Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]

Go raibh maith agat, Dame Eleanor. I rise to discuss amendment 6, tabled in my name and those of ...

It is always a pleasure to speak, but it is even more of a pleasure to be called to speak second ...

I congratulate the hon. Member on being called to speak early in the debate. Does he accept that ...

I accept that. The hon. Member for Belfast South (Claire Hanna) explained very well where her par...

The Bill does not reflect the terms agreed in New Decade, New Approach—in fact, it goes well beyo...

I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention. I believe that he is absolutely right.

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

In a wee second. First let me say that we have real concerns about what is proposed in the Bill. ...

I have clearly understood. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and the right hon. Member...

You do.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I suspect that, at the moment, what the Government are doing...

Thank you.

Just to clarify, I do not know how much the hon. Gentlemen are in touch with the voting public, b...

I am happy to platform Unionism and more than happy to voice the Unionist opinion, which comes cl...

My hon. Friend will set out our aspirations in the amendments we have tabled. Those amendments ar...

I will make that point very clearly. My hon. Friend is right. That is our plea to the Minister. H...

May I say very politely to the hon. Gentleman that I have had conversations with the Minister of ...

The hon. Gentleman has a point of view that it will not surprise him and many others to hear I di...

I call the Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). I was not intending to s...

rose—

Of course, I give way not only to a distinguished former Minister, but to the newest member of my...

I thank the Chair of the Committee, and it is a pleasure to intervene on him. Further to his poin...

My hon. Friend, as always, is absolutely right. Just as the Welsh language is not owned by Plaid ...

Anyone listening to the speech that the hon. Gentleman has made so far might get the impression t...

I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman enjoys all of those things that he has set out to the Com...

This of course is not about friendships; it is about actions and about what is right. What is not...

The hon. Gentleman misconstrues what I am saying. My support for the Bill is not based upon the f...

Thank you, Dame Eleanor, for calling me in the debate. Its focus has already tended to drift towa...

rose—

Of course, I give way to another Ulster Scot.

It is not just something that is contemporary. The view from the Glens of Antrim is beautiful, bu...

I thank my right hon. Friend for that point, which he makes powerfully.

When we deal with i...

Even those are not protected. The powers of the commissioner are to give guidance, not direction,...

I thank my right hon. Friend for making that very important point about the powers of the commiss...

Who’s laughing?

Laughing and pouring scorn on their identity leaves Unionists—[Interruption.] “I’m laughing at yo...

The reality is that under the office of identity there are a number of principles set out about h...

My right hon. Friend really drives home the point. The problem is that it is not one or two minor...

Go raibh míle maith agat, Dame Eleanor. I rise to proudly support the Bill and I welcome the fact...

I thank the hon. Member for making that point, because that diversity is there every single day o...

I disagree; I think that the Bill is a good, honest attempt at getting these proposals over the l...

I thank the hon. Member for giving me a useful opportunity to make this point. The hon. Member fo...

I am grateful to the hon. Member for his intervention. It did take the use of the d’Hondt method ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way; he is a good and fair man, as I know because I am on t...

I want to listen to reasoned arguments. Some of the DUP amendments may well have merit, but I am ...

With the greatest respect to the hon. Member, no DUP Member has said what he just suggested. We a...

With all due respect, I have been listening. People are entitled to look back through Hansard to ...

It is the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill—identity, not culture.

Yes, but identity is not something that we should see in a polarised way. That is the point that ...

The hon. Member touches on an important point. I am not prepared to have my aspiration determined...

I am grateful to the right hon. Member for his comments, but I fear he has misunderstood what I a...

You will know, Dame Eleanor, as we know, that Northern Ireland works best when our communities fe...

Will the hon. Member give way?

No, I will not.

Will the hon. Member retract that?

I will not retract what I have said. It is absolutely correct: you stood shoulder to shoulder dur...

I rise to reinforce what my hon. Friend says about councils. Newry, Mourne and Down District Coun...

At a significant cost, no doubt, to the ratepayer.

Ultimately, in the delivery of visible a...

First, I want to make it clear that, although the Bill was part of the NDNA agreement, the priori...

Just let me say to the right hon. Gentleman that he should not worry about it; we will talk about...

I assure the Minister that I am not worried about it, just in case he thought I was. But he must ...

I will deal with the things that the right hon. Gentleman is raising when I come to my remarks, b...

I would be interested to hear how the Minister has pandered to the DUP on this Bill. We have high...

My right hon. Friend mentions putting up a stone or memorial, or planting a rose bush, to commemo...

My hon. Friend makes a good point. That controversy might indicate the political colour of some o...

Order. I hesitate to interrupt the right hon. Gentleman. I have not set any time limits or restri...

I will, of course, obey your request, Dame Eleanor.

Can the Minister show how that discrepa...

I thank the hon. Members for North Dorset (Simon Hoare), for Belfast South (Claire Hanna) and for...

This is a point of information, which I hope will be of service to the House. To be fair to the G...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but I did not say that; I said that when the dra...

I am grateful to the right hon. Member for giving way, but will he bring a little clarity to some...

I agree that we want the political institutions to be up and running. We have often heard from ot...

I congratulate the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr Ba...

Before the hon. Gentleman moves off Ulster-Scots, I understand and respect him for his meetings w...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and for the comments he made earlier, wh...

What a debate it has been. Such passion and fire in Committee is relatively unusual, and I am gra...

rose—

I am very short of time, but I will give way.

I understand that, but I think that it is important to put this point on the record. We have hear...

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for putting that on the record. I am also conscious that...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

First and foremost, I want to than...

The Labour party supports this Bill because it broadly reflects the New Decade, New Approach agre...

I will detain the House for only a few seconds, Mr Deputy Speaker. On Second Reading I mentioned ...

I thank you for your chairmanship of the Committee, Mr Deputy Speaker. At this point in the parli...

This Bill is a very welcome development. It is not the Irish language Act that we would have like...

I will be extremely brief, but I want to thank the Government and all the Members who have suppor...