Speeches by Kearns.

“I understand that the right hon. Lady is saying that the information that Peter Mandelson had maintained a relationship with a then convicted paedophile passed her by. However, she does have an entire committee of Clerks who will have advised her. She also says that she said that this was an imaginative appointment. I …”

“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…”

“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…”

“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…”

“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…”

“Domestic abuse.”

“Which fundamentally undermines the ability of police to operate if there is an alternative policing faction essentially operating within the community.”

“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…”

“Rather than separately. It was recommended to the Committee that as the threat reduces, funding should potentially be reduced in recognition of the fact that there is a safer operating environment. From your evidence, it sounds as if that is unrealistic in terms of the needs of Northern Ireland communities and being ad…”

“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 …”

“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…”

“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…”

“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…”

“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 …”

“Do you think that balance has been met?”

“Some “very tiny islands”. That is how this Government’s National Security Adviser described Diego Garcia and the Chagos islands. I am afraid that that contempt is consistent with how they continue to treat those people. The former Foreign Secretary never once met Chagossians. There is no evidence that the current Forei…”

“There are reports that the US is planning airstrikes or action in Iran. Following the previous US airstrikes there, Iran fired rockets at the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar in response. That base, which has recently been partly evacuated, is co-located with the prison where Matthew Pascoe is being detained. Will the Governm…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. When I asked an urgent question about this important issue last week, it was shunted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Today when the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) asked the question, it was shunted to the Foreign Office. The Minister o…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) on her question. One could be excused for feeling that this is groundhog day, because once again the House has gathered to share our collective concern about plans to approve the Chinese Communist party’s mega-embassy and once again the Home Office has decli…”

“Greenland is being offered two options: to be sold or to be annexed. This is naked imperialism. The Government of Greenland have made clear that they will work with the US in any way necessary to protect our security and that of Europe, but I am afraid that beyond the vague diplomatic assurances of diplomatic activity …”