Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

2. What assessment she has made of the recent public disorder in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

4. What assessment she has made of the recent public disorder in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

[Gemma Doyle (West Dunbartonshire) (Lab/Co-op)]

9. What assessment she has made of the recent public disorder in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Villiers]

The UK Government continue to support the Northern Ireland Executive through the block grant, which is approximately 25% higher in Northern Ireland than it is in England. Our economic strategy is focused on rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy, providing a boost by getting the public finances under control and keeping interest rates low. We are providing support for families by cancelling Labour’s fuel tax rises, and we have provided an income tax cut for over 600,000 families in Northern Ireland.

[Ann McKechin]

Belfast still sadly remains a city where communities are divided physically by walls and fences. What steps is the right hon. Lady’s Department going to take to help rebuild these communities and to link them together so that the disorder we have witnessed recently will become history rather than something we have to deal with in the present and the future?

[Mrs Villiers]

In addition to the economic measures I mentioned earlier, there has been a strong focus—by me, my predecessor and the Prime Minister—on working with the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver a shared future by healing divisions between different parts of the community in Northern Ireland. A huge amount was achieved with the Belfast agreement, but recent events demonstrate that there are still significant sectarian divisions, which it is now urgent to address.