David Mundell
Main Page: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)Department Debates - View all David Mundell's debates with the Scotland Office
(3 weeks, 6 days ago)
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Mr Alexander
The Chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee speaks with her characteristic wisdom and authority on these matters. It seems that the only output that is rising on the SNP’s watch is the number of statements being issued by solicitors on behalf of their high-profile clients.
David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) (Con)
I will not be overly effusive about the Secretary of State or the Minister, because that might not be helpful for them in the next few days; when there was a previous change of Prime Minister, as soon as Anna Soubry stood up and said that I had done a good job at the Scotland Office, I knew I was doomed!
Will the Secretary of State make it clear to the right hon. Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham) that devolution in itself is not the answer? It is about how it is used. We recently saw that in Scotland, when the Scottish Parliament voted in favour of another independence referendum and against an inquiry into SNP finances.
Mr Alexander
I am not sure whether paying generous tribute to the right hon. Gentleman for his question and the wisdom thereof will impair my prospects. Of course, devolution provides us with the tools, but one of the great tragedies of the last two decades in Scotland is that, regardless of whether it is the education system—where we used to be the envy of the world—the national health service, or the capacity to build and operate ferries, all too often Scotland has gone backwards on the SNP Government’s watch. There is a pretty basic explanation for that: for them, government is simply a way station on the route to independence, so they are not interested in delivering truthfully for the people of Scotland.