David Norris (Independent)

I imagine the House would like to congratulate the Government on the success of its negotiations on EU funding. It is a very important development which also indicates that we must now proceed with major infrastructural projects like the metro. Therefore, we must first congratulate the Government and then act on the development.

I am surprised nobody has raised the nasty item on the front page of The Star newspaper. A young woman who is employed as the Government press secretary took a libel action — to which she is perfectly entitled, although perhaps she was foolish to do so — and the court found against her. The whole front page of the newspaper has a headline which reads: "Oh Mandy", the words of a pop song — "They sent you away and now you must pay" — and a photograph of a cheque which reads "Mandy's bank — pay The Star loads of money".