Sue Gray Report

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am going to move on with the Government’s agenda, and that is exactly what we are going to do.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

I appreciate that the Prime Minister struggles with the truth, but can he vouch to me and to this House that he will do everything he possibly can to stave off his Back Benchers and instead lead the campaign to protect his precious Union?

Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Wednesday 20th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, at COP26 we agreed the Glasgow dialogue on loss and damage. That was the first time we had significant text in the cover decision on this issue. That work is going forward, as is work on the operationalisation of the Santiago network.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

Of course as we urgently seek to combat climate change it is vital that we do so in a just and fair way, particularly for communities in the north-east of Scotland. Bearing that in mind, does the Minister agree that his Government should do three things: fund the Acorn carbon capture and underground storage project; match fund the Scottish Government’s £500 million just transition fund; and finally, eventually, reform the TNUoS—the transmission network use of system—charging scandal that is happening at this moment in time?

[Alok Sharma]

The hon. Gentleman has eloquently raised a number of domestic policy issues and I know that the Energy Minister would be happy to write to him on all of them.

Easter Recess: Government Update

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have spoken in good faith and, of course, continue to raise the case of his constituent.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

Does the Prime Minister believe that a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who openly treats the public like they are mugs is a help or a hindrance to the cause of Scottish independence?

Living with Covid-19

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have to be humble in the face of this disease. It remains a dangerous disease and we must continue to be cautious, but we also have to take balanced decisions that are right for the country. It is clear now that the 19 July decision and the decision on Christmas and the new year were correct.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

Is it not the case that the decision being taken here today has nothing to do with protecting public health and everything to do with protecting this Prime Minister from his own Back Benchers?

[The Prime Minister]

No, the hon. Gentleman is completely wrong.

Sue Gray Report

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

This morning, the Conservative party in Scotland issued a press release that stated:

“The pandemic sees rise in criminals getting away with crimes”.

Was it talking about the Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

What we are actually doing is cutting crime by 14% and putting 20,000 more police on the streets.

Covid-19 Update

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is totally right. I believe the No. 1 priority for the British people is not just to keep our economy moving forward, as we are, but to make sure we clear those covid backlogs. We cannot do that without the steps the Government have taken. I thought it was amazing that the party opposite voted against them.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

Can I have confirmation from the Prime Minister? Is he getting rid of the covid rules simply because he does not understand them?

[The Prime Minister]

We are able to make progress on the covid rules, and to get rid of them, because of our deep understanding of the pandemic. I thank the hon. Gentleman and all our Scottish colleagues for helping to communicate what we are doing in such a way that British people across the whole UK have been able to move forward more or less together. The differences between us are far, far smaller than the similarities, about which I am very proud.

Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Wednesday 15th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jack]

I would add that the remark of the First Minister’s Minister, the Green party MSP, who said that only “hard-right extremists” want to explore oil, was also disgraceful. Even when we get to 2050, we will need oil for 20% of our power, and we will need gas for 15%, and for producing blue hydrogen. We will need that oil not just for power, but for important things such as the petrochemicals industry and for making instruments for the NHS. It is ridiculous to think that we can just turn off the taps and not destroy our economy.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

This is not just about what we extract from the North sea; it is also about what we put back in. That is why the Acorn project is fundamental. The Secretary of State mentioned Sir Ian Wood and his views on the oil and gas sector, but he will also be cognisant of Sir Ian Wood’s views about his Government’s decision to turn their back on Acorn. Will the Secretary of State finally admit to regretting the decision of his colleagues?

[Mr Jack]

I have discussed this matter with Sir Ian Wood, and I do not think the hon. Gentleman reflects his views fairly. Sir Ian Wood understands and agrees with us that the bid can be improved. To be clear, the difference between Acorn and Humberside, Teesside and Merseyside, was that Humberside, Teesside and Merseyside have a huge hinterland of industrial carbon. Acorn was bringing the carbon from all parts of the UK and/or Europe to make the bid work. We are working on how to get more industrial carbon into the project, to make it more viable and to expedite it for 2023.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, but I also want to say that I understand completely the massive opportunity and the potential that exists in those coastal communities. That is why we are already investing £120 million in five new town deals, including for Lowestoft. I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Levelling Up will want to be taking my hon. Friend’s points on board as we bring forward the levelling up White Paper in the new year.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

Q2. Does the Prime Minister believe that it is the damage being caused by Brexit, his litany of broken promises, his condoning of Conservative party corruption, or just simply his complicity in lockdown-busting Christmas parties and quizzes that has caused the public to so dramatically, so rapidly, lose faith in his leadership?

