Speeches by Shannon.

“I thank the Leader of the House for this opportunity to ask a question about Bangladesh. The Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), has already referred to some of the issues. In the weeks leading up to the February 2026 parliamentary elections, there have been report…”

“I thank the Chair and his Committee for all their hard work. Back home in Northern Ireland, 41% of prisoners surveyed said it was easy to acquire illicit drugs and, worryingly, 28% reported developing a drug problem while in prison. I think those figures are replicated in the report that the hon. Gentleman has presente…”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“I thank the hon. Lady for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch—I hope I have pronounced that correctly; apologies if my Ulster accent has destroyed that word. The last new town we had in Northern Ireland was Craigavon back in 1965, some 60 years ago, when I was a 10-year-old starting secondary school. Does she agree that, wit…”

“If he has not done the job, there should be no bonus. That would be the same for anybody, no matter who they are—you get a bonus because you do it right. But the Minister can perhaps answer that question better. It is important that these issues have no knock-on effects on essential supplies getting to the battle zone.…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank the hon. Member for Newbury (Mr Dillon), who I spoke to beforehand about the issue. He is absolutely on the button with what he has requested. I am the MP for a rural constituency, and I live on a farm in the midst of the unmatchable and beautiful country…”

“The hon. Gentleman is right to recall his youth and how his love of the countryside energised him to seek the job and life he wanted. Marine biology and local sea life can do something similar. In my earlier intervention on the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden), I mentioned the Exploris Aqua…”

“I commend the hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. He talks about the relationship between the UK and France, and we have fought many battles against each other. However, we always remember that the last two battles we fought, we fought together, and we took on fascism across the world. Does he agree that although th…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I want to say a big thank you to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) for setting the scene incredibly well and providing lots of detailed information that is beyond my knowledge; hopefully he helped to set the scene for the Minister’s answers. Ajax…”

“Yes, but I will not give way again.”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that. I will be very brief. As of late 2025, the British Horse Society said that a significant majority of equestrians—78%—have experienced an incident while using the roads, which is what the hon. Gentleman was referring to. Nationally, 81% of incidents occur because a driver passed a ho…”

“Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there must be accountability for those Russians who have carried out massacres and raped, violently tortured and killed people, and they must be taken to court and put in prison?”

“I also thank the hon. Member for bringing forward the debate. He is right to refer to the Lindsey oil refinery, but all of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is affected by the sector if we become vulnerable and reliant on foreign entities. Does he agree that for the nation’s energy security and f…”

“I apologise for not being here at the very beginning of the debate; as I explained to you, Mrs Harris, I was running late because I had a meeting with a Minister beforehand. The hon. Gentleman is right to underline these issues, which affect not just England, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—all of us. At the W…”

“I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing forward this debate. He and I spoke beforehand, but he might not be aware that consumers with factored arrangements in Northern Ireland were historically vulnerable to high, unregulated prices, similar to consumers in GB, but the Northern Ireland Assembly moved to correct that …”

“I am not going to get into a row, but under devolution we have seen the delivery of childcare. People see that in my constituency and every constituency in Northern Ireland, whether they like it or not. I tell you what: my constituents like it, and that is the point I want to make.”

“That is the issue; my hon. Friend puts it well. It is better to have it in the hands of local people.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) for the way she presented the case. It is important that we do that in a measured way. I was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for 12 years before I came to this place. Each of these institutions, …”

“I agree with the principle of what the hon. Lady says; there are things that we can take advantage of through having a working Assembly. Another way we have an advantage is the £100 winter fuel payment and the medication payment provided for our elderly. There are certainly barriers to delivery, but one of the major on…”

“It is no coincidence that a week ago, a Protestant church in Chengdu, in Sichuan province in China, was raided by Chinese authorities. The pastor, the elders, and those who attended the church were arrested. What are the Government doing? The facts revealed in the plans for the embassy show a potential risk that must b…”