Jim Shannon MP: speeches

1433 published records · newest first.

Speeches

3 Mar 2025 · Church of England: Safeguarding · Hansard source
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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-religious? Those working with vulnerable adults or children should have training and background searches, whether they are in a church hall or a local community hall. Safeguarding has to be of the same standard across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Justice is what we are after.
3 Mar 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source
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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 this week we in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are very proud of our Prime Minister for his stance. I welcome it, and I wish to convey that to him from my constituents and everyone I have spoken to. We in the Democratic Unionist party welcome the £1.6 billion contract to supply thousands of advanced air defence missiles to Ukraine, announced by the Prime Minister yesterday and featuring on the front pages of the Northern Ireland papers today. The deal will secure 200 new jobs for Thales, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson) wishes to thank the Prime Minister for that as well. According to my right hon. Friend, most of the people who work at Thales live in my constituency, and I am very pleased about that, because it means extra work for my constituents and a few extra jobs. I welcome equally the clear indication that we are standing firm in support of Ukraine as it battles against Russia. Will the Prime Minister please confirm that this support will seek to broker peace, but not until we do right by the people of Ukraine, and that that remains our foundational principle?
3 Mar 2025 · Finance Bill · Hansard source
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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 wee woman. They are the people that the Labour party—the party of conscience—says that it represents, but it will penalise them.
3 Mar 2025 · Finance Bill · Hansard source
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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 concerns. The hon. Lady is right to pursue this matter on their behalf.
3 Mar 2025 · Finance Bill · Hansard source
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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 pass it on.” That is exactly what will happen. If we want to promote growth, we have to consider all the aspects and problems.
3 Mar 2025 · Finance Bill · Hansard source
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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, and children in particular, will be gross?
3 Mar 2025 · Finance Bill · Hansard source
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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. The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for North West Norfolk (James Wild), referred in his contribution, which was helpful for setting the tone and level of the debate on these important issues, to the impact of the inheritance tax changes on small and medium farms. That needs to be raised at every opportunity until the Government understand the devastation that it will wrought on farmers, causing them to sell their land and their future to pay the Government. I have sat beside the Minister and asked for the threshold to be increased. If the threshold were increased by £1 million to £5 million for farms, it would mean that many farms would not be penalised by the changes. The Government urgently need to promote food security in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This decision beggars belief. If they are aiming the measures at those who abuse the system, they should design a scheme for them—not a scheme that affects many farmers across this great United Kingdom, including 70% of farmers in Northern Ireland. The other major concern is that of the NI contributions. GP clinic and health centres are the latest to suggest that they will have reduced hours and capacity because of the constraints of their NI contributions. That must not be the case. I support the Opposition’s new clause 2, on “Energy (oil and gas)”. The shadow Minister made the case for it extremely well, and others have spoken to it. I agree with them, and my party will support the new clause if it is pressed to a Division, as I understand it will be. On new clause 8, the hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper), who spoke for the Lib Dems, referred to the whisky sector. I will make the case for Irish Whiskey Association, which was clear when I met it before Christmas that the measures will have a great impact on a sector that is already under pressure. Let us be honest: most Irish whiskey organisations’ trade is under pressure. They export most of their whiskeys to make their money, but the fact of the matter is that they find that extremely difficult to do. They tell me clearly that if they are taxed more heavily, it will lead to job losses and a reduction in what they are able to do. They do incredible work for the community. I have known the owners of three whiskey distilleries in my constituency—Rademon, Hinch and Echlinville distilleries—since they have had their businesses, and they are concerned about the impact of the measures.
3 Mar 2025 · Finance Bill · Hansard source
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Whenever the hon. Lady pushes her new clause, we will support it. I give way.
3 Mar 2025 · Finance Bill · Hansard source
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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 will not be pressed to a vote, but if it were, it is another that my party would support.
27 Feb 2025 · War in Ukraine: Third Anniversary · Hansard source
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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 atrocities out to be accountable. As this process of peace moves forward, that justice has to be part of the peace process, as it was in Northern Ireland.
