Speeches by Kearns.

“The hon. Lady’s point about the wider establishment is important. Individuals like Sir Richard Branson clearly offered to help Epstein launder his identity and reputation by suggesting public relations advice on how he might recover from his prosecution. We have gentlemen like Bill Gates, whose wife has bravely spoken …”

“I wish to credit the hon. Gentleman for the speech he is giving today. Very early in my career, I voted for something and I could not sleep that night. Never since have I voted for something that has made me feel ashamed of myself, and I will never do it again. It takes bravery to do that so early in the hon. Gentleman…”

“I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman, because I agree that he should hold his Government to exactly those standards. I am very sorry that he missed my point of order—I recognise that it was not a show-stopper—but that is exactly the point I made: national security concerns are implicit in Humble Addresses. If the G…”

“My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. He may also recall that, following Prime Minister’s questions, I had no choice but to make a point of order because the Prime Minister had told this House that every Humble Address that the Labour party had proposed in opposition had a national security protection clause, yet n…”

“I entirely agree with my very good and hon. Friend. I was taken aback by the comments of the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), who sought to give us a lecture on how Government vetting is undertaken. She kept referring to fast-stream civil…”

““Liberation Day!”—that was how Mandelson described the day of Epstein’s release from prison for procuring children to be trafficked and raped. His next message was, “How is freedom feeling?” Epstein replied, “she feels fresh, firm, and creamy”. Mandelson’s next reply: “Naughty boy”. We had not seen those emails, I admi…”

“Another appointment that we have had is that of the National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, who some might argue is the de facto Foreign Secretary. Given that he is running around having secret meetings with Wang Yi and other Chinese senior officials, how can we have confidence that he went through the appropriate …”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this debate and all Members who have spoken in it. There are few issues that reflect our values as a society more than how we treat creatures in our care. Many people i…”

“I am afraid that it is untenable to suggest that what was already known of Mandelson’s simpering after the conviction of Epstein was not enough to make it inappropriate for him to be ambassador, and I did object to that from day one, on that exact basis, as Hansard shows. I am afraid that a number of questions to the C…”

“It is over a year since I raised the subject of the 5,700 women who were wrongly and unfairly dismissed from the armed forces for falling pregnant while in service. Will the Minister please update me on what she has done in that time to ensure that they get their caps and berets back? They absolutely deserve that, beca…”

“When John Major went to Beijing, he spoke clearly and said, “We will not forget Tiananmen Square.” In contrast, the Prime Minister refused to say Jimmy Lai’s name until he was wheels up. I have never said that we should not engage with Beijing; I have said that we should not give it a propaganda visit. It is extraordin…”

“Just a quick follow-up. Gavin focused on whether politicians were only interested in policing if it met their own interests. In terms of internal self-policing, I remember being in Belfast in 2012, going past a house that had been burned down and being informed by people who lived in that street that it had been burned…”

“To your point about the backgrounds, obviously the terrorism threat was reduced to “substantial” in 2024. Jonathan Hall KC has said that he thinks the traditional threat assessment is now unhelpful for Northern Ireland, because essentially it does not allow the significant reductions in the threat, as we have seen, to …”

“But the risk would essentially have to remain persistent, unfortunately—a bit like what we have in England. At least three terror threats a month are diverted or stopped by our security services, yet we do not see that. Of course, the risk would have to be persistent and pervasive, but the impact of any terror attack m…”

“The Bertie Arms is a fantastic family pub, but because of the Chancellor’s tax raid on local business, it faces a 2,000% increase in its business rates by 2029. That means that the Treasury will lose £200,000 in tax take and Uffington will lose the heart of its community. The Prime Minister promised not to put up taxes…”

“Very briefly, Sir George, the additional security fund obviously existed in your time solely to focus on Northern Ireland terrorism, but obviously it has now been broadened. Looking back, however, can you just give a direction to this Committee about how important that fund was specifically, and whether you agree to th…”

“Do you think that balance has been met?”

“Domestic abuse.”

“Dissident republican threats persist in terms of bombings, shootings and public order, as you touched on, Sir Hugh. MI5 has rightly said that it is unrealistic to totally supress that threat, because it has obviously evolved into organised crime. What should those who are setting the direction of policing and security …”