Scottish Questions at Westminster Wednesday September 13 2023
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00:00 >>Mr Speaker We start with questions. The Secretary of
00:06 State for Scotland, Alan Cairns.
00:08 >>Alan Cairns (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)
00:12 I think we should draw a veil over last night's football, but I look forward to Scotland qualifying
00:16 next month for the Euros for 2024. Today is the NFU's back British farming day, and
00:23 I am sure the whole House will join me in marking the important contribution that we
00:28 farmers and growers make to our everyday lives and our economy.
00:32 Turning to question No. 1, the comprehensive and progressive agreement for the Trans-Pacific
00:37 Partnership trade bloc is projected to make up the majority of global growth in the future.
00:44 As a result of joining the CPTPP, a deal we could not strike while in the EU, Scottish
00:49 businesses are now in a prime position in the global economy to seize opportunities
00:54 for new jobs, growth and innovation.
00:56 >>Mr Alistair Burton I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. The
01:00 CPTPP is the most exciting and dynamic trading bloc, and a significant Brexit dividend. Scotland,
01:07 like Wales, has some great products to export. My right hon. Friend mentioned farming. Welsh
01:13 lamb and maybe Scotch whisky have some great opportunities to take advantage of with the
01:17 CPTPP. Would he encourage the devolved Administrations to work with the UK Government to ensure that
01:23 we exploit those benefits and this Brexit opportunity for people in Scotland, Wales
01:27 and elsewhere?
01:28 >>Mr Alistair Burton Yes, absolutely. My right hon. Friend is
01:32 right. The CPTPP is the fastest-growing trade zone in the world, and with the UK included,
01:37 it is worth about £12 million. To that end, we are working with the devolved Administrations,
01:42 but we also put in a huge network of support centres across the UK, not least in Queen
01:46 Elizabeth House in Edinburgh.
01:47 >>Mr Joe Theis-Lake (Beatwash) (Con)
01:48 I am sure that the Secretary of State will be assisted in determining Scotland's place
01:54 in international arrangements by the Scottish Affairs Committee's report "Promoting
01:58 Scotland Internationally", which was released today. In it, he will find that the working
02:02 arrangements between personnel in both Governments are consensual and productive. Does he not
02:07 actually feel slightly embarrassed by that ridiculous diktat from the Foreign Secretary,
02:12 who intended to put the Scottish Government back in their place? He told our Committee
02:16 it was necessary because, among other insignificant things, Scottish Government Ministers had
02:21 the temerity to say that Brexit is a bad thing for Scotland. Does he not think that nearly
02:27 all of Scotland thinks Brexit is a bad thing for Scotland?
02:30 >>The Prime Minister I stand by the words I said to his Committee.
02:34 >>Ian Paisley (Bedford) (Lab)
02:37 Number 3, Mr Speaker.
02:38 >>The Prime Minister Thank you. Secretary of State.
02:43 Livestock can move from Northern Ireland to Great Britain and then return to Northern
02:47 Ireland as long as they are hosted at an animal and plant health agency-approved Assembly
02:53 centre and they return within 15 days.
02:55 >>Ian Paisley Thank you. I thank the Secretary of State
02:58 for that answer. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Windsor framework has created
03:02 an unnecessary bureaucracy around the issue of livestock movement from Northern Ireland
03:08 to GB mainland, particularly into Scottish markets, and has decimated our pedigree cattle
03:15 trade? What can the Secretary of State do to help me?
03:18 >>The Prime Minister I know that the hon. Gentleman is a dietary
03:22 champion for rural communities in Northern Ireland. He raises an important point and I
03:26 will endeavour to arrange a meeting for him with DEFRA colleagues as soon as possible.
03:30 >>Martin Day (Bedford) (Con)
03:35 The United Kingdom Government are committed to a sustainable approach to tackling poverty
03:39 and supporting people on lower incomes. We have made substantial investment to help mitigate
03:44 the worst of the cost of living impacts, including welfare spending of around £276 billion.
03:49 The best route out of poverty is through work. Therefore, our focus remains firmly on supporting
03:55 people to move into and progress into work.
03:57 >>Martin Day Scotland has the lowest rates of child poverty
04:02 in the UK, with the game-changing Scottish child payment helping more than 300,000 and
04:07 lifting 50,000 of them out of poverty. Why does the UK Government continue to refuse
04:13 to follow such a successful example?
