes very clear that we have not set a timeframe. We have talked about the period of the troubles ending with the Good Friday agreement, but I am not…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019I appreciate my hon. Friend’s intervention. That is exactly the approach that the Government will take. We cannot be hard and fast. We must be inclusive. We must ensure that the…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019The hon. Gentleman is posing questions about business management that I was qualified to answer a few months ago, but I am now in the hands of the business managers. I will say…28 Oct 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019Well, it is true that if there is a general election there is usually a wash-up period, but in all scenarios I will be making the case that we need to get the HIA Bill through. I…28 Oct 2019HANSARDNorthern Ireland: Restoring DevolutionThe period for Executive formation under the terms of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 is due to expire at the end of today, Monday 21…21 Oct 2019HANSARDExecutive Formation: Extension PeriodThe period for Executive formation under the terms of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 is due to expire at the end of today, Monday 21…21 Oct 2019HANSARDNorthern Ireland: Restoring DevolutionOn the first point, I say again to my hon. Friend that there is no change to the constitution of the Assembly. This is a reserved matter and we will do everything we can to…21 Oct 2019HANSARDNorthern Ireland: Restoring DevolutionAgain, these are sensitive issues—free vote issues—but the law has changed and the Government will now follow through and deliver on it.21 Oct 2019HANSARDNorthern Ireland: Restoring DevolutionI understand the huge sensitivities around this issue, but there was a free vote in this House and the law was clear that if the Assembly and the Executive were not up and running…21 Oct 2019HANSARDNorthern Ireland: Restoring DevolutionWe will bring forward a consultation in the coming days. As I have said, decriminalisation and the moratorium on criminal cases will take effect from tomorrow. We will be…21 Oct 2019