Christopher Stalford
South Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“In the United States of America, you have two schools of thought: the expansionists — the people who do not believe that the Founding Fathers should be taken at their word, or that the Constitution should be interpreted in the strict sense; and the originalists — those who do.”
“Let me make some progress. <BR /> <BR />The key point in the brief is the "particular circumstances" of Northern Ireland. That is, and should be, central to everything that we examine.”
“I do not think that it ever got particularly bad-tempered, so I am disappointed at the tone that was struck in the opening of the debate and in subsequent contributions, but I am not going to lie down like a dog and take it. I am not going to take the rewriting of history.”
“There is one absolute right in law, and that is the right not to be tortured. That is an absolute right that is accepted as a universal right. How many people did the fellow travellers of the party opposite deny that human right to? So I am not going to take that from any Member opposite when it comes to rights.”
“I have stated my position and made it clear that I think that we have a strong human rights framework in Northern Ireland. We have two bodies, established in law, that are dedicated to the protection of human rights and equality. We are one of the most human rights- and fairness-compliant societies in the world. It is important.”
“I appreciate the Member's giving way. She and I served together for many years on Belfast City Council, where people from different and disparate backgrounds had to work together because nobody had a majority. That was just the nature of the place. She talked about respect and disrespect.”
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“I am here to discuss health rather than any existential threats to the Union, but I certainly believe that it would be good to see a bit more unionism put back into the Conservative and Unionist Party. That is a challenge for the Prime Minister to meet over the coming days. <BR /> <BR />Anything undertaken to deny our people medical supplies is not merely the act of some overzealous bureaucrat; it is a deliberate act of cruel aggression and belligerence towards the people of Northern Ireland.”
“No, I do not want to hear from a Brussels cheerleader right now, Mr Dickson, thank you. <BR /> <BR />Anything that places barriers in the way of our people getting access to the medicines and medical equipment that they need is a bad and dangerous thing. I give way to Mr Sheehan.”
“I want to make a few points, and then I will give way to you. <BR /> <BR />This situation demonstrates that the Northern Ireland protocol is bad for your health. Some 98% of all medicines and medical equipment coming into this country come from Great Britain. In that context, it is important that we reflect on the scale of the health challenges that we face. Of course, for the past 14 months, the health service has been focused almost entirely on tackling the threat of COVID-19. As a consequence, 16,000 surgical procedures have been cancelled in this country. More than 320,000 people are on waiting lists, which is one in six of the population. We need the resources. The Minister will say that he needs the money, and I accept that, but we need the resources. It is not simply money and staff that we need but medicines and medical equipment.”
“It is quite clear where the belligerence in this situation has come from, and it has not come from the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland or from the Government of the United Kingdom.”
“Following on from what another colleague from South Belfast Ms Bradshaw said about the erection of barriers, I think that she will find that one of the major reasons why we are in this situation is the callous and spiteful decision, some time ago, of the European Union to invoke article 16 as a means of seeking to deny the people of this country access to EU vaccines. The Health Minister rightly said:”
“We can fight until doomsday about this issue, but I do not wish to refight the 2016 referendum.”
“There is an apocryphal story about an old soldier at the end of the Second World War who did not realise that the Japanese had surrendered and kept on fighting in the jungle for years afterwards. When I hear myself and Matthew O'Toole talk about Brexit, I sometimes think of that as an allegory.”
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Is it appropriate for a Member to question the decision of the Speaker's Office on the tabling of amendments?”
“Further to that point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker, can you clarify that it is standard custom and practice in the House that interventions should be brief and that that intervention was not brief?”
“I am grateful to my friend for giving way. The Member knows that the debate takes place in a context. One of the contexts is that, as a consequence of COVID, we have had to cancel more than 16,000 surgical operations and 320,000-plus people in Northern Ireland are on a waiting list. Does the Member agree that denying those people medicines and access to medical equipment is an act of cruelty?”
