Speeches by Shannon.

“My intervention will be very brief. The Federation of Small Businesses in Northern Ireland has told me of its concerns about national insurance contributions, but it has also told me that utility prices are up by 52.7%, labour costs by 51.5%, and taxes by 47.2%. I ask the Minister respectfully how he and the Government…”

“The Kenova report was clear in proving that there was no evidence of state collusion or machinations. Yet the republican drum still bangs to cover the sound of the voices of the innocents calling for justice and to be heard. How will the Secretary of State respond to the lack of protection for the service personnel and…”

“I commend the hon. Lady for bringing this matter forward, and I spoke to her beforehand. By way of encouragement, in Northern Ireland, we have done a lot of work on this issue, and I am very impressed by what we have done. There has been a significant push towards neuro-inclusion through governmental toolkits and speci…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg, for the third time this afternoon—I enjoy your company so much. You are kind and patient as a Chair—thank you very much. I congratulate the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) on securing us the opportunity to sow into this debate. She made an excel…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. The knowledge that he has developed over the years is an important addition to this debate. I know that the Minister is listening when we make our asks, as the hon. Member for Gosport has done and as I will do now. The service that these organisations provide needs the supp…”

“I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. I spoke to him beforehand to suggest a helpful intervention. He rightly said that fundraising is important for the hospice, but NHS funding never covers more than a fraction of the cost. There are four distinct hospices in Northern Ireland that provide instrumental…”

“I commend the hon. Lady for securing this debate. There have been incidents in the last year, which I am sure the hon. Lady is aware of, where women have been trafficked into the United Kingdom. They have been brought in illegally and when they are sometimes able to escape from their captors or kidnappers—their pimps o…”

“I intervened on the hon. Lady in the Chamber yesterday and she has returned the compliment today in Westminster Hall. I recognise what she say—and by the way, I do not take anything away from the Government. I support their target of 1.5 million houses, whether or not they reach it, because it is important to have hous…”

“It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I thank the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) for setting the scene so well. I will obviously bring a Northern Ireland perspective on the impacts of housing development. I want to be fairly positive about how we do things; it is importan…”

“It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I say a big “thank you” to the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) for securing this debate. She has—I say this with great kindness—a wonderful, warm heart. I always enjoy her contributions, and today is another example of just that. It is alwa…”

“My hon. Friend and colleague is absolutely right—I will refer to those matters shortly. There is no use saying that what he refers to is not happening or that there is a small number of asylum seekers—that is not the case. The images of small boats show overwhelmingly that they carry young men. They are more economic m…”

“My hon. Friend and colleague is right. I know that the Minister will consider all these matters, and I hope that he will give us an answer to that question. I can understand why so many are outraged that we would take winter fuel payments away from our own hard-working pensioners while doing nothing about migrants who …”

“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 …”

“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 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 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?”

“Is that the Myanmar one?”

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