Contributions
638 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDScottish Independence and the Scottish EconomyI will make some progress. Those papers have provoked scorn from respected economic experts, and even from high-profile independence campaigners. One prominent nationalist—Mr…02 Nov 2022HANSARDScottish Independence and the Scottish EconomySNP Members do not like hearing it. Instead of insulting Scots’ intelligence, the SNP might explain what it is doing with Holyrood’s extensive powers in economic development,…02 Nov 2022HANSARDScottish Independence and the Scottish EconomyTo clarify the record, I was referring to the recent turmoil in the market. [ Interruption. ] Let me proceed. This is a challenging economic period internationally and we should…02 Nov 2022HANSARDScottish Independence and the Scottish EconomyI did not intervene on the right hon. Gentleman and I do not expect him to intervene on me. He spoke for a very long time. This is a challenging economic period internationally…02 Nov 2022HANSARDScottish Independence and the Scottish EconomyI am going to make some progress. I have given some examples of how the UK Government are investing in Scotland. As I said earlier, I would welcome a proper debate about the…02 Nov 2022HANSARDScottish Independence and the Scottish EconomyThe answer is that Scotland gets her share of Government spending. Everything goes into one big pot, but we know that spending in Scotland is 26% higher per head than it is per…02 Nov 2022HANSARDChannel 4 PrivatisationI can assure the hon. Gentleman that my Cabinet colleagues and I are committed to ensuring the further success of Channel 4. The Government are determined to support the…12 Oct 2022HANSARDChannel 4 PrivatisationI have had discussions with the Culture Secretary and the previous Culture Secretary. The Government’s position is that we are looking again at the sale of Channel 4, and we will…12 Oct 2022HANSARDFreeportsI have held a number of discussions with the Levelling Up Secretary and his predecessors on freeports. This Government are committed to delivering two new freeports for Scotland…12 Oct 2022HANSARDFreeportsBefore I answer the question, I would like to thank my hon. Friend for his diligent and excellent work in the Scotland Office. He made a huge impact, and I absolutely thank him…12 Oct 2022HANSARDFreeportsI admire my hon. Friend’s enthusiasm for the north-east bid. He is right to be enthusiastic, as he represents that part of Scotland. It is a process, and we are following the…12 Oct 2022HANSARDFreeportsThere is a full prospectus explaining all that, which we agreed with the Scottish Government. We have put it out to bid. We have five bids, from Orkney down to the Forth and the…12 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundMy hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Levelling-up measures are all about delivering local priorities and pride in place, which go hand in hand towards creating a sustainable…12 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundThe hon. Member is conflating two issues. The reality is that the levelling-up funds, of which there are £200 million in the current round, are being well received across…12 Oct 2022HANSARDDevolution SettlementThe Scottish Parliament is one of the most powerful devolved Parliaments in the world and we believe that the devolution settlement strikes the right balance. We continue to work…12 Oct 2022HANSARDDevolution SettlementAbsolutely. In fact, since we left the European Union, we have given more powers to the Scottish Parliament. Actually, whenever asked, not a single Member of the Scottish National…12 Oct 2022HANSARDDevolution SettlementYou will not be surprised to hear, Mr Speaker, that I think that that is absolute nonsense. This is not the time. A vast majority of Scots do not believe that now is the time for…12 Oct 2022HANSARDDevolution SettlementOf course I agree with my hon. Friend. Language is terribly important in politics. We saw the desperate death of David Amess and others before him, and people cannot incite people…12 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundWe have invested £172 million in Scotland in round 1 of the levelling-up fund, which is around 10% of the total UK funding. In March, we published a monitoring and evaluation…12 Oct 2022HANSARDImproving Union ConnectivityThat is absolutely our intention. I visited Belfast recently to have discussions about connectivity and how we can upgrade the A77 and the A75, and we now want to work with the…18 May 2022