Gregory Campbell MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Sept 2026 · Residential Buildings: Safety Remediation · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member talked about publication of the audit, with which I hope everyone will agree. Does he agree that it should be shared across the nations of the UK in order that all our Executives—the Parliaments in Scotland and Wales and the Executive in Northern Ireland—can take action where that is appropriate?

• 9 Sept 2026 · Public Confidence in the Police · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that confidence in policing is often undermined by the public’s use of finite clips on social media, which do not take account of what happened immediately before whatever incident is broadcast? Senior police officers and Government Ministers need to respond quickly in respect of the entire environment around the clip. We all remember the attacks in Manchester where, initially, videos seemed to show police officers overreacting, but a few weeks later the reality of what actually happened came to light. More account needs to be taken of the environment in which clips that undermine confidence are used.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Safety of the Jewish Community · Hansard source

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  A few years ago, we had an appalling incident when a reporter of Jewish extraction, from Israel, was in licensed premises in Northern Ireland. He was coolly and calmly asking punters, some of whom were not under the excessive influence of alcohol, what problem they had with Jewish people, and one punter said, live on television: “The only problem with Hitler was that he didn’t kill enough Jews.” I raised with the Public Prosecution Service why that person was not subject to prosecution; I could not get a legitimate answer about a comment made live on television to a Jewish reporter.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Safety of the Jewish Community · Hansard source

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  That incident happened in my city at the weekend. Jewish athletes from Israel were forced to withdraw from the triathlon as a result of the hateful bile of these hard-left bigots. They complain about the far right, but we have to be consistent in any criticism and calling out of violent rhetoric, whether on the right or the left. Such antisemitic terrorism has to be called out and hopefully prevented in the future.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Conflict in Sudan · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman referred to the need for a humanitarian response. Does he agree that that can have an impact only if it is internationally co-ordinated? The scale of the catastrophe in Sudan is such that anything less that will be a piecemeal gesture.

• 2 Sept 2026 · EU Membership Referendum: Impact on the UK · Hansard source

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  On the economy, does the hon. Gentleman remember, as I do, the weeks before the referendum, when we were told amid all the scaremongering that if we voted to leave, house prices would decline by 28%? They did not. We were also told that unemployment would rise, but it did not. Does he recall those scaremongering headlines?

• 2 Sept 2026 · EU Membership Referendum: Impact on the UK · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that a classic example of that, which we had some time ago, was when companies selling plants and seeds in Great Britain could not supply them to Northern Ireland, but people could buy them here and take them over on a plane? That was all down to the Windsor framework and the subsequent hash that Governments have made of the Brexit vote.

• 1 Sept 2026 · Face-to-Face Banking: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member agree that the scale of closures is phenomenal and that while the banking hub roll-out is welcome in rural areas such as mine and hers, the scale of the closures is defeating that roll-out? We need an increase in the number of banking hubs to meet the demand on the streets.

• 15 Jul 2026 · Regional Accents and Social Mobility · Hansard source

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  This is a serious issue—we must ensure that people are not disadvantaged for any type of accent—but does my hon. Friend agree there is sometimes a humorous side, as we saw this week in the European Parliament? A Sinn Féin MEP complained that they were not allowed to speak in Irish. When the chair reminded him that they could, the MEP replied that he was not prepared, so he would speak in English instead. It can be humorous—even if slightly embarrassing at times.

• 8 Jul 2026 · Community Cohesion · Hansard source

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  Community cohesion is important, both racially and politically. Everyone accepts that political leaders and others have to be cognisant of what they say and what they do, and whenever we are all remembering our dead, as we do, no one denies republicans the right to remember their dead. Does the Secretary of State agree, however, that if a political leader, such as the First Minister—Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill—not only remembers republican dead, but lauds, praises and defends their indefensible actions, that does great harm to community cohesion?

• 8 Jul 2026 · Draft UK-EU Agreement on Gibraltar · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate. He mentioned cross-party support; does he agree that, as far as we are able to ascertain, the people of Gibraltar are glad that there is cross-party support for their position in this House, and that we must try to maintain that to ensure the safety and security of the people on the Rock of Gibraltar?

• 8 Jul 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q10. The Government have said that higher taxes are needed to fund rising welfare spending. In Northern Ireland, my party’s Communities Minister is taking action to reduce welfare fraud and error. Discussions were held between the Treasury and the Department that would have allowed Northern Ireland Departments to retain a share of any savings to invest directly in public services, but those proposals were blocked by Sinn Féin. Will the Deputy Prime Minister ensure that the incoming Prime Minister will look at that approach again so that we can tackle benefit fraud and protect taxpayers’ money as well as delivering real benefits for communities across all of Northern Ireland?

• 7 Jul 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. Will the Secretary of State consult the devolved regions on the roll-out of small modular reactors, so that all the consumer and job opportunity benefits can be shared right across the whole United Kingdom?

• 7 Jul 2026 · UK Aid Policy: Global Funding Trends · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member agree that one of the most cost-effective ways of helping, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, is to allow local people to avail themselves of clean drinking water, which can transform lives?

