Robin Swann MP: speeches

Speeches

• 13 Jan 2025 · Hospice and Palliative Care · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Mr Kohler) for bringing this important debate to the House tonight. I congratulate him, but it is unfortunate that it was not held in Government time, because this issue was raised on a number of occasions during the debate on assisted dying. The debate has highlighted the importance of the discussion around palliative care. The All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care conducted a recent study of 500 people in Northern Ireland, which indicated that more than one in three think that they only had days to live if their doctor or healthcare professional talked to them about palliative care, and more than one in four would feel that their doctor was giving up on them if they talked about referring them to palliative care. This debate and the previous debates that we have had raise the importance of these discussions with family and the wider community. Work has been done in Northern Ireland on conversations about advanced care planning, where families, health professionals and all parts of the society are involved in those open conversations. Much has been said about the fundraising model for hospices and palliative care providers, and it is no different in Northern Ireland. We talk about the need for a funding model, but the Department of Health and the entire health service in Northern Ireland have been relying on year-on-year budgets since 2016. That puts stress not only on our national health service, but on palliative care providers, hospices, GPs and community pharmacies. There is a desire from the rest of health and social care in Northern Ireland to see a recurrent, guaranteed budget that we could use to make those transformation decisions. I pay tribute to the hospices and palliative care providers in Northern Ireland, especially the people who work in them. Much has been said today about funding care models, how they are managed and all the rest of it, but often we forget that at the heart of every care package, every delivery, every door that is knocked and opened and every cup of tea that is made for someone in one of those conditions are those healthcare professionals. They have the strength and the ability to move on to the next patient and family, to give them the same level of dedicated professional support. Finally, I pay tribute to the staff in the Macmillan specialist palliative care unit in Antrim area hospital. I had the honour and privilege of visiting them many times as Health Minister in Northern Ireland, but especially when they were providing support and care to Shirley Smyth almost this time last year—a fantastic supporter and grandmother of one of my councillors, and a fantastic lady.

• 8 Jan 2025 · NHS Diagnostic Processes: Technological Innovation · Hansard source

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  Early diagnosis saves lives. Randox in my constituency runs a number of NHS health checks from the Isle of Wight through to Lanarkshire. Will the Secretary of State encourage greater use of those checks, and will he visit Randox with me to see how we can further advance that technology?

• 7 Jan 2025 · Draft Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I have a couple of queries for the Minister. The chief electoral officer says that 87,700 retained electors are due to be removed on 1 February. The explanatory memorandum suggests that almost all of them live at the address on the register and “are therefore eligible to be registered to vote at this address.” That would suggest that those 87,700 electors are real, live people who are able and eligible to vote in Northern Ireland, so I assume that they had the opportunity to do so in the general election only six months ago. In my opinion, that is an exceptionally high number. I wonder whether the Government, although perhaps not at this stage, could ask the chief electoral officer to provide a breakdown of those 87,700 retained electors by constituency so that we can see whether there is any trend or specific registration issue in Northern Ireland of which we need to be aware. I turn to a more specific question. Proposed new regulation 46C of the Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008, which is entitled “Retained register entries: residence audit”, provides an opportunity to “conduct a residence audit in respect of any retained elector”. That indicates that there will be opportunities to do an individual residence audit. Is that the intention of the draft regulations? If so, who would instigate such an audit of an individual’s residence to see whether a retained elector is eligible to vote before a removal warning is issued? Could a residence audit be instigated only by the chief electoral officer and his staff, or could a member of the general public query the eligibility of an elector or their residence at an address? Further to the point that the shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar, made about voter ID, may I encourage the Government to look at how voter ID is used in Northern Ireland? Perhaps I might encourage them to extend that approach to the rest of the United Kingdom.

• 6 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Defence spend with Northern Ireland small and medium-sized enterprises last year accounted for only £3 million. What will the Secretary of State and the Minister do to proactively increase that spend with Northern Ireland SMEs?

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

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  I thank the hon. Member for giving way; she has been generous with her time. Does she realise that this is not just a problem in England, Scotland and Wales? It is a significant problem in Northern Ireland, where we have already seen a high number of GP practices returning their contracts. At this time when the solution was meant to be to move to multidisciplinary teams, the increase in national insurance contributions for GPs as employers is putting additional stress on their contracts, given the amount of money they are receiving from central Government. In Northern Ireland, 75% of our domiciliary care and home care is provided by private suppliers, and this additional cost will be added to them as well.