04:15 >>The Prime Minister The UK Government have ensured that the cost
04:20 of living challenges have been tackled by working in tandem with the Scottish Government
04:24 and using reserved and devolved levers to get the best outcomes for everybody across
04:29 Scotland. The benefit cap levels have been increased by 10.1%, and from 1 April the national
04:35 living wage has increased by 9.7%, which is £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 years
04:41 and over. Overall, this Government are working to deliver for the most vulnerable in society,
04:46 and they will do so in conjunction with our partners in the Scottish Government.
04:49 >>John Jones (Bedford) (Con)
04:53 After 16 years of SNP Government and 13 years of the Tories, one in four children in Scotland
04:58 lives in poverty. There are 40,000 more children in poverty than there were a decade ago, and
05:05 this week it was revealed that three members of the Scottish Government's own poverty
05:09 commission had resigned. Does the Minister agree that both the Scottish and UK Governments
05:14 should be working more urgently and more effectively to tackle child poverty?
05:17 >>The Prime Minister I welcome the hon. Member for Bedford-upon-Thyne
05:21 (Ian Blackford) to his new position. The UK Government are committed to protecting the
05:26 most vulnerable in our society, and we have taken decisive steps to do that, including
05:31 UK-wide additional spending of £137.5 billion on benefits for pensioners, £67.9 billion
05:39 on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions, and £114.3
05:44 billion on working age and child welfare. We have also uprated benefits and pension
05:49 credit in line with inflation, and we have raised the national living wage to help protect
05:53 the most vulnerable. We will continue to keep the situation under review, but this Government
05:58 have continually demonstrated our commitment to the most vulnerable across Scotland.
06:02 >>Neil Tambay (Stratford) (Con) CCUS—carbon capture, utilisation and storage—will be
06:15 essential to meeting the UK's 2050 net zero target, playing a vital role in levelling
06:20 up the economy, supporting the low-carbon economic transformation of our industrial
06:24 regions and creating new high-value jobs across the United Kingdom. In Scotland, the Acorn
06:29 cluster has been allocated over £40 million in development funding by the Government and
06:34 has been selected, subject to final due diligence, for track 2 CCUS cluster sequencing.
06:40 >>Neil Tambay (Stratford) (Con) According to OBR and UK Government projections,
06:44 the UK will receive between £50 billion and £80 billion of revenue from North Sea oil
06:49 and gas over the next five years. Although it is welcome that the Acorn project can now
06:53 bid for funding, it is important to note that not a penny has been committed. What discussions
07:00 has the Secretary of State had with Government colleagues to secure, at minimum, a share
07:04 of those revenues—say, £1 billion over five years—to rapidly accelerate Scotland's
07:10 carbon capture industry? If not, does that mean that he is content to see Scotland's
07:14 people stripped of the vast natural resources without a single penny of that £80 billion
07:19 being invested in Scotland's carbon capture ambitions?
07:22 >>The Prime Minister I am not sure whether the hon. Member for
07:25 Stratford actually listened to my first answer, but over £40 million has been allocated by
07:30 the United Kingdom Government to the development of this technology. The Government will commence
07:35 engagement and assessment of delivery plans and due diligence of the Acorn and Viking
07:42 TNS systems, and we will engage with them directly in respect of the next steps to develop
07:47 this. We will set out the process by which capture projects attract to and will be selected
07:52 to meet the stated ambitions in due course.
07:55 >>Mr Barry McArthur (Wolverhampton North) (Lab)
08:01 When it comes to growth, the hon. Lady will have noted that the economic data shows that
08:05 we have recovered better from the pandemic than France, Italy and Germany. Supporting
08:09 economic growth in Scotland remains a core priority of the Scotland Office. That has
08:14 been exemplified through work in investing in the city and regional growth deals, as
08:17 well as delivering free ports and investment zones in Scotland. That has brought tens of
08:22 millions of pounds in investment and has created highly paid jobs.
08:26 >>Helen Charlton (South West Leicester) (Lab)
08:30 There is huge potential for offshore wind in Scotland, and it is an important part of
08:34 the transition to a green economy. What conversations will the Minister have with the offshore wind
08:39 sector following the absolutely disastrous contract for differences round last week?
08:45 >>The Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands (Ian Blackford)
08:48 I personally engage with all sectors of the energy market, including the offshore wind
08:55 sector. We are very pleased with the recent announcements made last week, and we will
09:03 continue to engage with the sector to see it develop across Scotland and other parts
09:07 of the United Kingdom.