• 1 Jul 2026 · MPs’ Second Jobs: Prohibition · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this timely debate. He is rightly elaborating on the need for more transparency, and he just alluded to the 10 Members whose second job income comprises the vast majority of the total. When this debate comes into the public domain, the question that always runs beside it is, “What do we need to pay MPs to preclude the need or the desire for second jobs?” Does he agree that that issue has to be dealt with, and does he think the public would be satisfied with a salary for MPs of £120,000 or £150,000 in order to preclude a small number from earning massive sums?

• 1 Jul 2026 · MPs’ Second Jobs: Prohibition · Hansard source

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  On the issue of any complexity adversely affecting a Member’s ability in the House, does my hon. Friend agree that while we all should be open and transparent and the register should be kept up to date, as the mover of the motion said, the final arbiter on all these issues has to be the voters? When the voters decide that a small number of MPs may be getting extraordinarily large, unacceptably large, sums of money, they decide at the election that they do not want that and they replace them with someone else.

• 30 Jun 2026 · Steel Tariffs: Northern Ireland · Hansard source

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  The Minister has been very clear and open about offering the problem companies that are having difficulties a meeting with his officials. He has heard the number of people who have requested meetings. Will he agree to inform each Northern Ireland MP before the summer recess in 14 days’ time that either those meetings have taken place or of the dates when they will take place, to avoid any possible ambiguity going forward?

• 30 Jun 2026 · High Streets · Hansard source

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  Yes, I agree. When I conclude, I will try to draw some of these threads together into a proposition that I hope the Minister will consider. Charity shops and vaping shops are now prevalent on many of our high streets. I have sometimes been criticised, unfairly in my view, for being an arch-critic of the BBC. I do not regard myself as an arch-critic of the BBC: I always say that I commend it when it does well and criticise it when it does wrong or shows bias. If I am seeing more reasons to criticise it—well, I will leave people to pass judgment on which is more accurate. I have to say that in the past few months, though, BBC News has been excellent on vaping shops on the high street. It should not have been the BBC that had to do that work, but I am glad that it did.

• 30 Jun 2026 · High Streets · Hansard source

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  I agree. If we are to see the clampdown that the Home Secretary has outlined, as I hope we do, the problems that we are discussing will not get better in the short term. There will be more vacant shops, because illegal shops will be put out of business. That is a good thing, but we need to ensure that there is no gap and we need to get life back into our town centres.

• 30 Jun 2026 · High Streets · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the future of high streets. When I was considering a title for this debate, I toyed with “High streets: a future?” or “High streets: is there a future?”, but I settled on something more neutral. We had a debate on a similar topic this morning in which many of us took part, such is the concern in almost every town and city across the United Kingdom. It is not the case that there is absolute and total dereliction in 100% of town and city centres. Some towns and cities are getting by, but they are the exception, not the rule. Many high streets, unfortunately, have a poor look. In some town centres that I know of, there are shops that have been empty for so long that people have received small grants to paint them as if they were occupied. There is a door front, a window, curtains and some flowers painted to make a passer-by who does not look too closely think that it is an occupied dwelling, when in fact it is an empty shop and has been so for a number of years.

• 30 Jun 2026 · High Streets · Hansard source

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  I agree. The roll-out of banking hubs has helped in a small way, but has made only a marginal difference. The other issue is the difficult problem—or the advantage, as some would see it—of online shopping and its effect on the high street. I go out weekly to distribute my MP business cards on doors in my constituency, in a whole range of areas. On every third or fourth house I see a little Post-it note that says, “Leave the parcel in the garage,” or, “Leave the parcel in the porch.”

• 30 Jun 2026 · High Streets · Hansard source

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  I agree that that is contributing significantly to the downturn.

• 30 Jun 2026 · High Streets · Hansard source

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  I agree, and in a few moments I will talk about some of the positive developments, but they are chinks of light, not the answer. I believe that we need to look at this issue much more radically.

• 30 Jun 2026 · High Streets · Hansard source

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  Yes, I do, and I am glad to hear that. I hope that the Minister can deal with that type of intervention. I secured a similar debate in Westminster Hall just 18 months ago, but unfortunately things have not improved since then. I believe that what we require is a radical, fundamental overhaul of how we develop our town and city centres. I have listened to the right hon. Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham), who will presumably be our next Prime Minister, and he has talked about the promise of devolution and more devolution. I believe that that approach offers the opportunity, whether it is in northern England or southern England, for mayors and others involved with the devolution settlement that exists in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to come together in a format that accepts the need for a radical overhaul of our town centres right across the UK.

• 30 Jun 2026 · High Streets · Hansard source

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  I do not know whether the hon. Member is a mind reader, but I was about to come to that very point. The prevalence of online shopping has dramatically changed the high street. People are free to take advantage of online shopping, but on many occasions it is to the disadvantage of the high street. On numerous occasions, we have heard about things that can help in a small way. For example, urban improvements such as better seating can make town centres more attractive and bring people in. They do help, but they are on the margins.