Jim Allister MP: speeches

Speeches

• 21 Jan 2025 · Southport Attack · Hansard source

  More

  As we reflect on the horror of the murder of these three young girls, we all have many questions, as do the public. Will the inquiry’s terms of reference permit an answer to this question: how far was the inaction by the various agencies influenced by fear of disturbing race or community relations? Was that a factor in the inaction? We have heard that there were three ineffective referrals to Prevent, and have heard of 162 other referrals to Prevent. Has the adequacy of the response to those referrals been reviewed?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Foot and Mouth Disease · Hansard source

  More

  Does the Minister accept that the reason why he cannot provide national protection for Northern Ireland is that this House has surrendered the right to make such regulations? They cannot even be made in Stormont, because only a foreign Parliament is now entitled to make them. Therefore, we in Northern Ireland do not have the same protections for our farmers and their livelihoods that are afforded elsewhere. The ban is restricted to products coming from the affected areas in Germany. Given that context, will we see the absurdity that we have seen in response to bluetongue, whereby cattle and livestock from mainland Europe can transit through GB to Northern Ireland and, indeed, anywhere in the island of Ireland, despite the ban? Is that same loophole going to apply in this case?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

  More

  This week, the Prime Minister has spoken of the unbridled economic opportunities from developing artificial intelligence. It is not an unbridled opportunity for Northern Ireland, because instead of living under British regulations on AI, we live under much more restrictive EU regulations. When will the Secretary of State move to release Northern Ireland from the restrictions, under the EU, of foreign jurisdiction?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

  More

  Given President Trump’s antipathy to the EU, how does the Prime Minister hope to obtain a trade deal for the whole United Kingdom in circumstances where the trade laws affecting part of the United Kingdom—namely Northern Ireland—are the EU’s trade laws, and where the laws governing goods and standards for what can be imported are EU laws? In those circumstances, how can a deal be obtained for the whole United Kingdom, or is the Prime Minister only interested in a deal that would apply to GB, thereby further ostracising Northern Ireland from the Union?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Coastguard Helicopter Services · Hansard source

  More

  On the point about the necessity to retain flexibility in the service, my North Antrim constituency has, of course, the glorious north Antrim coast, which is not only beautiful but dangerous at times. We have had the necessity and benefit, from time to time, of the assistance of the rescue helicopter from Prestwick, and no later than 15 December when, sadly, my constituent Nigel Gordon lost his life at Torr head. Does the right hon. Member agree that it is imperative that there is maximum flexibility going forward, for the benefit of not just those in the immediate vicinity of a base but those who can draw on the services in emergencies?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Coastguard Helicopter Services · Hansard source

  More

  While we are on statistics, can the hon. Member tell us how many times he has spoken in this Chamber?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Coastguard Helicopter Services · Hansard source

  More

  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 14 Jan 2025 · UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue · Hansard source

  More

  Did the Chancellor raise any concerns, or indeed does she have any concerns, about the Confucius Institute, the Chinese Government-backed operation we see across the United Kingdom? And what answer did she get with respect to Jimmy Lai?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Agricultural and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  Does the right hon. Gentleman also accept that the measure has an inequitable application across the United Kingdom? In some parts, land values are higher than others. In Northern Ireland they are the highest, therefore one will reach the £1 million threshold sooner with less acreage there than elsewhere. Where we have a concentration of family farms, that will have a crippling effect on future generations.

• 13 Jan 2025 · Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan · Hansard source

  More

  The Secretary of State makes clear his ambition to make the United Kingdom the frontier home of choice for AI firms, and he hopes to see a significant increase in data centres. I trust that his ambition will be fulfilled. The Republic of Ireland, our neighbour, has been very successful in securing multiple data centres, primarily because of its very competitive corporation tax rate. Is a competitive corporation tax rate the missing component that would bring all this work together?

• 8 Jan 2025 · Draft Official Controls (Amendment) Regulations 2024 · Hansard source

