Jim Shannon MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 4 Dec 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State will recognise that the rise in national insurance contributions will have a clear impact on economic growth, whether in Scotland or anywhere else in this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Representatives from the food sector tell me that food prices will increase by between 15% and 20%. That will impact the ordinary man and woman in the street. What impact does the Minister think the rise in national insurance contributions will have on economic growth?

• 4 Dec 2024 · Farming and Inheritance Tax · Hansard source

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  Will the shadow Minister give way?

• 4 Dec 2024 · Farming and Inheritance Tax · Hansard source

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  I commend the shadow Minister for bringing forward the debate. The collective decision to have this debate in the House is one that my farmers and constituents very much support. Professional legal advice sought through the Ulster Farmers Union—I must declare an interest as a member of the union—indicates that somewhere in the region of 65% of small farmers and family farms in Northern Ireland will be affected. When it comes to understanding that, has Labour really got no idea what is going on?

• 4 Dec 2024 · Future of Farming · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) for working so hard to keep the plight of farmers throughout the United Kingdom in the mind of this Parliament. She does her constituency credit, as always. I declare an interest as a member of the Ulster Farmers Union and as a landowner and farmer. I have spoken on this issue so many times, yet I do not grow tired of it. The reason is clear: without small family farms there is no food sustainability or, subsequently, food safety. Most of the 25,000 farms in Northern Ireland are small family farms run by one or two farmers. They are not the massive profit-making industries that perhaps the Government have been led to believe they are. The farmers might be land rich, but they are cash poor. They love the land; they have it in their blood. They do not toil to make a massive profit, but to pay the bills and continue doing what they love. The fact is that most farms—65% of farmers—could not survive with this inheritance tax. That does not pave the way for food security or production in Northern Ireland. We do not have large farms making millions each year. We have families who are working farms that cannot even pay a living wage. On some of the best farms in my constituency, the sons work the farm but also work privately for income, as they cannot raise a family on the farming income. That is the reality in Northern Ireland. I beseech the Minister to listen to the points I am making, because they are made with sincerity and honesty. If we add to this the inheritance tax and remove the protection from the farming grant, we are left with unprofitable farms, and sons and daughters who have no option but to sell the land and get a job. The end of farming as we know it is not simply sad, given the history and the lifeblood that flows through farming families, but worrying, as it leaves us beholden to other nations for our food. The average farm in Northern Ireland is worth £14,000 an acre, and the average farm is 100 acres. If the Minister or his civil servants add up the figures, they will see that that means that the threshold is quickly reached. For many farms in Northern Ireland the situation can be fixed if the Government look at it honestly and come up with a different scenario and a different threshold. The quicker they do it, the better.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Future of Farming · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) and I have both contacted the Ulster Farmers Union in Northern Ireland. We have spoken to John McLenaghan, the legal officer, who told us clearly that 65% of farmers in Northern Ireland will be impacted. With great respect, when I hear his legal opinion and the opinion that the Minister has just referred to, there is a chasm of difference. Somebody is telling porkies—I do not know who it is.

• 3 Dec 2024 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her answers. President Zelensky has been clear that NATO membership must mean article 5 including the entirety of Ukraine territories. What discussion has the FCDO, and perhaps the Minister, had with our NATO allies to ensure that that is the case? Will she commit in particular to discussing the issue with the current and incoming US Secretaries of State to ensure that a co-ordinated approach is taken on behalf of Ukraine?

• 3 Dec 2024 · Georgia · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister again for her answers. Freedom, liberty and democracy are vital for Georgia to have an unfettered, stable Government, and so that people can express themselves without violence. It is clear that Russia has negatively influenced the election and the Government. How can our Government work in tandem with those who want democracy, as every Georgian citizen wants and deserves? Does the British embassy in Tbilisi have enough staff and resources to respond to all the British citizens in Tbilisi? What advice is given to them—do they stay; what should they do?

• 3 Dec 2024 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

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  Not more than half an hour ago, I met a businessman from Northern Ireland whose firm employs 1,200 people. He said national insurance contributions will cost the firm almost £1 million a year. The cost will ultimately be passed on in its food prices, which will rise by between 15% and 20%, and the ordinary man or woman on the street will pay for it. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that that is where the Labour party has got this wrong?

• 3 Dec 2024 · International Day of Persons with Disabilities · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Lady. The word “champion” is often used, but she has been a champion for disabled people. More work must be done to allow those with disabilities to live, work and travel independently, including through enhanced public transport with lifts and ramps for wheelchair users to get on to planes and the tube. Although this day rightly focuses on the tremendous impact of disabled people in our society, it also highlights failures in society that must be rectified. Does she agree?

