Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 25th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) (SNP)]

As we await the dualling of the A1, has the Minister heard of the success of the average speed cameras on the A9? Accidents have been cut by 97%, speeding is down by 90% and the road experience has been totally transformed. Will he now get his right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to abandon his reckless and irresponsible campaign to take those cameras down and put my constituents at risk once again?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think I was very generous. The hon. Gentleman started banging on about the A9, rather than the A1, but we will let him off on this occasion.

[David Mundell]

It is worse than that, Mr Speaker. We constantly hear complaints from the hon. Gentleman about this place intruding into the affairs of the Scottish Parliament, and yet he raises an issue that is solely the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 2nd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

What I think politicians should apologise for is making the poor and most vulnerable into political footballs. Poverty is a scourge in our country, not an opportunity for a press release.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. In case the House is not aware, I can inform colleagues that the House of Commons has received its accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 19th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

Each month, the hon. Lady raises welfare issues and plumbs new depths of hypocrisy. The Scottish Government produced a 670-page—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am quite clear that the context in which the hon. Gentleman is using that term is not collective but individual and personal. [Interruption.] Order. I can handle the matter. The Minister will withdraw that term: it was directed at an individual, and it is inappropriate.

[David Mundell]

I withdraw unreservedly, Mr Speaker. The point I want to make is that the Scottish National party produced a 670-page White Paper on Scottish independence. How many mentions does it make of child poverty? One, on page 41.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 11th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

I know that the people of Scotland are not buttoned up the back. They understand that the Scottish Government and the SNP say one thing in private and another thing in public. In private, John Swinney has made it absolutely clear that the affordability of pensions would be a serious issue in an independent Scotland. That is a fact. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Far too many noisy private conversations are taking place in the Chamber. I am sure that they will now end so that we can hear Mary Macleod.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 24th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

The hon. Gentleman will know that in his constituency, as in my own constituency, there is a strong view that we should grow more of our own food. I encourage local farmers to do so.

[Mr Speaker]

What a timely reply from the Minister that was.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 13th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman. He will be aware that Scottish universities and research institutes receive £436 million from UK research councils—roughly 13% of the overall scientific research funding. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are a lot of very noisy private conversations taking place in the Chamber. Let us have a bit of order so that we can hear Mr Michael Connarty.

[Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab)]

8. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Ministers in the Scottish Government on the level of gambling machine usage in Scotland.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 9th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we will hold the Scottish Government to account for that investment. Although the UK Government have funded investment in the cities—in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Perth—we want the Scottish Government to deliver for Dumfries and Galloway and equivalent rural areas throughout Scotland. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I appeal for a bit of order. There are now far too many very noisy private conversations taking place. Let us hear Sir Malcolm Bruce.

[Sir Malcolm Bruce (Gordon) (LD)]

I thank the UK Government for the support they have given to Aberdeen city’s bid under the small cities broadband fund, and for their contribution along with the Scottish Government, the city of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to the expansion of broadband. May I urge the Minister to recognise that although we want superfast broadband in the cities, we also need access in rural areas at sufficient speeds to enable businesses to flourish rather than forcing people to migrate to cities?

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[David Mundell]

The Secretary of State is a wonderful example of many things, and the answer is yes. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is now far too much noise. I am sure the House will want to hear Mr Karl MᶜCartney.

Referendum (Scotland)

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Monday 15th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

For one moment, I thought the hon. Gentleman said the Scottish Government would announce their proposals this November, but in fact he said that they will do so in November next year. For a party that has campaigned for decades for independence, the fact that you have no proposals on the table on what an independent Scotland would look like reflects the lack of thought you have given to the issue. That is unbecoming of you and unworthy of the people of Scotland.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. As far as I am aware, I have done nothing unbecoming or unworthy, but it is true that I have given no particular thought to this matter, and that I have no proposals to make on it.

[Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that home rule for Scotland is available now within the Union, as it is for any part of this country, as a result of a range of Government measures, most notably the Localism Act 2011?

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[Mr Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the fact that an agreement has been reached and that I will have the opportunity finally to vote against separation, but why do we have to wait so long? Why the delay, why the dither? Is it not because the coalition Ministers on the one hand and the SNP on the other have been meeting in secret and not taking account of the views of the vast majority of the Scottish people? Our consultation here at Westminster said that we wanted the referendum to be soon, and the Scottish Government’s consultation said—well, we do not know what it said, because they have not published it. The deal has been reached before the consultation has been published. What scrutiny will there be of the detail of the arrangement? For example, will tax exiles have the right to vote? Are we going to have foreign money coming in? Will there be an opportunity to amend not the broad sweep but the detail of these proposals? And what sanctions will there be if somebody breaks an agreement that was reached in good faith?

