Article 50

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It is important that we are able to be flexible in the negotiations. The key thing is that in everything we do we put the British national interest first.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

I do not know whether the Prime Minister is yet aware of reports about the draft European Parliament resolution that will be discussed this afternoon, but it includes the recognition that

“a large number of United Kingdom citizens, including a majority in Northern Ireland and Scotland, voted to remain in the EU”.

It does not mention Maidenhead, perhaps because the people of Maidenhead, unlike the people of Scotland, did not have an independence referendum in which they were told that voting to remain in the United Kingdom also meant voting to remain in the European Union.

[The Prime Minister]

The Scottish National party cannot have it all ways; it wanted to leave the United Kingdom, which would have meant leaving the European Union.

London Attack

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Thursday 23rd March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to join the hon. Gentleman in commending the work of the nursery staff. It must have been particularly difficult with very young children in what was an uncertain and difficult circumstance. I am sure they did an excellent job and I am happy to join him in commending their work.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

I join all the tributes that have been paid. I think those of us who were locked down in the Chamber will also want to pay particular tribute to Mr Deputy Speaker, the Chairman of Ways and Means, and to the Leader of the House for keeping calm and carrying on, and keeping us informed about what was going on. I also pay tribute to the Hansard reporters who kept democracy going and reported, three hours after the business had finished, the live recording of the proceedings up to the Adjournment of the House. That is a tribute to the continuity of our democracy.

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed. I join the hon. Gentleman in commending the actions of both the Chairman of Ways and Means and my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House yesterday. Very calmly, they were able to reassure Members of this House at a time when nobody knew everything about what was happening and only very limited information was available.

Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Wednesday 1st March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Jane Ellison]

Colleagues are rightly focused on tax and competitiveness. The increased tax powers delivered through the Scotland Act 2016 mean that the Scottish Government have responsibility for raising more of what they spend. It is for them to decide how to use those tax powers to shape Scotland’s economy, growth and jobs. I might not like their plans to make Scotland a higher-tax nation—it is up to them—but they have to explain those plans to the people they represent.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

The publication of this year’s draft Scottish budget had to be delayed because the Chancellor of the Exchequer did not make financial information available until the autumn statement. What impact will the move to the autumn Budget have on the Scottish Government’s ability to plan effectively for their budget process?

[Jane Ellison]

There are many good reasons for moving to a single fiscal event in the autumn—allowing for longer-term planning is one of them. On the subject of planning for the long term and increasing certainty, I would add that taking the threat of a second referendum off the table is the single biggest thing that the SNP and the Scottish Government could do for certainty and confidence among the business community.

Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Wednesday 8th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to agree with my hon. Friend. Our broken housing market is one of the greatest barriers to progress in Britain today, and the excellent housing White Paper brought out by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government sets out the steps we will take to fix it. My hon. Friend is right: it is the Conservatives in government who will support local authorities to deliver more of the right homes in the right places, to encourage faster build-out of developments—I am sure everybody recognises the problem of planning permissions that are given and then not built out—and to create the conditions for a more competitive and diverse housing market. We are calling for action and we are setting out the responsibilities of all parties in building the homes that Britain needs.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

Q3. Does the Prime Minister agree that in a 21st-century Parliament the rules should not enable any Member to speak for 58 minutes in a three-hour debate? Does she agree that the rules of the House should be changed to prevent filibustering and ensure that Members on both sides of the House get a fair share of the time available?

[The Prime Minister]

I find that a rather curious question from the hon. Gentleman. As it happens, last night I was out of the House between the two votes. I switched on the BBC parliamentary channel and I saw the hon. Gentleman speaking. I turned over to something else. I switched back to the parliamentary channel and he was still speaking. I switched over to something else. I switched back and he was still speaking. He is the last person to complain about filibustering in this House. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I know what a champion for Morecambe and Lunesdale my hon. Friend is and has been as a Member of Parliament, and I am sure that the Chancellor and the Business Secretary will look at the issue he has raised. I should also say how sad it is that Labour councils are not willing to put forward proposals to increase the prosperity and economic growth in their areas.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

Q11. When she will next meet the First Minister of Scotland.

[The Prime Minister]

I will meet the First Minister and leaders of the devolved Administrations at the Joint Ministerial Committee on Monday, but of course we regularly engage with the Scottish Government on a wide range of issues.

[Patrick Grady]

When the Prime Minister does eventually meet the First Minister, will the Prime Minister confirm whether she supports the principle in the Scotland Act that whatever is not reserved is devolved? Will she be able to tell the First Minister what powers will come to the Scottish Parliament in the event of Brexit? Will she confirm that the great repeal Bill will not be the great power grab?

[The Prime Minister]

I have been very clear, and this was echoed yesterday by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, that no powers that are currently devolved are suddenly going to be taken back to the United Kingdom Government. We will be looking at and discussing with the devolved Administrations how we deal with those powers that are currently in Brussels when they come back to the United Kingdom. We want to ensure that those powers are dealt with so that we can maintain the important single market of the United Kingdom.

