Speeches by Shannon.

“I thank the Second Church Estates Commissioner very much for all that she does personally—I know that she is committed to making lives better personally and as the Second Church Estates Commissioner. What discussions has she had with organisations such as Open Doors UK in relation to furthering steps that can be taken …”

“It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I want to say a big thank you to the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Lizzi Collinge) for leading the debate. In the short time that she has been here, she has shown herself to be formidable, dedicated and committed. I want to say well done for he…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Betts. I commend the hon. Member for Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris) on setting the scene so well, as she always does. I have always been pleased to help and support her. She is dedicated to her causes—that is the way I would put it—and she always leads by exam…”

“I commend the right hon. Lady. One thing that has always come to my attention—I am dealing with such a case in my office at the moment—is about finding out who actually owns a tree and who is responsible for it. We have found great difficulty, through the local council, in finding out who that would be. As we have had …”

“I commend the hon. Member for Bolton North East (Kirith Entwistle) for securing the debate. Whether it be Bolton or Ballywalter, healthcare problems are the same for every one of us. The result of these issues is a lack of confidence in the system, which is harmful in itself. If someone says there is no point phoning t…”

“I was just thinking to myself that there probably are stats that show that many prisoners, with great respect—this is not meant to be judgmental—may not be able to read or write. When it comes to helping them find jobs, we have to create confidence in them, and enable them to say, “I can do that. I can learn to read an…”

“I commend the Minister, and wish him well in his new role and in all that he does. The legislation extends to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so what discussions have been taking place with the Northern Ireland Assembly to ensure that we can see its benefits—to both employment and the wider economy—in Northern Ir…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry for his intervention. As always, he brings pertinent words of wisdom to the debate and I thank him for that. There is a worrying trend as well. I read an article about children—my goodness, it is hard to take this in—as young as four years old taking knives or shar…”

“I certainly do and I commend the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I know that he has done lots of work with youth groups in his constituency. Sometimes we need to be at that level to try to change the mindset. All Members are probably focused on that as well. In Northern Ireland, we are seeing a substantial number…”

“I welcome the right hon. Lady to her place. The experience that she brings from her previous role will benefit us all and I thank her for her answers. Putin will have watched the Israel-Gaza problem carefully, and he will know that all eyes are turning to Russia to end the unnecessary conflict in Ukraine. What further …”

“The hon. Member, who is a very assiduous MP, puts forward a viewpoint from his own constituency, which we all endorse, and I thank him for all that he does in his constituency to try to stop people carrying knives. If we look further across the globe, we hear of knife incidents most days in newspapers or news headlines…”

“Absolutely; I will be happy to.”

“It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey, and to give you the respect that you deserve for the position that you hold. May I say a big thank you to the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) for leading today’s debate on this very important issue? Knife crime is such a prevalent issue across the U…”

“I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. Representing a rural community, I, like him, understand how important this is. We are very blessed to have an air ambulance available for our communities in Strangford and Northern Ireland. It truly has been the difference between life and death for so many. Howeve…”

“I commend the hon. Lady on bringing forward this debate. When I heard what she was going to speak about, I wanted to intervene: first, because it is an admirable subject, and secondly, because I fully support what she is trying to achieve. I hope that the Minister will come back to her along those lines. Does the hon. …”

“I thank the Minister very much for his strong answers to restore confidence. Will he acknowledge that pressure on the NHS, especially into the winter months, means that pharmacies will be playing a bigger role in providing basic help and advice, and that being unable to rely on a pharmacy cannot be sustained? Will he p…”

“It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) for securing this debate and for the personal story he told. That always helps us to focus on where we are and where we need to be. The issue of educational assessment affects every single cons…”

“I will leave that. Thanks very much. Again, apologies for being a wee bit late.”

“Do you want me to leave anything?”

“Thinking of one back home, it has no more than 40 pupils. The impact upon them is greater, simply because the school is small, but the overheads are incredible, and the VAT on top of that creates a problem.”