Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Brown Excerpts

Wednesday 28th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

We have a huge number of programmes that are supporting those people in particular—not just the short-term needs of shelter, food and so forth, but education, jobs and livelihoods. Those individuals have some unique needs that have not been addressed to date with as much focus by the international community, and the setting up of a panel to consider those needs and what more we can do to help in similar situations will be a big step forward.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

3. What representations she has made to the US Administration on their withholding funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Alistair Burt)]

We are concerned about the impact on UNRWA’s activities whenever unexpected reductions or delays in predicted donor disbursements occur, and I raised that with a senior US official last week. Our officials are collaborating with the US and other donors to maintain UNRWA’s vital services across the region.

[Alan Brown]

The Minister will be aware that half a million Palestinian children attend schools funded by the UN Relief and Works Agency—schools that should really be funded by Israel as the occupying force. Has that been explained to the US Administration, as well as the impact of the loss of $65 million of funding? Is it not time that Palestine was independent and controlled the resources?

[Alistair Burt]

It has been clearly explained to US officials what the impact of the funding decision may be, particularly in Jordan, Lebanon and other places where Palestinian refugees are supported. We have provided £50 million to UNRWA in this financial year, which assists in the provision of education and other needs, and we will continue to provide funding.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Brown Excerpts

Wednesday 21st February 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I know that the sympathies of Members across the House are with Alfie and his family as he undergoes treatment. We recognise that people with chronic pain and debilitating illnesses will always look to alleviate their symptoms, but if we are going to permit medicines to be used, we first need to ensure that they have been through the most rigorous testing and that we apply the most rigorous standards. We believe that cannabis should be subjected to the same regulations that apply to all medicines in the United Kingdom.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

Q8. I have previously highlighted that each Scottish Tory MP costs Scotland £265 million. It turns out that their Scottish leader is much cheaper, because the party wanted to hire her out for £15,000 a day at a Tory fundraising dinner. At that same dinner, the Defence Secretary was on hire for £30,000, while £2,000 bought the International Trade Secretary and it was £55,000 for the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister agree that although her party will sell anything that moves, it is time to halt the privatisation of Tory MPs and they should get on with the day job?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Forgive me; I was struggling to hear. Just before I ask the Prime Minister to respond, I need an assurance from the hon. Gentleman that he is not suggesting that the presence of a Member of Parliament was bought. If he is suggesting that, it is straightforwardly out of order. Is that what the hon. Gentleman is saying?

[Alan Brown]

Mr Speaker, I was referring to a story that was in the newspapers.

[Mr Speaker]

I am afraid that that is not good enough. Forgive me—I have to make instant judgments. If the Prime Minister wishes to issue some sort of response, she is free to do so, but she is under no obligation. No? Then I call Andrew Bridgen.

Capita

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 1st February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Dowden]

I would be very happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss all those points.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

Will the Minister tell the House the size of the pension deficit and what arrangements the Government are putting in place to cover that black hole?

Carillion

Alan Brown Excerpts

Monday 15th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I normally have time for the hon. Gentleman, but I am afraid that in this instance he wrote his script before listening to the statement. There have been no payments to Carillion except payments for services actually delivered by Carillion companies, in line with their contracts. What today has demonstrated is that the financial risk is transferred to the private sector contractor, and it is right that that should be the case while the Government concentrate on continuity of public services.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

As was highlighted by the hon. Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous), hundreds of subcontractors risk losing money as a result of cash retentions on the part of Carillion. The Government could have legislated previously to end that practice. As part of the review, will the Government establish how much cash Carillion is withholding, and for how long the payments were due to subcontractors? Will the Minister try to ensure that the money is released, and legislate to end unprotected cash retentions? As a co-sponsor of the private Member’s Bill presented by the hon. Member for Waveney, I should be happy if the Government adopted it.

[Mr Lidington]

I will not promise today to introduce legislation, but I assure the hon. Gentleman, as I assured my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney, that we will take a fresh look at those ideas.

European Council

Alan Brown Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I indicated in response to an earlier question, the reference to full alignment in the progress report is not the first option in ensuring that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. We believe that we can achieve that through the overall relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. That is what we will be working for.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

In her statement, the Prime Minister said that our “universities remain a highly attractive destination for students from across the EU”. The blunt reality is that the number of applications from EU students has gone down. On EU citizens’ rights, she said she was “providing vital reassurance to all those citizens and their families in the run-up to Christmas.” Just last week, the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs heard confirmation from a seafood supplier that at this moment in time, his employees do not feel any reassurance. To allow Scotland to take control of this situation, does she agree with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that post-Brexit, Scotland should have control of its own immigration policy?

