Lyra Catherine McKee has been mentioned two or three times during this debate. When we discuss Northern Ireland business, I sometimes think back to that incredibly, immensely emotional day in St Anne’s cathedral on 24 April, when Members from both Front Benches were present and we heard that extraordinarily moving...

Lyra Catherine McKee has been mentioned two or three times during this debate. When we discuss Northern Ireland business, I sometimes think back to that incredibly, immensely emotional day in St Anne’s cathedral on 24 April, when Members from both Front Benches were present and we heard that extraordinarily moving...

Shame!

Shame!

My hon. Friend is making a powerful point and one that we should hear more of. Does she agree that it would be good practice to extend the debate until 10 o’clock tonight? Is she aware of any mechanism by which that could be done? This matter is too important...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful point and one that we should hear more of. Does she agree that it would be good practice to extend the debate until 10 o’clock tonight? Is she aware of any mechanism by which that could be done? This matter is too important...

It is a privilege to be listening to my right hon. Friend’s extraordinary and impassioned peroration. Does he agree, however, that there are Christians who look for love in every aspect of their lives and the lives of those around them who still feel profound misgivings and concerns about this...

It is a privilege to be listening to my right hon. Friend’s extraordinary and impassioned peroration. Does he agree, however, that there are Christians who look for love in every aspect of their lives and the lives of those around them who still feel profound misgivings and concerns about this...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. He is honourable and he is my friend. I know little of the café society of Shepherd's Bush, but I am not a woman, therefore I cannot feel the pain that women feel about the existing legislation. He is not...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. He is honourable and he is my friend. I know little of the café society of Shepherd's Bush, but I am not a woman, therefore I cannot feel the pain that women feel about the existing legislation. He is not...

As the hon. Gentleman moves down the roll of honour on this issue, and before he mentions Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare, who introduced a Bill on the issue twice, once in 1997 and once in 1998, will he mention Kevin McNamara, a former Member of Parliament for Hull, who introduced...

As the hon. Gentleman moves down the roll of honour on this issue, and before he mentions Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare, who introduced a Bill on the issue twice, once in 1997 and once in 1998, will he mention Kevin McNamara, a former Member of Parliament for Hull, who introduced...

Resist!

Resist!

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; he has been most generous in giving way. Before he moves away from that issue, may I point out that, as he will be aware, in 1688 the Bill of Rights was originally intended for the""effectual preserving the King's person and Government, by...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; he has been most generous in giving way. Before he moves away from that issue, may I point out that, as he will be aware, in 1688 the Bill of Rights was originally intended for the""effectual preserving the King's person and Government, by...

My right hon. Friend will, of course, be as familiar as I am with the current edition of The Catholic Herald, in which the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) describes himself as""not exactly the pin-up boy for Catholics"." I am not implying that many of us...

My right hon. Friend will, of course, be as familiar as I am with the current edition of The Catholic Herald, in which the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) describes himself as""not exactly the pin-up boy for Catholics"." I am not implying that many of us...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and for his earlier extraordinarily generous comments, of which I am extremely unworthy. He is making an interesting journey from an angry young man to something of a statesman; I hope that he will not be too insulted by that....

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and for his earlier extraordinarily generous comments, of which I am extremely unworthy. He is making an interesting journey from an angry young man to something of a statesman; I hope that he will not be too insulted by that....

Does my hon. Friend agree that when Michael English promoted one of the first succession Bills in 1981, he had virtually no support in this House? There has been some movement and some progress. I realise that interventions are bringing my hon. Friend on to the side of the godly,...

Does my hon. Friend agree that when Michael English promoted one of the first succession Bills in 1981, he had virtually no support in this House? There has been some movement and some progress. I realise that interventions are bringing my hon. Friend on to the side of the godly,...

As a Catholic, I have to say that if the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) found me prostrate on the floor of Members' Lobby with blood spouting from an artery in great gouts, I would be grateful for his assistance and I would think about his...

As a Catholic, I have to say that if the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) found me prostrate on the floor of Members' Lobby with blood spouting from an artery in great gouts, I would be grateful for his assistance and I would think about his...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am extremely grateful to the hon.—and flattering— Gentleman for giving way again. In speaking of the January 2005 debate in the other House, he prayed in aid the Lord Bishop of Winchester, who was roundly rebutted by the Lord Bishop of Worcester, who said:""Because some of our forebears resisted...

I am extremely grateful to the hon.—and flattering— Gentleman for giving way again. In speaking of the January 2005 debate in the other House, he prayed in aid the Lord Bishop of Winchester, who was roundly rebutted by the Lord Bishop of Worcester, who said:""Because some of our forebears resisted...

Could my hon. Friend help those of us who seem to be hearing in his words a new extension being built into the constitutional architecture, whereby legislation is no longer necessarily passed through this House but suggested here and echoed outside, and our role is simply to initiate it and...

Could my hon. Friend help those of us who seem to be hearing in his words a new extension being built into the constitutional architecture, whereby legislation is no longer necessarily passed through this House but suggested here and echoed outside, and our role is simply to initiate it and...

In the cafés of Shepherd's Bush.

In the cafés of Shepherd's Bush.

My hon. Friend is making the entirely valid point that there may be unintended consequences and an unanticipated read-across. Heaven forfend that we have to grapple with the Princess Sophia's Precedence Act 1711. Surely we employ some of the greatest brains in the nation in the form of parliamentary counsel,...

My hon. Friend is making the entirely valid point that there may be unintended consequences and an unanticipated read-across. Heaven forfend that we have to grapple with the Princess Sophia's Precedence Act 1711. Surely we employ some of the greatest brains in the nation in the form of parliamentary counsel,...

I will certainly not tempt the hon. Gentleman down any forbidden byways or pathways. He makes the sound constitutional point about the primacy of legislation over private Members' Bills, but does he agree that one of the most momentous pieces of legislation this country has ever seen was the Abortion...

I will certainly not tempt the hon. Gentleman down any forbidden byways or pathways. He makes the sound constitutional point about the primacy of legislation over private Members' Bills, but does he agree that one of the most momentous pieces of legislation this country has ever seen was the Abortion...

I would be reluctant to use the expression "hangs in there" in the context of this debate. Can the hon. Gentleman say where, on that list, the Speaker of the House of Commons appears?

I would be reluctant to use the expression "hangs in there" in the context of this debate. Can the hon. Gentleman say where, on that list, the Speaker of the House of Commons appears?