Speeches by Swann.

“Q7. Challenging economic inactivity and supporting the vulnerable across the country is something that we all want, so would the Prime Minister be surprised to learn that, in Northern Ireland, around 11,000 people previously supported by UK shared prosperity funding will see those programmes cut dramatically, compounde…”

“Would the hon. Gentleman consider that there is a political reason for the Northern Ireland Office to bring this measure forward: to placate the Irish Government and their timeline rather than the timeline of this place?”

“Can I ask the House to pay tribute to and acknowledge the contribution of my hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon)? [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] That emotion, that story and that heartfelt contribution to today’s debate are replicated across many houses across Northern Ireland, and indeed across this Uni…”

“A final point: when you extrapolate that to the recruitment of the Chief Constable, is there a challenge, regarding who is playing at that level, in selecting the appropriate person for that job? This is not critical of anybody in front of me; I suppose it is just the lack of home-grown Chief Constables from Northern I…”

“In regard to some of the recommendations and commentary, the phrasing was that “the board has an excessive workload”, and that “this level of intensity is often at the expense of sustained follow-up, strategic focus and direction”. The commentary was that they were getting more into the operational, rather than the str…”

“Jon, as the current Chief Constable, where is your concern regarding the piece of work that has been done, and the recommendations that, as Sir Iain said, are sitting there with no ownership or accountability once the final piece of work is done?”

“On the back of the answer you gave to Gavin about interviewing Scappaticci, the report says that “it has not been possible to deal with the full facts surrounding the agent Stakeknife and the late Frederick Scappaticci in as full detail as hoped.” Is that because of NCND, or is there something else there?”

“At question time last week, the Prime Minister seemed to intimate that the Government were bringing forward amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. Within hours of him saying that, the Irish Government’s Minister for Foreign Affairs said that any “significant changes” must have the “full agreement of both Gov…”

“Thank you. Iain, with regard to the 10 recommendations that were in the interim report, where are they sitting at the minute, and where do you see the urgency in moving them forward? Kenova was commissioned by the Chief Constable of the PSNI, so at times I have a concern that maybe the Cabinet Office and Government, be…”

“I heard the Prime Minister refer to the work of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee in the Chamber last week. Does the Minister realise that that has met only 12 times since 2024? It is not a Committee that is doing a lot of work or delivering a lot.”

“Does the hon. Lady acknowledge that much of the work that was achieved in the Belfast agreement was undermined in St Andrews in 2007, when there was a change to how the First and Deputy First Ministers were elected? Rather than being a co-post, it became a divided office.”

“The Minister knows that I have challenged the Secretary of State about the transformation fund that was set up when the Executive came back two years ago. Does he agree that it is lamentable that that money is still not completely spent and not completely allocated? A committee has been formed to assess the best projec…”

“That is an important point, and one that the Minister needs to clarify. The Government’s online advice actually says that it is not simply a married couple or those in a civil partnership; it says: “Two people (such as siblings) who jointly own a farm will be able to pass on a farm up to £5.65 million tax free.” The Go…”

“I want to take the Minister back to his earlier commitment on Scotland. Will the Government give the same commitment to farmers in Northern Ireland? We have a very different family farm structure from that in the rest of the United Kingdom, and the engagement of and representations by the Ulster Farmers’ Union and the …”

“On 26 March last year, three RAF Pumas performed a final fly-past of Aldergrove in my constituency. What urgency is there to fill that capacity gap of medium-lift helicopters and to secure a full utilisation of what used to be Joint Helicopter Command Aldergrove?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I have two questions for the Minister about the regulations. He touched briefly on the interaction with Garda Síochána; I note that enforcement of the regulations will “serve to improve the interoperability of Border Force and Immigration Enforcement with p…”

“When the Executive were restored two years ago, a fund was set up for the transformation of public services. As of yet, that money has not been fully allocated. Will the Secretary of State use his offices to encourage the Executive to deploy that transformation fund to transform Northern Ireland’s public services?”

“The Ulster Farmers’ Union and the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster made many representations here with regard to the damage that this policy would do to Northern Ireland farms, but there is one specific point I want to ask the Minister about. He has mentioned a number of times the allowance being passed between couples a…”

“I welcome the steps taken by Ministers in their support for our armed forces, but may I caution them that the Northern Ireland Office’s troubles Bill has the potential to undo all that? The protections for veterans in the Bill are not specifically for veterans, no matter how they are packaged—and how weak it sounds to …”

“The Minister mentioned our investment event held last week, where I and the right hon. Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson) hosted Antrim and Newtownabbey borough council for its first Westminster economic investment showcase. How do the Government expect that UK Research and Innovation-funded supply chain research…”