"Our focus at the moment is on getting the business on to a sustainable footing. That is about the negotiations on the very terms and conditions that my hon. Friend raises. As I mentioned, Ofcom has put on notice those other parcel providers. That is primarily about the poor quality …..." Blair McDougall - View Speech
"I certainly will, Sir John. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. It is also a privilege to respond to a debate with so many passionate and proud speeches on behalf of local community enterprises and charities.
"My hon. Friend makes an important point. We are having a wider conversation at the moment about how enterprise education in general should go through people’s experience in school, and the co-operative and social interest models should be part of that.
"My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Co-operatives create a really important sense of connection at a time when people feel disconnected, but co-ops and mutuals are also more resilient and more productive. That is why we have made the commitment she references. Our call for evidence has closed, and we …..." Blair McDougall - View Speech
"My office manager lives in Dargavel Village, so I have a person incentive to ensure that the service improves in the area my hon. Friend represents. We spoke about it yesterday; we have called in Royal Mail, we have brought together unions and management and we had a meeting yesterday …..." Blair McDougall - View Speech
"Fuel duty is currently frozen. The key thing we can do to make sure we deal with this instability in energy prices is de-escalate in the region. I remind the hon. Member that his party has been calling for us to join the war...." Blair McDougall - View Speech
"Our small business strategy sets out the range of measures we are taking to support small businesses. That includes an increase of £4 billion in the finance available to businesses, so that they can invest to take advantage of those opportunities. We will also bring forward the strongest proposals on …..." Blair McDougall - View Speech
"My hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Kate Dearden) mentioned a moment ago that we are working on a new high street strategy, which will seek to deal with some of the issues the hon. Member mentioned. We want investors to step up, but we also have a responsibility, through …..." Blair McDougall - View Speech
"It was worth waiting for. We are clear that Royal Mail’s service performance has not been good enough. I met the sector’s independent regulator Ofcom yesterday to stress the widespread concerns among hon. Members about service standards. My hon. Friend has deep experience in this area, and I welcome his …..." Blair McDougall - View Speech
"My hon. Friend is correct to highlight that the service quality issues are linked directly to workers’ terms and conditions. It is precisely because we take that connection so seriously that the Secretary of State convened the meeting between the unions and the owners of Royal Mail. Ofcom made it …..." Blair McDougall - View Speech