  More

  Regulation 2017/625 goes to the very heart of the territorial integrity of this United Kingdom. Under the protocol and the Windsor framework, Northern Ireland is subject to all that regulation’s controls. Our High Court in Belfast, as endorsed by the Court of Appeal, has said that the effect of the regulation is to make Northern Ireland the entry point to the EU. The constitutional significance of that is immense, because it means that when you leave Great Britain and go to the other part of the United Kingdom—Northern Ireland—you are in effect entering the EU, when it comes to all the laws pertaining to goods. You are entering the single market—the EU’s regime and customs code—hence the EU’s insistence on the Irish sea border to distinguish and to give effect to the fact that, under this regulation, when you move from GB to Northern Ireland, you are entering EU territory. Regulation 2017/625 is fundamental to the people who I represent in Northern Ireland, because it puts in lights the fact that we are no longer a full, proper part of the United Kingdom. What the Minister outlined today partly illustrates that. If Committee members look at regulation 14(b), which we are considering today, they will see that it expressly talks about consignments entering not the United Kingdom, but Great Britain. Why is that? It is because, as I have said, Northern Ireland is now deemed to be EU territory in those terms. Under the Windsor framework, therefore, this Government and their predecessor, having surrendered those powers to the EU under regulation 2017/625, cannot provide for the entry of consignments of goods to the United Kingdom; they can provide for the entry of consignments of goods only to Great Britain. Where are those entry points? One of them, of course, is that which divides—the crossing of the Irish sea from Northern Ireland. Regulation 14(b) underscores the fact that we have partitioned our United Kingdom with a foreign regulatory border. It reflects the fact that all this Parliament can now do, under the Windsor framework, is make regulations for consignments of goods entering GB. Consignments of goods entering GB, because they are coming from EU territory, have to be subject to documentary checks or an inspection. When the Windsor framework was first sold to the people of Northern Ireland, it was presented as affecting the flow of goods only from GB to Northern Ireland. Now we see that, in effect, it will equally apply to the flow of goods from Northern Ireland to GB. I would like to hear from the Minister where those checks are going to be on consignments coming from a part of the United Kingdom to the mainland of the United Kingdom. Can the Minister tell us that? That comes on top of the quite audacious suggestion that there should be checks at all on goods being brought from one part of the United Kingdom to another. Once again, this is a regulation that puts the spotlight on how far my part of the United Kingdom has been pushed out of the United Kingdom and into and under EU control. In consequence, the Parliament of the United Kingdom is now unable or unwilling to legislate for the passage of goods from one part of the United Kingdom to another. That is what you are being asked to do here today. I, for one, do not think that that is in any sense constitutionally, politically or economically acceptable.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Draft Official Controls (Amendment) Regulations 2024 · Hansard source

  More

  How can there be unfettered access from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, as is assured in the words of the Windsor framework, if, at the same time, regulation 14 provides for checks on goods coming into Great Britain, which must include goods coming from Northern Ireland? How can there be unfettered access if goods are subject to checks?

• 8 Jan 2025 · Scotland: Transport Links · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under you, Mrs Lewell-Buck. I want to focus my remarks on the A75. As has already been alluded to, it is a vital artery for Northern Ireland, because through it and from it pass most of our incoming and outgoing goods. It is a road on which the HGV traffic is so heavy that, for many, it is a torture to drive its 95 miles. The last figures I saw indicated that, surprisingly, 20% of all vehicles on the A75 are HGVs. Considering that only 1.3% of all registered vehicles are HGVs, that demonstrates just how oversubscribed the A75 is and therefore how inadequate its infrastructure is for that sort of traffic. We have had promises of upgrades for years, and some upgrades have happened, but there are key pinch points at Crocketford and Springholm that are in desperate need of improvement. Things have even got worse in the last month because, with the closure of the Holyhead ferry terminal, the increase in traffic volume on the A75 is phenomenal. It is costing business by reason of the delays. It is also costing lives, as the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (John Cooper) said, which is a more important issue. It is many years since I heard promises from Alex Salmond and others about the dualling of the A75. It needs to be delivered. I support the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway in pressing the Government on the answer on the Union connectivity review promise of money—I think the initial tranche was £8 million—to pursue some of these issues. Is that £8 million still available? Has it been reduced? Has it been increased because of the cancellation of HS2? Where is it? The fundamental question is not what will be promised, but what will be delivered. We have waited far too long. I ask this new Government to show that they are a United Kingdom Government by addressing this road, which is a key link: it links one part of this United Kingdom to the rest, and onwards. Let us get the A75 sorted out at last, please.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Pro-democracy Campaigners: Arrests · Hansard source

  More

  What oversight is there by the Foreign Office of our devolved institutions’ connections with China? I ask because Simon Cheng, a pro-democracy Hong Kong activist who is in exile because he was tortured in China, has properly criticised the fact that when the First Ministers of Northern Ireland recently had contact with Chinese authorities, they refused to publish a record of those meetings. What oversight is there to ensure that we are presenting a united front across the United Kingdom to China?