[The Prime Minister]

If I heard the hon. Gentleman correctly, he was not correct at the beginning of his question. In 2009-10, the number of non-UK EU higher education students in the UK was 100,275. In the 2015-16 academic year, the figure had gone up to 112,410.

Brexit Negotiations

Alan Brown Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The basis on which we have agreed various arrangements relating to the rights that will apply to EU citizens here and to UK citizens in the EU27 is the principle that they can maintain the life choices they have already made. We want somebody who has moved here with a set of expectations to be able to carry on living as they have done and with the same expectations for the future.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

If EU citizens’ rights were the Government’s No. 1 priority, it is frankly shocking that they have taken 18 months to get an agreement. The Prime Minister undercut that agreement by twice saying in her statement that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”. That insinuates that they still might be bargaining chips. So that I can give my constituents some sort of reassurance, will she tell me when the voluntary application process outlined in the technical note will be up and running?

[The Prime Minister]

We triggered article 50 in March this year, and we have been engaged in detailed negotiations. The hon. Gentleman refers to the phrase

“nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”,

which is in the joint progress report. It is language used by the European Union in relation to the negotiations going forward. One issue for EU citizens here has been the ease of the process of applying for settled status. The Home Office is developing that process and will bring it forward. It is very clear that it will be a very easy and light-touch process, so that nobody need have fears about the arrangements they will have to go through.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Brown Excerpts

Wednesday 6th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

If anyone has embarrassed himself, it is the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, who sent out 35 tweets to tell people what a good job he was doing. The First Minister of Scotland sent my hon. Friend the Member for Angus (Kirstene Hair) a seven-tweet thread to tell her what a good job she was doing. People up and down Scotland who do not receive adequate broadband services know who is to blame: the Scottish Government.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

2. What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect of the autumn Budget 2017 on the level of Scotland’s revenue budget.

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mel Stride)]

The recent Budget shows that we are delivering for Scotland, including £347 million in additional resource budget as part of £2 billion extra as a result of Barnett consequentials.

[Alan Brown]

Under the Secretary of State for Scotland’s watch, Scotland’s revenue budget has been cut by £2.6 billion, including a £200 million cut next year alone. Under this Secretary of State for Scotland, more than £200 million of common agricultural policy convergence funding has been stolen. He also voted against the VAT exemption for police and fire services. Why has the Secretary of State done nothing to prevent those Tory measures?

[Mel Stride]

The hon. Gentleman suggests that we have done nothing, but the day before the Budget, that £347 million of additional resource budget was not there. That was announced in the Budget statement, along with another £1.7 billion of additional capital to support the businesses and people of Scotland.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend raises an important issue. I am sure that everybody across the whole House is deeply concerned about the spiralling humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the lingering threat of famine there. As he said, I raised my concerns when I visited Saudi Arabia last week. I made it clear that the UK wants to see Hodeidah port open not just for humanitarian vessels with aid able to get in, but for commercial vessels as well. This is crucial and important. My right hon. Friend referenced the need for peace talks. That is our top priority. The best way to bring a long-term solution and stability is with a political solution. We will continue to support the efforts of the UN special envoy and to play a leading role in diplomatic efforts to ensure that a political solution can be reached.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

Q10. Due to the £1 billion deal, the Democratic Unionist party MPs revel in an analogy that each one is worth more than Ronaldo. When we look at the value of the Scottish Tories, we need to consider the £2.5 billion cut to Scotland’s budget, the £600 million rail shortfall, the £200 million in common agricultural policy convergence that has been stolen, and the £140 million VAT refund that we are still due. Each one of these Scottish Tories costs Scotland £265 million, so can we free transfer them?

[The Prime Minister]

It is time that the hon. Gentleman actually looked at the facts when he stands up to ask his questions. It is my Scottish Conservative colleagues who have ensured that we were able to take steps in the Budget in relation to the VAT status of Police Scotland and the fire services in Scotland. He obviously had not noticed—but I am happy to repeat this to him—that £2 billion extra will go to Scotland as a result of the Budget.

European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Alan Brown Excerpts

Committee: 4th sitting: House of Commons
Monday 4th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Drew Hendry]

We have heard a great deal about clause 11 tonight. My right hon. Friend the Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) described it correctly earlier, and even Conservative Members representing Scottish constituencies admitted that it was faulty in its current form. Indeed, it is nothing more than a power grab which is fatally undermining the devolution settlement in all the nations of the United Kingdom.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and London) (SNP)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way so early in his speech. I do not know whether he has seen the coverage of last week’s rural broadband debate, during which Scottish Tory Members shouted across the Chamber, “Strip the Scottish Government of their powers.” That is their attitude. There is no doubt that there is a power grab at stake.

