25th Anniversary of 9/11

Debate between Alan Mak and Jim Shannon

Friday 11th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

Twenty-five years ago today, on a clear Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists hijacked four passenger planes. Two were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. A third struck the Pentagon, and the fourth, United Airlines flight 93, crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew resisted their hijackers.

In a period of less than two hours, the twin towers fell and 2,977 innocent people from more than 90 countries were murdered. Of those killed, 67 were British citizens, more than from any other country apart from the United States. Thousands more were injured, and many survivors, emergency workers and people who took part in the recovery operation have lived with the physical and psychological consequences ever since.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing forward the debate. It is only right on this day that we remember all those who lost their lives, in particular the 67 British citizens. As someone who represents a constituency in Northern Ireland that knows all too well the cruel, devastating scourge of terrorism and the effect on loved ones and first responders, I know that grief is indeed the price we pay for love. Does he agree that this House stands resolutely shoulder to shoulder with our American allies in the ongoing fight against global terrorism, wherever it may be in this world?

[Alan Mak]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his apt intervention. I absolutely agree with him: the United Kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with the United States of America, our strongest and longest-standing ally.