Syria

Stewart Malcolm McDonald Excerpts

Thursday 26th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have said what I have said about ground troops, and I do not propose to change that. The motion needs to set out clearly what I am seeking the House’s permission to do. I would want that to be relatively clear and constrained; I would not want people to believe that some sort of mission creep was taking place. I am very happy to listen to people’s views on what the motion should have in it.

[Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South) (SNP)]

The Prime Minister has described Raqqa as the head of the snake but, as the story goes, when you cut the head off a snake, seven new heads grow. How can he ensure that the snake is not in fact a Hydra that will emerge stronger in other parts of the region, such as Libya or Tunisia?

[The Prime Minister]

There is a difference between snakes, with which I am quite familiar, and the Hydra of myth and legend. Maybe we need to have a deeper conversation about that. Look, it is not just my view that Raqqa is the head of the snake; it is. That is where the plots have come from, which is why acting only in Iraq and not in Syria is restricting our effectiveness.

European Council

Stewart Malcolm McDonald Excerpts

Monday 19th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point that will be debated and discussed a lot in the forthcoming referendum. Obviously, in many cases, people who go to other European states will not get EU citizenship, or citizenship of those states, for many years, so they will not be able to travel freely around the European Union. That is important and we should not mislead people about it. One of the things we want to tighten up in the current rules is the ability of foreign nationals living in other European countries to marry EU nationals and then have access to the UK. We would like that particular judgment to be overturned.

[Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South) (SNP)]

What exactly is this benefits shopping that the Prime Minister speaks of? It is probably the greatest canard in British politics right now, because I do not know what it is and it seems that his European counterparts do not know either. Rather than being driven by the suspicion of Johnny Foreigner that plagues his Back Benchers and, indeed, his Home Secretary, will the Prime Minister stand up for the freedom of movement, which has enriched this country so greatly over the years?

[The Prime Minister]

Let me try to help the hon. Gentleman. Of course, there is an issue—a relatively small issue—of people coming to different European countries and claiming benefits to which they are not entitled. That should be, and is being, stopped: it is now not possible to come here and immediately claim unemployment benefit. The bigger problem, which my renegotiation is examining, is that someone who comes from another European country to Britain is able, in the first year, to access in-work benefits of perhaps as much as €10,000 or €12,000. This is about being able to control our own welfare system to reduce the pressures of migration. European leaders and the British people understand that, even if it has not got through to the SNP yet.

Tunisia, and European Council

Stewart Malcolm McDonald Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am most grateful to the Prime Minister, to the Leader of the Opposition, and to the 70 Back Benchers who contributed in the 70 Back-Bench minutes.

[Stewart McDonald (Glasgow South) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

Points of order come after statements. We are saving the hon. Gentleman up, if I can put it that way.