Speeches by Shannon.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I want to say a big thank you to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for setting the scene incredibly well. He and I are often in debates together. This time, he leads and I follow; it is usually the other way round. I thank him for the informat…”

“I thank the Minister for his answers. If he were a goalkeeper, he would be exhausted at this stage. Maybe he has kept the ball out of the net—we will see how that goes. The Minister will forgive me for being a bit obtuse, but it was my understanding that the leasing of the base at massive cost to the working person in …”

“I commend everyone who has spoken. Four years ago, the Russians entered Bucha. They murdered and raped. They packed 200 civilians—men, women and children—into a basement, and then they killed them all. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that those murderers—those Russian scoundrels and thugs who killed, raped and destroyed …”

“I thank the Minister for his answers. As always, these problems have resulted because of a realisation that the small print does not really work. Many of my constituents take flights from Dublin because they can be more cost-effective, but the need to have a British passport can be incredibly cost-prohibitive. I am try…”

“It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg—it is the third time today. I thank the hon. Member for Preston (Sir Mark Hendrick) for setting the scene incredibly well. I am also pleased to see the Minister in his place. He has, if I may say so, been a very busy boy today in the Chamber and Westminst…”

“I thank the Minister for his response, and for his words of encouragement for us MPs, and for those outside who are watching. Earlier, I referred to Bucha, where the war crimes were unbelievable. I am very keen to ensure accountability and justice in the process, as we all are. What are the UK Government and the Minist…”

“I congratulate the hon. Lady. The only subject that I excelled in at school was history, but I am sure that the hon. Lady exceeded me by far. She has a love of history, as do I after all these years. Does she agree that seeing the Bayeux tapestry, that incredible piece of history, will be an inspiration for children, h…”

“It wasn’t far away!”

“I commend the hon. and gallant Lady. We understand that she has a personal intention to try to make things better. Whenever I met the pension people on Monday, they said that many part-time soldiers are not aware of their rights and the fact that they might be able to claim. Are the Government, and the Minister in part…”

“I thank and commend the hon. Lady for initiating the debate, and for her devotion to this subject. Does she agree that we should consider education and the role of school principals? In Northern Ireland the Education Minister, Paul Givan, has introduced a pilot scheme on phone-free schools, and I have held an event in …”

“I commend my right hon. Friend for initiating the debate. I met the Forces Pension Society guys on Monday. I did not know that he had actually secured an Adjournment debate on this matter, but when I showed them what he wanted to say, they were incredibly interested, and wanted to put on record their thanks to him. My …”

“Does the shadow Minister share the concerns that many, probably all, MPs from Northern Ireland have—although I welcome the good news in relation to the tax surplus; who would be churlish and not welcome something that is to the benefit of us all—about the Northern Ireland Executive finding it incredibly difficult to ma…”

“First, I commend the right hon. Member and his party for bringing forward the motion, and for the way that he interviewed on TV this morning. Certainly, he speaks not just for this House, but for this nation. We are all greatly shocked at what has taken place, but does he agree that King Charles, Queen Camilla, Edward,…”

“I am no different from anybody else; I hear the same points that the hon. Lady refers to. Everyone else in this room—and those who are not in this room—will have the same issues. I mentioned those two organisations because they are physically and practically active in the middle east and elsewhere. Repeated conflict wi…”

“It is, as always, a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) for setting the scene incredibly well, as he always does. He is making a reputation for himself in the House as someone who speaks up on important issues, and today he has done so again. I thank him for…”

“I will just say that so many people are here because the hon. Lady has brought up a subject matter that is worth more than 30 minutes of debate. Does she agree that the only goals that banks seem to have are bigger dividends and more profit? When they close branches there is a dramatic effect on rural life in her const…”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“I commend the hon. Lady for bringing this topic to the House. We have similar problems back home in Northern Ireland. From listening to her, it seems that whenever a new development goes up, it relies on private cars, because there is no public transport out in the countryside, so the pressure is always on people to pr…”

“That is very kind. The legacy for us in Northern Ireland is that we are half in and half out, and our businesses, our exports and imports, and our people suffer. I know that the hon. Gentleman and I have very different opinions on Brexit, but does he not agree that Northern Ireland did not get the Brexit that everybody…”