Sue Gray Report

Debate between Owen Thompson and Boris Johnson

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No. This has been a harrowing and tragic experience for the entire country. We have done our best to deal with it. As for what the hon. Lady says about what has been going on in No. 10, I ask her to look at the report but also to wait for the police inquiry.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

This afternoon we have heard distraction, deflection and confusion, and we cannot even get an answer to the simplest of questions about whether the full report will be published when available. May I therefore ask the Prime Minister whether we are now looking at a situation of hobble, hobble, quack, quack?

[The Prime Minister]

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to publish everything that we currently have, but the fact is that there are legal impediments and we have to wait until the police inquiry has concluded.

AUKUS

Debate between Owen Thompson and Boris Johnson

Thursday 16th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

The recognition that cyber-warfare is as much a part of modern conflict as troops on the ground is reassuring, but the statement was a bit light on mentions of industrialised weaponised misinformation which has caused so much damage over recent years. What reassurance can the Prime Minister give that cyber-troops based here and in hostile states will be high on the AUKUS agenda?

[The Prime Minister]

The Five Eyes partnership is also of huge importance. We share intelligence on a very, very free basis with our Five Eyes friends, but cyber, AI and so on will now be progressed within the AUKUS context as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Thompson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 23rd June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

BT Openreach recently extended its offer of commercial coverage for gigabit broadband to services in my hon. Friend’s area—in the community that he mentions—and that is partly because of the super deduction in taxation in respect of investment that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced recently at the Budget.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

  The Electoral Commission performs an important independent role in the regulation of UK elections. Whether it is investigating dark money or attempts to undermine our democracy, its role is critical to ensure public confidence in our democratic processes. With the Government seeking to neuter the Electoral Commission, what exactly is the Prime Minister planning that requires his Government to attempt to be able to direct the independent regulator?

[The Prime Minister]

For the sake of brevity, I think I can say absolutely nothing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Thompson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, and I know that the whole House will be in sympathy with Noel Conway’s family and friends. There are very deeply and sincerely held views on both sides of this matter, and a change in the law would obviously be one for Parliament to consider.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

Over the course of this question session, the Prime Minister has been presented with the views of stakeholder after stakeholder expressing real fears and concerns over these bungled trade talks. Why is the Prime Minister willing to put the livelihoods of farmers and crofters across Scotland in peril for a shoddy trade deal with Australia, which will not even cover 1% of the lost opportunities to Europe’s markets that we have lost through Brexit?

[The Prime Minister]

We have not lost opportunities to Europe’s markets through Brexit.

Integrated Review

Debate between Owen Thompson and Boris Johnson

Thursday 19th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. I believe that the Intelligence and Security Committee is well equipped to provide exactly that further layer of scrutiny of cyber operations.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP) [V]]

The Prime Minister has outlined his ambition for a space control to secure space launch capability from the UK, but concerns have been raised by some in the UK-based space industry about the recently published US-UK technology safeguards agreement, which has not yet been scrutinised by this place. What guarantee can the Prime Minister give the UK-based industry that it will be central to any space programme, and will he meet me to discuss this in more detail?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important and interesting issue. I will do my best to ensure that his concerns are addressed and that the House is able to look at all the technology safeguard measures that we are putting in place. That is obviously right.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Thompson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 4th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly confirm that we are going ahead with Northern Powerhouse Rail. In addition, I can tell my hon. Friend that Cheadle will receive at least £500,000 from the towns fund to support the local high street and the local community.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

  Mid- lothian has a long and proud mining heritage, from the Lady Victoria to Bilston Glen and Monktonhall, so I very much welcome the Scottish Government’s announcement last week of a general pardon for those criminalised for the events of the 1984 miners’ strike. There are still unanswered questions that fall within the remit of the UK Government, including issues relating to political interference. Will the Prime Minister commit today to undertaking a UK-wide independent review to ensure that the experiences of miners are fully understood, to bring reconciliation to miners and police officers, and to try to heal the wounds of the past?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I think that he is raising the 1983 miners’ strike—or the early 1980s at any rate. I would be obliged to him if he could send me further particulars of his concerns, which I will do my best to address.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Thompson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 2nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, who raises an important point. As he will know, the rules around access to schemes for alternative finance are not the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, but of the Bank of England. I am sure the Governor will have heard my hon. Friend today.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

Over the summer months many people undertake a range of activities. For some it is camping, for others it is festivals and events. In my constituency,we have a number of highly successful employers in audio-visual technology, hospitality and creative industries, none of whom can currently undertake their normal activities. In the face of this, when furlough ends, those companies could face collapse. What should I tell them—that the Government will extend the scheme to ensure that the industry can get back on its feet, or have the Government completely given up on them?

[The Prime Minister]

Not at all. We have supported the arts industry alone with about £1.7 billion of support. In Scotland, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman never tires of saying, the overall support for tackling coronavirus has been in the order of about £4 billion. We will continue to give support, but we happen to think—and I hope it is common ground across the House—that it would be better for the UK economy and better for all the people he rightly cares about to get back into work.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Thompson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The Government are passionate about buses. I assure my hon. Friend that we will massively improve our bus network, in the Rother Valley above all, and I thank him for his lobbying.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

Q15. We know that the Prime Minister has form in ducking democratic scrutiny at every opportunity and that his party is no stranger to receiving Russian donations, but his repeated refusal to publish the report on Russian interference in UK democracy is unjustifiable and unacceptable. Will he tell us clearly, without bluff and bluster, when the report will be published, why it has been delayed for so long, and when he will reconvene the Intelligence and Security Committee?

[The Prime Minister]

The report will of course be published—as the hon. Gentleman knows full well—when the Intelligence and Security Committee is reconstituted, and I think that his conspiratorial frame of mind is likely to be thoroughly disappointed by the results.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Thompson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 29th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has personally raised the issue with me before, and I am sure that his constituents will congratulate him on sticking up for their interests in the way that he does. I can tell him that there will be a decision on HS2 very shortly, if he can just contain his impatience a little bit longer.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

11.   Yesterday, the EU published the Erasmus+ programme annual report. It showed that Edinburgh University is the top UK institution for sending students on the scheme. The number of incoming higher education EU staff stood at 4,970 across the UK. The educational benefits are clearly endless. Will the Prime Minister now prioritise talks on the UK’s continued participation, so we do not face any delay in joining the next cycle from 2021?

[The Prime Minister]

Nothing in withdrawal from the EU stops UK students being able to pursue their hopes, their dreams around the whole of the European Union, and we will ensure that that is the case.