• 3 Dec 2024 · Freight Crime · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Lady for bringing forward this important issue. In Northern Ireland, the National Criminal Intelligence Service reported some 5,373 cases of freight and cargo crime, which is a 7% increase on the year before. Some of that has involved drug smuggling in freight, which is a big issue. Does the hon. Lady agree that more efforts must be made regionally to address the potential of freight crime and drug smuggling, to ensure the safety of local people on the streets?

• 3 Dec 2024 · Family Farming in Devon · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to speak in this debate, Sir Mark. I first of all thank the right hon. and learned Member for Torridge and Tavistock (Sir Geoffrey Cox) for introducing the debate. I am conscious of the key issues that affect farmers across the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, one of which is food security. I will refer to inheritance tax on family farms, but first I want to say that food security is important, because we need to be able to feed our people. For that, we need to have farms that are viable and farmers who are working. The similarities between Devon and Strangford—indeed, across this great United Kingdom—are real. Farming is the same, no matter the number of acres. Farms in Devon are bigger than the farms back home, but none the less, the issues are the same. The right hon. and learned Member for Torridge and Tavistock referred to the fact that, for those people who understand farming and who have lived farming all their life, such as my farmers and neighbours, farming the land is more than just farming the land; it is their very lifeblood. I declare an interest: I am a member of the Ulster Farmers Union, which is a sister organisation of the NFU, and I am the holder of a family farm. I highlight the fact that my holdings are among the very few that will fall, slightly, under the threshold—for this generation at least—and I speak wholly on behalf of those who have contacted me from across this great United Kingdom to speak about this “discounted” inheritance tax. Falling revenues and profits are ploughed back into farms. Farms are very clearly asset rich but pound poor, and the inheritance tax changes will impact farmers. I know the Minister; he is a decent man, and I mean that genuinely. There is not one of us in this room who does not see him as a friend, but the fact is that these proposals are alien and they will affect farms across this great United Kingdom. Many farmers tell me that the best option in response to this 20% tax is to sell their land—that would lessen production, which we need to feed this great nation—and that, even with future planning, their farm would have less land with which to attempt to make enough money to ensure that there is cash available for their sons to take over the farm. The vicious circle starts again. The changes to national insurance contributions impacts all businesses, whether they are farmers or other small businesses. I was talking to two food-producing farmers back home the week before last. The point they made was clear: the changes to national insurance contributions will impact each farm and each business, and prices will go up. Who ultimately falls for the national insurance contributions? The ordinary man in the street. It affects everyone, not just the farmers themselves. The farmers told me that we will see a 15% to 20% increase in food prices—that is an indication of just how important this is. Another farmer told me that his farm consisted of two holdings, which two brothers manage. These men are still farming in their 70s. We should think of the impact on them. The right hon. and learned Member for Torridge and Tavistock referred to that. Whether it is a single person or a duo working on the farm, they will have to pay the cost. The sons of both men have said that there is no point continuing with the farm because, even though they have a job outside, the impact on them will be great. The fact is that small farm holdings, whether in Devon, Strangford or anywhere else in this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, will be impacted greatly by what the Government are introducing. In Northern Ireland, we obviously have other important issues, but they are not for this debate—I will save them until tomorrow. I have a meeting next Monday with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ulster Farmers Union to discuss the very issues before us. We will discuss in detail the impact on Northern Ireland, where 70% of farmers will be clearly impacted by the inheritance tax. When they sell off assets they sell premises or a family farm, and in a short space of time the result will be that every child in this country will depend on imports for food security. This cannot be. I stand with hon. Members here in begging for a rethink. We are not selling family silver—we are selling plots of potatoes, and without a harvest, we will all bear the brunt.

• 3 Dec 2024 · Leisure Services: West Lancashire · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is outlining the issue that clearly exists and the critical need to improve swimming facilities. However, she has also talked about the importance of leisure, physical activity, social interaction and wellbeing. All those things are critical for her constituents, and my constituents have the same problems that hers clearly have, so when it comes to the improvement of pools, it is important that health and wellbeing are part of that.

