Speeches by Eastwood.

“As others have already said, we can almost feel like everything has been said at this point. However, one thing that strikes me in all this is that this place is called the House of Commons. Our job is to come here and represent the common person, yet this entire debate is so far removed from the common person. As I sa…”

“Two years ago, people voted for change, but what have they got? More of the same. But it is not they who have let down their end of the bargain. My constituents are working themselves to the bone, and let us be absolutely clear: they are working and still having to claim benefits. Whether it is farmers, care workers or…”

“We are possibly at risk of straying into the next question.”

“Thank you, Chief Constable and Assistant Chief Constable. This is an issue that is very close to my heart and very close to my family, in terms of policing recruitment and people from a Catholic background. I am very proud of my family’s service—I say this every single time—in both the RUC and the PSNI. I have to tell …”

“I am not going to get the nomenclature correct around this, but there is a joint committee here on intelligence and those various issues, but one of my real concerns is the fact that there is an emerging level of threat around online radicalisation. We know the lessons from Prevent. We are aware of the ongoing issues a…”

“Very briefly, Chair, with your indulgence, I feel it would be a bit remiss and cowardly of me—I am speaking in a personal capacity, not a party-political capacity, and as somebody who is Catholic and has a long tradition of people having served. I spoke very briefly last week about this online. You expect abuse, but it…”

“I really value the hon. Member’s contribution, which has been heartfelt and personal. Does he agree that Endo Warriors Northern Ireland deserves credit and acknowledgment for the work that it has done for the women across Northern Ireland who are impacted by this postcode lottery?”

“I thank the Minister for his response. I have to declare an interest because I started a parliamentary petition exactly on a VAT cut for hospitality in Northern Ireland, the reason being that we have the Republic of Ireland with its very competitive VAT rate right up against us. Businesses saw the official Government r…”

“I welcome the Chancellor’s statement this afternoon. As she has outlined, Northern Ireland is uniquely exposed, with up to 70% of people across Northern Ireland reliant on home heating oil. Instead of meeting me, does she have plans this week to meet the Minister for the Economy and my ministerial colleagues in the Nor…”

“We might even do a sidestep—get it?”

“It’s “Strictly Come Dancing”!”

“For me, the issue of reform is very much linked to the following. I am very passionate about Northern Ireland. I am proud to be Northern Irish. I am also proud to be British and Irish. But if we do not show people that we are capable of operating a durable system that does not inherently allow for these very natural di…”

“Good morning, everybody. Colleagues have very helpfully largely covered the ground of my question, so I am going to discuss the same issue but in a slightly different way. A few weeks ago, I led a debate in Westminster Hall about reform of the institutions, and all political parties from Northern Ireland that take thei…”

“I support the Bill, but can we please ensure that the Electoral Commission and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland are funded, as are other statutory agencies? Not all these potential offences will be civil; some will meet the criminal threshold. We need to ensure that the statutory agencies responsible for captu…”

“Will the Secretary of State give way?”

“People in Northern Ireland are entitled to be British, Irish or both. As such, many have travelled to the middle east on an Irish passport. We know that the FCDO has asked people to register. However, those Northern Irish citizens who have an Irish passport and are also UK nationals cannot register. Will the Prime Mini…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for securing this debate. My goodness, where do I start? I think this debate is an incredibly good jumping off point. This is something that comes through in all our constituencies on a dai…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for bringing this debate. Whenever I wrote to the relevant Minister a year ago, the MOD confirmed that there were at least 310 people in Northern Ireland who fell within scope, but I agree entirely that there is absolutely no point in the Government deciding to fight this or seek in any way…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I thank the hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry (Stephen Gethins) for introducing the debate. I simply wanted to say that, for years, I watched from afar as a normal member of the public in Northern Ireland as this place discussed my, my family’s a…”

“Yes, indeed—I thank the hon. Member for giving way. I remind colleagues that Northern Ireland voted to remain. It is regrettable that Northern Ireland has borne the brunt in all of this. I do not spend my time relitigating Brexit, because it tore my country apart, but for our community and voluntary sector in Northern …”