"My right hon. Friend talked about the importance of public services; many of us in this House have been talking in particular about the provision of abortion services in Northern Ireland, which the Government made a very helpful statement on last month. Can he update the House on how those …..." Maria Miller - View Speech
"I support the delegated legislation before us today, and I want to question the Government on the extent of the direction that they seek to give the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that the law on abortion in Northern Ireland is implemented in full and in the best interests of …..." Maria Miller - View Speech
"My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech, but surely this debate is about the rule of law. As parliamentarians, we either uphold the rule of law or we do not. A law has been passed, but it has not been adhered to. Surely she agrees with the rule of …..." Maria Miller - View Speech
"The hon. Lady is doing a very good job putting her case, but I note that she does not refer to the majority view of the UK Supreme Court, which found that it was entirely likely that the position in Northern Ireland would be out of kilter with human rights …..." Maria Miller - View Speech
"Surely my right hon. Friend is arguing against himself. If the Committee decides not to act today in introducing laws that improve the situation in Northern Ireland the Supreme Court will have no better action to take than effectively to put law in place of a vacuum. The current situation …..." Maria Miller - View Speech
"May I add my condolences to those expressed earlier and send them to Cheryl Gillan’s family, following her sad death last week? She was seen on our Benches as the mother of our side of the Chamber. She was a generous lady. She was kind, and we will really miss …..." Maria Miller - View Speech
"Thank you, Sir David; It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I was reminded that it was just over a year ago that the Women and Equalities Committee published its report on abortion in Northern Ireland after colleagues and I spent an extensive period looking at the …..." Maria Miller - View Speech
"And the hon. Gentleman will know that some of the problems in that case related to the standing of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, which I will come on to later, if I may. I hope that in raising that point, he was not seeking to try to mislead …..." Maria Miller - View Speech
"Again, I thank the hon. Gentleman, and we will not fall out over this, but I will gently remind him that it has been widely accepted that the reason the case was not accepted either in Northern Ireland or in the Supreme Court just over the road was because of …..." Maria Miller - View Speech
"I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention, and I think the Minister needs in his summing-up to give some assurances to hon. Members here today that there will be clarity for people in Northern Ireland and that we will not continue to have this fear culture, bringing a lack …..." Maria Miller - View Speech