Oral Answers to Questions

Sorcha Eastwood Excerpts

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

This is obviously a really important matter. I understand that the Minister for patient safety met patient groups before Christmas to hear their stories, their accounts and their experiences at first hand. We will provide an update on the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report at the earliest opportunity to the House.

[Sorcha Eastwood (Lagan Valley) (Alliance)]

Q10. We all know how the song goes:“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em,Know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away,And know when to run”.We in Northern Ireland have done all of them, because the system of government that we have is a gamble. Well, I am not prepared to roll the dice on the people of Lagan Valley, who have already been without government 40% of the time. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland says that he wants to stop the cycles of collapse, and so do I, but do not then turn around and tell us in Northern Ireland that we cannot deliver public service transformation, if no steps are taken to stop the collapse. The people of Northern Ireland who I represent—nationalist, Unionist and unaligned, like myself—are all out of aces. Our public services are on the floor. Will this Government be the one to step up to the plate, reform the institutions, end the veto and stop rolling the dice on the people of Northern Ireland?

[The Prime Minister]

Since 1998, the Good Friday agreement has delivered a far more peaceful society in Northern Ireland, and that is really important. Restoration of power sharing was a significant milestone, and it allows the institutions to make progress on the most important issues to the people of Northern Ireland. We will continue to work with all parties to that end.