Robin Swann MP: speeches

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Speeches

3 Nov 2025 · Cadet Numbers · Hansard source
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The Northern Ireland Universities Air Squadron is based in Aldergrove in my constituency. Can the Minister reassure me that any support for cadets will be expanded to every cadet and every base across the UK?
30 Oct 2025 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source
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I will not take the dig about being short personally, Mr Speaker. The industrial strategy and the strategic defence review both offer great opportunities to the entire United Kingdom. Can I seek reassurances from the Minister that he will work with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland businesses get benefit out of both?
30 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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The Royal Horticultural Society has today launched its report, “Space to Grow”, realising the potential of the community gardening movement. Will the Leader of the House join me in recognising and celebrating the work of Tidy Randalstown in my South Antrim constituency, and look at the opportunity for the Government, along with devolved Governments, to embed the space to grow campaign in legislation and policy?
28 Oct 2025 · Family Farming in Northern Ireland · Hansard source
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I congratulate the hon. Member on securing a debate that focuses specifically on Northern Ireland. Does she agree that what the Treasury and the Government have missed in the proposal is the unique nature of farms in Northern Ireland, where 99% are actually family owned? Even that promise of the opportunity to spread the tax bill over 10 years restricts families who want to invest in their farms, and puts pressure on not only the older generation who are concerned about the farm they are leaving, but the younger generation who are looking to the future.
23 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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May I join the Leader of the House in his acknowledgment of the start of the poppy appeal? Is he aware that our British Legion in Northern Ireland is now required to have an appointed EU rep to handle compliance for safety issues for products distributed, sold or given for donation during the poppy appeal. Does the Leader of the House agree that that is ridiculous and will he speak to the appropriate Minister so we can have a meeting about it?
23 Oct 2025 · Voluntary Sector: Partnership Working · Hansard source
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I welcome the Minister’s reassurance. The UK shared prosperity fund is about to come to an end, to be replaced by the local growth fund, and voluntary and community organisations in Northern Ireland have real concerns that they will be left in limbo between one ending and the other starting. I recognise what the Minister just said about the two-year funding pot, but what reassurances can he give those organisations in Northern Ireland that their funding will carry over? They support some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
22 Oct 2025 · Draft Control of Mercury (Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I am the former Northern Ireland Health Minister, and when the issue of moving away from dental amalgam kicked off, it was quite serious. It was raised by all political parties, the British Dental Association and its representatives in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and all sectors. We have heard about the use of amalgam in dentistry, but it is mostly used in our national health dentistry. While we were struggling, and are still struggling in the rest of the UK, to get NHS dentists, the inability to use amalgam for basic fillings would add an extraordinary cost to businesses. The shadow Minister asked and, if I recall it right, the charge at that point was in the region of £26 million. With regard to the specifics, the draft statutory instrument includes only “mercury” in its title, but it focuses solely on amalgam. I ask the Minister, are there any other implications for the utilisation or import of other mercury products, or for other utilisations of mercury in other machineries, that might be affected by the SI? Also, in the setting out of this, there were conversations about what the UK Government were able to achieve. EU Commission notice C/2024/4675 stated that the Commission permitted this regulation and the change that enabled Northern Ireland dentistry to continue to use dental amalgam, as stated, until 31 December 2034 or until the date agreed under the global Minamata convention, to which the UK is a signatory. I therefore seek input from the Minister on that. Should the convention move earlier than the agreed deadline of 31 December 2034, what steps have the Government put in place—working with the Departments of Health and of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland—to ensure that preparatory work is being done now? Originally, the Northern Ireland Executive established a mercury working group, which was under the leadership of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. I note that in the explanatory memorandum, under “Consultation”, the Government had consulted not only the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, but the Department of Health in Northern Ireland—they “were consulted on the approach taken during the drafting of this instrument and were given the opportunity to propose amendments to the text.” May I seek clarity from the Minister? Did they reply, and if so, what did they say? No reference to that is included.
22 Oct 2025 · Heathrow: National Airports Review · Hansard source
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As far back as 2019 there was talk of manufacturing and logistics hubs for the Heathrow hub being sited in Northern Ireland. Can the Secretary of State still give a reassurance that the whole of the UK will be considered in support of the manufacture of the third runway, should it go ahead? Will sites be considered in my constituency, for example, which is critical to Belfast international airport?