• 3 Dec 2024 · Critical Minerals: Domestic Production · Hansard source

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  It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I am sorry I missed you yesterday, but I am back in line today. It is really nice to be here. I thank the hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) for leading the debate. He made the case for critical minerals enthusiastically, with the evidential base that he clearly has from his constituency. This may not be the most sexy debate, but it is a vital one, because it raises important issues that are often forgotten or not acknowledged. The hon. Member has done the House a service in introducing the debate, and we thank him for that. I am aware of the minerals within Cornwall, and the fact that a range of critical minerals are required for numerous industries within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Minerals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite, which have a high risk of supply disruption, are the centre of debates on this issue. It is truly great to be here to give a Northern Ireland perspective, to enable us to play our part as well. The hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth mentioned County Tyrone. He said beforehand that he would mention Northern Ireland, and he did. I will refer to Country Tyrone, and a few others, to add to the debate and hopefully enhance the scope of what we are trying to achieve. The British Geological Survey published a report in 2023, which identified numerous areas around the UK as prospective areas for critical raw minerals. For Northern Ireland, those areas were in mid-County Tyrone. These critical minerals are essential for the transition to the green economy. Some people think we can ignore the green economy, but we cannot. It is important that it should be central to our policy as we move forward. It is essential for the creation of jobs in the tech, defence and automotive industries. There are numerous critical minerals that are found in Northern Ireland and have been mined there historically, including iron ore and coal. In 2021, the Department for the Economy back home in Northern Ireland commissioned research into the economic, social and environmental impacts of mineral exploration and mining in Northern Ireland. I know that the Minister is assiduous in her job, so perhaps she would tell us whether there have been any discussions with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment back home, and if so, what they have been about. We can do this together, and it enhances our great Union when we do things together. The research helped to provide key information on the mineral life cycle in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, it can allow us to work alongside partners in the mainland on the production of critical minerals, which are so important today. We need to exploit—I am loth to use that word, but it is possibly the best—or certainly take advantage of what we have. In addition, salt has been produced at the underground salt mine in County Antrim, and historically lead has been mined across Northern Ireland, including in the Newtownards area in my constituency of Strangford, which I have the pleasure and privilege to represent. The regional, national and global demand for certain critical minerals has increased dramatically and rapidly, and we face ongoing challenges because of that. The hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth emphasised that clearly in his opening contribution. The extraction and processing of certain minerals has been highly challenging, and can lead to supply constraints and prices rapidly rising. The importance of the issue cannot be underlined enough. The hon. Gentleman mentioned the importance of mining in Cornwall, specifically lithium, which will be paramount to the UK’s transition to a better net zero policy and away from fossil fuels. The Minister responded to the hon. Gentleman’s question in the main Chamber by stating that the Government are currently looking at the critical mineral strategy. When the Minister responds today, perhaps she will indicate just what that strategy is, and how it encompasses all of this great United Kingdom. It is understood that there are certain areas across the UK that are more prominent in relation to critical minerals, but I would be grateful if the Minister and relevant Departments committed to undertake discussion with their counterparts in the devolved institutions to ensure that areas with potential mineral production, such as mid Tyrone and others in Northern Ireland, can be used to increase UK production. We must do this together. Numerous companies have received Government support for the sector through the automotive transformation fund, and the UK supply chain has a share of up to £1 billion of funding, but the market for these industries remains increasingly competitive. I would be interested to hear from the Minister what could be done to enhance that. To conclude, it is all about maintaining and building sustainable industries across the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I spoke in the main Chamber on critical minerals before the general election. I very much look forward to hearing what commitments the Government can make to Northern Ireland to ensure that we all have equal opportunities to succeed. Perhaps the Minister will give consideration to engaging with counterparts back home in Northern Ireland on this issue within this governmental mandate. We in Northern Ireland can and wish to be part of this very exciting opportunity. It is potentially exciting for all of the great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. None of my Scots Gaelic cousins are here, but I can say honestly that we are always better together, and that is the truth.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Hansard source

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  First, I commend the Deputy Prime Minister on her words—they are the words of us all in this House. We welcome those words and the constructive way in which they have been implemented today. Can the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that action will be taken to hold to account those companies that are guilty? Secondly, when it comes to the findings of this report, will the Deputy Prime Minister share with the devolved Administrations everything that is being put in place? There are lessons to be learned everywhere. To the Deputy Prime Minister’s left and right are two of her Ministers, the hon. Members for Greenwich and Woolwich (Matthew Pennycook) and for Nottingham North and Kimberley (Alex Norris), who have conveyed that commitment in the past. It would be good to have it on the record from the Deputy Prime Minister.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Migration and Border Security · Hansard source