• 7 Jan 2025 · Crown Estate Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  The point I am making is that the tension in the Bill between the environmental impacts and sustainable development—the codeword for offshore wind—is out of kilter. It is very much weighted in favour of offshore wind, with little or no regard, it would seem, given to the environmental impacts. I am simply saying to the House that we need to have regard to both. I do not think we serve future generations well if we surrender the beauty and serenity of the coastline that we enjoy, to be blotted for years to come by huge offshore wind farms. Offshore wind farms have their place, but that is not in every place—that, I think, is the key point. Take the Giant’s Causeway, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. Are we saying there should be giant wind farms shortly beyond it? What would that do for the UNESCO setting of the Giant’s Causeway, or for other sites around the United Kingdom? I am therefore advocating caution. I am advocating that we remember that it is about not just offshore wind farms, but preserving and protecting our environment and getting the balance right, and I am not sure that the Bill does that.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Crown Estate Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  I can well understand the need to update the Crown Estate Act, particularly in regard to the financial reach of the Crown Estate and the assistance that it may require. It is perfectly clear in this debate that Members have rightly discerned that the real driving force behind this legislation is to twin the promotion of offshore wind energy with Great British Energy. That seems to be the primary motivation behind much of the Bill. If the Government create circumstances where the Crown Estate is required and facilitated to increase its own financial success and they twin it with the promotion of GB Energy, they inevitably incentivise the development of offshore wind, which has its part to play, but it is not the answer to all our needs. In Northern Ireland I have seen proposals for offshore energy, particularly in the South Down area, that have provoked great and rightful opposition from the fishing industry, leading to substantial difficulties. Yet it is quite clear that where the Bill talks about sustainable development, it is not in respect of the historic use of our seas as fishing grounds but in respect of our seas as sites for offshore wind energy. As another hon. Member said, there is a tension between offshore wind farms and fishing. It seems from the Bill that the Government have made up their mind about which is the priority. We have heard in this debate that the definition of sustainable development specific to the Bill will be very much orientated to the climate change theology. It will therefore place the need for wind farms above the needs of the fishing industry, which will not serve the interests of our coastal communities well. There is a need to reinstate some balance in that regard. There is an interesting contrast between clause 3, which focuses on sustainable development, with the obvious meaning I have referenced, and clause 5, which I know the Government have said they will be removing. In clause 5, which relates to salmon farming, one of the matters to be looked at is the environmental impact; however, when it comes to wind farms, there is no requirement to look at the environmental impact—only at sustainable development, which is couched in terms that favour offshore wind development. I think of my own constituency of North Antrim, where there are already proposals to put huge offshore wind farms not far offshore, just beyond the territory that contains the wonderful Giant’s Causeway and Rathlin island—cheek by jowl, coastwise, with areas of outstanding natural beauty. I do not think that would enhance the coastline or the waters in and around North Antrim. There have been similar proposals off Portstewart in County Londonderry. When I read the Bill, it seems to me that the incentivising—it is much more than a nudge—is towards pushing along offshore wind farms with little regard, and certainly no corresponding regard, to the environmental impacts that they could have on whole communities.

• 6 Jan 2025 · Support for Veterans · Hansard source

  More

  Just before Christmas, we had the welcome announcement of a new veterans commissioner in Northern Ireland, Mr David Johnstone. Although I am sure the Minister will join me in wishing him well in his new post, it is a part-time post, it has only two seconded staff and it is not on a statutory basis like elsewhere. Will the Government put that post on a statutory basis so that the many veterans in Northern Ireland can have the service they deserve?

