Jim Shannon

Jim Shannon

Democratic Unionist Party — Strangford

Speaking in the House of Commons on 19 October 2026

Debate

Workforce Skills

Contribution

I welcome the Secretary of State to his place; I have not had the chance to do that until now. I wish him well in his new role. Northern Ireland has a reputation for being a supply chain in action; although it has only 3% of the UK’s population, it has 70% of the UK’s Supply Chains for the 21st Century, or SC21, aerospace and defence business excellence awards—gold awards, regularly. Major Northern Ireland manufacturers in my constituency rely on small and medium-sized enterprises to deliver high-quality components and engineering. Will the Secretary of State please commit to working with the Ministry of Defence to ensure that Northern Ireland’s highly capable SMEs have improved access to defence contracts?

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