09:08 >>Ian Murray (Bedford) (Con)
09:13 Can I join the Secretary of State for Finance and the Economy in saying how gutted we are
09:16 about the football result last night? My words will be seeking revenge in Germany at the
09:20 European championships next year. I also take this opportunity to thank my hon. Friend the
09:25 Member for Blaydon (Mrs Tudvall), who is on the Shadow Scotland team and who has moved
09:27 on to do new things after the reshuffle. I also welcome my hon. Friend the Member for
09:31 Kier Hardie's old seat in Merthyr Tydfil. He is very welcome to the Scotland team.
09:36 Last week, it was revealed that the former Prime Minister and Member for South West Norfolk
09:40 had secured a book deal. Her book is titled "10 Years to Save the West", but it may
09:45 have been better to focus on the 44 days it took her and her Government—with the support
09:50 of the Scottish Secretary of State, of course—to crash the economy. Does the Minister accept
09:54 that Scots will be paying the price for years to come from the Tories' kamikaze handling
09:57 of the economy?
09:58 >>The Prime Minister As the hon. Member well knows, the economic
10:02 challenges we face here in the United Kingdom are no different from those in other economies
10:07 around the world. They have been entirely caused by the illegal war in Ukraine and the
10:11 covid pandemic. Thankfully, due to the decisive action of this Conservative Government and
10:16 the Prime Minister, the evidence suggests that the UK is recovering from this economic
10:20 shock far better than France, Italy and Germany.
10:23 >>Ian Murray Ukraine or covid did not crash the economy;
10:28 this Government did. The truth is that, after 13 years, we have a low-wage, low-growth economy.
10:33 Let me take the example of residents in a random Scottish constituency—Rutherglen
10:37 and Hamilton West. Every door we knock on, the story is the same—the cost of living.
10:42 Those voters are paying the price for two bad Governments. The Government who crashed
10:46 the economy are asking working people to pay for it, and the Scottish Government who mismanaged
10:49 the economy are also asking working people to pay for it. There is a Tory premium on
10:54 everyone's mortgages and rents, alongside the highest tax burden on working people in
10:58 80 years, and the SNP wants to increase income taxes further and is proposing eye-watering
11:03 council tax rates on those residents. Do the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West not
11:08 deserve a fresh start, like the Scottish Labour's Michael Shanks?
11:11 >>The Prime Minister It is not so long ago that Scottish Labour
11:17 was calling for even higher taxes on the people of Scotland. When he stood for the Labour
11:22 party leadership, Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour, even said, "I actually
11:27 think our tax policies will be even more progressive and radical than even John McDonnell's or
11:32 Jeremy Corbyn's tax policies in their manifesto." Mr Sarwar has U-turned now, of course, but
11:38 maybe the Member can explain how much Scottish Labour secretly wants to put up the taxes
11:42 in Scotland.
11:43 >>Patrick Grady (Eastwood) (Con): The UK Government are focused on opening
11:51 new international export markets for Scottish businesses. We have trade agreements with
11:55 71 non-EU countries and the EU, and those agreements will support growth, jobs and higher
12:01 wages. The hon. Gentleman will have noted the recently revised numbers, which show that
12:06 we have recovered better from the pandemic than France, Italy or Germany. Since 2010,
12:11 the United Kingdom has achieved the third highest rate of growth in the G7, faster than
12:16 Italy, France, Japan and Germany.
12:19 >>Patrick Grady (Eastwood) (Con): We had a really good trading relationship with the
12:22 European Union. It was called "membership", and 78% of people in Glasgow North and 62%
12:27 of people across Scotland voted to retain that membership. If Brexit is really delivering
12:32 the successes that the right hon. Gentleman says it is, why does he think that the polls
12:35 show that if people in Scotland had the choice again, those numbers would be even higher?
12:39 >>The Prime Minister: What the numbers show—the recent trading numbers in goods and services
12:47 with the EU—is that we are narrowly more trade with the EU than we did when we were
12:51 members.
12:52 >>Sir Oliver Hill (South West Leicester) (Con): Does my right hon. Friend agree that we are
12:57 now developing a much better relationship with our former colleagues in the EU? Agreements
13:03 such as the Windsor framework, the accession to the North Sea group of countries that co-operate
13:08 on energy, and more recently Horizon and the other European programmes show that we are
13:14 on the right footing to have a good future relationship post-Brexit.