• 17 Dec 2024 · National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  When we talk about national insurance, it is easy to forget that it is only part of the tax burden placed upon employers. However, within the matrix of tax, the reach of national insurance that has been delivered by the change is truly shocking, particularly because of the reduction of the threshold to £5,000. I suspect that will mean that there is not a single person who does a part-time job whose employer will not now be paying 15% national insurance. Before we even come to the viability of the business they work for, that makes the viability of that job questionable. To reduce the threshold by that amount is the most punitive part of the measure. It is not even tempered, as it could have been, by a phased reduction, so rather than paying 15%, someone could pay a lower amount, such as 5%, if the threshold was reduced to £5,000. The measure is excessively punitive and will hit many small businesses in everyone’s constituency, including mine. I think of small businesses throughout North Antrim. They employ six, seven, eight or 10 people, and may stretch to take on an extra worker, but they will not be stretching like that any more. They will be stretching the other way, because the consequence of the measure is putting them over the edge in terms of what is affordable. I am talking not just about small businesses but about a vast swathe of a critical sector that keeps our society in operation. Our community and voluntary sector will be among those most cruelly affected and particularly those who are often doing the job of Government, delivering services in our community. They will bear it unabated, without any assistance such as the assistance that the public sector will have. I was interested to receive and to read the report from the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, which is clear that whereas public sector organisations will have their budgets on this aspect reimbursed, voluntary and community sector organisations will not have the same protection. They will have to absorb the budget increase. Yet, as I have said, many of those in the voluntary and community sector deliver services on behalf of Government. The public sector therefore gets matters ameliorated, but those that deliver services for Government in the voluntary and community sector will not. That will have an effect not just on those organisations, but on the services they deliver and, therefore, on all our constituents to whom those services are delivered. When we ally 15% on national insurance with the increase in the living wage, we have a double whammy. The two together are the very thing that will produce a negative outcome. The hospitality sector in my constituency, as a sector that already runs on relatively small margins and employs a lot of part-time people who will now fall within the ambit of employers’ national insurance, has drawn attention to the fact that the increase, along with the living wage increase, will impose a huge burden. Indeed, the sector’s organisation has suggested that the living wage and national insurance increases will add £2,500 a year for every employee. What business, in current circumstances, can simply shrug that off and carry on unaffected? There will be very few, indeed. The consequences will be substantial and will affect many small businesses, be it the butcher on our high street, our community services provided by voluntary organisations, our doctors or our dentists. The latter are already under huge pressure and many are giving up national health service provision. Why? It is because they cannot make ends meet. Then, Government come along and put this burden upon them. I therefore say to the Government that, yes, they have the numbers that mean they can close their ears to all of this. They can impose this if that is their will, but in imposing it they will do irreparable damage to those who they say they care about. This is a wake-up moment. If the Government truly care about ordinary people, whose jobs will be lost and who will be affected by this measure, and about ordinary businesses, which are not rolling in riches but making ends meet, they need to find a way to readdress this issue and to bring back some viability, going forward, for those businesses.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report · Hansard source

  More

  Is not the appalling message from the Government today that maladministration pays? If, as here, we have nationwide maladministration and no consequences, what other conclusion could one reach? What is the point of an ombudsman if the Government can be the judge in their own cause and dispense with the findings? Surely, the whole purpose of finding maladministration is to ensure that the maladministrator pays.

• 16 Dec 2024 · “Get Britain Working” White Paper: Employers · Hansard source

  More

  E-commerce is a growing part of our economy. Will the Minister spare a thought for small-scale employers in my constituency and throughout Northern Ireland, who. since Friday, have seen their supply chain clobbered by the imposition on Northern Ireland of the EU’s general product safety regulations? Because of the extra paperwork and the need to pay an agent in Northern Ireland, many suppliers in Great Britain are now refusing to sell to Northern Ireland. Will this Government ever take steps to reintegrate Northern Ireland into the internal market—

• 16 Dec 2024 · Royal Mail Takeover · Hansard source

  More

  When I visited the two depots in my constituency last week—I join Members in thanking our posties—I noticed how run down and aged the van fleets are. Will there be an upgrade of Royal Mail fleets as part of this deal? Given the Minister has said that the Government’s golden share does not extend, maybe understandably, to operational matters, is the takeaway today that there can be no assurance for my rural constituents that their service will be maintained at the level that they expect?

• 11 Dec 2024 · Puberty-suppressing Hormones · Hansard source

  More

  I certainly welcome the Secretary of State’s extension of the ban on the prescription of puberty blockers. I want to ask him whether he has more information for us on the criteria that will apply for entry into the clinical trials. Will there, for example, be a minimum age? Will parental consent be required? Both those things seem to be important, so may I have assurance on those two points?

• 9 Dec 2024 · Syria · Hansard source

  More

  May I bring the Foreign Secretary back to a point raised by the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), which I do not think he fully addressed? Will he assure the House that the Government will block any asylum applications from Assad’s acolytes in the years ahead?

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  My Bill is about seeking to restore democracy to the arrangements. That is why I want to take back from Brussels control over our laws. My Bill is a charter for democratic progress. The present arrangements are the antithesis of democratic operation.

• 6 Dec 2024 · European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  The EU has behaved not as a friend to Northern Ireland. The EU has behaved as a sovereignty grabber in respect of Northern Ireland. That is where it caused, and continues to cause, the offence. If hon. Members think it is a good thing to back that up and endorse it, they obviously do not think very much of the territory of Northern Ireland.