Contributions
444 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillIt is rather interesting that the right hon. Gentleman says that I do not want to discuss the issue. I did. I answered the hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) very…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillI am grateful to the Secretary of State for that assurance. On a different issue, the Secretary of State’s colleague, the Communities Secretary, made it clear that the stronger…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillAs the Secretary of State knows, I have asked for the BIIGC to be convened regularly. Back in the day, it sometimes met three or four times a year, particularly in the days of…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillThe hon. Gentleman is right. Electricity is fundamental to our way of life. It is not a bolt-on extra, and it is not just a question of keeping the lights on; it is a question of…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillOn the first question, it is very reasonable to ask what happens next. We simply cannot allow this vacuum to continue—decisions are not being made. I would say to the right hon.…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillI simply repeat to the right hon. Gentleman that I do not want to see direct rule—I genuinely do not—and there are massive issues with it. Some of my hon. Friends served as…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillI very much welcome that reassurance. Will the Secretary of State also consider this point? The frame of reference in previous budgets is that 45% of the spend has been moved…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillIn agreeing with the Minister, it is probably worth pointing out that the last period of direct rule lasted five years. This was the total antithesis of the ambitions of the…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillI am afraid—to give the hon. Gentleman the answer he does not want to hear—that, yes, I think so. We have to cut through this very difficult situation, and we cannot delay…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillI do understand the difficulties. Let me simply say that this is probably not the right time to pursue this debate, although I am more than content that we ought to pursue it,…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillThis has been an interesting debate so far. I will not name the hon. Members, but some unfortunate references have been made to civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office. I…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillYes, but I do not want to continue this for too long.05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillI strongly thank the hon. Lady for her helpful remarks, which correct the record. I thought that giving a direct answer to the question posed by the right hon. Member for Hemel…05 Mar 2019HANSARD Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) BillI think the Secretary of State is confirming that this is not an emergency and that the procedures to allow everything to be forced through so quickly are not absolutely…05 Mar 2019HANSARDNorthern Ireland: Restoring DevolutionTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will make a statement on her attempts to restore devolution in Northern Ireland one year on from the collapse of the…13 Feb 2019HANSARDNorthern Ireland: Restoring DevolutionIt is two years since we saw the collapse of the Stormont Executive and Assembly. It is 12 months since the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach visited Belfast in the hope of seeing…13 Feb 2019HANSARDBorder: Use of TechnologyI join the Minister in his commemoration of the tragic events of Bloody Sunday, but may I also use this opportunity to recognise the work of and thank the Chief Constable of the…30 Jan 2019HANSARDNorthern Ireland: Security SituationI thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement and for giving the statement on an issue that merits parliamentary time. Like her, I am bound to welcome the fact…21 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActThis is a serious point, not a polemical one. We now have a situation where the rest of the UK will follow Northern Ireland. If that is the case, why was that not the base case…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActThis has been an interesting and passionate debate, with a wide range of views expressed. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster may be in a small minority among those who have…09 Jan 2019