Contributions
1,014 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)Will the hon. Gentleman give way?29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)I do not disagree with a single thing that the hon. Gentleman has just said, but it is not for me to dictate to the Scottish Government. They are democratically elected, and as…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)Gordon and Buchan.29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)Amendment 84, tabled by the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross), concerns public consultations under sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989. It is worth…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)In a very different system.29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)Thank you, Mr Twigg. That is helpful.29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)No, I will carry on answering this point, if that is okay. We are very enthusiastic about clause 17—who would have thought it? To be clear about this point—I feel as if I am the…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)I am sorry to come back to this point, but the Government do not bind the hands of devolved Governments in any spending area. When this Parliament— [ Interruption. ] No, I did not…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)I have not had the conversation. I am happy to have it, but the tone will not be, “Here are my expectations of you as a democratically elected Member of the Scottish Parliament…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)No, we have not. A series of work will be necessary to come up with that figure, because the fees will be charged on a cost recovery basis. It is not a money-making exercise for…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)In general, I agree and disagree with the hon. Gentleman’s point. I understand the point he is making about consistency, but I take the view that the whole purpose of having…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)Clause 16 amends section 36D of the Electricity Act 1989, which provides for a statutory appeal to be brought by any person who is aggrieved by a decision made by Scottish…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)Clause 17 will confer a power on Scottish Ministers to make regulations to set and charge fees to electricity network operators for processing necessary wayleave applications that…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)As I think I have just outlined, that amendment did not just call for the money to make the system more efficient; it called for it to be spent in communities on community…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)I thank the shadow Minister for the way he is discussing these topics. I appreciate that they are from a planning system alien to the one with which he is, I am sure, very…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)The shadow Minister wants to hear more! New clause 54 is in the name of the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross)—I want the shadow Minister to say, “Gordon and…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)That is reserved.29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)I am in danger of going into British constitutional politics 101, but the hon. Gentleman is introducing the West Lothian question.29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)There is no contradiction here at all. We are confusing two different things. My ability to say that the Scottish Government could raise x amount of money and must spend it on y…29 Apr 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourth sitting)The shadow Minister is introducing the best example I have heard in a long time of the West Lothian question. The fundamental thing is that this is not a political question about…29 Apr 2025