[Drew Hendry]

My hon. Friend has made a good point. It is important for us to be aware that there are forces that would like power to be taken away from Scotland.

Clause 11 was drafted by people with no understanding of devolution law. It is a midden in its current form. There are questions about the mechanisms that will result from it. Surely, if the Prime Minister’s “union of equals” statement is correct, frameworks should be agreed, not imposed. If, as the Minister said earlier, this is a temporary situation, why should it not lie with the Scottish Government to take that power temporarily until the frameworks are agreed? Our amendment 72 ensures that the devolved legislature would give consent to those appropriate areas in clause 11 before it comes into effect.

As we have heard, the fact that there are 111 powers demonstrates the scowth of the issues at stake. As things stand, however, UK Ministers could simply make changes to important policy areas without the formal consent of the Scottish Government or the Welsh Government, or the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh Assembly.

We are told to trust that a deal will be done—that we can expect this to happen—but I think people were expecting something to happen today, yet that deal did not happen. How can we have confidence that things will be done and a deal will be delivered when Arlene Foster can just pick up the phone and say, “No, we don’t like that”?

There are 111 areas covering a massive range of Scottish life: fishing, farming, law, data sharing, aircraft noise, pesticides, fracking, flooding, water quality, food, forestry, organs, blood safety—as my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East (Tommy Sheppard) pointed out earlier—land use, railways, renewables and victims’ rights.

It is clear that those at the top of the profession in legal circles believe clause 11 is drafted without an understanding of devolution law. As Professor Alan Page put it:

“Not only does the Bill propose a massive increase in the power of UK Ministers to legislate in the devolved areas, it also proposes that their exercise should not be subject to any form of Scottish parliamentary oversight or control. What is proposed therefore is a law-making system fundamentally at odds with two of the key principles on which the devolution settlement is based.”

He was not the only one. Professor Rick Rawlings noted:

“The sooner clause 11 of the Withdrawal Bill is cast aside, the better. Constitutionally maladroit, it warps the dialogue about the role and place of the domestic market concept post-Brexit.”

On clause 11, even the Law Society of England and Wales has called for discussions about where the common frameworks will remain and their scrutiny. Professor Alan Page said that

“the real purpose of Clause 11 is not to secure legal continuity but to strip the devolved institutions of any bargaining power that they might have when it comes to the discussion of common frameworks and all the rest.”

We welcome the fact that there will be discussion over devolved areas of responsibility; consultation, however, does not satisfy the needs of devolution, and the UK Government should seek consent from the Scottish Government before exercising delegated powers in devolved areas, and the same goes for Wales and Northern Ireland. People’s jobs, businesses and farms, their environment at sea, in the air, above ground and below ground, virtual lives and literal lives, justice we depend on, and even the blood in our veins: tonight we must vote to uphold the rights of people across the nations and ensure that power is not taken from them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Brown Excerpts

Wednesday 25th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

I am sure that the people of Dumfries and Galloway will be absolutely delighted to hear what my hon. Friend says. I was very pleased to receive a submission from all five local authorities involved in the borderlands growth deal. I hope that we can now move forward with local communities being able to include their ideas and contributions in this process.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I think the hon. Gentleman’s constituency is quite nearby.

[Alan Brown]

There is a risk that the Secretary of State is prioritising the borderland deal over the Ayrshire growth deal. In a simple written question, I asked how many meetings he has had on the borderland initiative, with who, and on what dates. His answer was that he has had numerous meetings. Will he answer the question directly, or otherwise I will report him to the Procedure Committee again?

[David Mundell]

I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman displays an unpleasant SNP trait of seeking to create division within Scotland. I want to see all areas of Scotland benefit from growth. At least the people of Ayrshire know that in their new Member, my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Bill Grant), they have a real champion of Ayrshire.

European Council

Alan Brown Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Alan Brown.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker—[Laughter.]

[Mr Speaker]

Was it something I said? Let us hear the hon. Gentleman.

[Alan Brown]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. A week after the universal credit debacle, the Prime Minister has the cheek to come to the Chamber and tell us that she is determined to put people first. The reality is that we are 16 months down the line and there is as yet no agreement on settled status for EU nationals. Given that that is a No. 1 priority, this does not bode well for the rest of the negotiations that we are trusting her with. However, if we are within touching distance of an agreement on settled status, what plans does she have for being able to process up to 3 million applications?

[The Prime Minister]

That is a matter for the Home Office, which is putting the necessary arrangements in place. We have set out very clearly what we believe the arrangements in relation to settled status for EU citizens here in the United Kingdom must be, but in putting people first, we must not just put EU citizens in the UK first; we must also put UK citizens in the rest of the European Union first. That is why it is necessary for us to ensure that their rights are also being guaranteed.