Speeches by Shannon.

“I am reminded of last year when a mother came to me back home. Her son wanted to transition. The mother was under real pressure, as was the young boy. We tried to help as much as we could through the health system back in Northern Ireland. Does the hon. Lady agree that there is a journey not only for the young person w…”

“One of the concerns that probably all of us in this Chamber have, including the hon. Lady, is the squeeze of the middle class and the working class. Many of my constituents have told me—I wonder whether her constituents have also told her—of their concern that that squeeze is going to be felt even more. The people who …”

“I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing this debate to the House. The plan 2 student loan repayment threshold was frozen until 2030 under new announcements in the Budget. That means that graduates begin repaying sooner, but it is also almost like a hidden tax on career incomes, whereby students will pay more over the…”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“I thank the Minister very much for his answers and recognise his intent and that of the Government to try to help in whatever way they can. For centuries, churches and faith groups have sent missionaries to Africa. I think of the Samaritan’s Purse charity, which works across Africa and the middle east. I also think of …”

“I certainly do. The hon. Gentleman is certainly right to highlight the issue of Derbyshire, as I and the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) will do shortly; we will also highlight the attributes and the plusses of Leicestershire cricket team as well. I love the fact that sport draws people together, as the …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I thank the hon. Member for South Leicestershire (Alberto Costa) for leading the debate. I will give a Northern Ireland perspective, but first, I want to say that quarries bring economic life to communities. They create jobs. All the debate so far has been ab…”

“The Minister is an honourable and just man, but I do have to ask this question. Does he accept the reasons that Chagossians are concerned about the delivery of the UK-funded trust fund? They are concerned that the fund will not help to resettle Chagossians, but will be used by other settlers. How can the Government, wi…”

“I commend the hon. Lady—I spoke to her beforehand. It has been brought to my attention in this last period of time that there is a proportion of people in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland who are survivors of trafficking. They were brought to the UK with unresolved status and they therefore stru…”

“It is always a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) for setting the scene so well. I have to say, I was never much good at cricket, to be truthful, but I loved it. I was one of those guys who went to the crease and would bat about three or fo…”

“I am confident because of the responses to me in relation to the requests for the debate. The anxiety that these people raise with me indicates that this is a massive issue for them. The fact that there is already a debate on secondary breast cancer, and that this one is equally of interest, is hopefully an indication.…”

“I do not see any reason why not, Martin. We both desire the same goal, so let’s just do it.”

“I am happy to combine the debates if that helps.”

“Okay. I will have to check that out, because they asked me and I said, “Yes, let’s take it.” If there has been a mix-up, I will clarify that.”

“I did?”

“Sorry, you mentioned that I turned one down in January. I didn’t turn it down—I accepted it.”

“Is that the Myanmar one?”

“Does the Pope have red socks? Yes, of course—there is absolutely no doubt about that.”

“I would be happy to have the debate heard, and if we can combine the two to make one debate—”

“Chairman and fellow Members, this is an important issue. Whenever I have asked Members in the Chamber what they would be interested in, there are specific issues in Northern Ireland, but I found this was an issue across every constituency. Everyone says they could tell me about at least half a dozen cases right now. Th…”