Oral Answers to Questions

Amy Callaghan Excerpts

Wednesday 12th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

I have been working closely with the Education Secretary, because it is important that we get the guidance for schools right. It must show schools how to be compassionate to pupils questioning their gender in a way that is compliant with the Equality Act 2010, including ensuring that single-sex spaces are maintained and the safety and wellbeing of all pupils is not compromised.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

T5.   Conversion therapy should be banned entirely, not with a voluntary loophole, as this Government intend, which we know means that conversion therapy will be open to coercion. The loophole is so large that it will leave any Bill meaningless. Will the Minister commit to a full ban on conversion therapy, as supported by organisations such as Stonewall and Time for Inclusive Education in Scotland?

Civil Service Impartiality

Amy Callaghan Excerpts

Monday 6th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Quin]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. I have attended a number of urgent questions in this House, and I have rarely seen the Opposition Benches as empty as they are today.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Why are this Government happy to attack civil servants through this urgent question, yet unwilling to pay them properly?

[Jeremy Quin]

To be clear, we on the Government Benches have no desire or intention whatsoever to attack civil servants. We want to protect the impartiality of the civil service, and protect it from any shift in perception of its impartiality; and we want to hold the Opposition to account, and ask them to be a bit more transparent about their dealings.

Standards in Public Life

Amy Callaghan Excerpts

Tuesday 7th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

I congratulate the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) on a great speech and on bringing the motion to the House.

We have had cash for honours, cash for contracts and even cash for curtains. This is a Government drenched in dirty money and dodgy deals, and when the truth is laid bare for all to see, they resort to amending the ministerial code, changing the rules to save their skin. The changes made to the ministerial code are transparent and stand in stark contrast to what we have heard from the Minister today. Our constituents can see that the Prime Minister has blatantly amended the code to suit himself and has simply selected the elements of the Sue Gray report that fit his ever-concerning rhetoric. If, as the Minister suggested, all the recommendations had been taken on board, there would have been no need for the motion or for this debate.

The truth is that we deserve better from our elected leaders, and when they do not live up to our expectations, checks and balances should come into effect. They should prevent this very situation. They should maintain faith in our democracy. They should prevent a liar from ever residing in 10 Downing Street. But the system is broken, the scale is askew and only a strengthened ministerial code could set the House to rights.

Where will this end? A lawbreaker is now being allowed to remain as Prime Minister because his own MPs say so. Partying, lying, amending the ministerial code, voter suppression, watering down human rights—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. You used the word “lying”. May I ask you to withdraw it?

[Amy Callaghan]

I withdraw the word “lying”.

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Thank you.

--- Later in debate ---

[Amy Callaghan]

Partying, amending the ministerial code, voter suppression, watering down human rights: that is a worrying path for any Government to go down, but particularly this Government, given people’s lack of confidence in them. “Honour” and “decency” are words of the past instead of the present; they are no longer soundbites that could even be used to describe this UK Government.

This Government have made a mockery of this place, a mockery of the rules that we all lived by and a mockery of us all. Amending the ministerial code to keep in a job is corrupt to the core. I certainly support the motion.

Debate on the Address

Amy Callaghan Excerpts

Tuesday 10th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

As I rise to contribute to this debate, I want to thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and the Speaker’s Office for all your kind words of support during my recovery. The same gratitude goes to my colleagues on these Benches and across the House, to my family, friends, staff across the Estate and to my team, and significantly to the medics across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. This has been a long time coming. Surgeries, tears, struggles and some victories later, I am standing up for the people of East Dunbartonshire when many doubted that I would be able to stand at all.

It is on that theme that I wish to start. Throughout the past two years, across our communities, we have seen the best of people. We have seen individuals and groups rising to the challenge to support the vulnerable when they needed it the most. These are the triumphs of our communities: when faced with crisis and the toughest of adversity, good people will respond with honesty, integrity and decency. These are the hallmarks of our society and the principles that should uphold our democratic process. We know that, due to the actions of some in this place, those principles have been called into question. I do not wish to expand on that, but I will say that we can never hope to hold power to account or to elect Members from across our communities if the structures that underpin this place are fundamentally broken. We make no secret of desiring a different path for Scotland away from Westminster, but the structures and processes of this place must change. We must have decency in our democracy, integrity in our processes and equality throughout all areas of this Government’s legislative programme, but today’s Queen’s Speech entirely failed to address a cost of living crisis not experienced for generations. We needed bold action from this UK Government. The people of East Dunbartonshire deserve answers and action, not platitudes and politicking.