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  Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker—I am sure that this is a thrill for everybody. I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. The failures of the previous Government may undoubtedly be a reason for this uncontrollable migration number, but my constituents in Northern Ireland—who have had their winter fuel allowance removed and who are seeing an increase in the cost of living that is pushing many working families towards the poverty line at warp speed—are interested not in a blame game but in getting immigration sorted and the boats stopped. What will the Government do to achieve a reasonable immigration policy? How they will deal with those who have not come here legally and who do not deserve to be here ahead of the families from Afghanistan, who were instrumental in the war effort there and who are still waiting in the correct procedural queue rather than jumping off boats?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Local Growth Funding Allocation · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his answers; it is always good to hear some positivity. We in Northern Ireland are still waiting on shared prosperity funding. There would be some benefits for my constituency; Strangford has coastal issues such as seaside improvement and coastal erosion. Has the Minister had an opportunity to talk to the relevant department in Northern Ireland to see how central Government could help us back home?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Chagos Islands: UK-US Defence Relationship · Hansard source

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  Having been one of many in this House to have vehemently opposed the ceding of the Chagos Islands without consulting the residents, and having stood in solidarity with those who opposed it, I am anxious to ensure that the Americans take control. In turn, we must offer them support and allow those residents who consider themselves British to be a part of the equation. What steps has the FCDO taken to ensure that the US is aware of the strength of opposition to this decision from those from the Chagos Islands?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Bangladesh: Attacks on Hindu Community · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her commitment to addressing issues of religious freedom and human rights. Over 16 days, 2,010 people reported incidents, including attacks on 69 Hindu temples. The homes of 157 families were attacked, looted, vandalised or set on fire, and nine Hindus lost their life. What steps can the UK take to work with the Bangladeshi Government and international partners to promote the rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh, to ensure accountability for these heinous crimes, and to promote the fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief for all? Will the Government consider raising these issues at the UN, or through direct diplomatic engagement, to ensure a swift and decisive response?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Medical Aid During Conflict · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Gentleman, who I spoke to beforehand, for bringing forward such an important issue. Does he not agree that even during the worst of the world wars, and there have been some terrible wars over the past few years and there still is, the red cross symbolising medical aid was always a signal of ceasefire, and that that must still be the case today? Does he agree that we must further encourage all our allies and friends across the world to ensure that medical aid is never prevented from reaching those who need it most?

• 2 Dec 2024 · North-West Syria · Hansard source

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  This scenario is one in which we are considering the lesser of two evils in Syria, and I do not have enough information to gauge which that may be. However, as always, my concern is about what steps the Government are taking to secure food and water for 4 million women and children, and to provide freedom from sexual abuse and depravity. What more can we in this House do collectively to help those in need?

• 29 Nov 2024 · Men’s Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  I commend and congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this debate. I know that the Minister has a love of Northern Ireland, and in the last year six women have been murdered in Northern Ireland—I understand that all the cases are pending. Does that not illustrate that, no matter where we are in this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the murder rate for women is absolutely abysmal?

• 29 Nov 2024 · Pimping websites and paying for sex · Hansard source

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  On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In the debate on the assisted dying Bill, the hon. Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) assured the House that there would be cross-party support in relation to the make-up of the Bill Committee. Can you confirm, for Hansard and for my constituents back home, that the make-up of that Committee will represent the views of this House, ever mindful of the vote that took place? We are all aware that 334 voted for the Bill and 275 against; perhaps the Committee can accordingly reflect that representation in the House.

• 29 Nov 2024 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Ever mindful of what the hon. Lady has said about the criteria, I remind her that Belgium started off with a simple project like the one she refers to but it deteriorated and expanded to include sufferers of dementia and under-18s—children. What guarantees do we have that this legislation will not end up with a situation like that in Belgium, in which case anything goes? Is that what the hon. Lady wants? I do not want that. Does she?

• 28 Nov 2024 · Fishing Industry · Hansard source

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  I commend the right hon. Gentleman on bringing forward this debate. I have spoken to him, and I apologise that I cannot be here for the rest of it—I think it will be the first fishing debate that I will ever miss in totality. In the debate we had on 5 November, the Minister discussed the issue of positive outcomes that could be attained if these issues could be resolved. The ability to go to sea to catch fish is reliant on having the crews to man vessels. Despite automation projects being brought forward, the problem is in the ability to access crews and thereby survive long enough to bring the benefits of these opportunities into local communities. This is not just a Northern Irish problem. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that some relatively minor tweaks to Home Office policy would enable the growth potential identified for Northern Ireland and all this great United Kingdom to be replicated in one form or another?

• 28 Nov 2024 · Church-owned Hospices: Assisted Dying · Hansard source

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  The very ethos of Church-owned hospices is the sanctity of life, on which the Bible is very clear. Church-owned hospices will reflect that in what they do. Does the Church Commissioner share my concern about the potential conflict that could arise between Church-owned hospices and this House following the outcome of tomorrow’s debate on the assisted dying Bill? Does she share my concern about the sanctity of life and agree with me about the importance of making sure that we keep people alive?