Jim Shannon MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Feb 2026 · Nurseries and Early Years Providers: CCTV · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Lady for all she has done over the years. In the short time I have been here, I have found her to be assiduous, committed and dedicated on all these issues. As she knows, I have tried to support her in all her campaigns. Today, she is talking about another massive campaign, and I commend her for it. Child safety is core and imperative, and every one of us—including me, as a father and grandfather—worries about our children and grandchildren. CCTV could be the norm in affluent areas, but does hon. Lady agree that all those who provide care, in all areas, should be able to access affordable systems to meet this need? There is a cost—a financial factor—but it is really important that the No. 1 priority is safety.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Armed Conflict: Children · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is absolutely right. In Ukraine, some 30,000 children have been kidnapped and taken away from their parents—that cut-off between parents and children is devastating. In Nigeria, young Leah has given birth to three children. Her freedom, and the freedom of many like her, remains unresolved. Too often, children affected by armed conflict are forgotten once the headlines fade, yet their suffering does not end when the world looks away. I am therefore grateful that we can use our voices as Members of this House, in this debate and others, as well as on the global stage, to advocate for the protection of these children and to press for accountability, rehabilitation and long-term peace for them. I say honestly to the Minister and the Government that I am proud to support a Government who recognise that every child, wherever they are born, has the right to grow up in a safe, healthy and protective environment. We should be encouraged by a Government who state that. Finally, to those children who, in the face of relentless adversity, continue to hope for a better future, I end with scripture. John 16:33 says: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

• 4 Feb 2026 · Armed Conflict: Children · Hansard source

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  I was talking to the Liberal Democrat Northern Ireland spokesperson, the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Mr Kohler), last night, and he asked me a similar question. We have the urban and the rural: in the urban areas—Belfast, Londonderry and the big cities—the influence on people is perhaps more direct and harder to get away from. If people are living in the smaller towns or villages, as I have, there is not the same direct influence. Government collectively are trying to work to ensure that we can deliver a better life. Some of that involves such things as Catholics and Protestants playing together, going to school together, and playing football and other games together. Lots of things are being done, but there is more to do, and we have to influence that. There is a role for churches to play as well. I thank the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Chris Evans) Gentleman for that intervention. I draw the House’s attention to the particularly harrowing context of Nigeria. Boko Haram’s sustained campaign of violence, particularly against religious minorities, has devastated countless lives. Children have been forcibly recruited into armed groups, while many more have lost parents, families, access to education and even their own childhoods. Some girls have borne children while still children themselves, as a direct result of captivity and abuse. In 2024, the all-party parliamentary group for international freedom of religion or belief, which I chair, and our secretariat, the Freedom of Religion or Belief Foundation, had the privilege of leading a parliamentary delegation to Nigeria, alongside other hon. Members and Julie Jones, the director of the foundation. We worked with the Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation, and met women and girls who had survived Boko Haram captivity. The Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation continues to work tirelessly to secure the release of those still held by the group, often at great personal risk. One of those children is Leah Sharibu. I pray for that wee girl every day. Leah is now in her eighth year of captivity, having been the only student not released following the abduction of 110 Dapchi schoolchildren by Boko Haram on 19 February 2018.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Armed Conflict: Children · Hansard source

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  What about Nigeria?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Armed Conflict: Children · Hansard source

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  It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for Hyndburn (Sarah Smith) for setting the scene incredibly well and for all the work she has done on the issue over the years and in her time in Parliament. She has championed the protection of children in armed conflict in the past and has done well to set the scene today. We must confront a deeply troubling reality. Children are not only being drawn into armed conflict; they are increasingly becoming its direct victims. According to a 2023 United Nations report on the recruitment and use of child soldiers, tens of thousands of boys and girls worldwide, some as young as eight or nine, are recruited and exploited by armed forces and armed groups, with their roles ranging from combatants and cooks to spies and messengers and, most disturbingly, victims of sexual slavery. Of growing concern is the use of children to plant explosive devices, which reflects the brutal evolution of modern warfare. As conflict continues to escalate across the globe, we must ask ourselves, “What more can we do?” What more can the Government do to protect children from lives that no child should ever be forced to endure?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Lord Mandelson · Hansard source

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  I commend the shadow Minister and the Conservative party for bringing forward this matter for consideration. What we are listening to and what is happening is absolutely incredible. May I suggest that the five years during which Mandelson was EU trade commissioner should be part of the investigation as well? A full investigation should include every t that was crossed and every i that was dotted by Peter Mandelson. That is what this House and this nation want.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Fast-Track Visas: Skilled US Citizens · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Lady, because this is such an important issue; I am aware of it in my constituency, although there are not the numbers she referred to—those 200 email requests. With Belfast receiving a high level of investment from US companies that wish to avail themselves of our superior cyber-skills, and our low rent and business rates, it is essential that there is a swinging door for our US allies and for US investors and individuals. Does the hon. Lady agree that visa systems are not one size fits all, and that tailoring the US visa system makes perfect sense?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Postal Services: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for responding to all the questions that we posed. One of mine was about the minimum wage. If a business wants to retain staff, it has to pay them a decent wage. The problem in Newtownards is that some of the staff who have been there for many years are not getting the minimum wage, so if something better comes up, they are away. We cannot blame them; if someone has to pay bills, they have to do that. Instead of Royal Mail paying a fine, which could be used to pay wages, would it not be better and more sensible for it to give workers a decent wage, retain them and improve the service from the bottom up? Is the Minister in any way able to encourage it to do that?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Postal Services: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for South Shropshire (Stuart Anderson) for allowing us the opportunity to speak in this debate. I say well done to him for setting the scene incredibly well, although it does not give us any joy to highlight Royal Mail’s failings in communities, particularly rural communities. I wish to preface my remarks by highlighting that my own Royal Mail workers are great. I spent some time with them at Christmas, and I know most of them—I probably grew up with most of them. I know where the problems lie, and it is not in the staff, but in the surroundings. The building is not fit for purpose; there are parking spaces for 30 vans, but there are 50 vans that need to park; and there is not enough space for sorting, so it is little wonder that the post in some of my areas is taking up to a month to get through. There is a priority for parcels, which Royal Mail does not try to hide. I understand that it puts them first and the delivery of letters is downgraded as a result. On staffing levels, which the hon. Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) spoke about in his intervention, when I spoke to the Royal Mail guys, they told me that one of the problems is maintaining and holding on to staff. If Royal Mail gives staff members the minimum wage and no more, it is not going to keep them, because they will always be looking for a different job that will give them better payment. That has to be addressed as well, and I know that the Minister does his best whenever it comes to addressing these things. In my constituency of Strangford, all the villages have problems. To give one example, in Portavogie, one gentleman had no mail at his house for a month, and then got 29 letters the next day, which included three about hospital appointments—he missed them all. His health has unfortunately been poor, and that had a detrimental effect on his health. It is not just a matter of not getting a monthly bank statement; in some cases, health is at stake. I believe that it is necessary that Royal Mail makes an investment in sorting offices to be able to get facilities in place and once again facilitate a routine post service that is fit for purpose. To give another example, the heater in my office broke over Christmas, and it amazed me to see that one of my staff had ordered a heater and it was delivered the next day. I did not pay one penny for that delivery. I do pay £7.99 a month for unlimited free delivery, but it astounds me that I pay more than £1 for one letter, and it takes weeks to make it, but other things can be delivered in a short time. It cannot just be the facilities in Newtownards that are not up to scratch, because I have listened to every other Member present saying the same thing. We need root-and-branch changes, and we need the Minister to stand firmly with us as we press for those changes. Officially, the Royal Mail website says that it is reducing second-class delivery to alternate days—Monday, Wednesday and Friday one week, and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday the next week—and that first-class letters will continue to be delivered six days a week. The service we are seeing is nowhere near that, and Royal Mail must be held accountable. It is not easy to answer all these questions, but I look forward to what the Minister has to say in his response.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration · Hansard source

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  Let me read out an email sent by a lady who worked for almost 50 years in the civil service at His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. If anyone knows how to work the figures, then this lady does. Yet she is powerless in the face of Capita. “I joined the Civil Service in September 1977 and retired from it on the 31 December 2025. I worked in the Inland Revenue that then became HMRC. I have not received my lump sum or final details of my pension. I telephoned Capita on the 13 January and after hanging on the line for 2hrs 10 mins (being 12 in the queue) was told by Helen a chaser would be made to processing. She was unable to let me speak with a manager or processing and confirmed there are issues with logging/registering with the new pensions portal. I telephoned again today and after hanging on for nearly 5hrs was told by Lilly she would send an escalation today to her manager Adrian. I asked for a call back & whilst Lilly agreed to make this request to her manager she could not guarantee it could be done. I explained I could not get onto the pension portal and she advised the issues with it would not be sorted until March.” That is the lived experience of a lady who has dedicated almost 50 years of her working life to the civil service—a lady who knew the penalties in place for those who are paid late and who could listen to the extenuating circumstances that someone was going through. I know that the Minister is not responsible but, my goodness Capita needs a throttling. I have five questions. Why did civil service pensions not postpone the changeover to Capita until the issues with the existing scheme were resolved? When can deadlines for resolving the issues be set? Why was the resolution of the McCloud issues not adequately resourced? When will the remaining contingent decision routes procedures be issued? Will the affordability test be applied to civil service pensions, and if so, when? The affordability test is a clause in the pension scheme allowing it to reduce the pension if it looks like it will become unaffordable. These are the implications of what happens. People can find themselves with a pension that is less than it should have been. The Government know that the country does not operate without our knowledgeable, hard-working civil servants, but our obligation to them does not end with their final day—it continues. We are failing those who gave so much—and this must end right now.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Fleetwood (Lorraine Beavers). We all owe the hon. Lady a debt for bringing forward this issue, and our constituents would agree. I have constituents who are close to defaulting on their mortgages without their appropriate payments, and we cannot allow Capita to continue fobbing those people off. I spoke to the Minister before the debate and it is not their fault; it is Capita’s. However, my constituents would say—I hope the Chair will find my language okay—“It is time to kick ass in Capita”. I could say something worse—although I had better not.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration · Hansard source

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  I spoke to the Minister before the debate started, and she indicated that hon. Members might have an access number and an email address. Will she provide those?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Town and City Centre Safety · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that. It is not just about CCTV in the city centre, but in the shops as well. The Minister and the Department have highlighted that their funding does not stretch. I could argue that the Minister does not prioritise in the way that I would like, but that does not change the facts. The PSNI has indicated that if it had the system, it would monitor it. In other words, if the system is in place, the PSNI will look after it, so there is an advantage to doing that. I have one quick story— I am conscious of time and want to give others the chance to participate. My son worked in a shop in Newtownards—he does not work there any more. One night, a guy came in to rob the till and steal some drink. He threatened my son with a knife, so my son stepped back, which was the right thing to do—there is no sense in being a hero when it comes to some maniac with a knife. The CCTV in the shop was the reason they were able to catch them, so it is just not about CCTV in the street, but the CCTV in the constituency shops as well. The rate of crime in Newtownards is 33.6 crimes per 1,000 people compared with 36 elsewhere. The PSNI find themselves going from business to business to ask for camera evidence, and even to ask residents for Ring doorbell footage. That is another way of catching those who are up to no good, and is something we need to focus on.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Town and City Centre Safety · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank the hon. Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker) for securing the debate and giving us all a chance to participate. I want to give a Northern Ireland perspective on town and city centre safety. Northern Ireland has several specific Government-led and multi-agency initiatives designed to improve safety in town and city centres. They are often co-ordinated through local partnerships, such as the PCSP—police and community safety partnership. However, as with most Departments, lack of funding in Northern Ireland has greatly hampered the progress in safety that they need. For example, CCTV —the sleeping policeman, as I call it—in Newtownards and Bangor is not fit for purpose. It needs upgrading: the screen and film is very grainy, so it is hard to ascertain who is on it. The local Police Service of Northern Ireland chief superintendent is crying out for a system that can be used as evidence for crimes, but more importantly one that can prevent crimes. The local PCSP have acknowledged the need, and yet the council’s hands are ostensibly tied, having struck the local rate. We then go up the ladder to the Minister for Justice.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Taxation: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing this matter forward, and he is absolutely right to outline this story. To reinforce the point, the Chancellor and the Finance Minister in Northern Ireland have rightly rolled back the proposed enhanced taxation because of its impact on tourism. However, that feels more like a stay of execution than a solution. This is happening everywhere, not just in England but in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, to a great degree. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the number of small uplifts—in rates, national insurance contributions, the price of goods and so on—can no longer be absorbed by knife-edge profit margins, and that unless we stop these tax rises, which is the Government’s responsibility, our local economy will pay a deadly price?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Educational Outcomes: Disadvantaged Boys and Young Men · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing this forward. He is absolutely right, and this is a massive issue in Northern Ireland, as I said to him earlier. There are a number of young Protestant males who do not achieve, are disadvantaged when it comes to free school meals and come nowhere close to achieving educational standards. Our Government back home have put a policy in place to try to address that, but does the hon. Gentleman agree that the Minister should work on this matter collectively with the regional Administration? If there is a disadvantage, not just in Northern Ireland but elsewhere, it is time to work on that together.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Animals in Science Regulation Unit: Annual Report 2024 · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Member for rightly bringing us this debate. He is right to say that many people are concerned. Between 2018 and 2022, only 12% of animal welfare convictions in Northern Ireland resulted in a custodial sentence. Councils and enforcement bodies need greater funding to gather evidence, because evidence is critical for successful prosecutions. Does he agree that one takeaway from the report he refers to is that we can and should do more to protect animal welfare where possible, and the Government need to raise the priority for it?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Iran · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his tone in speaking about this incredibly grave situation. Some 6,500 people have been killed by headshots—they have been blinded and murdered—and thousands have been injured. It is estimated that some 60,000 people have been imprisoned. While it is positive news that there may be talks between our closest ally, the USA, and the despotic regime in Iran, we can never be complacent about the situation. Will the Minister press to secure the release of political prisoners and detained protesters? Will he further ensure that access is granted to the prisons, so that they can be assessed, and to the victims of the protest response?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Transport in the South-East · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Lady for bringing this forward. I find myself in a similar, frustrating circumstance to the one she indicates. In my case, it is the proposed Ballynahinch bypass, which would breathe new life into the town. Like the project mentioned by hon. Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi), it has been postponed repeatedly since I was first elected in 2010. Does the hon. Lady agree that infrastructure projects, such as she seeks for her constituency, will have major local effects, boost the economy, clear up long waits in traffic and create jobs? They must never be relegated to a dusty shelf where they have clearly been for the last few years.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Lady. May I put on record my thanks to her for her words, the Secretary of State for his commitment and the Labour Government for bringing this change forward? Some 50,000 children in Northern Ireland, out of 13,000 households, will benefit—out of child poverty and into a better standard of living. That has to be good news. If anybody is against that, there is something wrong with them.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Separation Centres Review · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and his careful words. In Northern Ireland, we operated segregation in our prisons during the troubles, and we found that it was essential to keep those who were able to turn moderates around into fanatics away from the general populace. However, for most of that time, we did not have to wrestle with the ECHR. In matters of national security, we have the right to restrict privileges, such as privacy and the right of assembly. Will the Secretary of State exercise those powers to keep in isolation those whose very presence is dangerous?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Fish and Chip Sector · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Gentleman. I am mindful that the best chips come from Comber spuds and the best fish comes from Portavogie—that is just me talking up my own area. Does he agree that the new fisheries management plans have resulted in reduced total allowable catches, affecting local supply? It means that in Northern Ireland a cod supper, which was £6 or £7, is now £10 to £11.50. Does he agree that, without intervention, the fish and chip shop days will be as few as the fishermen’s days at sea?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Magistrate Recruitment · Hansard source

