Gregory Campbell MP: speeches

Speeches

• 16 Jul 2025 · Further Education Institutions · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing the debate. Regional colleges such as the North West regional college and the Northern regional college in my constituency do exactly what the hon. Lady outlines. Particularly, the likes of apprenticeships are the future for many young people, especially those from disadvantaged communities. We should encourage and support that.

• 15 Jul 2025 · British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for that. Indeed, of the passports that I held, the British one was mine. The other one was not—I can reassure him of that. I acquired it temporarily for the purpose of this debate; I will hand it back to its rightful owner. My hon. Friend is right: we have at long last seen an end to the delay, and I will come to that shortly. In July 2005, immediately after the non-reply that I got in June 2005, I attempted to drill down and ask about the distinction between those who had been born in the Republic and those born in Northern Ireland. The answer came from the then Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office—now Mayor of Greater Manchester, no less—Mr Andy Burnham. He again indicated that the full fee had to be paid in order for someone who had been born in the Republic but moved to live in Northern Ireland in the past 60-odd years to acquire a British passport. That answer was given 20 years ago this month. I should add at this stage that I live very close to the border—I was born there. I can walk to the Irish Republic. It is within five miles, so on a good, nice day, I can walk there in an hour or an hour and a half, depending on how quickly I walk. There are 280 crossing points along this uncloseable border, which we have debated in other contexts. The relationship between people who live in the Republic, but close to the border, and those who live in Northern Ireland is intense, because there is much that we share. Those who moved from the Republic to Northern Ireland cherish the fact that their Britishness is enshrined deeply within their family, their generations of service in the military and their loyalty to the Crown—to Her Majesty previously and His Majesty now—so they took great offence at having to go through this expensive process to get what they thought would be their right. After July 2005, when I seemed to be getting nowhere, I succeeded in November 2005 in getting a private Member’s Bill, which ran into the ground, as most of them do. I then embarked upon a whole series of questions. I will not bore Members with them, but I asked a written parliamentary question in November 2006 and I raised the matter in the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in 2008—from memory, Dr Murrison, you served with me on the Committee when we looked at this issue—in the Chamber in May 2008, in the Northern Ireland Assembly in June 2011, again in the House of Commons in June 2013, July 2013, March 2014, January 2015, March 2018, November 2018 and February 2019, and again in the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in October 2019. We were struggling to get through the undergrowth of problems and bureaucracy in sections of the Home Office, to try to convince it that these people were entitled to a British passport. Then we came to the 2020s. I raised the matter in September 2020, October 2022 and June 2023, and then my right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson) managed to secure a private Member’s Bill in April 2024, which brought us to where we are today. Thankfully, that got Government support and became law.

• 15 Jul 2025 · British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 · Hansard source

  More

  Yes. I thank my hon. Friend for making that point, which I am just coming to. Even after my right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast East secured parliamentary support for his Bill, there appeared to be a delay. I raised matter again last September, and in January and May of this year. That brings us to today. As I understand it, from next week, thankfully, we will have reached the point where people who qualify can apply to obtain a British passport, but the problem is the inequitable nature of the application.

• 15 Jul 2025 · British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 · Hansard source

  More

  I beg to move, That this House has considered the implementation of the British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. At the centre of the issue that we are debating today is how successive Governments—Labour, Conservative, Conservative and Lib Dem, and now Labour again—have determined how the issue of nationality in Northern Ireland is dealt with. A consensus has come about, with all the successive Administrations following a series of what have been called internationally binding agreements, including the Anglo-Irish agreement, the Belfast agreement and the St Andrews agreement. They all left successive Governments with the consensus view that people in Northern Ireland who wished to describe themselves as British, Irish or a combination of both could do so. Each successive Government said that they would ensure that they dealt with people impartially and proactively, according to the nationality of their choice—in the constitutional framework of Northern Ireland within the UK, of course. The consensus emerged, and many people in Northern Ireland expected that to mean—they certainly did not receive any information to the contrary—that whenever a nationality issue arose, there would not be any differentiation or favouritism shown between a person wanting to express an Irish identity and a person wishing to express a British identity, within the context of the United Kingdom. That all came about as a result, as I said, of those successive agreements, but the seeds of the issue in relation to UK passports were sown in 1949, when what is now the Republic of Ireland left the Commonwealth. At that stage, legislation was passed to allow people who previously had lived in what is now the Republic, and had moved to Northern Ireland, to be regarded as British citizens and to acquire a British passport. That worked fine for a number of years, because most of the people who had moved had moved prior to that date. But obviously, as the decades wore on and we got into the 1960s and the troubles in Northern Ireland emerged, more people who had been born after 1949 were moving from the Republic into Northern Ireland. For example, if we take the beginning of the troubles, the period from 1969 to 1972, people who had moved to Northern Ireland because of disturbances and violence in the Republic were at that stage in their early or mid-20s. They were born in the period from 1950 right up to the mid-1950s. All of them—including their children—were born after 1949 and none of them was able to avail themselves of a British passport, unless they went through the expensive and time-consuming naturalisation process. Therein lay the problem, because as time wore on, more and more people were falling foul of the 1949 process. I have in my hands a British passport and an Irish passport. We expected Governments to treat people who were owners of these passports equitably and not to deal with them in a partisan way that would result in someone saying, “Well, is this because I own an Irish passport?” or “Is this because I own a British passport?” I entered this House in 2001, and in June 2005 I tabled my first written parliamentary question, which was to ask the Secretary of State whether he would “ensure that people who have resided in Northern Ireland for a certain length of time, but were born in the Irish Republic, can obtain a British passport at the same cost as those who were born in Northern Ireland.” —[ Official Report , 13 June 2005; Vol. 435, c. 167W.] The answer was a standard answer about the fee that was payable, and did not distinguish between whether someone was born in the Republic or in Northern Ireland.

