David Norris (Independent)

Yes. I am supporting the call for such a debate because we are facing a really serious situation. I do not think we realise exactly how serious it is. Where are all the promises we heard before the referendum now? What response did the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, get from the spokesman for Wolfgang Schäuble, who is the paymaster? He was given the brush-off, which he did not expect. We have been the best boys in the class, yet all we do is get slapped for it all the time and it will not get better. Therefore I will wait to see if all the promises produced by the "Yes" side are right. I hope so. I have never had any problems being wrong if it is for the benefit of other people, but I very much doubt it.

I am also seeking a debate on homophobia. We did not have much to say about this on the recent international day against homophobia. The campaign against homophobic bullying was largely subverted - even though the Government won - by being diluted into a general debate on bullying which we have all the time. However, the statistics from the National Office for Suicide Prevention are stark. Some 59% of young gay people experience homophobic bullying in school; 25% are physically threatened; 34% hear homophobia from teachers; 27% have self harmed; 50% have seriously thought of ending their own lives; and 20% have attempted suicide. It is time we did something about it, particularly in light of the kind of international situation we have where people are being murdered because of their sexual orientation.

Recently, in North Carolina - of which, curiously enough, I am the honorary attorney general - one pastor called for lesbians to be corralled into a 100-km diameter concentration camp.