What we heard today was a lack of willingness from this UK Government to take action to support or even throw an olive branch to some of the 2 million people living in poverty across these four nations, because this Government have made a legislative choice causing them to be in that situation. Poverty is a political choice by this Government. A different legislative programme featuring just some of the progressive policies of my nation’s Government—free prescriptions, free university tuition, free personal care for the over-65s, free bus travel for the under-22s, the Scottish child payment, the baby box, or the young carer grant—would have resulted in a far bolder agenda for the year ahead. This is a tale of two Governments: one who help those in need, and one who blame those in need. Again, this speaks to our democracy and our politics.

Devolution was not designed to mitigate. It is there to empower and democratise and to bring power closer to the people of Scotland. It was never intended to be a shield to soften the blows of successive Tory Governments. We do what we can with the powers and resources of our nation, but we will not accept the people of Scotland—the voices of East Dunbartonshire—being abandoned by an out-of-touch, uncaring UK Government. In my constituency alone, the Scottish Government are forced to spend £11.8 million each year to mitigate the worst of what Westminster throws at us. Just think what we could do with that extra money as an independent country.

On that note, I physically returned to this place in February this year specifically to raise the case of a constituent and fellow stroke survivor who had been struggling to get by on the woeful welfare provided by this Government. This is an issue across the board, but disabled people in particular cannot afford to live on the measly welfare that this Government dishes out. I note with sadness that that is unlikely to change in the year ahead. People are being forced into poverty and, as I have already said, that is a political choice, and this Government could have set out progressive plans to rectify that today.

I do want to add a positive note. Like other speakers, I welcome the legislation to ban conversion therapy, but it is unfortunate that this is the second Queen’s Speech in a row that we have heard that. I will also add a note of caution: the Bill should not be exclusionary. Only a fully inclusive ban on conversion therapy for all LGBT people would be welcome. There is no LGB without the T.

I heard nothing today that would make a tangible difference to the lives of people in East Dunbartonshire as they struggle under the weight of the cost of living crisis. Last Thursday, people across these nations went to the polls, and my party enjoyed yet another historic victory—our 11th in a row and the best ever result for pro-independence parties. In contrast, the Conservative party, which once again put its opposition to independence front and centre, had a disastrous campaign and even worse results than Government Members may have feared.

However, that has not stopped the UK Government ploughing forward with their Brexit Bills. The seven Bills will undermine devolution, lower living standards and leave us out in the cold when the world desperately needs all democratic nations to step up. If the UK Government have faith in the programme laid out today, let them put it to the test. Let them surprise me and respect the SNP’s democratic mandate to hold an independence referendum, let them make their case in the ensuing debates, and let the people of Scotland decide their own future.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

Amy Callaghan Excerpts

Thursday 21st April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

I was made an hon. Member of this place on 7 May 2015, and I know that this place means a lot to many Members. Personally, I have no real interest in this place but for one reason: to represent my constituents and help them to see my vision of an independent Scotland. I do not believe in the archaic traditions of this place, but I work hard to represent my constituents, who elected me. They have recently written to me again to ask me to ask the Prime Minister to resign, and I have to tell them that I do not have the power to do that. I cannot make the Prime Minister resign. I can ask him, but I know that he will not do so just because I have asked. However, it is important that we pass the motion, which may well lead ultimately to his dismissal, if not his resignation.

My constituents had a hard time over covid, and so did I, as I lived mainly by myself, but I was most struck by a constituent who wrote to me because she knew that I was returning to this place last June. She asked me to visit the covid memorial wall, where there was a heart for her mother. She was not able to travel from my constituency of Motherwell and Wishaw to London. That had a profound effect on me. It also reminded me that a number of constituents had emailed me during lockdown, when they missed births and deaths, marriages were postponed and people lived a bleak existence. Many of them had to go out and work in very low-paid jobs, because they had absolutely no other way to support their families. Many people suffered, and are still suffering, because of the lockdown.

