Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: ...Northern Ireland in the past. In recent debates, Members of this House warned us that, if we did not accept what was offered in the Windsor Framework, we would be heading to joint authority between London and Dublin. That was the big stick that was wielded over our heads. Yet in the other place yesterday—this is amazing—the Alliance Member of Parliament, Stephen Farry, said “I too am...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: ...made against us that is not factual. It is also true that the majority of Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU; that is a fact. But so did the majority in Scotland, so did the majority in London, and so did the majority in other regions and parts of the United Kingdom. It is interesting that no one suggests that those counties or regions should be subjected to foreign laws and the...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent research conducted by Imperial College London entitled Mortality from leading cancers in districts of England from 2002 to 2019: a population-based, spatiotemporal study, published in The Lancet Oncology on 11 December, which found that the risk of dying from cancer in poorer areas of England is more than 70 per cent...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: ...year while the health service is already understaffed. To pay the nurses a proper wage, as negotiated on the mainland, more cuts will have to come. That is at a time when the Government here in London boast that they plan to train thousands more nurses and doctors. Under New Decade, New Approach, we were promised that police numbers would be 7,500, but while in England the Government boast...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: ...felt by the unionist population, who feel that they have been treated as third-class citizens by their own Government because of the iniquitous Northern Ireland protocol, which was agreed between London and Brussels deliberately over their heads. Unionists will not permit us to be treated like an EU colony. We shed our blood to maintain our British heritage, and will not accept the...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: My Lords, a person recently booked a single ticket for a flight from Belfast to London which cost £420. This would be the same as the cost of a flight from London to the United States of America. There are few other modes of transport between Belfast and London, so how are families expected to pay such exorbitant prices and what real action can the Government take to assist them?
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: ...people are subjected to unlimited fines and six months, or even two years, in prison for merely expressing opinions. There are those who quite often—daily—are protesting and holding the city of London and the travelling public along the motorways to ransom, with even ambulances and patients proceeding to hospital to get emergency operations or treatment being stopped in those protests,...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: ...in the Belfast agreement. Indeed, he said the Irish Sea border demolishes the key premise of the 1998 Belfast agreement and rips the heart out of it. This is in spite of the assurances from Europe, London, America and so on, and even in this House, that nothing will or can be done to undermine the Belfast agreement. What they really mean is that nothing must be done to upset Sinn Féin, as...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: ...” and that universities could be fined if they fail to protect free speech on campus. But recently a 71 year-old pastor was forcibly pulled down from the steps on which he was standing in west London and led away with his hands cuffed behind his back for exercising his religious liberty to preach. He suffered some injury to his wrists and elbow. Recently, Blackpool Council banned adverts...
William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests have been made of suspects affiliated to ISIL in London during the last three months.
William McCrea: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to help businesses in the construction sector outside London.
William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Class 3 mobility scooters have been registered for road use in London in each of the last three years.
William McCrea: Did the Foreign Secretary or the Prime Minister have any discussions with the Prime Minister of Israel on his recent visit to London, or can he say when he last discussed the middle east peace process with the Prime Minister of Israel?
William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will make representations to Virgin Airlines requesting that they commence flights from Belfast International airport to London Heathrow.
William McCrea: ...than being subject to the accountability of using it for representing constituents. On the scrutiny of MPs’ expenses, it was interesting to note that one Sinn Fein Member made a single flight to London from Northern Ireland, yet they claimed £18,000 that year for accommodation. I do not know what hotel they were staying in or what champagne they were drinking, but it must have been very...
William McCrea: ...great heritage, and one which is our responsibility, privilege and duty to hand on to posterity”. We want the Olympics to be a success and to be of great economic and social benefit not just to London, but to the whole United Kingdom, but those who suggest that these Sunday opening hours are somehow going to have minimal economic impact and are the answer to our economic ills are living...
William McCrea: Does my hon. Friend agree that the warmth of the welcome that visitors will receive in Northern Ireland is beyond compare? Will he also acknowledge that when people come to the Olympics and to London, which will be the focal point, it is vital that they are encouraged to cross to Northern Ireland to see the beauty of our Province?
William McCrea: .... I suppose that, to a certain extent, that criticism is valid. We are, after all, the only people I know of in the United Kingdom who express happiness in a negative way. If one asks someone from London, “How are you?” I suggest that they would probably answer, “I am well, thank you.” Ask an Ulsterman, and one will usually be told two words: “Not bad.” Despite our perceived...
William McCrea: ...is really wonderful today. Let me return to the good news from our small yet vital part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland’s unemployment rate is the lowest of any country in the UK. After London, Belfast is the most attractive city in the UK for foreign direct investment. Belfast is among the top 10 cities in the world for financial technology investments, ahead of Glasgow, Dublin...
William McCrea: I have little time and I want to complete the few remarks that I believe need to be put on the record. On 7 July 2005, the attack on London's public transport system surely reminded us that there is a vicious and evil terrorist threat against the United Kingdom. In the House the other day, I said that the Government's first responsibility is to protect the law-abiding community, and that...