27 Feb 2025 · War in Ukraine: Third Anniversary · Hansard source
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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 we all owe him a debt. I do not much like bullies, and Putin is clearly a bully. Now that there is a bigger boy in the playground, with President Trump of the United States entering the play, Putin seems prepared to make changes and the rules are changing. Of course that is to be welcomed, but I have a real and abiding concern that memories will be deliberately short. I have a real concern that as we strive for peace—as we should—we will minimise the atrocities that the people of Ukraine have suffered over these three years, and that cannot be allowed to happen. My mind is immediately drawn to Bucha, and while I have no desire to stir up anger and anguish, we need to ensure that we remember who and what we are dealing with, and why it is essential that our support for Ukraine is as unwavering today, during any brokerage of peace, as it was during those first few days of war. Human Rights Watch researchers who worked in Bucha between 4 and 10 April, just days after Russian forces withdrew from the area, found extensive evidence of summary executions, other unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and torture, all of which would constitute war crimes and potential crimes against humanity. Those who sanctioned this behaviour are those with whom we deal now, and this must remain in our minds. We need accountability, so that those who carried out atrocities will be made responsible for their brutality. Girls as young as eight and women as old as 80 have been raped and abused. Russian crimes against humanity must be taken to the International Criminal Court, which must make those responsible accountable in whatever way it can. If only the death penalty were still in place, I would certainly seek that for them. In Northern Ireland we dealt with the bare face of evil for too many years. We saw hatred overcome basic humanity as mothers and children were blown to pieces in a fish shop on a Saturday afternoon by Irish republican terrorists. No cause can justify that. We saw the face of evil when people were burned alive with a napalm-like substance in the La Mon restaurant in my constituency. We saw the face of evil when people were massacred in churches. All that reminds me very much of the atrocities suffered by the people of Ukraine as I look back on the last three years. I lived through those things in my lifetime, and they remain with me. It grieves me that that face of evil is still at work, and that such atrocities and disregard for human life—for women and children—have been replicated in Ukraine. They were replicated in Bucha as women and children were murdered. In February, the body of a Ukrainian Orthodox priest was found in the streets of Kalanchak, in Russian-occupied Kherson. According to his bishop, Russian military forces had “tortured Fr Stepan to death”. That is the Russians, and they must be held accountable for their brutality. We hear of such evil deeds being repeated throughout Ukraine. Again, my intention is not to drag up these matters in order to cease the striving for peace; I believe that peace is needed, but I also believe that accountability is needed, and that while we work for peace we cannot allow the trauma of this war to fade into insignificance. These crimes matter and those families deserve not to be forgotten. My thoughts now, on the third anniversary of this dreadful war, are as they ever were: that we stand with Ukraine; that we must fulfil our moral duty to them in war, or indeed in peace; and that there must be no doubt that the hand of friendship of this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland remains firmly extended to those families in Ukraine at this time and in all the days ahead.
27 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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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 suspected Allied Democratic Forces militants, linked to Islamic State terror groups, who have displayed explicit animosity towards Christians. Since last Christmas, attacks by Islamic State Central Africa Province, the March 23 Movement and CODECO have killed hundreds, and militants are moving swiftly across the country. Will the Leader of the House press the relevant Minister for immediate and long-term interventions, so that the UK Government and international stakeholders can work together to prevent further extremist-led massacres, while ensuring sustainable security and humanitarian support in that region?
27 Feb 2025 · Women’s Health · Hansard source
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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 role. I welcome the Conservative and Liberal Democrat spokespeople. The hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) and I seem to spend every Thursday afternoon at about this time in these debates. It is a pleasure to be here. I am my party’s health spokesperson, so finding solutions and discussing these issues are of major importance to me. It is important to get the full perspective, so I will give some facts and figures about Northern Ireland, which will echo what the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye said. Many will be aware that health is a devolved issue. That does not mean, of course, that our central Government allow the devolved Administrations to be left behind. The Department of Health back home launched a women’s health survey in late 2024. The hon. Lady referred to a similar survey. The Northern Ireland survey, which closed on 31 January 2025, focused on women’s healthcare needs and experiences to help shape planning for women’s health services. Almost 80% of respondents to a separate women’s health survey undertaken by the Community Foundation Northern Ireland said that they felt unheard by healthcare professionals, and more than 30% reported that necessary services were inaccessible or very inaccessible, so we have real problems back home. I have worked closely alongside many charities raising awareness of endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome care, and the challenges that women in Northern Ireland face in relation to gaining access to treatment. Endometriosis UK revealed in 2023 that there was an average diagnostic delay of nine years and five months—an increase on the eight-year delay reported in 2010—so we really have significant issues in the Province. As of 2021, Northern Ireland had only one endometriosis specialist surgeon, and some 324 women were waiting a long time, in pain, for surgery. I ask the Minister whether it would be possible for her to have some discussions with the relevant Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly to see how we can address these things together. I want to speak very quickly about the menopause. The hon. Member for Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris), who is not here—she is in the main Chamber speaking on St David’s day—is a real champion on this issue. If she were here today, she would be adding to this debate. In my office, I employ six women of different ages, and I have always tried to make an effort to be understanding to ensure they are comfortable in the workplace. For menopause, there are adjustments that can be made in the workplace to support women, and I encourage employers to be mindful of that, especially in more male-dominated fields, where women can feel more isolated. Women are playing their part in places where men used to have all the jobs, such as engineering. It is time that employers grasped that and came up with something to help those ladies. I have mentioned some of the issues, but there are many, many more. As the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye said, we in this place can do more as legislators to support more research into and funding for women’s healthcare. We need to do more to ensure women can access what they need. I look forward to working closely with the responsible agencies and our respective Governments to see what more can be done. I thank the hon. Lady again for bringing forward this debate, and I look forward to contributions from many others who will add to it. I am here to help us do the best we can, and to bring a Northern Ireland perspective, because we are badly lagging behind. We need to step up and do more.
