Jim Shannon

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. People may ask why I have chosen to speak on this matter, but the phrase “a rising tide lifts all ships” applies to the links between the economy of Northern Ireland and that of our Gaelic cousins across the sea in Scotland. Let me first put on the record my sympathies to the family of Alex Salmond. This is the first Scottish debate we have had since his passing, although we expressed our condolences in the Chamber yesterday. My thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time. The links between Northern Ireland and Scotland are not simply cultural, although those links are displayed by the numerous Scots bands at the 12 July celebrations and in our shared love of pipe band championships, our shared love of poetry and our shared language, with our Ulster Scots. It is not simply that my Scots brethren and sisters in this House will know what I mean when I call someone sleekit or a gern—by the way, just for the record, there is nobody here who is sleekit or a gern. We are awaiting an Ofgem decision on whether Northern Ireland electricity can be sourced from Scotland. The scheme would involve building two converter stations—one in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland—and a cable of about 80 miles, depending on the final route, linking the two. That would be a physical manifestation of the trade that takes place between the two nations, Northern Ireland and Scotland, on a daily basis. One of my staff members is allergic to a number of antibiotics. After the birth of her second child, she needed a particular antibiotic and was told there were none in Northern Ireland. A phone call from the local pharmacy, Andersons in Newtownards, to a small pharmacy in Scotland meant that she had a prescription in the morning, and by the afternoon the antibiotic was with her. The links and the pathways are there, and so too is the friendship. This can be seen in the fight for our fishing fleet, which Members in this Chamber who long for Scottish independence and I—someone who fought for the Union—came together to win for the Scottish and Northern Ireland fishing fleets. Those are battles that we will continue to fight and win. My hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Gregory Campbell) recently highlighted during oral questions the need to strengthen the economic trade between Northern Ireland and Scotland, and that is certainly something that would help us all. In conclusion, I support my Scottish brethren and sisters in their quest to secure more—more fishing rights, more manufacturing rights, and more investment in renewable energy and all the potential that is not fully realised in Scotland. I do so not to underline a theory that Scotland can stand alone, but because we are stronger when we stand together, and because the ties that bind are enhanced when we work as one body for the benefit of all in this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.