Sorcha Eastwood MP: speeches

Speeches

• 3 Jun 2025 · Dementia Care · Hansard source

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  My constituent Silé’s husband developed early onset dementia at the age of 38. Nobody knew what it was initially, because they were not expecting a normal, healthy 38-year-old to have early-onset dementia. Does the hon. Member agree that we need to do much more right across the UK to highlight that dementia and Alzheimer’s can develop at any age?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q10. We all know how the song goes:“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em,Know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away,And know when to run”.We in Northern Ireland have done all of them, because the system of government that we have is a gamble. Well, I am not prepared to roll the dice on the people of Lagan Valley, who have already been without government 40% of the time. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland says that he wants to stop the cycles of collapse, and so do I, but do not then turn around and tell us in Northern Ireland that we cannot deliver public service transformation, if no steps are taken to stop the collapse. The people of Northern Ireland who I represent—nationalist, Unionist and unaligned, like myself—are all out of aces. Our public services are on the floor. Will this Government be the one to step up to the plate, reform the institutions, end the veto and stop rolling the dice on the people of Northern Ireland?

• 4 Feb 2025 · Accessibility of Radiotherapy · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Member for his advocacy on this subject over a long time. The satellite centres are one thing. I represent Northern Ireland and my constituency of Lagan Valley, and I note that there are people in the Gallery involved in the All-Island Cancer Research Institute. Does he agree that geography is important and that cancer knows no boundaries, so our efforts to tackle it should also know no boundaries?

• 21 Jan 2025 · Northern Ireland’s Political Institutions · Hansard source

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  I will make some progress. Today, close to 40% of the population hold a national identity that is not exclusively British or Irish, while the proportion of Members of the Legislative Assembly designated as neither Unionist nor nationalist has more than doubled since 2011. The days of defining Northern Ireland’s politics in purely binary terms is over—I am proof of that—yet our power-sharing arrangements continue to do so, at the expense of stability and progress. There is also a misconception that reform of the Good Friday agreement would be an unprecedented departure from our peace agreements. Again, that is untrue. For example, the changes made during the St Andrews agreement in 2006 on how the Executive operated were a significant departure from the Good Friday agreement, and increased instability and the unfettered power of the two largest parties to the detriment of good government. The proposals that I will outline would move us closer to the original purpose of the Good Friday agreement’s provisions. Although we will have had an Executive in place for the past year, the truth is that our institutions are no more stable today than on the day they collapsed. It is my firm view that it is not a matter of if Stormont collapses, but when. Over the past 12 months, any number of the political events that have unfolded could have triggered a collapse. That risk is never far from my mind or those of my Lagan Valley constituents. Most of all, that constant looming threat prevents the transformative, bold action necessary to get Northern Ireland’s public services and finances in order. That will remain the case for as long as our power-sharing structures grant individual parties the ability to veto the functioning of government. Who bears the brunt of ransom politics and those perpetual cycles? It is the people of Northern Ireland, whether they are Unionist, nationalist or neither, such as myself. For decades, our communities have yearned and fought for progress only to be shackled by a system that is fundamentally flawed. It is a system that allows one party to veto progress as and when it pleases, leaving the people and public services of Northern Ireland in limbo and decay. The outworkings of this system have been immensely damaging. As many hon. Members will be aware, Northern Ireland has by far the highest health waiting lists in the UK. Our schools are underfunded, our roads in disrepair, and our public services stretched to breaking point. At the same time, our talented young people are leaving for opportunities elsewhere because they see no future in a system that continually fails them. I asked myself whether I would mention that we have some of the longest waiting lists and that our public services are under pressure, because hon. Members across the UK—and we in Northern Ireland are part of the UK—have the same issues. The outlier is that we have the biggest spend per head in the UK on health, yet we have the worst outcomes.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Northern Ireland’s Political Institutions · Hansard source

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  I will not; I will make some progress. It is in the spirit of the Good Friday agreement that I campaign for reform of our governance. The Good Friday agreement must be understood as it was intended, as a foundation for future progress, integration and normalisation, rather than a permanent solution to the divided society that we had in 1998. As far back as 1999, my Alliance party wrote of the inherent risks in embedding rigid consociationalism within our political structures. We have always been pragmatic about the need for our political structures to evolve. More than 25 years later, the political structures born out of the Good Friday agreement, and the subsequent agreements, no longer reflect the diversity and progress of our society.

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

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  I thank the hon. Member for his contribution and of course I will join him in that. In closing, I want us to keep talking about living and dying well because we cannot shy away from that debate. We owe it to our constituents, not just mine in Lagan Valley but those across the UK, to ensure that we get this right.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Employer National Insurance Contributions: Charities · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for bringing forward this issue. I agree with him completely in so far as violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland is at crisis levels. It is one of the most dangerous places in Europe to be a woman, and we have women and girls who have lost their lives already this year to violence. Would the hon. Member agree that if the Government are serious—as I believe they are—about tackling violence against women and girls, surely this increase flies in the face of everything we are trying to achieve in terms of ending violence against women and girls?

• 19 Nov 2024 · Infected Blood Inquiry · Hansard source

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  I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker; I was in Committee at the start of the debate, but I did have my name down to speak. Some of my constituents were impacted by the scandal, and it has taken them this long to summon the courage to come forward. Obviously, I represent them and Northern Ireland. We have talked about the Hillsborough law and the need for a duty of candour. Does the Minister agree that it is important that that is rolled out not just in England and Wales, but right across the UK, so that, as he said, those families are never again impacted in that way?

• 6 Nov 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Northern Ireland is considered one of the most dangerous places in Europe to be a woman—24 women have been killed in the last four years—but one of the most dangerous places for women and girls is online. I pay tribute to Belfast and Lisburn Women’s Aid, which is tireless in its advocacy of women. What are the Government doing to keep women and girls safe online, not just in Lagan Valley but right across the United Kingdom?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I am extremely disappointed by the lack of creativity in this Government. I agree entirely with the hon. Lady that there is a legacy of unfunded promises, but it is not for my constituents in Lagan Valley to bear the burden. Does she agree that they do not have broad shoulders?

• 24 Jul 2024 · Barnett Formula · Hansard source

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  3. Whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a revised financial formula for Northern Ireland.

• 24 Jul 2024 · Barnett Formula · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Secretary of State to his place, and look forward to working with him in his new role. Fixing Northern Ireland’s financial framework is crucial to ensuring that our public services are properly resourced, and indeed that impacts on my constituents in Lagan Valley. Will he ensure that any new arrangements are fully baselined and informed by independent expert analysis?