27 Feb 2025 · Gaza: BBC Coverage · Hansard source
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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? Furthermore, what measures will be introduced to ensure that the BBC’s editorial standards are raised to prevent the dissemination of misleading, biased and unverified content?
27 Feb 2025 · Diocese of Jerusalem · Hansard source
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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 the Church on helping to retain young people in Jerusalem?
26 Feb 2025 · High Street Businesses · Hansard source
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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 issues facing our local high streets; I will name just a few. There are the empty units that ultimately reduce footfall as well as consumer choice. There has been a dramatic increase in online shopping—in a couple of clicks, customers can now order nearly anything they want online. Local businesses are struggling with the high cost of energy, rent and business rates. The price of electricity and gas has to be sustainable for businesses for the future. I want to mention two towns. Ballynahinch is a fantastic place to nip down to and do some shopping. Newtownards is the main town of the borough, where you can get everything you want in terms of home comforts and food. It has been a market town since the 1600s and I am pleased that, even today, we have the market every Saturday in Newtownards town. It brings in people from all over the Province and creates, by its very nature, a buzz around the area on the weekends. I love to see the many independent retailers on the high streets, as they are the backbone of the economy. In Newtownards we have hairdressers, salons, fashion shops and family-run coffee shops. We have a coffee culture in Newtownards now as well. The charity shops cannot be dismissed, by the way, because there are always good products for sale. My mother was one of those people who was always keen to buy something for a pound—definitely an Ulster Scot, that’s for sure. We must continue to invest in public spaces to fill the gaps and engage further with local councils to see what more can be done to revamp business rates so that local shops can afford to stay open.
26 Feb 2025 · High Street Businesses · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right—of course he is—about making sure that high streets are safe and secure. We have had a number of knife threats in shops in Newtownards, and if it had not been for the presence of the police there to stop that, it could have escalated to something very much worse. I look to the Minister for his commitment to local businesses. I make this request of him, as I often do: will he engage directly with the Ministers in the Northern Ireland Assembly? I think it is better when we do things together. We can exchange good ideas and see how we can do things better.
26 Feb 2025 · Independent Reporting Commission: Seventh Annual Report · Hansard source
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I want all paramilitaries off our streets for good, and I also want to see justice done for their victims. That is why I cannot quite understand why the Dublin Government are closing their eyes to the 2021 Horner judgment, which recommended inquiries in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland. The family hearings in Omagh have brought the horror of that day to a new generation. Will the Secretary of State use his influence to call on Dublin to give the Omagh families the public inquiry they deserve and want so, so much?
26 Feb 2025 · Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Report · Hansard source
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I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for her statement, and for the update on phase 2. I think we are all encouraged by her commitment to ensure that those responsible are held accountable under the law of the land, and also to ensure that safety is improved. Last December, the Government embarked on plans to ban the firms involved in the Grenfell fire from public procurement. That is a welcome step, but what further steps can be taken to make all firms involved in building works liable for ensuring that all materials and other products are fit for purpose? Lessons must be learnt for the future from this awful tragedy. May I also ask the Deputy Prime Minister to share the conclusions of the report with all regional administrations, especially the Northern Ireland Assembly, so that safety can be improved throughout this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and we all gain?
26 Feb 2025 · High Street Bank Closures · Hansard source
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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 the substitutions, whether they are banking hubs or alternatives, such as in post offices? If we do not have that for rural communities, then we do not have anything at all.
