Speeches by Shannon.

“I absolutely agree, and I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. It is great to have history. I love history, which is one of my favourite subjects. Indeed, it was probably the only subject at school in which I excelled, but that is by the way. The Stewarts erected the Market House, which is now the town hall, in 17…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Southend East and Rochford (Mr Alaba) on securing this debate. It is always a pleasure to speak about Strangford. We have constituency heritage across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and our culture, while sometimes different, is worth celebrating. Nor…”

“I am reminded of the wee song we used to sing in Sunday school many years ago: “So high, you can’t get over it, So low, you can’t get under it”. The Stormont brake does not work because it is too high and too low; it is just not functional. In my intervention on the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Alliste…”

“I ask the hon. Lady to cast her mind back to Scotch whisky. I met representatives of the Irish whiskey industry just before Christmas. They told me of their deep concerns over jobs and employment and the future of their distilleries. In my constituency, the Hinch, Rademon and Echlinville distilleries all have those con…”

“I commend the hon. Gentleman, who I spoke to beforehand, for securing the debate. I, like others, seek some level of legal process, whatever that may be. Does he agree that the Church of England and all charitable bodies must be subject to the law of the land in exactly the same manner, whether religious or non-religio…”

“The hon. Gentleman is right—he makes that point well. One business in my constituency employs 1,200 people. It told me just before the new year that those measures would cost it £1.1 million per year. I asked, “What are you going to do to address that extra cost?” It said, “We cannot absorb very much of it, so we will …”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. That is what my small and medium-sized enterprises tell me—and, I believe, everyone else on the Opposition Benches—about that. Ultimately, whenever the national insurance contributions are passed on to businesses, they will pass it on again to the customers—the wee man and the we…”

“The hon. Lady makes her point succinctly. I hope that the Minister has heard her comments about the impact. Her concerns are certainly my concerns—indeed, the concerns of all Members on the Opposition Benches. She referred to the review of the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises. I understand that new clause 4…”

“Whenever the hon. Lady pushes her new clause, we will support it. I give way.”

“It is a pleasure to speak in the debate—is it the end? No, I am sure it is not. I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me so soon; I was just getting myself prepared. This is an opportunity to speak on this Bill one last time. I have spoken every time it has come to the Chamber, and I am pleased to do so again.…”

“In Northern Ireland, we have a number of faith schools that will be impacted greatly by the measure. They have contacted me even at this late stage to ask whether the Government would reconsider. Does the shadow Minister agree that faith schools will be impacted, perhaps more than others, and that the impact on parents…”

“I definitely have the strongest legs in the Chamber, Madam Deputy Speaker! I have been bobbing up and down for about three hours. I thank the Prime Minister very much for his statement and his leadership. As you will know, Madam Deputy Speaker, and as everyone in the House will know, I am very proud to be British, and …”

“There are many things we have to address in this debate, one of which is the atrocities that the Russian forces carried out against Ukrainians where they butchered, maimed, raped, abused and burned alive. Those things cannot be forgotten about, because the families still want justice. They want those who carried those …”

“I commend and thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for setting the scene so well, and for his passion for this subject. In all the years I have known him in the Chamber—he has been here much longer than me—he has always been a stalwart, and I thank him for that. I think w…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) for leading the debate and setting the scene incredibly well. I welcome the Minister to her place. I think this might be her first official engagement as Minister. If it is, I wish her well in her new…”

“A year and a half ago, I met the Archbishop of Jerusalem. He outlined some of the things the Church was doing on education, jobs, and opportunities for young people to do apprenticeships. Those things can only happen if there is money available. What discussions has the Church Commissioner had with the Archbishop and t…”

“I thank the Minister for her answers to the urgent question. The BBC has publicly funded status and therefore has an obligation to report impartially, but that has been called into question since the 7 October atrocities. Will the Minister act to hold the BBC cameraman and the staff accountable for their failings? Furt…”

“In the past two months, there have been an increasing number of attacks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the Lubero territory, 70 Christians, including women, children and the elderly, were found dead, bound and beheaded in a Protestant church. They were captured from their homes, before being killed by susp…”

“This is a very important subject for the hon. Gentleman and for me as well. We have lost 11 banks in my constituency. They put forward the idea of banking hubs; well, we have got one, and there is a second one on the way, but the fact is, it takes ages for them to arrive. Does he agree that what we need is urgency on t…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) on setting the scene. I wish to give, as I always do, a Northern Ireland perspective to this debate. I know the Minister is eager to hear it, and I am pleased to provide it. There are so many…”