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Northern Ireland: Legacy of the Past
In 1998 immunity was in the Good Friday agreement, and the whole population got to vote on that, and on whether or not they agreed with that immunity—it was very controversial. There was no vote on whether the population agreed with immunity in the legacy Act. In fact, all the democratically elected parties lined up to oppose that immunity.
Thu 19 Mar
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Business of the House
Many constituents have raised concerns about the restrictions on Palestinian worshippers accessing the al-Aqsa mosque—one of Islam’s holiest sites. They fear that the measures, which have been presented as security-related, may be limiting freedom of worship and increasing control over access. These concerns sit alongside the wider humanitarian situation in Gaza; reports indicate that hundreds have been killed and many more displaced since the ceasefire, though figures remain difficult to verify
Thu 19 Mar
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Topical Questions
Consumers and farmers believe that a Union Jack flag or a Made in Britain label should mean that the food was made or grown in the United Kingdom. We Conservatives, led by my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay), consulted on this flag loophole before the election—and we will close it when we are back in government. May I offer the Secretary of State some help? We have already helped her with her fly-tipping policies this week, and I am pleased to see that s
Thu 19 Mar
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Topical Questions
And the Secretary of State has had this matter sitting on her desk for 18 months. Instead of dealing with it, we have had 18 months of damaging the rural economy, damaging rural businesses and hurting rural families under this Government. Indeed, only yesterday we saw yet another example: as fuel prices surge, Labour MPs voted to make the fuel in our cars even more expensive than it already is. We on the Conservative Benches know that rural families depend on their cars to live, so we ask why th
Thu 19 Mar
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Topical Questions
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Secretary of State announced yet another supposedly significant policy this week—the land use framework—outside Parliament, and has not offered an oral statement so that Ministers may be scrutinised. This is the fifth time she has done this. The other four occasions were the Baroness Batters review, the animal welfare strategy, the family farm tax fiasco and the SFI scheme, which has attracted many questions today because colleagues need to know more details
Thu 19 Mar
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Courts and Tribunals Bill
The Government’s reforms will focus on delivering faster and fairer justice for victims. That includes removing the presumption of parental involvement to prioritise what is in the best interests of children after tireless campaigning by Claire Throssell, whose two sons, Jack and Paul, were killed by their father after their parents’ separation. Reforms also include strengthening the use of special measures and preventing the misuse of evidence to unfairly undermine victims in court.
Thu 19 Mar
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Spoke in debate: Business of the House
Parliamentary appearance by Bobby Dean
Thu 19 Mar
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International Development
Later today I am meeting Inclusion International, which supports people with learning disabilities throughout the world. The focus on women and girls that my right hon. Friend referred to is welcome and important, but there is great concern among disability organisations over the impact of widespread cuts to international aid for millions of people—millions of disabled people—affected by conflict. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that she and her colleagues in Government will work with intern
Thu 19 Mar
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Northern Ireland: Legacy of the Past
My hon. Friend is delivering an excellent speech. Does she recognise the fact that there are also 200 service families among those victims who are seeking answers, and that the Bill will help to address that issue at the same time?
Thu 19 Mar
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Northern Ireland: Legacy of the Past
I thank the hon. Gentleman for being so sensitive in his speech. He mentions the remedial order that does away with the immunity scheme set up by the last Government; does he accept that that scheme was never actually in place, because it was struck down by the courts in Northern Ireland? The remedial order is really just a tidying-up exercise, rather than changing anything while the new Bill goes through Parliament.
Thu 19 Mar
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Business of the House
In Cardiff West, four banks have now closed—HSBC, Halifax, Barclays and, as of June, Lloyds bank in Canton. With those cumulative closures, a large part of my constituency will be left with extremely limited access to face-to-face banking services. I have met Lloyds and I have written to Link to highlight my concerns about the lack of appropriate infrastructure to access cash and other banking activities, but I have been very disappointed in their responses. Will the Leader of the House allocate
Thu 19 Mar
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UK Steel Strategy
I welcome the strategy. Sheffield’s history is inextricably linked to steel, and we want our future to be linked to steel as well. My right hon. Friend mentioned the excellent work that Forgemasters is doing to provide steel for our nuclear reactors, our nuclear submarines and, hopefully, our civil nuclear program, through small modular reactors. The strategy mentions the procurement of British steel. Will the Secretary of State set out how the Government will ensure that public bodies do procur
Thu 19 Mar
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Spoke in debate: UK Steel Strategy
Parliamentary appearance by Mr Clive Betts
Thu 19 Mar
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Spoke in debate: Good Food Cycle Strategy
Parliamentary appearance by Will Stone
Thu 19 Mar
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Business of the House
One great privilege of being a Member of Parliament is the ability to raise constituents’ concerns directly with Ministers. Unfortunately, far too frequently, the responses to be sent to our constituents come from officials rather than Ministers. I am sure the Leader of the House agrees that our constituents are entitled to hear from the Ministers themselves. Will he remind his ministerial colleagues of their duty to ensure that our constituents hear directly from them, not their officials?
Thu 19 Mar
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Spoke in debate: Topical Questions
Parliamentary appearance by Victoria Atkins
Thu 19 Mar
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International Development
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I hope that my voice will last—the Foreign Secretary might get off lightly. This was meant to be a statement about the 40% cuts that the Government are bringing forward. Instead, the Foreign Secretary spoke at length about the policy and direction shifts that she is making, which I think are the right ones to make, but we have not discussed the policy announcements around the cuts. I have had an embargoed copy of the equality impact assessment, for which I am gra
Thu 19 Mar
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International Development
Over 220 million children worldwide are not in education. The UN sustainable development goal 4 is unlikely to be met by 2030. What investment is the UK making to support global efforts to help those children?
Thu 19 Mar
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Thu 19 Mar
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International Development
Alongside the written ministerial statement published this morning, I want to update the House on the Government’s revised approach to international development and official development assistance allocations. National security is the first duty of Government, and this country faces the most serious security situation for a generation. For too long under previous Governments our defence investment was cut back, so last year this Government took the necessary decision to deliver the biggest incre
Thu 19 Mar