22 Oct 2025 · Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund · Hansard source
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Third time lucky. I welcome the Minister’s announcement of the fund for life sciences with regard to the companies we have in North Antrim and South Antrim. Could the Minister also ensure that any research and development tax credits that companies can apply for are fully supported, utilised and brought forward at speed so that companies are able to utilise not just the fund but the tax credits that come through R&D as well?
22 Oct 2025 · Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund · Hansard source
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Will the Minister give way?
22 Oct 2025 · Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund · Hansard source
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Will the Minister give way?
22 Oct 2025 · Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund · Hansard source
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Will the Minister give way?
20 Oct 2025 · Alleged Spying Case: Home Office Involvement · Hansard source
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Chinese officials recently briefed Stormont’s Finance Minister on the status of a local company in his constituency owned by the Chinese state. Information on that briefing, released under the Freedom of Information Act by the Department of Finance, withheld details, citing freedom of information laws that protect confidential information obtained from a foreign state. In the current climate and in the interests of openness and transparency, does the Minister agree that it would be best to release all the details of that meeting, rather than hide behind FOI laws?
15 Oct 2025 · Defence Industrial Strategy · Hansard source
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May I welcome the Minister to his place as well? Will he ensure that there is that co-working across the Northern Ireland Executive and the Ministry of Defence with regard to the Executive’s investment strategy, which is also integral to the defence industrial strategy, and that the NIE will work to remove any blockages that would prevent the two being merged?
14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source
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I congratulate the Prime Minister on getting us to this point. The Labour Government’s role in decommissioning in Northern Ireland is not as complete as portrayed. In a memo of 17 January 2003, an adviser to the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said: “The IRA will never be able to account for all their weapons or retrieve them. What we should perhaps aim for is a few more big symbolic acts of decommissioning, and then declare that the process is complete…” That adviser was a certain Jonathan Powell, now the National Security Adviser. So will the Prime Minister give assurances that, should the Government be given such a role, they will not be as lax?
14 Oct 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles · Hansard source
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On that assurance from the Secretary of State about the protections for veterans, on 19 September he stood beside the Irish Government when he made this announcement, and later that evening the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, went on Irish media and clearly said that there were no added protections for veterans in the legacy deal. Will the Secretary of State give assurance to the House: are there protections for veterans in this legacy deal, or not?
10 Sept 2025 · Windsor Framework: Internal Market Guarantee · Hansard source
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I thank the hon. and learned Gentleman for securing this debate and for continuing to raise what is an important issue. He mentioned the manufacturers, but would he also agree about the impact on the Road Haulage Association? We have seen not only the implementation of additional bureaucracy and costs but the recent introduction of the import control system 2—ICS2—which the Government said would go live in September. They then told hauliers that it would be live in December of this year, but they actually put the system live in August without engagement or interaction with the Road Haulage Association and hauliers in Northern Ireland, increasing bureaucracy and costs.
8 Sept 2025 · Defence Industrial Strategy · Hansard source
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I welcome the Government’s announcement of a dedicated procurement hub in Northern Ireland to support our SMEs, although I note that no location has been announced in Northern Ireland. Can I remind the Minister of the excellent opportunity that the Aldergrove base in my constituency presents and how it would be an excellent location for an uncrewed systems centre? Will he meet me and the leadership of Antrim and Newtownabbey borough council to develop that opportunity further?
3 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source
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I am joined today in the Gallery by the leadership of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster, an organisation and young people who are passionate about youth work, our rural countryside and the future of farming and agriculture. Agriculture policy is devolved, but the Prime Minister’s agricultural inheritance tax is the thing that has them and young farmers across all the country despairing not just for their future, but the future of food security. When will the Prime Minister change course on the farm family inheritance tax, now that he is taking control of tax policy?
