Northern Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time)

I rise to support the Bill. This is my first speech from the Back Benches in nearly four years, and I am very pleased that we are talking about a Bill that moves forward a process that is very close to my heart and to the hearts of all hon. Members in the House. I am very conscious that the First Minister has not yet had the opportunity to address the House, so I shall drastically curtail my remarks to give him that opportunity. However, I am also very pleased to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan). I did not think that his speech was being inflicted on the House or on me: I enjoyed it, and he raised some serious and substantive points. I hope that my hon. Friend the Minister of State will be able to address them satisfactorily, either when he sums up on Second Reading or on Report. I also enjoyed the retelling by my hon. Friend the Member for Foyle of his line about "vacuous models". I enjoyed it the first, second and even third times that I heard him use it—