Oral Answers to Questions
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 6 months ago)
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Kevin Foster
I must say that those who look at the social security system and at devolution in Scotland may draw a different picture from that being presented by our separatist colleagues. The reality is that there were a number of powers devolved in the Scotland Act 2016 that their party in Holyrood has decided not to use. I am afraid that those looking at Scotland will come to a very different conclusion from the one that the hon. Gentleman suggests.
David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
May I start by welcoming my hon. Friend to his place? As and when welfare powers are devolved, does he agree that it is important that we have devolved Administrations continuing to work with the Department for Work and Pensions to benefit those who most need support, rather than political posturing by those interested in breaking up the United Kingdom?
Kevin Foster
As always, my hon. Friend is right to say that it is time that the SNP-run Government in Holyrood focused more on the job of actually governing than on trying to build constitutional grievances. Yes, it is right that the DWP continues to work with all stakeholders across our United Kingdom to ensure that we provide the support that is needed as part of our welfare system.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 7 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
The hon. Lady asks whether I will meet and hear direct from young people about the issues they are concerned about in relation to the environment and climate change. I do that, and this gives me an opportunity to congratulate a school in my own constituency, St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, which has won five green flag awards in the past 10 years and last year won the first ever national green heart hero award. I assure her that I often hear young people tell of the importance of climate change. This Government have a fine record on climate change. One day, the hon. Lady will actually stand up in this House and welcome the efforts that this Government have made.
David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend confirm that it is still this Government’s firm commitment to leave the common fisheries policy and to negotiate as an independent coastal state no later than December 2020?
The Prime Minister
I thank my hon. Friend; he has been consistent in his campaigning on this issue, which I know is of great importance to his constituents. We remain committed to establishing fairer fishing policies that truly work for coastal communities. The deal that we have agreed with the European Union would see the UK leave the common fisheries policy, providing the UK with full control of its waters as an independent coastal state. We remain committed to coming out of the common fisheries policy.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 8 months ago)
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David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
After much representation from the charity Max Appeal, the national screening committee is, for the first time, considering adding 22q11 syndrome to the newborn blood spot test. This second most common chromosomal disorder after Down’s syndrome can lead to avoidable mental health issues if not diagnosed and managed from a young age. Will my right hon. Friend join me and the all-party parliamentary group, of which I am chair, in calling for this condition to be added to the newborn blood spot test?
The Prime Minister
First, I commend my hon. Friend and the all-party parliamentary group for the work that they are doing in this area. He has obviously raised a very important issue. I will ask the Department of Health and Social Care for an appropriate Minister to respond to him, and possibly meet and talk to him about this issue.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 9 months ago)
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David Mundell
My hon. Friend has become a powerful advocate for Scottish agriculture in this Parliament. He is correct. We have offered the Scottish Government the opportunity to join us in taking forward the UK Agriculture Bill and providing certainty for Scottish farmers. Instead, they prepare to play politics with Scottish farming and leave farmers with great uncertainty.
David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
In line with the Prime Minister’s ongoing commitment to supporting the growth of the fisheries sector outside the common fisheries policy, may I ask my right hon. Friend what discussions he has had with the Prime Minister, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Treasury about future financial support for the sector, and how best to progress with that and invest in the industry in Scotland?
Oral Answers to Questions
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 9 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
We recognise the importance of buses to local communities, which is why we spend £250 million every year to keep fares down and maintain an extensive network that benefits people up and down the country. We particularly put money into supporting free bus travel for older and disabled people, because we recognise how particularly important buses are to vulnerable people. We are looking at what we can do to further improve access for people with disabilities, but we have been putting money in to ensure that there remains an extensive bus network that is of benefit to local communities.
David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
Last night, a majority of this House voted in favour of a deal to deliver on the democratic will of the people of the United Kingdom and leave the EU. In the next phase of the negotiations, will my right hon. Friend continue to stand firm against the fishing nations of the EU and their vain attempts to maintain guaranteed common access to our waters?
The Prime Minister
I can give my hon. Friend an absolute commitment that I will do that. Leaving the common fisheries policy and becoming an independent coastal state is so important to this country, to enable us to enhance and give opportunities to fishing communities around the United Kingdom. I recognise that fishing is particularly important in Scotland, but fishing communities around the UK will benefit from our becoming an independent coastal state. I am very clear: our position is there, we have that agreement, and it is not up for renegotiation.
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 9 months ago)
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Ian Blackford
I can only assume that the hon. Lady was not listening to what I said, because the fundamental fact is that we were promised that we would stay in the European Union.
What the Tories find very difficult to accept is that when the Scottish National party went to the people of Scotland, we asked in our manifesto for the right to go back to the people of Scotland if there was a material change of circumstances, and that is exactly the position we are in today. There is a majority in the Scottish Parliament for a referendum on Scottish independence, yet what we hear from the Conservatives is, “Now is not the time,” disrespecting the mandate that the people of Scotland gave to their elected parliamentarians. I will say this to Conservative Members: if our First Minister calls for a section 30 authority, based on democracy, then this House must respect the will of the Scottish people through their elected parliamentarians.
That is the only way to stop the punitive cuts from universal credit and amend the hostile environment that sends talented workers away from our shores. The vote on the immigration Bill is just the latest indication of Westminster voting against Scotland’s national interest. We embrace free movement of people. We welcome those who choose to make a future for themselves in Scotland. We thank those who wish to add to our cultural diversity. This place wants to slam the door shut, pull up the drawbridge and retreat into isolation.
We watch the official Opposition go through trials and tribulations about whether they should oppose a narrow-minded immigration policy from this Government. Labour has lost its moral compass. Then we have the Scots Tory MPs meekly going through the Lobbies. Theresa’s Lobby fodder are supporting legislation that will damage Scottish industries and our public services, and damage Scotland’s ability to attract labour and to grow our economy. The Scottish Tories are acting against our national interest, and Labour is stuck on the sidelines.
A majority of MSPs and Scottish MPs returned at the last two elections support holding an independence referendum in the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Scotland will not be ignored. The UK Government have ignored the views of the people of Scotland. Our Parliament—our Scottish Parliament—has already overwhelmingly rejected the Prime Minister’s deal. Today, SNP MPs will vote in support of that mandate from Scotland’s Parliament, and we will continue to vote down the blindfold Brexit deal that will drive our economy off the cliff edge.
There are just 59 days to go until Brexit day, and the deal on the table is done; it has been dead in the water for months, yet the Prime Minister is still seeking to run down the clock and push that deal through this House. That is incredibly reckless and risky. How can she be allowed to behave in such a manner? She has no hope of controlling this House; she cannot even control her disunited party. If anyone is still in any doubt about it, we are in this mess today because Conservative Members gambled our economic future over a decade-long internal feud in the Tory party. They should all hang their heads in shame. Quite simply, that party is not fit to govern, because it has a track record of putting its fractured party interests before the national interest—not what the Prime Minister calls the national interest, but the interest of all the nations that make up the UK.
David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
On the Scottish national interest, I totally respect the Scottish National party’s position: it has always campaigned for independence, because that is what the SNP does. However, does the right hon. Gentleman agree that in the 2017 general election, the majority—56%—of voters in Scotland voted for parties that were committed to delivering on Brexit? The percentage of the vote for parties against Brexit actually reduced. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. That is extraordinary behaviour from the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford), who is an illustrious doctor. She is ranting from a sedentary position; I cannot believe that she rants in that way in the middle of her surgeries. It is unbecoming of somebody of her status and high esteem in the House of Commons.
Leaving the European Union
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 10 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
We agreed to give the people a vote and that vote took place in 2016. The people voted to leave the European Union, and this Parliament should accept, as the Government are doing, the importance of delivering on the vote that people gave in the 2016 referendum.
David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
When the withdrawal agreement was made with the EU, President Macron almost immediately made a statement contrary to the text of the agreement, saying that unless the UK agreed to allow EU fishing vessels to have the same access to our waters as they have now, talks on a wider trade deal would fail, leaving the UK in the backstop. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that that was an empty threat, that when she goes back to the EU she will stand firm on her commitment that we will leave the common fisheries policy, and that future access to our fishing waters will not be tied to a deal on trade?
The Prime Minister
Yes, I can give my hon. Friend that reassurance. In fact, it is clear in the political declaration that the issue of access to fishing waters is separate from the issue of market access for trade. I am also clear that we will ensure that we leave the common fisheries policy and become an independent coastal state, and that we will be negotiating access to our waters in the future.
No Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 10 months ago)
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David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Mhairi Black); it is great to see her in her place. Mr Speaker, you were absolutely right earlier to point out the exuberance on these Benches during the speech made by the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford). I am sure you will understand the passion and frustration we sometimes feel when we hear SNP Members talking about “the voice of Scotland” and “Scottish voices”. I am proud to be part of a 1,200% increase in Scottish seats represented on the Government Benches.
Let Members be in no doubt that I shall be voting tonight to support the Prime Minister and her Government, and I welcome the opportunity to do so. It is clear that a third general election in the space of less than four years would not be in the national interest, especially at such a crucial time for the future of our country. The truth is that an election would not solve anything: it would not give us certainty; it would not change the EU and its negotiating positions; and it would not change the choices before us. It would only be a recipe for delay and division. People across the country can see what is going on here: politicians on the Opposition Benches opposite are seeking to exploit the issues of historic importance currently facing this country, for party political advantage. They will have none of it; I will have none of it; and this House should have none of it.
When I vote tonight, I will be voting as a Unionist, to support a Government who have been resolutely committed to protecting our precious Union. This Prime Minister and this Government have stood up for the interests of the majority of Scots, who voted to keep the United Kingdom together in 2014 and who still do not want another independence referendum. By the way, a majority of Scots—a similar percentage, of about 56%—voted for parties committed to Brexit in the 2017 general election. Over the past 19 months, this Government have consistently stood up to the grandstanding and grievance-mongering of the SNP, which does not speak for the whole of Scotland, as it would have us believe. Throughout this process, the Prime Minister has also worked tirelessly to ensure that Northern Ireland remains a stable part of the United Kingdom. I was glad to hear the right hon. Member for Belfast North (Nigel Dodds) express his support for the Government on this motion.
The contrast between the heartfelt and committed Unionism of this Government and the hopeless pandering of the Labour party could not be clearer. We all know about the Leader of the Opposition’s thoughts on Northern Ireland, but Scottish Unionists are increasingly coming to recognise that they can no longer trust Labour to stand up for Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom. As recently as September, the Leader of the Opposition equivocated on the possibility of doing a deal with the SNP and allowing Nicola Sturgeon to impose Indyref 2 on the Scottish people. I remind my English, Welsh and Northern Irish colleagues that this is not a specifically Scottish issue; it is all the United Kingdom that the SNP wishes to break apart.
Time and again, here and in Holyrood, Scottish Labour has sided with the SNP’s attempts to use Brexit to undermine the Union. Only this Government—a Conservative Government led by this Prime Minister—have a track record to be trusted on protecting our Union. That, foremost in my mind among eight and a half years of Conservative achievements in government, is why I shall support the Government tonight.
Mr Speaker
Just before I call the right hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd), I should announce that she is the last speaker to be subject to the four-minute limit. As I am seeking to accommodate as many colleagues as I can, a three-minute limit will then have to be introduced, so the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) will be subject to a three-minute limit. I call Ann Clwyd.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 10 months ago)
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David Mundell
It is certainly clear that the SNP does something to put people off coming to Scotland. I read last night that Boy George was going to be moving to Scotland, but the Scottish First Minister engaged with him this morning, and now we hear that he is not coming.
David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the Home Office and the Government in general have been engaging and will continue to engage with Scottish businesses on the consultation around the immigration Bill?
David Mundell
Yes, we will continue to engage. The White Paper is part of an engagement process. My hon. Friend, who is a great champion of the fishing industry, has already raised issues in relation not just to fishing vessels, but to fish processing.
Leaving the EU
David Duguid Excerpts(5 years, 10 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
In 2016, as part of the campaign for the referendum, the Government, who took the position that they supported remaining in the European Union, sent out a leaflet to every household in the United Kingdom in which they clearly said that they would abide by the decision of the referendum.
David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
Can my right hon. Friend confirm that, contrary to the assertions made by President Macron and others, in the event of a backstop, which would be undesirable for both sides, there would be no more common access to our waters for EU fishing vessels?
The Prime Minister
Yes, I can confirm that to my hon. Friend. It is clear that if no agreement has been reached on this matter, there will be no access to our waters for EU boats in the circumstances in which the backstop is in place. That is one of the reasons why the European Union will not consider that to be a good place for it to be.