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

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  I will shorten my speech on your guidance, Ms Ghani. I encourage all Members of the House to follow the example of the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) and sign up to the Antrim Guardian —a very good local publication from my constituency that carries good articles. I rise to come back to the topic of the debate, employers’ national insurance contributions, because we have covered many subjects this afternoon. I support the amendments that look to alleviate the punishing implementation of, and increases to, employers’ NICs, especially for our family health service and social care providers. Unlike other speakers on the Opposition Benches who have looked to blame the Government for the increases, I do not think the Government are to blame. I think this is more about the Treasury than the whole Government. I want to pick up on a point raised, I think, by the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson). I have a lot of respect and sympathy for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the right hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting). When he announced his 10-year plan for the national health service, there were three main platforms: to move from analogue to digital, to move from sickness to prevention, and to move from hospital to community. The increases to NICs for community-based health providers will put many of those services at risk and under pressure. This is where there is a disconnect between what the Government are trying to do and what they are actually going to do and achieve. I think that was the point described by the right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart). If we put the additional charges on our GPs, community pharmacies, opticians, domiciliary care providers and social care providers, that will come back, in a circular route, in how we fund our health service. On the specifics for Northern Ireland, we are looking to transform and modernise a health service that has been largely underfunded and under pressure for quite a number of years, and trying to exist on single-year budgets since 2016. We are doing that by introducing multidisciplinary teams, where a general practice has a psychologist and a social worker all within its practice. General practices are asking for that to be extended across Northern Ireland, but the increase in ENICs will increase wage bills and pressures on the pharmacies and general practices that have already taken that step. The right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness also made a point about the introduction of social care within the health service. We already have that in Northern Ireland, and 75% of the provision is done by the private sector. One thing this House needs to address, especially those on the Labour Benches, is that when we talk about private provision, they are not organisations making massive amounts of money. In my constituency they are often family-run social care practices that look after two or three homes. Nearly all nursing and residential care homes are privately owned too.

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

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  When I was Minister of Health in Northern Ireland—for four years—I looked to the Dilnot report, and I tried to introduce parts of it there because of the differential that exists: in our system, health and social care services are the overall responsibility of the Department of Health. I know what point the hon. Member may have been trying to make, but I think he failed to make it directly in that intervention. The impact of not only the Dilnot recommendations but the introduction of employers’ national insurance contributions on those services would actually run counter to anything that Dilnot was recommending, because he was talking about a funded, integral part of domiciliary care as part of the health service, which we already have, but that would put pressure on our health services at the moment.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State has repeated time and again what this statement is not about, but what it is about is this Government not listening to the WASPI women and this Government not listening to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. In the Secretary of State’s statement, she said she will “develop a detailed action plan out of the report”. Considering that the report missed two thirds of this, especially the financial redress scheme, what action plan is she developing?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman references Sir Jon Cunliffe, and I thank the Secretary of State for commissioning the review. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that Sir Jon’s review should look across the United Kingdom, because Northern Ireland Water is both a Government-owned company and a non-departmental public body and I assure the House that the water quality in Northern Ireland, especially in Lough Neagh, is nothing to be celebrated either. Should not Sir Jon Cunliffe’s review look at how all bodies regulate their water systems, so they serve the public?

• 16 Dec 2024 · United Front Work Department · Hansard source

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  The urgent question asked about the extent of the United Front Works Department’s operations in the United Kingdom. What is the Minister’s assessment of that department’s work with, or within, the devolved Administrations?

• 11 Dec 2024 · Puberty-suppressing Hormones · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for his statement, which I welcome, both in its tone and the approach taken. I welcome that this indefinite ban will include Northern Ireland. I thank the Secretary of State and his predecessor for the collaborative approach they have taken with the Minister of Health in Northern Ireland. It is important for the House to note that the ban in Northern Ireland was supported by all the Northern Ireland Executive parties. In his statement, the Secretary of State talks about being able “to restrict the sale or supply of puberty blockers…through a prescription issued by…a prescriber registered outside the United Kingdom.” What steps will he take to close all those loopholes and avenues that would allow these drugs to be prescribed, recommended or supplied by online suppliers for under-18s?

• 10 Dec 2024 · Draft Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Search, Seizure and Detention of Property: Code of Practice) (Northern Ireland) Order 2024 · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger, and I thank you for inviting me to speak on this statutory instrument. We will support the proposals, because any measure that puts more pressure on organised crime, criminal organisations and, indeed, paramilitary and terrorist organisations is a welcome step forward. I want to ask the Minister two questions about the order. Paragraph 6.3 of the explanatory memorandum says that the code will apply only to Northern Ireland, but I seek the Minister’s reassurance that although the code is specific to Northern Ireland it still comes under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 and that there will be similarities across all jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. I join the shadow Minister in seeking reassurance that the Minister is working with his counterparts in the Republic of Ireland. What we have seen in Northern Ireland is how easy it is to move physical assets of crime across the border. I would not like to see cryptoassets being able to be easily transferred into the Republic of Ireland and hidden there in a safer form. I also note that the explanatory memorandum states in paragraph 7.2 that “one enforcement agency sought clarity on the definitions in a different code on property, cryptoassets and wallets and also suggested where additional guidance could be added on storage and searches.” Can the Minister clarify whether that additional guidance has been provided to the agencies? It is vital that we get this right and tackle crime at its heart.

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is countering what she said earlier about having read the Good Friday agreement. Obviously she has not understood it, because that cross-community consent has been central to the protections that were applied in the Belfast agreement at the start to ensure minority concerns are protected. That was the purpose of it. What she is saying in regard to the change from five to 10 on removing cross-community support and consent undermines the principles of the Belfast agreement, which my party paid so much for.