European Council

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Monday 24th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No. The Government have, in a number of ways, been supporting steel production here in the United Kingdom, as the hon. Gentleman will know—both in compensation in relation to climate change and renewables costs, and by the ability to take social issues into consideration when deciding on the procurement of steel. There is a whole range of measures that we have taken. In relation to the action that is being taken by the European Union, we decided at the end of last week that we will modernise the trade defence instruments, but we will do that in a balanced way—balancing the interests of users, producers and consumers. As I am sure he will know, the application of the lesser duty relief has actually meant that, for certain parts of the steel industry, imports from China have dropped by 90%.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

Of all the European laws and regulations that the Prime Minister wants to reincorporate democratically into UK law through the great repeal Bill, which does she want to abolish or amend first?

[The Prime Minister]

It will be for this Parliament to decide how we deal with the regulations and laws once they have been brought into UK law, but there are two points I would make to the hon. Gentleman. It is right to bring that EU law into UK law at the point at which we leave the European Union, to ensure that there is no legal gap and that everybody has certainty of the legislation that they will be operating under. The second important point is that, once that has happened, it will be for this Parliament to decide, and to be sovereign in determining, those laws.

Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Wednesday 12th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

1. What assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the economy of Scotland.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

2. What assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the economy of Scotland.

[Dr Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire) (SNP)]

4. What assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the economy of Scotland.

--- Later in debate ---

[David Mundell]

It is self-evident that, because the devolution settlements within the United Kingdom are predicated on the basis that the United Kingdom was a member of the European Union, those devolution settlements will be changed by the United Kingdom leaving the EU. Those will be matters that will be subject to debate and discussion.

[Patrick Grady]

I am not entirely certain that the Secretary of State answered that question. Will he categorically rule out powers being re-reserved to this Parliament as a result of the decision to leave the European Union?

[David Mundell]

What I can say is that no powers which are currently exercised by the Scottish Parliament will be re-reserved to this Parliament as a result of the United Kingdom leaving the EU.

G20 Summit

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Wednesday 7th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Selby and Ainsty (Nigel Adams), I think it was important to focus the Government’s efforts on trade deals through the creation of a new Department—the Department for International Trade. That Department is building up its expertise and will continue to do so.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

I do not know whether there was any discussion at the G20 of America’s greatest cultural export, “Star Trek”, which celebrates its 50th anniversary tomorrow and is commemorated in early-day motion 393, but if any of us want to live long and prosper, we must tackle climate change. Given the commitments of the US and the Chinese at the summit, does the Prime Minister regret abolishing the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change? When will the UK ratify the Paris agreement?

[The Prime Minister]

I think I can honestly say that in all the discussions that I had in the G20 and all the plenary sessions that I sat and listened through, “Star Trek” was never mentioned.

Yes, we will be ratifying the Paris agreement. People seem to think that the commitment of the Government to tackling climate change can only be represented by whether or not there is a separate Department devoted to it. That is not the case. The important point is that we have taken energy and climate change and put them alongside business and industrial strategy, and I think that by doing so we will get a better, more strategic approach on these issues. But I repeat the point that I made to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) at Prime Minister’s questions earlier by saying that if the hon. Member for Glasgow North (Patrick Grady) is interested in climate change, I would hope that he would congratulate the Government on what we have done in relation to climate change, because we have been at the forefront of encouraging others to take action on emissions.

UK's Nuclear Deterrent

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Monday 18th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Drew Hendry]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have lost a wee bit of time, but I will be as quick as I can.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

Does my hon. Friend share my concern about the spiralling cost, which is even more difficult to calculate because of the massive fluctuations in the currency market as a result of the Brexit vote?

[Drew Hendry]

I can only agree with my colleague. I was about to make a point about the vulnerability of the military systems. The Defense Science Board report states:

“The United States cannot be confident that our critical Information Technology (IT) systems will work under attack from a sophisticated and well-resourced opponent utilizing cyber capabilities in combination with all of their military and intelligence capabilities.”

We face the prospect of investing in a military dodo, but the situation is even worse because it can be hacked and used against us, and the Government plan to spend up to £205 billion on it.

I will not vote for Trident renewal tonight, for all of the good reasons that have been laid out, one after another, by my colleagues, but the main reason is that it is an obscenity.

EU Council

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Wednesday 29th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with every word the hon. Gentleman said. I never wanted to see those sentiments appear in our country again. I think the difference between now and the 1950s and 1960s, when these things happened, is that the state of our laws is far stronger, the understanding of our police is far better and the ability of our prosecuting authorities to take action is much stronger. We need to make sure all those things are brought to bear.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

As far as the UK Council presidency is concerned, perhaps the Scottish Government should be invited to take it on, seeing as we are committed to the European Union. However, does the Prime Minister understand the concerns expressed by my constituents about the impact of Brexit on friends and relatives who are UK citizens but who live in the EU, particularly as regards access to healthcare and other social protections? How will that access be maintained in the future?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course I understand people’s passions and concerns. Healthcare is exactly the sort of issue that did not loom as large in the campaign as I rather wish it had. There are some big retail benefits from being in the EU—the ability to use mobile phones without roaming charges, the storing of digital content, the access to health services, the cheap air fares and all the rest of it. That is exactly the sort of issue that a Whitehall unit can look at. What are the rules in terms of access to healthcare? What can we secure in Europe but outside the European Union? We can start to put that forward so that people can see what the future holds.