13:17 >>The Prime Minister: Yes, Mr Speaker. On Horizon, we were patient and we did the right
13:23 deal. It showed the future for British scientists, but also how important British scientists
13:31 were to Horizon and how much the EU wanted them to be part of it. The right hon. Gentleman
13:35 is right that we have a better relationship, and we have a better relationship that does
13:38 not cost £22 billion a year.
13:40 >>Jamie Stone (Banff and Buchan Coast) (SNP): The United Kingdom Government support collaboration
13:49 between all our nations to share best practices, improve transparency and provide better accountability
13:54 for patients. Ministerial colleagues at the Department for Health and Social Care have
13:58 written to the Scottish Government, inviting them for talks about how we can work together
14:02 to tackle long-term waiting lists in all parts of the United Kingdom.
14:06 >>Mr Speaker If you, a loved one or anyone at all is sick
14:12 and their life might be in danger, is it not the case that the border between Scotland
14:16 and England should not get in the way of the best possible health outcome?
14:20 >>The Prime Minister The hon. Gentleman makes an extremely important
14:24 point, which I am acutely aware of as a Borders MP. I have a constituent who lives in Fuldon
14:29 who has been told that they will need to wait over three years to have their cataracts done
14:33 in Scotland. Meanwhile, their neighbours, who are registered with a GP in England, have
14:37 been treated by NHS England within six months, and they simply do not understand that discrepancy.
14:44 The SNP Government in Edinburgh should be doing much more to drive down NHS waiting
14:48 lists and engaging with colleagues here at Westminster to ensure that all people across
14:52 these islands are getting the best possible NHS services.
14:56 >>Mr. David Norton (East Falkirk) (Con) The United Kingdom Government are providing
15:05 a record £41 billion per year settlement, the largest since devolution. In fact, the
15:10 UK Government are providing the Scottish Government with over 20% more funding per person than
15:14 equivalent UK Government spending in England. With the generous fiscal framework agreement,
15:19 the Scottish Government have the certainty and flexibility to manage their budget and
15:23 deliver high-quality public services across Scotland.
15:26 >>Ms Mary Glyndon (Wycombe) (Lab) The recent programme for government launched
15:31 by the Scottish First Minister only revealed a tired Government too distracted by internal
15:37 squabbling to achieve anything for the people of Scotland. Does the Minister agree that
15:43 the Scottish people deserve a change of Government in Scotland and Westminster, with the Labour
15:48 Government focused on tackling the cost of living and improving living standards for
15:53 the whole of the UK?
15:54 >>Mr Osborne The SNP's programme for government was a
15:59 complete and utter missed opportunity. Rather than focusing on Scotland's NHS, our schools,
16:05 economy and transport links, the SNP is too busy planning independent rallies. Scotland
16:11 does need change, and I am confident that in the next general election we will see that
16:15 change by the election of even more Scottish Conservative and Unionist MPs.
16:22 >>David Duggan (Bedford) (Con) The Government are committed to supporting
16:30 our seafood sector, which is the lifeblood of some of the most remote and fragile communities
16:34 in Scotland. This past Monday, I met ministerial colleagues in the Home Office to discuss in
16:39 more detail the comprehensive package of support measures that this Government have offered
16:43 to the sector to ease access to labour challenges.
16:46 >>Mr Speaker I thank my hon. Friend for that response.
16:51 Can he add to that? What discussions has he had with the Department for Energy, Security
16:55 and Net Zero? I see our hon. Friend the Minister sitting next to him on the Front Bench. Will
17:00 the Scottish Government ensure that impacts to the fishing industry and coastal communities
17:04 of offshore wind will be adequately addressed, along with those impacts caused by marine
17:10 protection areas?
17:11 >>Mr Osborne I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his
17:16 continued energetic and relentless campaigning for his constituency and the fishing sector.
17:21 This Government are committed to working with other Government Departments and the Scottish
17:25 Government on our shared ambition to protect the marine environment and ensure that the
17:28 increasing spatial squeeze on our sea is managed effectively. However, we also note the legitimate
17:34 concerns from the fishing industry and continue to engage with stakeholders, other UK Government
17:38 Departments and the Scottish Government through the Scottish Seafood Industry Action Group.
17:43 I understand that my hon. Friend for West Aberdeenshire, the energy minister, is due
17:48 to meet my hon. Friend shortly.