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  I thank the Justice Secretary very much for his very positive answers about recruiting magistrates, and about the timescale; that is welcome news. He referred to 90% of cases being dealt with by magistrates in the courts. That means that there are a lot of delays, and those affect victims, who have waited ages—even years—for their case to be heard. Can the Justice Secretary assure us that recruiting more magistrates will mean that the backlog that victims clearly face is addressed? It needs to be addressed; victims need answers.

• 2 Feb 2026 · Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill · Hansard source

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  Part 2 of the Bill contains a specific exception for fishing, and the new regulations do not apply to the use of a UK craft for fishing if it is done under a valid licence under the Fisheries Act 2020. I have been contacted by some of the organisations back home in Northern Ireland. Does the Minister not agree that it is essential that the devolved Administrations enshrine this legislation and acknowledge that the fishing industry is reliant on the ability to continue to fish in all current areas? In other words, it is important that the Administrations, and the Northern Ireland Assembly in particular, do what this Bill says. If the Assembly does not do that, Northern Ireland fishing organisations will find themselves at a disadvantage.

• 2 Feb 2026 · Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill · Hansard source

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  I am asking these questions because they have been put to me by fishing organisations back home and I want to put them on record. The Bill enables the creation of internationally agreed marine protected areas in the high seas. If a Northern Ireland vessel were to operate in those international waters, it could face new restrictions on where it could fish, in order to protect vulnerable habitats and species such as sharks and whales. Does the Minister not agree that we need to ensure that MPAs are not created without input from the fishing industry—the sector itself, the fishing organisations and the fish producers—that its opinions carry weight and that this is not simply a tick-box exercise?