Speeches by Swann.

“I welcome the Minister to her place. I worked with her predecessors when I was Health Minister in Northern Ireland, when this Bill first came about. I am sorry to disappoint the hon. Members for Windsor (Jack Rankin) and for City of Durham (Mary Kelly Foy), because this legislation started its iterations under the prev…”

“May I start by condemning the attack on the ambulances of the Hatzola community ambulance service over the weekend? A core tenet of our system and beliefs is that of civil and religious liberty for all. Does the Minister agree that we all have a role to play in upholding that core British tenet?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I congratulate the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on bringing forward the report, and the Chair, the hon. Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi), on the way she has stewarded the debate and taken evidence from so many groups. Bringing forward a unanimous r…”

“I do accept that point. If the hon. Gentleman looks back to my contribution in that debate at the end of January, he will see that I made that same point, because I could not understand why the Government were in such a rush to bring forward a piece of legislation that was not actually necessary, as he indicated.”

“The right hon. Member is correct. That appeal was being heard at the time, and I remember those issues being raised. I am conscious that this debate is on the Select Committee report, and I want to congratulate the work that has been done, and its sensitivity in balancing victims and veterans. Over the past number of w…”

“Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-operative Society relies on a supply of glass eels to meet its regulatory commitment to be a sustainable eel fishery, but the supply from GB rivers is now being blocked because of EU wildlife trade regulations. That issue has been raised with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Aff…”

“The Solicitor General will know that 29 women have been murdered since 2020 in Northern Ireland—we have seen a significant increase in femicide. Will she give me an assurance that she will continue to engage with Northern Ireland’s Attorney General and Justice Minister to ensure that prosecution rates are also increase…”

“Thanks for coming along, Minister. This ties in with your closing point. You have mentioned other Government Departments’ role in your strategy, but also recognised the devolved nature of things. You referred to the post-conflict influence in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Executive Office report, Every Voice M…”

“The right hon. Lady says that the system is unfair. Does she agree that charging interest rates during maternity and paternity leave is also unfair? It disadvantages people in the workplace, especially women, who have worked hard to get into progressive careers through university education, and they are penalised at th…”

“On that point, does the Minister agree that there is another way? The Open University also allows people to earn and learn at the same time. The situation is not as simple as university or apprenticeship. There is a middle way and, as a former graduate of the Open University, I encourage the Government to support it.”

“To explore that a bit, what engagement are you having with the Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland women’s organisations? I am thinking of the Training for Women Network and people like that. That message is very important in Northern Ireland. There was a campaign in regards to combating loan sharks with re…”

“You will know that I have asked you in the Chamber about the legacy Bill that the Northern Ireland Office is bringing forward and the fact that sexual offences are not specifically listed as one of the crimes that the commission will look at in a historic nature. The work of the Committee here has actually recommended …”

“It does, Gordon, but I suppose it raises another. You mentioned the gaps that others are becoming aware of, and you are obviously aware of those gaps as well. What actions are you and law enforcement taking to close those gaps at speed?”

“A significant expectation of the common travel area via the land border being used for the purposes of both irregular migration and criminal activity has been reported. Has the scale or nature of that changed in recent years?”

“Is the MOU in that operational environment still with the Department of Justice or is it with PSNI in partnership with its policing plan?”

“Rob, the NCA went operational in 2013, and has been operational in Northern Ireland since 2016. I was in the Assembly and I remember those debates and discussions about allowing that authorisation. That was by agreement between the NCA director general and the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice. Is there an opportuni…”

“One final point: you spoke about money laundering on either side of the border. Following up on Ms Hanna’s question, does the agency have a fiscal limit where you investigate or you do not? Is there a trigger point?”

“To follow up on Simon’s point, I think the Irish Government put out figures on the numbers of asylum claims that they said had come via the UK to Northern Ireland and to the Republic of Ireland. It will be strange if the Irish Government have some way of capturing that data but we don’t.”

“Are you in conversations with the PSNI about the usage of it?”

“Rob, you used the phrase “multi-agency teams” when you were talking about commodities. Does that include the Irish Government as well? I am sure you are aware of some recent media coverage where drug smugglers were saying, “Look, don’t enter British waters; stay in Irish waters when you want to land.” It was cocaine at…”