Scotland’s Economy
Debate between Jamie Stone and Peter DowdWestminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
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Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow East (John Grady) on a very thoughtful speech. I want to make three brief points.
When the North sea oil came, the then Labour Government saw to it that oil fabrication yards were established in different parts of Scotland, two of which in the highlands, at Kishorn and Nigg, I worked in. They were important because they helped halt and reverse highland depopulation—the curse of the highlands and islands for far too long. Welding and fabrication skills were relocated from Glasgow and the Clyde, and other parts of the UK, to those yards, and some of the greatest structures still working in the North sea today were built there, including the Ninian Central and Magnus platforms.
We have the skills there today, but they are ageing skills. The hon. Member rightly talked about the potential of renewables in the North sea, but virtually none of the nacelles and blades are made in this country. We have the fabrication and welding skills, so we should utilise them, as was done in the 1970s. If we do not do that, we are missing a trick.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) is rightly an avid exponent of the potential for space launch from Shetland. I, too, am a keen exponent of the potential of Sutherland in that regard. Orbex, which is based in Morayshire, currently employs 150 and hopes to have perhaps 500 by 2030. There is enormous potential, but the UK Government must match the level of funding coming from Germany and France for the space industry. That is a challenge for the Government, and I am sure they will do their best to meet it.
Lastly, so many of our skilled female workforce are unable to deploy their skills to the full to the betterment of Scotland’s economy because the care that they need for their children is simply not there. They cannot leave their homes to go out and make money for the family and serve Scotland in the best way they can. If we can get that right, we can realise the potential of our female workers; again, we would be very foolish not to.
Thank you, Mr Dowd—I believe I have kept within the allotted time.
