Speeches by Anderson.

“I welcome the hon. Member’s intervention. There was stability for 10 years when power sharing was enabled, and that is at the heart of what must be enabled by the institutions there. Unless there is a real change shown in various different ways, we need to ensure that those institutions maintain that power sharing. Tha…”

“I thank the hon. Member for raising the issue of the Public Service Transformation Board. As he says, the interim board has a £235 million budget for transformation. Several major projects—on health, special educational needs and justice—are now being sent to the Northern Ireland Minister of Finance for agreement, and …”

“The updated EU general product safety regulations largely formalise how businesses already operate in the UK, and the majority of businesses have adapted to continue trading within the UK and with the EU. In December, the Government published guidance for businesses on the application of the regulations in Northern Ire…”

“The hon. Member is correct to raise the issue of public services, especially health services. The winter pressures on hospital care and other areas have been shocking to see, and I am grateful to health workers for their work on the frontline at the moment. This week, I met the UK Government’s Health Minister to talk a…”

“Public services in Northern Ireland continue to fall behind, and the people of Northern Ireland deserve better. I raise this regularly with Northern Ireland Ministers including the Education and Health Ministers, and the Government are fully committed to helping the Executive to make the urgent reforms that are needed.”

“Yes, I do. Integrated education is a devolved matter for the Executive, but this Government are unapologetically supportive of integrated education. I have spoken to the headteachers of Bangor academy and Rathmore primary school this week, and they, as well as parents and pupils at the schools, are shocked by the decis…”

“I have met the Minister for Health, and I have been round and visited many of the healthcare provision services, all of which are feeling pressures at this time as a result of successive Executives not tackling reform and being absent along the way. That is why we set up the Public Service Transformation Board. The Exe…”

“Even after accounting for employer national insurance contribution impacts, the Office for Budget Responsibility expects real wages to rise by 3%. Raising the revenue to fill the £22 billion black hole required us to take difficult decisions, but they will result in improved public services, which is good for all peopl…”

“There are many pressures on businesses that we are constantly assessing and talking to businesses about. The hon. Member is right to raise the subject of job creation in Northern Ireland; it is a priority for this Government. We are supporting businesses in many ways, including through Invest Northern Ireland’s fund fo…”

“The Government are absolutely committed to ensuring a smooth flow of goods across the UK internal market. We understand that many companies have adapted easily to GPSR, while for some it is more difficult. The Secretary of State has met the Minister for business this week to discuss further guidance and assurance, and …”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. As we set out in our manifesto, this Government are committed to strengthening and encouraging participation in our democra…”

“I thank the hon. Members for Brentwood and Ongar and for South Antrim for raising those questions. The draft regulations are an important piece of legislation and it is important to get them right. The number of retained electors sounds very high, but given the total electorate of 1.36 million, some 87,000 is not an un…”

“No, I will make some progress now.”

“There are absolutely minimal stops along the border. It is not a hard border, but circumstances would be very different under the Bill, which implies an ideological hard Brexit—”

“Several years ago, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson told us that there was an oven-ready deal. That was clearly not the case, because we are still discussing this. The hon. and learned Member has mentioned mutual enforcement, but nowhere in the world does mutual enforcement happen wholesale under trading regulations…”

“It would be dangerous.”

“Let me begin by expressing thanks to all those who have contributed to this debate so far—I am sure that there will be many more after me—and to the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister). He has set out his view to the House with the same ardour as he did a fortnight ago, although at greater length th…”

“I listened carefully to the examples that the hon. Gentleman gave on behalf of his constituents. They are concerning, and we need to listen to them carefully. I absolutely understand the concerns raised by other Members in this debate as well. It is useful to have this debate, so that we can talk about those issues, bu…”

“I will come to his important point on the 300 areas of laws, because it is important to put that in context. However, I reiterate that having a framework within which to negotiate is better for all those areas than not having one, resetting things and trying to do in just three months what has been done and talked abou…”

“I will give way, but I will not do so too much, as I will not have time to go through all my points otherwise.”