[Mr Speaker]

The Chairman of the Scottish Affairs Committee has posed at least four questions, but I know that the ingenuity of the Minister will enable him to reply with a single response.

[David Mundell]

I expect that both I and the Secretary of State will appear before the hon. Gentleman’s Committee to answer those questions in detail.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 18th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I hope that the answer will refer to the funding formula for Scotland, as the question should have done.

[David Mundell]

The funding formula for Scotland is calculated on the basis of a basket of taxes raised by the United Kingdom Government. Scots would be much worse off if fuel duty were 10p higher, as it would have been if Labour were in power.

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[David Mundell]

I acknowledge that the hon. Lady is well known for speaking up both for the low-paid and for those on the minimum wage. That is why I would have thought that she would have welcomed the fact that the Government are raising the personal allowance to £10,000 during this course of this Parliament. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are a lot of noisy private conversations taking place in the Chamber. I would like to hear the questions and the answers.

[Gregg McClymont]

What does it say about the priorities of this Government that they impose a granny tax on 367,000 Scots while giving a tax cut to the wealthiest 14,000 Scots?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 22nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

What I agree with is the fact that the Government are not making any savings at all from these changes. Savings from abolishing the adult disability premiums and changes to the child rate will not return to the Exchequer; those savings will be recycled into higher payments for more severely disabled people. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many noisy private conversations taking place in the Chamber. I know that the House will want to hear Mrs Eleanor Laing.

[Mr Speaker]

The Minister should answer with reference to the disability premium.

[David Mundell]

The severe disability premium and all other benefits are clearly set out by the United Kingdom Government. The Scottish National party has failed to set out how a single benefit in Scotland would be paid for post independence, if it were ever achieved.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

This was one of the issues that the Secretary of State and I discussed with Professor Harrington, and as he prepares his further report, this is inevitably one of the issues he will address. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many noisy private conversations taking place in the Chamber. I would like to hear Dame Anne Begg.

[Dame Anne Begg (Aberdeen South) (Lab)]

Now that the move from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance is well under way, anecdotally, it would appear that Atos is finding it very difficult to carry out the necessary work capability assessments, so there could be extra delays. Will the Minister please engage with his fellow Ministers in the DWP to make sure that Atos can deliver on the contract?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 9th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

I am not aware of any such suggestions in the Electoral Commission report, but my hon. Friend is correct to highlight the issues with the Scottish separatists’ referendum that are causing such uncertainty—the franchise, the question and the timing. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I appeal to the House to come to order and listen to Mr Frank Doran.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 14th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

We will certainly not be taking any lectures on national insurance from Labour, a party that sought to introduce a jobs tax in 2009. [Interruption.] I had the benefit of visiting the hon. Gentleman’s constituency last week, and I would have thought that he welcomed the fact that these jobs that did not exist before and that they have a better chance of becoming permanent with the NIC holiday—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I want to hear Mr Angus MacNeil.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 22nd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

It will not surprise the hon. Lady when I say most certainly not. In setting out those woes, she has not acknowledged her part as a Minister, and that of her party, in bringing this country to the verge of bankruptcy, or the need to take the tough action that this Government have taken. She also knows that the shadow Chancellor is in a majority of one in setting out his proposals—

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the Minister, but we must move on.

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[David Mundell]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The Minister’s mellifluous tones diverted me from the fact that the content of his answer did not relate to the question that had been asked. I am sure that he will now talk about agriculture and not about devolution.

[David Mundell]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I can inform the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland was in Brussels last week, where he made the very points that she has just made.

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[David Mundell]

I should have hoped that the hon. Gentleman, like his colleague, Jim Sillars, the former deputy leader of the Scottish National party, would have sought to disassociate himself from the appalling comments that the First Minister has made about Lord Hope, which Jim Sillars described as “foolish” and “juvenile”. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many private conversations taking place in the Chamber. It is very discourteous to the Member asking the question and to the Minister answering it. I want to hear Sir Menzies Campbell.

[Sir Menzies Campbell (North East Fife) (LD)]

What possible confidence can we have in the findings of a group that is unwilling to meet the Advocate-General, who last year established an inquiry for precisely the same purpose as this group has been established?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 4th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

The hon. Gentleman would have some credibility in asking that question had he not repeatedly raised in the Chamber the issue of the costs of petrol and fuel oil in his constituency. It is clear that the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary got the balance right in the Budget between the taxation of the oil industry and the taxation of the motorist. If the hon. Gentleman wants to tell his constituents that they should be paying 6p a litre more on their fuel, he is welcome to do so.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Rosie Cooper to ask Question 4. She is not here.