• 15 Jul 2025 · British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 · Hansard source

  More

  As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by the Division, the issue now is twofold. I thank the Minister for her assistance in getting a reduction on the standard naturalisation fee, from £1,735 down to a total of £853. The problem is that many people in Northern Ireland who can apply under the new system may well live next door or across the street from someone who wants to apply for an Irish passport, and that person will pay less than £100, while a person who qualifies under the British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 has to pay £853. I hope that in the very near future, after the Act has been implemented, the fee can be reviewed, because it is exceptionally exorbitant. I accept that it is a reduction on the full naturalisation fee, but we are talking about people who fully feel themselves to be British citizens. They have been British residents, British taxpayers and British voters for decades, and now they are being asked to pay a fee that is eight times greater than the fee that others have to pay. The other outstanding issue is the ceremony fee. I can understand that some people will see attending a ceremony as a nice thing to do—I wish them well and hope that they will enjoy the event that they go to. They may regard it as an event to cherish and look back on. But there are others who would take deep offence at having to go through a ceremony to get a passport that they believe they are fully entitled to. No citizen in Northern Ireland who wants to apply for an Irish passport has to rock up to the Dáil and go through a ceremony to get it. They simply apply and pay the fee, and the passport arrives after payment has been received. Hopefully, the ceremony can be made optional or voluntary. I would not want to deprive anyone who wants to attend a ceremony of the opportunity to do so, but, equally, I hope that the views of those who find it deeply objectionable to have to do that can be taken into account and there will be no requirement for one, even if the fee for a ceremony is incorporated in the amount that is payable. I thank the Minister for her attention thus far. I am glad that she is here today. I thank her for deliberating on the matter and getting us to the point we are at, but these two issues remain unresolved. We have come on a long, protracted journey—every time I switch on the television, whatever the topic, people always seem to be on a journey, and we have been on this journey for 20 years. We are now 95% of the way there. Next week, we will get over the line, but there are two issues outstanding. I hope that the Minister can respond explicitly today and tell us that they will be addressed in short order, but I suspect that she will have to go back to the Home Office. Either way, I hope that the issues can be reviewed and that we can get 100% satisfaction so that people are treated equitably in Northern Ireland whether they regard themselves as Irish citizens or British citizens. Many thousands of people were inadvertently born 2, 3 or 4 miles away from where us UK citizens were born in the UK and long to be regarded in the same way as I and everyone in my immediate vicinity is regarded—as a UK citizen—and to be the proud holder of a cherished UK passport.

• 15 Jul 2025 · British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 · Hansard source

  More

  Does the Minister agree that one of the incongruous parts of the legislative process is that when the Bill, which is now an Act, was being negotiated in the other place, Lord Hay, who she referred to, was part of the process of it becoming an Act despite the fact that, although he could vote on it, he could not acquire the passport? Indeed, he was trying to get the legislation passed to allow him to obtain one.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Warm Home Discount · Hansard source

  More

  The Minister will be aware that many homes, particularly in rural areas, are older properties that are difficult to insulate. Does she agree that we all need to concentrate on those older types of properties, many of which are the homes of elderly people who cannot afford expensive energy? We need to concentrate on ensuring that those homes are properly insulated and that the warm home discount scheme is extended to such properties.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

  More

  On that point, would the hon. Gentleman agree that what we must avoid at all costs is equating those who went out meticulously planning—over days, weeks or even months—to take innocent life with the split-second decisions, as he alluded to, made by the forces of law and order, which may have resulted in death? We must avoid that equation across society at all costs in the future.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Neighbourhood Plans: Planning Decisions · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate. On the devolved issue, which is slightly different in Northern Ireland compared with the rest of GB, there has been a planning proposal in my area for about seven years to develop a good-quality hotel close to where the Open golf championship will take place next week. That has been delayed not by problems, complaints or objections from local residents, but by a politically inspired complaint extraneous to the constituency. Does the hon. Member agree that we need to address the issue in a more holistic way, to try to get development that most people can agree with and want to see progressed as quickly and effectively as possible?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Broadcasting: Scotland · Hansard source

  More

  There have been a number of co-productions by BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Does the Minister agree that we should develop and promote co-productions throughout the nations and regions of the United Kingdom, so that we can see excellence and best practice everywhere in the UK?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Glaucoma Awareness · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. He rightly alludes to the issue of regular eye testing. Although we obviously want a response from the Minister, does he agree that if nothing else is achieved from this debate but raising people’s awareness about doing exactly as he recommends—and all of us recommend regular eye testing—to detect conditions such as glaucoma, he will have done us all a service?

• 8 Jul 2025 · Alcohol and Cancer · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is talking about an educational approach and trying to advise rather than force people; does he agree that the younger we start doing that, the better? Although they are not exclusively the target audience, we need to focus on teenagers and those in their early 20s, because lifestyle choices are made when we are very young.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Alcohol and Cancer · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the hon. Member on the timeliness of her debate. Does she agree that we need more research on the health costs endured by society and the NHS due to this problem? That has to be offset against the tax revenues that accrue from alcohol overconsumption. Those things have to be analysed and researched to address a worsening problem, to which she is right to draw attention.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Officer Morale: Pension Age · Hansard source

  More

  There is a problem in our prisons across the United Kingdom. It is a two-spectrum problem, in that there is an increase in turnover, with prison officers leaving early, while the problem of the pension continues. Can the Minister increase the intensity of discussions with the POA to try to reach a more satisfactory outcome to which the Department and the prison officers concerned are amenable?