Speeches by Shannon.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg, for the third time this afternoon—I enjoy your company so much. You are kind and patient as a Chair—thank you very much. I congratulate the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) on securing us the opportunity to sow into this debate. She made an excel…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. The knowledge that he has developed over the years is an important addition to this debate. I know that the Minister is listening when we make our asks, as the hon. Member for Gosport has done and as I will do now. The service that these organisations provide needs the supp…”

“The Kenova report was clear in proving that there was no evidence of state collusion or machinations. Yet the republican drum still bangs to cover the sound of the voices of the innocents calling for justice and to be heard. How will the Secretary of State respond to the lack of protection for the service personnel and…”

“I intervened on the hon. Lady in the Chamber yesterday and she has returned the compliment today in Westminster Hall. I recognise what she say—and by the way, I do not take anything away from the Government. I support their target of 1.5 million houses, whether or not they reach it, because it is important to have hous…”

“It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I thank the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) for setting the scene so well. I will obviously bring a Northern Ireland perspective on the impacts of housing development. I want to be fairly positive about how we do things; it is importan…”

“My hon. Friend and colleague is right. I know that the Minister will consider all these matters, and I hope that he will give us an answer to that question. I can understand why so many are outraged that we would take winter fuel payments away from our own hard-working pensioners while doing nothing about migrants who …”

“I commend the right hon. Gentleman for raising this subject. I was sitting here and thinking to myself that years ago I lived on a farm, and years ago farmers were not aware of the dangers of telescopic hydraulic lifts touching cables, just as they were not aware of the dangers of falling off roofs. A campaign was star…”

“My intervention will be very brief. The Federation of Small Businesses in Northern Ireland has told me of its concerns about national insurance contributions, but it has also told me that utility prices are up by 52.7%, labour costs by 51.5%, and taxes by 47.2%. I ask the Minister respectfully how he and the Government…”

“May I thank the Secretary of State for all that he does? He deserves credit. A mother from my constituency phoned me this morning and said: “Why is money being spent on this pathway when my child has been waiting for clinical support for 3 years and the waiting list is so long she may be moved to adult treatment? Why i…”

“I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing this debate to the House. The plan 2 student loan repayment threshold was frozen until 2030 under new announcements in the Budget. That means that graduates begin repaying sooner, but it is also almost like a hidden tax on career incomes, whereby students will pay more over the…”

“I am confident because of the responses to me in relation to the requests for the debate. The anxiety that these people raise with me indicates that this is a massive issue for them. The fact that there is already a debate on secondary breast cancer, and that this one is equally of interest, is hopefully an indication.…”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“I am happy to combine the debates if that helps.”

“Okay. I will have to check that out, because they asked me and I said, “Yes, let’s take it.” If there has been a mix-up, I will clarify that.”

“One of the concerns that probably all of us in this Chamber have, including the hon. Lady, is the squeeze of the middle class and the working class. Many of my constituents have told me—I wonder whether her constituents have also told her—of their concern that that squeeze is going to be felt even more. The people who …”

“I did?”

“Is that the Myanmar one?”

“Sorry, you mentioned that I turned one down in January. I didn’t turn it down—I accepted it.”

“I do not see any reason why not, Martin. We both desire the same goal, so let’s just do it.”

“Does the Pope have red socks? Yes, of course—there is absolutely no doubt about that.”