It is hard for people with privilege to understand how many of my constituents lived. It is hard for such people to understand the impact of missing a funeral when nothing has happened to any of their family, and it is hard for them to understand how people eke out an existence on benefits. When people then find out that the Prime Minister of this country broke his own laws and went to parties, which they were not allowed to do, it is really hard, so I was not surprised by the flood of emails in my inbox asking for his resignation.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

People right across East Dunbartonshire are sickened by the Prime Minister’s behaviour. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Prime Minister should not be trusted to run a menage, never mind the United Kingdom?

[Marion Fellows]

For those who are non-Scots, a menage is a savings scheme for people who are usually extremely poor and save on a weekly basis, and if someone is first in the menage, they get the total amount contributed. I was in many a menage before I came here. I totally agree with my hon. Friend.

I said that I did not care about this place. In some ways I do not, but there is one thing that I do care about. I care about truth. As a councillor, I was subject to the Nolan principles, and I am still subject to them. I am not fantastic—I have made mistakes in my life—and I do not have the memory to lie, but I think that truth, especially from the Prime Minister, is absolutely one of the most important things. If we cannot trust the word of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland—much as I want not to be part of that Union—all is lost. I therefore urge Members on both sides of the House to vote for the motion.

Emergency Covid Contracts

Amy Callaghan Excerpts

Tuesday 29th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Julia Lopez]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I believe that the Opposition asked us to strain every sinew at the time of the pandemic, and that is what we did.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP) [V]]

Can the Minister clarify the exact total of taxpayers’ money abhorrently used to conduct political research throughout the pandemic?

[Julia Lopez]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. There was no money used on political campaigning.

Public Services

Amy Callaghan Excerpts

Tuesday 28th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to stress that working together across the United Kingdom is the right way to deal with this pandemic. The chief medical officers of all four parts of the United Kingdom meet regularly and scientific advice is shared across the United Kingdom. We want to ensure, as we ease any restrictions, that we do so in as united a way as possible, because consistency of messaging is critical to ensuring that all of us see some of our cherished liberties restored while at the same time protecting precious lives.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP) [V]]

Today, on International Workers’ Memorial Day, our key workers and public sector workers are even more at the forefront of our minds. A decade of Tory-led austerity has hugely cut apart our public services, which play a crucial part in protecting us from covid-19. Scottish public services have lost out on over £13.9 billion in real terms. Does the Secretary of State agree that the current crisis shows that we need more support for public services, not less?

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Lady is right that we are all reminded of how much we rely on public services, but it is the case that the Scottish Government operate a deficit. The UK Government support the Scottish Government in making sure that public services can be protected. Per capita spending on public services—health and education—is higher in Scotland as a result of the resources that the UK Exchequer provides. This crisis reminds us all that when we work together, while recognising the distinctive nature of each of the four parts of the United Kingdom, we are stronger.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amy Callaghan Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP)]

6. What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Scottish Government’s publication entitled “Scotland’s Right to Choose”.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

7. What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Scottish Government’s publication entitled “Scotland’s Right to Choose”.

[Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)]

9. What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Scottish Government’s publication entitled “Scotland’s Right to Choose”.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Jack]

What we are respecting is the democratic outcome of referendums, which the SNP does not respect. The referendum in 2016 was a United Kingdom referendum, and we voted to leave the European Union. We are respecting that. Under the Sewel convention, we have provision for what is known as “not normal”. This is a constitutional matter. Constitutional matters are reserved, and they are not normally under the remit of the Scottish Parliament. We are delivering what the 2016 referendum requested us to deliver.

[Amy Callaghan]

This Tory Government are claiming that their 43% of the vote in the last general election provides them with an overwhelming mandate to implement Brexit. Can the Secretary of State therefore explain the absolutely blinding contradiction of his own position when he says that the 45% vote for the SNP, providing 80% of Scottish seats in this very House, does not equate to a mandate for the people of Scotland to choose our own future?

[Mr Jack]

It was a referendum three years ago. We are speaking for the majority of Scots. The majority of voters voted in 2016 to leave the European Union. We are respecting that decision, whereas the SNP is not respecting it and wants to tear up the United Kingdom.