Sammy Wilson has welcomed the announcement made by the Home Secretary that Identity Cards will be scrapped.

The MP for East Antrim welcomed the news during its debate in the House of Commons. Mr Wilson said that there were many problems with ID cards, but “the ultimate irony in all this is that although ID cards were to remedy all of society’s ills they were to be voluntary at first. There was to be an attack on social security fraud, terrorism and criminality, but people had to volunteer for it.”

Speaking following the debate, Sammy Wilson said:

Sammy Wilson MP has warned travellers to make themselves aware of extra charges that airlines impose so that they will not be caught out.

As more people book their summer holidays the MP said that they should be aware that check in and baggage charges can add a significant amount to the cost of a flight.

He said:

“This week Ryanair announced that it was increasing the cost of charging for baggage to be checked in from £35 to £40 if done at the airport. This will obviously be an additional burden to families and it will of course be cheaper if this is done online.

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson has welcomed the news that almost half of all allotments provided by councils in Northern Ireland are in East Antrim.

The figures released by the Environment Minister, Edwin Poots, show that of the 497 allotments owned by councils, 222 are in Carrickfergus, Larne and Newtownabbey.

Sammy Wilson said:

“I am delighted to hear that councils in East Antrim are leading the way in allotment provision in Northern Ireland. Of the 497 allotments in Northern Ireland, Carrickfergus has 189, Newtownabbey has 25 and Larne has 8. I want to congratulate Carrickfergus council for having the highest level of allotment provision of any council in Northern Ireland and I am encouraged that both Larne and Newtownabbey are also looking at increasing allotment provision.

Sammy Wilson has expressed his disappointment at the lack of access to broadband in some rural areas in his constituency. The MP has received a number of letters from constituents in the past number of weeks who have found it very difficult to receive high speed internet.

He said:

“I have been disappointed to have had so many people contact me about the lack of broadband access in their area. Some are couples with families who need to use the internet for school work, others are small business owners who would like to use the internet to grow their company and there are others who want to start up their own business from home but lack of internet access is making that impossible.

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson has said that Israel must be allowed to take necessary measures to protect itself and should have the support of the international community in doing so. He made the comments following questions in the House of Commons to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague. The MP asked Mr Hague how, in the absence of a blockade of shipping into Gaza, he believed that the people of Israel could be protected from the unprovoked assaults by rockets and other armaments that are being imported into Gaza by the supporters of Hamas terrorists.

Following the questions in the chamber, he said:

DUP MP Sammy Wilson has welcomed the news that Libraries NI has reversed it decision to close to Cloughfern library.

Commenting after the decision was made, the MP said:

“This was the right decision made by Libraries NI and I am pleased to see that they have listened to the points of view that were made by myself, my colleagues and by library users.

Although concerns had been raised about the small size of the library and the range of services that can be provided in a smaller physical space I was keen to make the point that not all libraries have to include all the services that all libraries provide. Users are content to keep what they have rather than close libraries because certain services are not available to them.

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson has made clear his opposition to further fuel duty increases during the course of this Parliament.

The MP said:

“UK fuel duty is among the highest in Europe. 61% of the UK’s diesel pump price is accounted for by taxes and duties, the highest in Europe. For unleaded, the figure is 62% and is the 2nd highest in Europe.

For businesses and for ordinary families for whom public transport is not a realistic option, a 1-3p increase in the cost of a litre of petrol or diesel can have a huge financial impact. Jobs have been lost and life made a lot more difficult for many people because of the effect that these increases can have.

Sammy Wilson has received assurances from Translink that new trains will be in operation on the Larne line next year.

The East Antrim MP was told that some of the new trains will arrive early in the 2011 and by the end of the year a ‘significant proportion’ of the old Class 450 trains will have been replaced.

He said:

“I was pleased to have received these assurances as many of my constituents are in contact with me on a continual basis about the state of the trains on the Larne line and they will be glad to hear that new trains will be in service in the next 7 or 8 months.

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson has welcomed the news today that the Education Minister has finally agreed that Whitehouse Primacy School should be rebuilt.

The DUP MP, who has many pupils and staff from the school living in his constituency, said:

“I welcome the fact that the Education Minister has seen sense and has given the go ahead for the rebuild of Whitehouse Primary School which was destroyed in a fire last summer.

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson has welcomed the news that more police officers in the East Antrim area are to be deployed to front line duties. In ‘D’ district, which includes Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey, there will be 33 more police officers involved in police response and neighbourhood policing teams. In ‘H’ district which includes Larne, there will also be 33 more police officers that have been moved from ‘back office support functions’.

The DUP representative said: