Brendan O'Hara
Main Page: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)Department Debates - View all Brendan O'Hara's debates with the Scotland Office
(1 week, 1 day ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Ian Murray
Of course, I could not agree more. It is not just the £4.9 billion, but all the other investment that the UK Government made outside the Barnett consequentials. The Labour Government have delivered billions of pounds more for schools and hospitals in Scotland. It is more money than ever before, but the SNP MPs voted against it. They voted to deny Holyrood its biggest ever Budget settlement by voting against the Finance Bill last week, but of course they will happily spend it in their Budget today. They also voted against Great British Energy, which will be based in the SNP leader’s own constituency. Given what we have read about the SNP’s selection processes, I guess the SNP MPs are keener to send themselves to Holyrood than billions of pounds of extra funding.
Brendan O’Hara (Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber) (SNP)
I am sure that pensioners in the Secretary of State’s constituency are as relieved as those in Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber that the Scottish Government’s Budget will introduce a pension-age winter heating payment for all Scottish pensioners. The SNP Government are doing the right thing by Scottish pensioners. Will he join me in urging the Labour Government here in Westminster to do the right thing by pensioners in England and Wales and give them back their winter fuel allowance as well?
Ian Murray
What the hon. Gentleman has just proved is that the winter fuel payment in Scotland is actually devolved.