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[David Mundell]

The Secretary of State and I are in regular contact with the banks operating in Scotland to ensure that Merlin goes forward as envisaged. We are also willing to take up individual cases such as the one that my hon. Friend mentions, which, if he refers it to us, we will refer directly to the banks in question. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many private conversations taking place in the Chamber. It is very discourteous, and I am sure that the House wishes to hear Mr Greg Hands.

[Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Will the Minister join me in welcoming the report by the Independent Commission on Banking, under Sir John Vickers, and will he remind the House who, in the last Parliament, awarded Sir Fred Goodwin a knighthood for services to banking?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 26th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

Higher education in Scotland is devolved. The UK Government are taking account of the impact of their policies in Scotland, but I tend to agree with Sir Andrew Cubie when he said that the Scottish Government were behind the curve in responding to the Browne report and bringing forward their own proposals. They are followers, not leaders. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is a constant hubbub in the Chamber. People outside must think that it is extremely discourteous.

[Mr Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (LD)]

The Minister should be aware that what is not devolved are decisions on research funding—decisions that are arrived at here in Westminster and which will have an impact, not least for those Russell group universities in Scotland. Will he give us an undertaking that he will ensure that the Secretary of State for Scotland stays closely in touch with Mike Russell’s all-party working group at Holyrood, so that whatever the political composition after May, we get an outcome for Scottish universities that does not replicate the errors of policy judgment that have sadly been arrived at here?

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[David Mundell]

The Calman commission looked at these issues across the full spectrum and determined that there was no need to make any changes in respect of agriculture, other than in certain aspects of animal health funding. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The House must come to order. I want to hear Mr Robert Halfon.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

14. What recent representations he has received from the Scottish Executive on the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 1st December 2010 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

What I acknowledge is that the Labour Government left us with a deficit £12 billion larger than they had told us, and that if we do not tackle that deficit everyone in Scotland will be worse off. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This sort of noise is very discourteous. I want to hear Fiona O’Donnell.

[Fiona O’Donnell (East Lothian) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The voluntary sector in Scotland plays a vital role in supporting some of our most vulnerable families. The increase in VAT will cost Scotland’s voluntary sector dearly. What is the Minister actually doing to support that sector, so that it can deliver his vision of a big society?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 27th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I suggest that the Minister’s reply should be focused exclusively—and, I hope, briefly—on the policy of the Government rather than on that of the official Opposition?

[David Mundell]

The Government will have noted my hon. Friend’s representations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 21st July 2010 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

I advise my hon. Friend that the Scottish Government have no proposals for any major schemes on the A1 trunk road in Scotland, but I will speak to colleagues in the Department for Transport about the need to liaise on cross-border routes. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many private conversations taking place in the Chamber, and the decibel level is far too high. I wish to hear the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Thomas Docherty).

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mundell and John Bercow

Wednesday 16th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (David Mundell)]

All Members of this House share the sense of shock and disbelief at the tragic events that unfolded in Cumbria on 2 June. The hon. Gentleman must have felt this more than most given his close personal associations with Whitehaven, and I personally offer my condolences to him and to the families that have been so cruelly affected.

In Prime Minister’s questions on 3 June, the Prime Minister confirmed that the Association of Chief Police Officers would be supporting a peer review, to be conducted by national police experts, on firearms licensing, the police firearms response and firearms tactics. Firearms legislation is a reserved matter. As the Home Secretary told the House in her statement on 3 June, we will await the police report before we embark on and lead a debate about the gun laws across Great Britain.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We must now speed up. Some of these answers are simply too long and it will not do.

[Thomas Docherty]

I thank the Minister for his kind words and welcome him to his new post. The House may wish to note the support given by Scottish police forces to the Cumbria constabulary in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Will he agree to meet a cross-party delegation from Scotland once ACPO and its counterparts in England and Wales have made their submission to the Home Office, so that we can convey the very strong feelings of the people of Scotland about firearms legislation?

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[Jim McGovern (Dundee West) (Lab)]

May I, too, welcome the Secretary of State to his new post? I am sure he is aware that his predecessor in the previous Government visited my constituency on a number of occasions to see at first hand the importance of the computer games industry in Dundee. The former Chancellor gave a commitment in his Budget to tax breaks for that industry. Can the Minister guarantee that the Government of whom he is now a member will honour that commitment?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. If the Minister could hear that, he has very good hearing. May I make an appeal to the House? I know that it is in a state of eager anticipation of Prime Minister’s questions, but it is very unfair to the Member on his or her feet, and to the Minister. Let us have a bit of order. That is what the public expect.

[David Mundell]

Like the Secretary of State, I do not want to pre-empt next week’s Budget, but I am sure that the Chancellor will have heard the hon. Gentleman’s representations.