22 Jul 2025 · UK Internal Market · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I thank the right hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson) for securing this debate. I am sure that we will hear in the Minister’s response what the Government have done to alleviate some of these issues, but it is the practicalities that Members from Northern Ireland are actually asking about. I am sure that we will hear about Lord Paul Murphy’s report. He was commissioned to conduct an independent review of the Windsor framework. I am now aware that his report was handed to the Government on 9 July, so we have to ask, “When will we see it? When will businesses see it? When will trade and industry actually see what Lord Murphy has said?” I am sure that the answer we will get is that under domestic law the Minister has up to six months to publish the report and its recommendations. Why not publish it now? Why not let businesses and politicians see the challenges that lie ahead? Two bodies were created at the time: the independent monitoring panel and Intertrade UK. Those organisations were launched with much noise and furore, and good people—genuine people—were appointed to them, but we have seen no product. We have seen nothing come from them with regard to the challenges, and the opportunities that people keep talking about but that nobody is prepared to put in writing. With regard to the challenge that we currently face, the introduction of “Not for EU” labelling on 1 July, which has been touched upon, applies even to goods that will never leave the UK’s internal market, and adds yet another layer of complexity and cost. Businesses have been told that these labels will eventually be phased out, but the requirement to have them now still stands. For a large retailer, that may be a frustration, but for a small supplier or producer it could be the final straw. That was evident in the FSB’s independent report. As the right hon. Member for East Antrim pointed out, this is an independent report commissioned by the FSB from GB suppliers providing goods to Northern Ireland. Those suppliers said that trade disruption is widespread, with 58% of those trading between GB and NI reporting “moderate” to “significant” challenges. Over a third of respondents—34%—have already ceased trading rather than deal with these new compliance issues. Even major retailers are pushing back. We will hear about all those businesses and companies that make it work, but in June Stuart Machin, the chief executive of Marks & Spencer, called the implementation of these labels “bureaucratic madness, confusing for customers, and completely unnecessary given the UK has some of the highest food standards in the world.” If the chief executive officer of one of the UK’s most established food retailers finds the system hugely bureaucratic, says it is “adding yet another layer of unnecessary costs and red tape”, how can we expect small firms, often with just a handful of staff, to cope? I am sure that the Minister will talk about the coming SPS deal, which has been mentioned, but the real challenge that the Government have to answer is: why are they continuing to introduce further bureaucracy and further checks? If this promised deal—this new relationship with the EU—is so positive, so genuine, and if we are so much in partnership, why do we have to introduce this? Why can we not put in place the extended grace periods we have often seen in the past for those businesses and organisations? The FSB’s work on the framework was undertaken before there were further restrictions—before the restrictions on business-to-business parcels came into force on 1 May, and before the phase 3 labelling requirements on SPS products came into force on 1 July and from 1 September. Small businesses are asking us to establish something that actually helps. A back office, knowledgeable and with expertise, should be made available through an accessible, business-friendly route, rather than this bureaucracy. Dr Huq, I respect your time limits and will allow another hon. Member to speak.
22 Jul 2025 · Industrial Action · Hansard source
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13. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of industrial action on NHS services.
22 Jul 2025 · Industrial Action · Hansard source
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In a previous role, I found that health workers took industrial action only in extreme circumstances, so I agree with the Secretary of State that if the strikes can be prevented, they should be. During previous resident doctors’ strikes, elective or scheduled procedures were usually postponed, or planned to be postponed, to free up senior doctors to cover their work, but I note that the chief executive of NHS England has instructed hospitals to continue those procedures. Has the Secretary of State made any assessment of the impact that would have not just on patients but on the staff who would have to remain?
21 Jul 2025 · Infected Blood Inquiry: Additional Report · Hansard source
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As far as I can see, some of the Paymaster General’s announcements and his acceptance of some of the recommendations and sub-recommendations will cause devolved administrative bodies to have to stay open for a longer period. I believe they were initially scheduled to close on 1 February 2026, but they will now have to stay open for longer than that. I seek his reassurance that he will ensure that all the costs will be met by the Treasury and that there will be no divergence between the support given to those infected or affected anywhere across the United Kingdom, as there was previously due to the work started by the inquiry.
21 Jul 2025 · Post-16 Education: Skills · Hansard source
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The apprenticeship levy is collected equally across the United Kingdom, but unfortunately it comes back to Northern Ireland under the Barnett consequential. Will the Minister look at an option for a system in which those employers who contribute to the apprenticeship levy can draw it back directly to support apprentices employed in their companies?
21 Jul 2025 · Post-16 Education: Skills · Hansard source
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5. What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that post-16 education provides the skills necessary to support the economy.

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