17:51 >>Jim Shannon The fishermen from Port of Vaux-les-Arcs,
17:55 Glastonbury and Kilkale work hand in hand with the fishermen from Scotland. Whatever
17:59 benefits the Minister can bring to Scottish fishermen will benefit the fishermen and the
18:05 fisherwomen from Northern Ireland. Has any discussion taken place on how they can work
18:10 better together in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
18:12 >>The Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Ian Blackford)
18:15 I am happy to work with all colleagues across the United Kingdom to advance this industry.
18:19 I am happy to meet the hon. Member for Port of Vaux-les-Arcs to discuss how we can do
18:23 that together.
18:24 >>Mr John O'Channock (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab)
18:26 Number 11, please.
18:27 >>Mr Tim Figgerish-Dade With permission, I will answer questions 11
18:31 and 12 together. Illicit drugs destroy lives and devastate communities. The United Kingdom
18:36 Government's 10-year drug strategy sets out ambitious plans, backed with a record
18:41 £3 billion over three years, to tackle the supply of illicit drugs and build a world-class
18:46 system of treatment and recovery. This is a UK-wide strategy, and there are no plans
18:51 to devolve drugs policy to the Scottish Government.
18:54 >>Bernadette Jury The Lord Advocate has announced that she
18:57 is not going to prosecute drug users for simple possession offences committed within a pilot
19:03 safer drugs consumption facility. Both the Home Affairs Committee of this House and the
19:09 Scottish Affairs Committee have recommended that the UK Government support such a pilot
19:14 in Glasgow by creating a legislative pathway under the Misuse of Drugs Act enabling such
19:20 a facility to operate, or by devolving the power to the Scottish Government. Both cross-party
19:27 committees of this House are very clear that the evidence shows that these measures could
19:31 be life-saving, so when will the right hon. Gentleman act to save lives in Scotland by
19:36 persuading his Government to drop their intransigence on this issue?
19:40 >>The Lord Advocate It was disappointing that the Scottish Government
19:46 were not prepared to work with the UK Government on Project ADDER. The offer was made with
19:52 supporting funding, and the E in ADDER is for enforcement. I believe that the police
19:57 and the Procurator Fiscal Service should be enforcing the laws in Scotland, not decriminalising
20:03 drugs, because that helps to drive people to health solutions.
20:06 >>Marine Fellows (Bury) (Con) The Secretary of State did not answer, so
20:13 I will try again. Scotland needs a caring, compassionate, human rights-informed drugs
20:20 policy with public health and the reduction of harm as its principles. Is the Scottish
20:26 Government ready and willing to work with the UK Government to put into practice this
20:30 progressive policy? Scottish Tory MSP Miles Briggs said on "GMS" yesterday that he
20:38 hoped the UK Government would not move to block this life-saving measure. Despite the
20:43 Minister's Cabinet colleagues continuing to denounce their effectiveness, what recent
20:48 discussions has he had with the Scottish Government on advancing this pilot scheme?
20:55 >>The Prime Minister Drug consumption rooms are not the easy
21:02 solution hon. Members may think. There is no safe way to take illegal drugs. Drugs devastate
21:09 lives, ruin families and damage communities. The UK Government believe that the police
21:15 and the Procurator Fiscal Service should fully enforce the law. However, if the Scottish
21:25 Government and the Lord Advocate decide to proceed with a pilot on drug consumption rooms,
21:33 the UK Government will not intervene.
21:35 >>Kevin Forster (Wolverhampton North) (Lab) The Secretary of State will clearly realise
21:40 the challenge that we would be presented to the Border Force if we had differing rules
21:44 on what drugs were lawful and not lawful across the United Kingdom. Will he therefore assure
21:48 me that he will not be looking to devolve drugs policy and will instead be getting the
21:52 Scottish Government to focus on their own responsibilities?
21:55 >>The Prime Minister They all seem to cheer me at the same time
22:01 at this moment in Scottish questions. The Labour party is very generous. My hon. Friend
22:07 makes a very good point. Drugs deaths in Scotland are three times higher than the UK average,
22:14 and that is despite the laws being the same across the UK. I do not believe that drug
22:18 consumption rooms are the panacea to those problems, but we absolutely must have drug
22:23 laws that work across the whole United Kingdom, because it is a UK-wide problem.
22:27 >>Mr Speaker We now come to SNP Spokesperson Thomas Sheppard.