[The Prime Minister]

What I observe is that actually it was our freedom from the rules of the European Union that enabled us to deliver the fastest vaccine roll-out in Europe and that has enabled us to have the fastest economic growth in the G7. That is of massive benefit to each and every one of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents, and I think he should acknowledge that point.

COP26

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Monday 15th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I congratulate the Humber and the whole region on what they are doing in green technology and carbon capture and storage. We will ensure that this country builds on their lead with clean, green technology around the whole country.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

In the run-up to COP, the Prime Minister spoke about Kermit the Frog. On the first day of COP, he spoke about cows belching before disappearing up a closie for the next two weeks, instead focusing his time on trying to cover up Conservative party corruption. So can I ask the Prime Minister: when the world needed climate leadership, does he believe that he was a help or a hindrance?

[The Prime Minister]

As I say, the Opposition have struggled all afternoon with the appalling fact that COP26 has been a success. In all humility, they should recognise that, congratulate the negotiators and thank all the countries of the UN that came together to do something very difficult and very remarkable. I am grateful to all the parties involved.

Committee on Standards: Decision of the House

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Monday 8th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) (SNP)]

As always, it is a privilege and a pleasure to follow the Father of the House. I congratulate the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) on securing this important debate. She introduced it in a means and a manner significantly different from what we had last week, and I welcome her comments.

What a few days this has been. What a week we have had to endure as politicians who serve in this House. Our politics has been taken to a very dark place indeed, with the sense that rules have been torn up and the feeling that we have returned to the worst days of Tory sleaze—sleaze that we thought had been buried and was gone, never to return. There is a sense of outrage among the public that I have never seen in the 20 years that I have been in this place. That is palpable and tangible in our bulging email boxes, with angry constituents demanding to know what an earth is going on, and demanding that we put it right and sort this mess out.

One has to ask, what on earth were the Government thinking of? What were they trying to achieve? What did they want to do? What did they think was going to happen, introducing that motion the way they did? I almost feel sorry for the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. If there was a short straw for turning up to try to defend this Government’s action, he most certainly picked it today. It should be his right hon. Friend the Leader of the House leading this debate. It was him that brought that grubby motion to the House last Wednesday, it was him that defended it to the hilt, and it was him that took up nearly half the time that we were allowed to have that debate. He should be standing at the Dispatch Box today defending the Government’s action and telling us what he is going to do. He always likes to remind me of battles past; today, he is like the brave Sir Robin from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, bravely running away from doing his duty at the Dispatch Box.

We know that this was a plot hatched between the Leader of the House and his right hon. Friend the Government Chief Whip, designed, approved and orchestrated through No. 10, with the weight of the whipping operation that we saw last Wednesday. This goes all the way to the very top. What the two of them did was open the Tory Pandora’s box marked “sleaze”—and what a grubby, rotten receptacle it has turned out to be. They are a Government prepared to reinvent the rules if they do not like them—a Government so arrogant and entitled that they believe they can get away with whatever they want.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

My hon. Friend mentions the Pandora’s box of sleaze. He will be familiar with the corruption allegations that appeared in The Sunday Times yesterday following an investigation by openDemocracy. Does he not believe, as I do, that that is a matter not just for this House and for Parliament but for the police?

[Pete Wishart]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, because I want to get round to that particular case. I did note that yesterday. I was here for cash for honours mark 1; this is cash for honours mark 2.0, and I will refer to that specifically.

Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Flynn Excerpts

Wednesday 8th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Iain Stewart]

I think the hon. Lady takes a very partisan view on this. We have put forward some very concrete suggestions. I remind her that the vast majority of powers in this area lie with the Scottish Government, and her Government have been in power for 14 years, so perhaps they should spend a little bit more effort focusing on tackling some of these social issues rather than obsessing about independence, which no one wants.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

3. What recent assessment his Department has made of the strength of the Union.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

4. What recent assessment his Department has made of the strength of the Union.

[The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Alister Jack)]

My assessment continues to be that the United Kingdom is the most successful political and economic union that the world has ever seen. It is the foundation on which all our citizens and businesses are able to thrive. The United Kingdom Government are committed to protecting and promoting the strengths of our United Kingdom.

[Stephen Flynn]

The helping hand of the Union has left Scotland with no oil fund. It sees our renewables projects pay the highest grid charging levies in the entirety of Europe. In 2015, we saw the scrapping of plans for a carbon capture and underground storage plant in Peterhead, so I am simply seeking reassurance from the Secretary of State that the Acorn project will be one of two clusters to receive backing from his Government next month.