26 Feb 2025 · High Street Rental Auctions · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I thank the hon. Member for Bournemouth West (Jessica Toale) for securing today’s debate. She has been extremely busy today: she asked a question at Prime Minister’s questions, and now she is leading this debate, so well done to her. I should just say that I have not had a PMQ in five years, so she has done really well— [ Laughter. ] Not that I am disappointed, by the way. It is a pleasure to participate in the debate, because I am really keen on this scheme. When I saw the title for the debate, I said, “What exactly are they after?” We do not have the scheme in Northern Ireland, but I think I am going to present it to my Minister at the Northern Ireland Assembly and make my local council aware of it, because it could benefit my constituency of Strangford and other constituencies right across Northern Ireland. It shows a way forward; the hon. Lady referred to that, as did the hon. Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm), and others will do the same. I very much respect the steps the hon. Lady has taken to rejuvenate local high streets and town centres. Those places are the pillars of our communities, and we must ensure that they are protected. I am probably fortunate to have a fairly thriving town centre in Newtownards, although I have recently noticed an increased number of vacancies, which we have not had for a great many years. That tells me that there is a trend starting, and one that we need to be aware of. That is why I want to take this debate a wee bit further, and I will do so. The Government’s high street rental auction initiative is a great way to improve high street footfall. In my constituency of Strangford, for example, many wonderful community groups and small businesses could really benefit from having a central space to undertake their work. I have some ideas on how we could bring that about through community initiatives, and perhaps with other groups that would be keen to do something in the town. Of course, as others probably have, I have written to Chick-fil-A, to Popeyes and to some carry-out stores to introduce them to my constituency. They make plans three or four years ahead, so I am hoping that my letters from the last year will bring those names to Newtownards —they are something Northern Ireland has very little of—and that we can advance things. The HSRA scheme does not apply directly to Northern Ireland, or to the devolved nations, but we have a different way of selling our residential and commercial properties. I am therefore keen to hear how this scheme works. One change I have seen, probably in the last three or four years, has been the increase in online sales. We have many family stores, and one—I will not mention the name of the owner or the store—is a modern clothes store for the modern shopper. It used to sell everything across the counter, but 40% of its business is now across the counter, while 60% is online. Is that one of the things that will be promoted—ensuring that the shops stay and can run their online business from where they are? Again, that is something that I am particularly glad to see. The hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos) referred to banking hubs. Again, that is something I have been involved with as well. We have lost 11 banks in my constituency. We have lost every bank in Ballynahinch and in Comber—two of our major towns—but, along with the Government, we have been supporting the banking hub initiative. One of the new banking hubs has opened in the middle of Comber, which will bring people to the town centre again from elsewhere in the town and from the countryside. There is another hub planned for Ballynahinch. As I said in a debate this morning, my frustration with banking hubs is that it takes so darn long for them to happen. Banking hubs are a really important alternative to a bank, and we have done some work on that. When I look back, the negative trend probably started with the covid-19 pandemic, which is terribly frustrating. I understand that Newtownards and Bangor, which are in Ards and North Down, have a 21% vacancy rate on commercial property. That is really worrying, and we have to address it. The vacancies are not all in the town centre—some of them are out of town—but they add to a scenario that is quite worrying. I will follow up with my council and my Minister about introducing the scheme that the Government have put forward and how that could help, because I believe that the projects that other hon. Members have referred to are worthy of designated funding. I have a special request of the Minister, as I always do of Ministers: could she make contact with the Minister back home, who I am pretty sure would be Gordon Lyons at the Department for Communities, so that Westminster and the devolved Assembly can work together? The high street rental auctions scheme has many benefits; I have heard about some of them today, and I will hear about more before the debate is over. I look to how we can work together. As I always say—and I say it with genuine sincerity—we might have different ideas in the regions we come from, but we have a united interest in this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and we can share ideas. This is an opportunity to share ideas to help my constituents and help my major town of Newtownards, as well as Comber and Ballynahinch, to do better. If we can do that, this will have been a very good debate.
26 Feb 2025 · Child Maintenance Service · Hansard source
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I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing forward this matter. I spoke to him before the debate. I would love to say that things are better in Northern Ireland, but they are not better one bit. Hon. Members can see that I have no hair, and one reasons for that is that I find this matter incredibly stressful, and he has referred to things that I and my staff deal with regularly. The statistics for Northern Ireland show that in March last year only 54% of parents were paying more than 90% of what they owe. That means that 46% of those who should be paying are not. It is quite clear to me that the system falls down. Single-parent families are struggling. Does he agree that we need a UK-wide overhaul to address such worrying statistics—not just in Northern Ireland, but everywhere in this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
26 Feb 2025 · Child Maintenance Service · Hansard source
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I thank the Minister. I expect that we will have a positive response from him to the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom) and all the queries, because that is what we get from the Minister we have in front of us. One of the things that really frustrates me—it frustrates us all—is whenever one of my constituents comes to me and says, “I get a different person every time I phone up. I have to tell them the same story over and over again, and then you go back two weeks later and the person you were speaking to is away as well.” There must be some way in the Department for Work and Pensions that we can have a specific case officer who looks after something, and they need to respond to that person. I know that the Minister understands these things, but, honestly, it is so simple to sort out—at least, it seems to me to be simple. We really need something on behalf of all our constituents.
26 Feb 2025 · Child Maintenance Service · Hansard source
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rose —
26 Feb 2025 · Future Skills Programmes: Universities · Hansard source
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I commend the right hon. Member for bringing forward the debate. I was saying beforehand that Queen’s University in Belfast is already doing this. It runs these online skills courses and programmes, through shadowing and other incentives. Does the right hon. Member agree that greater Government support could only help even more students to give those few hours per semester to achieve greater personal growth and better foundational skills—the very objective that he is trying to achieve?

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