22:32 >>Thomas Sheppard (Bolton South) (Lab) I think we should be clear that the Lord Advocate's
22:40 statement on Monday is a game-changer. It removes one of the major obstacles to a pilot
22:46 drug consumption facility, which is designed to prevent overdoses. The right hon. Gentleman
22:51 has been equivocal in his responses so far, so let me give him another chance to get on
22:57 the right side of history and to say that he will support and work with the Scottish
23:04 Government to see this pilot project through.
23:07 >>Mr Speaker I think I have been quite clear that the
23:12 UK Government's policy is not to proceed with drug consumption rooms. We believe that
23:15 drugs, as I said, devastate families and destroy communities, and I am very clear about those
23:20 things. I am also very clear that the Lord Advocate and the Scottish Government appear
23:24 to have achieved a workaround that allows them to have a pilot drug consumption room,
23:30 probably in Glasgow, and the United Kingdom Government will not intervene in that, so
23:34 you now have no more excuses.
23:36 >>Mr Speaker Can I press the Secretary of State on this
23:41 point? Of course, he has formed in terms of intervening in decisions of the Scottish Government.
23:47 He says he will not intervene. Can we therefore be clear that he will say on behalf of the
23:52 UK Government that he will not use any administrative or legislative means to frustrate or block
24:00 this pilot policy by the Scottish Government?
24:03 >>The Prime Minister I am very popular today, Mr Speaker, particularly
24:13 with the SNP, when I give this answer, and the answer is yes.
24:17 >>Christine Jardine (Brighton, Pavilion) (Con)
24:23 Our Government have taken assertive action on the cost of living. UK-wide support to
24:27 households to help with higher energy bills is worth £94 billion, or an average of £3,300
24:33 per household. This United Kingdom Government's focus has been on supporting everyone with
24:37 the cost of living, with specific targeted support and tailored interventions for those
24:42 most vulnerable.
24:43 >>Christine Jardine (Brighton, Pavilion) (Con)
24:47 I thank the Minister for his answer. He will know that, like his constituents, my constituents
24:53 in Edinburgh West still face the impact of food inflation, higher energy bills and unfair
24:57 standing charges for electricity. We also now face the potential bombshell of a council
25:04 tax hike by the Scottish Government, which will affect 14,500 households in Edinburgh
25:11 West, who will have to pay more than £2,000 a year. Will the UK Government be speaking
25:23 to the Scottish Government to try to mitigate this, and what steps do they have in mind
25:28 to support it?
25:29 >>Derek Mackay I share the hon. Lady's concerns about the
25:32 SNP-Green Government's bombshell tax plans to hike up the tax burden for many households,
25:38 with people already facing pressures on their household budgets. As she will know, along
25:43 with the record block grant, the spring budget provided the Scottish Government with an extra
25:47 £320 million over the next two years, on top of the £1.5 billion of additional funding
25:52 we provided in the autumn statement 2022. However, our economic priorities of halving
25:58 inflation and growing the economy are the most effective way of supporting her constituents.
26:03 >>Jeremy Corbyn I believe that support for the union is
26:11 strong. The United Kingdom is one of the most successful political and economic unions in
26:15 the world, the foundation on which all our businesses and citizens are able to thrive.
26:21 When we work collaboratively, we are safer, stronger and more prosperous.
26:25 >>Robin Moore (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)
26:28 Just last week, the SNP's First Minister whipped up grievance politics at independence
26:32 rallies, Scotland's NHS but goes backwards, Scotland's ferries don't work and Scotland's
26:38 economy stagnates. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is about time that the SNP stopped
26:44 obsessing about another independence referendum and started delivering for the people of Scotland?
26:50 >>The Prime Minister I agree with my hon. Friend, and I could
26:55 not have put it better myself. >>Angus Bradley-Backdale (North East Fife)
26:59 (SNP) Is it not the truth in the union that, while we see independent Norway and independent
27:03 Ireland in budget surplus—independent Ireland with a surplus this year of €10 billion,
27:08 rising to €23 billion in the next three years—the Scottish Government cannot build
27:13 small hospitals on small Scottish islands? Is it not the answer for Scotland to remove
27:17 the handcuffs from Westminster to get the independence and the budget surpluses of Norway
27:21 and Ireland to move forward and to move away from the Brexit of the Tory and Labour parties?
27:27 >>The Prime Minister It is always independence and independence
27:31 to solve the problems. The Government are not building hospitals on the islands because
27:34 it is the Scottish Government who are squandering the most generous settlement they have had
27:38 since devolution began.