Speeches by Swann.

“The Royal Horticultural Society has today launched its report, “Space to Grow”, realising the potential of the community gardening movement. Will the Leader of the House join me in recognising and celebrating the work of Tidy Randalstown in my South Antrim constituency, and look at the opportunity for the Government, a…”

“I will not take the dig about being short personally, Mr Speaker. The industrial strategy and the strategic defence review both offer great opportunities to the entire United Kingdom. Can I seek reassurances from the Minister that he will work with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that Northern Ireland and Nort…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member on securing a debate that focuses specifically on Northern Ireland. Does she agree that what the Treasury and the Government have missed in the proposal is the unique nature of farms in Northern Ireland, where 99% are actually family owned? Even that promise of the opportunity to spread t…”

“I welcome the Minister’s reassurance. The UK shared prosperity fund is about to come to an end, to be replaced by the local growth fund, and voluntary and community organisations in Northern Ireland have real concerns that they will be left in limbo between one ending and the other starting. I recognise what the Minist…”

“May I join the Leader of the House in his acknowledgment of the start of the poppy appeal? Is he aware that our British Legion in Northern Ireland is now required to have an appointed EU rep to handle compliance for safety issues for products distributed, sold or given for donation during the poppy appeal. Does the Lea…”

“As far back as 2019 there was talk of manufacturing and logistics hubs for the Heathrow hub being sited in Northern Ireland. Can the Secretary of State still give a reassurance that the whole of the UK will be considered in support of the manufacture of the third runway, should it go ahead? Will sites be considered in …”

“Third time lucky. I welcome the Minister’s announcement of the fund for life sciences with regard to the companies we have in North Antrim and South Antrim. Could the Minister also ensure that any research and development tax credits that companies can apply for are fully supported, utilised and brought forward at spee…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I am the former Northern Ireland Health Minister, and when the issue of moving away from dental amalgam kicked off, it was quite serious. It was raised by all political parties, the British Dental Association and its representatives in the Northern Ireland A…”

“Chinese officials recently briefed Stormont’s Finance Minister on the status of a local company in his constituency owned by the Chinese state. Information on that briefing, released under the Freedom of Information Act by the Department of Finance, withheld details, citing freedom of information laws that protect conf…”

“Unless a ministerial statement comes in out of left field, but because of our structures in the Northern Ireland Assembly, that very rarely happens. Urgent questions will come in, but they are timebound for half an hour; there are not the extended timings that we sometimes see here. You know that if an urgent question …”

“I am Robin Swann MP, Ulster Unionist MP for South Antrim and leader of the Ulster Unionist party delegation. There is only me.”

“It is an hour and a half—it is. If you go to the Northern Ireland Assembly and have a look around the Chamber, there are two large clocks, which tell you how long you have been speaking for and how long you have left. Those are there to keep Members on track. The Speaker will intervene at four minutes and 45 seconds to…”

“They do. In the Northern Ireland Assembly it is a bit clearer than the Order Paper here. It is very much set out that, for example, there will be a debate between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm, but it can still change should a Minister want to make a statement, for example.”

“Looking at the speaking lists and the way the Northern Ireland Assembly works, it is done by D’Hondt. It depends on party size: it is biggest party, then second party, and you could get a number of speakers from those two parties before you move to the smaller parties at the end. The difference with the Northern Irelan…”

“Politeness and courtesy in the Chamber do not need codification. We are moving far away from who we are and what we are actually meant to be doing, if it is going to be brought in that we have to codify how we speak and when we speak. If the additional onus on speaking lists is codification of how you speak, when you s…”

“It is maybe just us who notice that.”

“I think I have already articulated some of my concerns. Has the Chamber just become somewhere so managed that the spirit of debate gets completely lost? One other thing that has not been touched on is indicative timings. You can look at the Order Paper in the morning and the debate might look as if it is going to last …”