Contributions
407 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillYou are quite right, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I was keen to knock on the head some of the issues raised by the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central. Let me talk about Scottish…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI think I have already congratulated the Minister on his personal contribution to population growth—that is happy news we can all get behind—but I want him to answer the question…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillThe hon. Member is a born-again Brexiteer, and he has taken on the nonsense of Brexiteers. He should have a look at the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019, passed by…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI am grateful for the constructive way the Secretary of State is approaching the debate. I am not sure he can blame us for Tory migration policy. Does he think we should be…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillWhy?25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI have the same respect for the hon. Member and her service, and she usually talks an awful lot of sense, but right now she is speaking of the isolationism that I would expect to…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Now that we have clarified that point of reference, I look forward to the vote today that the Secretary of State is committed to, and I look…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI am grateful for the Secretary of State’s characteristically kind words about me. I am happy to take guidance, and to engage with civil servants and the MOD. Either vote the Bill…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI am going to try to be productive with the Secretary of State, even though he has accused me of not being honest—I wanted to take as many interventions from his colleagues as I…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillThat is the most effective heckle I have heard all day, though that was not where I expected it to come from. The Law Society of Scotland said: “Bespoke visa schemes for Scotland,…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI will maybe leave aside some of the hon. Lady’s sums—I am not sure whether she has been reading Labour briefings—but she does make a valuable point about rural areas, and I…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillOn the point about symbolism over substance, does the hon. Member agree that we should have a vote on the Bill today and dig into it in Committee, as one would with any other…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI have to say I am a bit struck by that, when the Government are bringing in their cuts to the disabled, which will push more children in Scotland into poverty. That is a…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillMy right hon. Friend is right. I want to see these powers rest in Holyrood—that will surprise nobody—and he and I absolutely agree on that. I have also opened up this matter by…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI am trying to answer the point raised by the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey. Kent is not Scotland and Scotland is not an island. We have some fine islands, as my hon.…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI am not an economist, but any economist would say that the impact of that is growth—it is positive. In the aftermath of leaving the EU, we saw a surge in migration under Boris…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI will finish with a conversation on migration, but I will take one more intervention, because I want to hear the perspective of another Member from elsewhere in the UK.25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI know the Isle of Sheppey. I know Kent very well: the kingdom of Kent is a fine county—the garden of England. I know some of the challenges that the hon. Gentleman rightly…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillWhat I find striking is that the Scottish Government have not only had to receive their block grant, rather than making these decisions for ourselves, which those of us on the SNP…25 Apr 2025HANSARDDevolution (Immigration) (Scotland) BillI thank the Secretary of State, because that was a valuable intervention and he raises a good point— [Interruption.] I am glad that he is paying attention now. I raised that point…25 Apr 2025