Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to raise the issue of historical institutional abuse. Does it c...

I fully support what the hon. Lady says, because issues such as historical institutional abuse ha...

I wholeheartedly agree with the point made by the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey). Other iss...

I absolutely agree that it is important. We know from the emergency legislation on the renewable ...

The hon. Lady talks about Sinn Féin. Does she agree that, although its members do not take their ...

I do not want to attack any political party, but we do have to call out those Members, particular...

My very good and hon. Friend is talking absolute sense. It is about time that we imposed option o...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention.

I do feel quite strongly on this matter. I wou...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Lewes (Maria Caulfield). Her final statement, outl...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman, who is a good friend, for giving way. Is it not ironic that if ...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. There is some merit in incentivising people to get in, take ...

My right hon. Friend has given us a long list of issues that need to be addressed and that could ...

I suppose it is a sign of the success of Orangefest that it is now so inclusive that even Sinn Fé...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I am sure that the hon. Lady will have the opportunity to make her points in her speech, when I l...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

No. I have already indicated my position to the hon. Lady. I look forward to hearing her speech—I...

It is an honour to follow the right hon. Member for Belfast North (Nigel Dodds) —we agree on so m...

Is the hon. Lady aware of the briefing passed out this evening by the British Pregnancy Advisory ...

I shall comment briefly on that and, if necessary, in more detail in Committee.

This House ...

It is a pleasure to follow my neighbour from the north-west of England, the hon. Member for Congl...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for allowing me to intervene. I have received dozens and doze...

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. If she will allow me, I will come back to that later ...

My hon. Friend has my wholehearted support on this Bill, not least as a proud devolutionist. I re...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. As he says, he is a proud devolutionist, and I think...

Regardless of how the hon. Gentleman tries to twist and turn on the issue, the one thing he canno...

The first point is that this is an issue about rights, not about policy. The second point is that...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for St Helens North (Conor McGinn). We have possibly s...

If, for the convenience of the people of Northern Ireland, we were to give in, does my hon. Frien...

I thank my right hon. Friend for that intervention. I absolutely agree. I have worked very closel...

Children in Northern Ireland still have statements, whereas children in the rest of the United Ki...

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. That issue is under discussion. In the talks process,...

The hon. Lady is making a really good speech. What pressure is building up in Sinn Féin MLA areas...

I thank the hon. Member for that contribution. I do not see what happens in Sinn Féin constituenc...

My hon. Friend makes a very important point about Sinn Féin refusing to bring forward a budget be...

I believe that the last Sinn Féin Finance Minister—I think it was perhaps the first Sinn Féin Fin...

I have spoken only on rare occasions about Northern Ireland since ceasing to be shadow Secretary ...

I know that when the hon. Gentleman was the shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, he ea...

I thank the hon. Gentleman, for whom I have a great deal of respect, for his very kind remarks ab...

The hon. Gentleman will remember very well his visit to my constituency and particularly to the c...

I have massive respect for the hon. Gentleman —we agree on so many things—but there are occasions...

We have be honest about the position in Northern Ireland and look at the facts. Nationalist peopl...

I do not personally believe that that is a burning issue compared with other issues in the nation...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his candour on the secondary point. Any party wanting to be in gov...

To my mind, it is extraordinary that the Prime Minister failed to avoid alienating the DUP in the...

The hon. Gentleman has mentioned Sinn Féin. Would he accept that Sinn Féin’s results at the last ...

I have enough problems expressing opinions on the state of politics in the UK without intruding o...

The hon. Gentleman is making some excellent points. Does he agree that with the prospect of a gen...

The hon. Lady is probably absolutely right. It is realpolitik. If Sinn Féin is consistent in how ...

Unlike the rest of your speech!

They cannot be put on hold forever. Equal marriage and abortion generate strong feelings in all s...

Sure, what would I know about it?

The hon. Gentleman is entitled to his position. Other people who know as much as he does have an ...

I would make two points. First, the hon. Gentleman’s constituents in Bury and mine in St Helens w...

I do not dispute the fact that the hon. Gentleman, in every intervention he has made on Northern ...

I do not necessarily agree with the hon. Gentleman’s position, but in his defence a referendum wo...

I entirely agree with the right hon. Gentleman. This should constitutionally be a matter for the ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bury South (Mr Lewis). When I intervened on him, I...

The hon. Gentleman knows I have a great deal of respect and affection for him. I am sure he would...

For the avoidance of doubt, let me assuage the hon. Gentleman’s concerns—although in the context ...

It is awfully kind of the hon. Gentleman to give way; I am extremely grateful to him. May I take ...

Of course, if there is a finding of incompatibility, a declaration will be issued to that effect ...

I echo the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for St Helens North (Conor McGinn) in paying tri...

I understand the hon. Lady’s position, although it is very different from mine. Does she recognis...

I recognise that the hon. Gentleman and I are on different sides of this, but if he will forgive ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

If the right hon. Gentleman will allow me, I will make a little progress and then happily take an...

Now that the hon. Lady has made progress, let me deal with the two points that she has raised tha...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I gently suggest that he goes back and rea...

Order. The hon. Lady has the right to respond to the intervention.

The 1998 Act explicitly says that the Westminster Parliament retains responsibility for upholding...

I think I raised this point in our previous debate. There is no barrier to the law changing in No...

Let us be very clear. The reason why a woman in Northern Ireland who is raped, becomes pregnant a...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

Thousands of citizens in Northern Ireland have emailed their MPs in support of change. Thousands ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I have listened, and I want to meet my obligation to not make a long speech—an obligation that we...

We have until 10 o’clock.

Order. The hon. Lady has indicated that she is coming to the end of her speech, so do not continu...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

We also know that 66% of the public in Northern Ireland th...

I promise to be brief, as a number of Members have done, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I hope we can ...

The hon. Gentleman will know that our Supreme Court has determined that there is no general right...

The other point I wish to make is about what my constituents in Northern Ireland want. What do th...

What happens if, with a fair wind, good leadership and courageous decision making, we actually ge...

As my cousin knows, I will always give way to her on other matters in these important debates, bu...

indicated dissent.

I accept that it is not the intention of the hon. Lady, but it is the point that has been put for...

I appreciate that we are veering into matters that should probably should be debated in detail to...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention.

Let me turn now to some of the other points th...

rose—

rose—

I call the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).

9 pm

I did not expect to be called ahead of the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnso...

The elephant in the room is the fact that Sinn Féin just does not give a damn about the Northern ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention—he is absolutely right. The Sinn Féin of today is...

Having sat through the debate, I think it is quite clear that nobody really wants this Bill. It i...

Lyra Catherine McKee has been mentioned two or three times during this debate. When we discuss No...

Amen to that, Mr Speaker. I think that is the only way to follow that one. It is a pleasure to fo...

The Minister just used the phrase “wearing thin”. I assure him and the Secretary of State that wh...

I agree absolutely with the first half of the hon. Lady’s sentence. The sense of frustration and ...

I ask the Minister and the Secretary of State whether there is the slightest scintilla—the slight...

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. At the moment, the talks are still ongoing. There i...

I think I heard the Minister say the hon. Member for Belfast East goes on and on, but he knows th...

I did not say that the hon. Member for Belfast East went on and on, and nor would I ever do so. H...