“I am fine. I was not aware that I was on the list.”
“I did not anticipate being called for question 8, so I congratulate the Minister on her brevity in getting this far down the list. That said, the Minister has failed to answer my question. I asked her what engagement she or her Department had had with residents in the area on the development proposal. Does she agree that it is important that residents' views on the matter are taken on board?”
“Clearly, COVID has had a longer and deeper effect than many originally anticipated. It is right, therefore, that we take account of that in providing breathing space to our businesses. I welcome, therefore, the provisions that the Minister has brought before us. I congratulate her on her ongoing work to help get our economy open and to help people get back to trading and generating wealth, which, ultimately, pays for all the public services that our people enjoy.”
“I will speak on behalf of the DUP to support the motion. I thank the Minister for bringing the statutory rule to the House. The rule will extend until 30 June 2021 the period during which some of the temporary modifications to corporate insolvency legislation that were included in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act will apply. Modifications are:”
“Mention was made of making politics work. What message does it send when a party in the Executive names constituency offices after those who have engaged in terrorist, criminal acts or when elected representatives of that party hail and eulogise those who engaged in terrorist, criminal acts, including, most recently, a Member of the European Parliament?”
“It is our job and the job of all elected to this place to build that society, to make this place work and to pass it on better to the next generation.”
“We did, and we endured. <BR /> <BR />Going forward to this generation, it is important that we commit ourselves to working together to make this place work. That is why I found it very disappointing that a party-political banner was erected on the side of a block of flats and pointed in the direction of a unionist community. That was nothing more than a calculated insult, and it is not within the spirit of the statement that the Queen issued when she said:”
“I will skip a generation and talk about the generation that kept the Atlantic open during the Second World War, that endured the blitz of this city and that made a contribution to the defeat of Hitlerism and fascism. Skipping forward another generation in the history of this country, I pay tribute to those who endured with bravery and stoicism the violent campaign of the Troubles, whether serving in the police, the armed forces or in any public service that kept this place going. <BR /> <BR />I was thinking about this the other day: my children will find it bizarre when I tell them that my mother had her bags searched when she went into Primark. Primark was on the news, and I was thinking that so much had happened in the history of this country that my children — all our children — will think, "How on earth did you live through that?".”
“It is ironic to be lectured about the creation of a new world by someone who, I suspect, regrets the fall of the Berlin Wall. <BR /> <BR />I will speak briefly about previous generations and then move on to talk about what we can do for future generations. I place on the record of the House my appreciation of the generation that created this state, the generation led by men such as Edward Carson and James Craig and that contributed to the victory of this country in the Great War at the Battle of the Somme. They are the founding fathers of Northern Ireland, and my children are full United Kingdom citizens because of the contribution of that generation.”
“Last year, the Minister revealed to the House, in response to a question from the Member for North Antrim Mr Allister, that the separated prison regime is costing roughly £2 million a year out of the Department of Justice budget. Given that that policy originates from the Northern Ireland Office, should it not be the Northern Ireland Office that is picking up the tab rather than the Minister's Department?”
“Speaking as a dyed-in-the-wool, true-blue Conservative, I say to the Member that you will not improve academic outcomes by destroying the best-performing schools. Instead of dragging down that which is working, we should be dragging standards up in that which is not working.”
“— from taking the opportunities that they had.”
“The Member is absolutely right. It is kicking the ladder away and preventing other people —”
“As I said, I do not know whether the Chair of the Education Committee attended a grammar school, but I find it remarkable that so many people who attended grammar schools are determined to tear them down. They availed themselves of the opportunity provided by a grammar-school education, but they wish to deny my children that opportunity. I do not wish to deny my children that opportunity. I want my children to enjoy the same benefits that a grammar-school education afforded me in my life.”
“I will give way if Mr Lyttle wants to tell us why he thinks that Grosvenor Grammar School should be abolished.”