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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  It is not that I am unhappy, and I applaud the hon. Member for the tone he has brought to the debate in opposition to the Bill; it is that we want to see a resolution to these things. He talks about breaking agreements and when trust is removed, which brings me back to my intervention about the Belfast agreement and how Lord Trimble said that the protocol “demolishes the agreement’s central premise by removing the assurance that democratic consent is required to change Northern Ireland’s status.” I gently remind the hon. Member of that persuasion. I am also reminded of the contribution that Lady Sylvia Hermon made when she was in this place in challenging the former Deputy Prime Minister about the Belfast agreement. When he started to talk about it, she simply asked whether he had read it. I simply encourage any hon. Members in opposition to the Bill to ensure that they have actually read the Belfast agreement before quoting it.

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for making that point. It looks like I will not get to make a speech, but I want to put on the record that the Ulster Unionist party actually campaigned to remain in the European Union. We thought it best at that point, because we foresaw exactly what is happening now. We respect the referendum of this United Kingdom, but we are now seeing the enabling of what we were concerned about because of the lack of interest in this House with regard to some of the regulations that are coming through and how they are applied to Northern Ireland. The hon. Member mentioned medicines. Yes, we have supply issues, which are global issues, but we also have additional supply issues because of regulation from the European Union.

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. and learned Gentleman for introducing this Bill, and I acknowledge his recognition of the strengths of those protections in the Belfast agreement, which were built in by my party and especially by Lord Trimble, the former leader of the Ulster Unionist party and the crafter and political deliverer of unionism in support of the Belfast agreement at that time. He said: “I feel betrayed personally by the Northern Ireland Protocol, and it is also why the unionist population is so incensed at its imposition. The protocol rips the very heart out of the agreement, which I and they believed safeguarded Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom and ensured that democracy not violence, threat of violence or outside interference, would or could ever change that. Make no mistake about it, the protocol does not safeguard the Good Friday Agreement. It demolishes its central premise by removing the assurance that democratic consent is needed to make any change to the status of Northern Ireland. It embodies a number of constitutional changes that relate to Northern Ireland.”

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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  On that point—I see that Members are smiling; I am quite concerned about the attitude to the issue of some of those on the other Benches—a serious piece of work has been done with the European Union on the subject of continuing the supply of human medicines to Northern Ireland. The challenge is not in the legislation but in the fact that producers and suppliers must meet EU requirements for specific Northern Ireland labelling, which makes it not worth their while to supply items to Northern Ireland, with the result that some manufacturers are still not doing so.

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. and learned Member for introducing the Bill. At Prime Minister’s questions, I asked the Prime Minister about the general product safety regulation that will come into effect next Friday, which will force suppliers in constituencies across England, Scotland and Wales to increase bureaucracy and costs if they still want to supply Northern Ireland consumers and producers. Does he agree that it is absurd that we are putting additional costs on our internal UK market to facilitate the requirements of the European Union?

• 4 Dec 2024 · Northern Ireland: Legacy of the Troubles · Hansard source

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  In this place on 11 September, the Secretary of State made a statement with regard to another inquiry. At that point, I asked him whether, for those families who had lost loved ones to terrorism, he had closed down all the other options for an inquiry. He told me at that point that ICRIR would be the only option. My understanding tonight is that he has now put back on the table several cases, inquests and inquiries. What confidence do those families now have in ICRIR when the Secretary of State says tonight that it needs reform, that he will bring forward further proposals to reform it, and that he has not detailed them? On the Stormont House agreement, I remind him that the Ulster Unionist party did not support it.

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

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  On that point, will the hon. Lady give way?

• 4 Dec 2024 · Future of Farming · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I thank the hon. Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) for securing the debate. I want to take exception to language used by Government MPs here today and in the debate we had in the main Chamber on 11 November, when they accused anyone who raised genuine concern for family farms of being either in the pocket of big business or alarmist. I can assure you, Sir Roger, that the Members I know who have spoken here and those who spoke in the main Chamber on this issue did so out of genuine concern and understanding of the effects that this tax grab will have on our family farms. I was so concerned that I asked for clarity on the figures that I had used from the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister. He responded: “I am disappointed at the UK Government’s dismissal of the figures you quoted and the subsequent comment that our analysis that one third of farmers and up to 75% of dairy farmers will be affected by the new inheritance tax limitations as ‘alarmist’. I can assure you that these figures are based on a solid analytical basis…from data collected as part of the Northern Ireland Agricultural Census 2023.” I may have many differences with him, but I believe the Agriculture Minister in Northern Ireland over what I have heard from the Labour Government about how the tax will impact Northern Ireland farmers. A 2023 Irish Farmers Journal survey showed that the average price of agricultural land in Northern Ireland is £13,794 per acre. It would be reasonable to assume that by 2026, when the inheritance tax changes take effect, the average price will have increased to £15,000 an acre. Based on that information, farms in Northern Ireland with 67 acres of land will be affected by this tax grab.