“I do not want to deny any child the opportunity to take their academic career as far as they wish to take it, and grammar schools are an excellent way to do that. <BR /> <BR />Quality education accessed on the basis of ability or on the ability to pay is the choice with which we will be faced.”
“As I listen to some contributions, I am minded of Churchill's quote:”
“If you remove academic selection, you know what you are doing to grammar schools and the implications of that.”
“Just one second. That was certainly my lived experience at Wellington College, as is the case in other schools. <BR /> <BR />I hope that those in favour of the motion have the courage to go to the doors of their constituents and tell them that they are in favour, effectively, of abolishing grammar schools. If you do not have selective criteria, that is exactly what you are in favour of: you are advocating for the abolition of grammar schools. There is no point in giving your constituents honeyed words about supporting grammar schools when you know that the abolition of academic selection —.”
“I certainly feel very strongly that, when English direct rule Ministers came here, they did not understand the concept of a working-class grammar school. By and large, such institutions do not exist in GB, whereas many grammar schools in Belfast are attended by children and young people with an extremely diverse socio-economic background.”
“Just one second. Mention has been made of kids who were entitled to free school meals: I was one such child at Wellington College.”
“I intend to speak in defence of the concept of parental choice and in defence of grammar schools. First, I have to declare an interest as a member of the board of governors of Braniel Primary School. My daughter is in P6, so she is going through the transfer process at present. The reason why that is happening is because I do not believe in denying others the opportunity that I had. I consider it to be the greatest start in life that I managed to secure an education at Wellington College Belfast, an excellent school in the heart of my constituency. That was achieved through academic selection. The alternative to academic selection is not selection on the basis of ability but selection on the basis of ability to pay. My family could not have availed itself of that option. Mention has been made of kids —.”
“I am grateful to my friend for his giving way. Does the Member agree with me that it would be a brave MLA for East Belfast to go to the parents of kids at Grosvenor, Bloomfield Collegiate, Strathearn — all the grammar schools that exist in that constituency — and tell those parents that they seek the effective abolition of those schools?”
“That segues neatly into what I was going to say. Is it not a fact that organisations such as the Association for Quality Learning (AQE) and Granada Learning (GL) simply would not exist unless there was parental demand for them and the services that they provide?”
“I am grateful to the Member for giving way. Just for clarity, can he inform the House whether he is calling for the abolition of grammar schools?”
“At various Committees it has been outlined to us how difficult it has been for Departments to deliver on their priorities because of shortages in the Civil Service. What steps will the Minister's Department and, indeed, the Government take to advertise Civil Service careers to young people coming through as an attractive prospect for them to build their lives on?”
“Identity, culture and tradition are important, as are functioning institutions of government. Does the Minister agree that it was disrespectful to refuse to turn up for work for three years?”
“<BR /> <BR />As I said, it is not our intention to divide the House on the matter, but it is rather like someone's house and shed being on fire, yet the Chair of the Economy Committee is more concerned about the shed than she is about the house. The real damage is being done by the protocol, which the parties opposite argued for: they should own that.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I doubt very much that my friend will hear one cheep in the debate from Brussels' little cheerleaders across the way. <BR /> <BR />It will be important, therefore, as households and communities emerge from lockdown, that clarity is provided on the matter. There is an irony in Sinn Féin condemning the charging of interchange fees when it endorsed and spent three years trying to secure the provisions of the protocol. Those provisions, as the Member for North Antrim Mr Allister said, impose far greater charges on businesses in this country, but, evidently, Sinn Féin's higher loyalty to the European Commission and to European institutions trumps its obligation to its constituents who want to make it easier to set up a business, to trade and to prosper.”
“<BR /> <BR />Whether any additional cost will be passed on to the consumer, therefore affecting trade into Northern Ireland, is still uncertain, and further work will need to be undertaken to see how that can be mitigated. A June 2020 report from the European Commission examined the advantages of its interchange fee caps and found that retailers had saved €1·2 billion a year. The extent to which consumers benefited from that was much less clear. It will be important, therefore, as households and communities emerge from the lockdown under which we are living, that eventual plans, whether they are to go holiday or travel for business, are not complicated by additional costs passed on by European airlines, hotels, car rental firms and holiday firms.”
“Perhaps later. <BR /> <BR />The DUP recognises the need to ensure that consumers in Northern Ireland, who are already feeling the impact of the oppressive Northern Ireland protocol, do not face additional barriers to trade within the United Kingdom and further afield. The rise in interchange fees will apply to retailers based in the EU when they sell goods or services to someone using a credit or debit card in the UK either online or over the phone. That will not affect in-person or card-present payments, and I hope that that offers some comfort to those in border areas who physically cross the border for their work or for business.”
“It is no good the Member for South Belfast chuntering from a sedentary position. They spent three years actively demanding the provisions. You created them. You own them.”
“That demonstrates to us all the rigorous implementation for which the parties opposite campaigned. They actively supported —”
“It is not my party's intention to divide the House on the amendment. It clearly improves the folderol that we were served up by the Chair of the Economy Committee, which is just the latest in a litany of political point-scoring exercises undertaken by her party in this regard. If ever a motion was tabled on an issue where people are unable to see the wood for the trees, this is it. Members rising to their feet on this issue previously passed motions that called for the rigorous implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol. It is ironic to be lectured on the costs to businesses by any of the parties opposite that argued in favour of the protocol. Northern Ireland, with less than 0·5% of Europe's population, is being subjected to 20% of the checks that take place along the borders of the EU.”
“It is my hope and my conviction that the Executive should be doing all in their power to open up as much of our economy as possible in order to allow our people to get back to work, to stimulate economic growth and to create prosperity. <BR /> <BR />The Minister will agree with me when I say that, hopefully, this will be the final time that she will have to come to the House to seek support for such measures and that we can get back to work in Northern Ireland.”
“On behalf of my party, and her party, too, I welcome the action that the Minister has taken in bringing the motions before the House. <BR /> <BR />The measures are clearly designed to enable companies to operate under the strictures that have been placed on them through the various COVID-related restrictions that the House has passed. It is important that we do that in order to protect businesses and companies and to allow them to trade once this period passes so that they are in the best possible shape to do so. It is my sincere hope that this will be the final time that the Minister has to come to the House to seek approval for such measures.”
“God bless those who mourn. God save the Queen.”
“<BR /> <BR />It has been mentioned that a lasting legacy of the Duke of Edinburgh is the award scheme that bears his name. I participated in that scheme and, like the Member for North Down, got my bronze and silver; alas, I was not able to finish the gold element of the scheme. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme is a magnificent legacy that he will leave. <BR /> <BR />Prince Philip was of the greatest generation in this country's history — the generation that defeated Hitlerism and fascism — and I believe firmly that he would have succeeded in any walk of life. He more than succeeded in the path that he decided to walk in this life. He has gone to his reward. Matthew 25:21 says:”
“Nobody can be in any doubt that the life of the Duke of Edinburgh was not only long but well lived, with a vast range of accomplishments in many fields. After a difficult and often traumatic childhood, His Royal Highness spent his entire life in the devoted service of this country. During World War II, he served with distinction in the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets. He was present for the surrender of the Japanese empire and was mentioned in dispatches for service at Cape Matapan. He married the Queen in 1947 and subsequently gave her 73 years of absolute loyalty, support, devotion and love. He was a tireless campaigner for conservation and environmental causes, and, in that, he truly was a visionary and was years ahead of the rest of society.”
“I offer my heartfelt condolences to Her Majesty The Queen, the Prince of Wales and the entire royal family on what must be an immense personal loss for them. I hope that they can take some comfort from knowing that their mourning is shared by millions of people across this country and by billions across the Commonwealth and the globe. <BR /> <BR />Seneca the Younger said:”