"The UK Government are committed to deepening devolution across Scotland, working in partnership with the Scottish Government to push power out from Holyrood and into the hands of local communities. The Prime Minister has made an open and genuine offer to the Scottish Government, to work together collaboratively to design …..." Douglas Alexander - View Speech
"The Prime Minister on these Benches was making a very basic and clear comparison, which is that there is no consensus in favour of a border poll in Northern Ireland, and there is certainly no consensus in favour of a referendum in Scotland...." Douglas Alexander - View Speech
"There is a certain irony in being told how devolution operates by a Conservative party that was deeply resistant to devolution when we established it; and I voted for the Scotland Act 1998. In reality, if people take the trouble to read the Prime Minister’s speech, and it bears reading, …..." Douglas Alexander - View Speech
"I know how closely my hon. Friend worked with the late great Donald Dewar, Scotland’s first First Minister. He always anticipated that power would not stop at Holyrood’s door but would be pushed out to communities, yet we have ended up with the quite bizarre situation where Scotland is the …..." Douglas Alexander - View Speech
"As shown by our decision last week to approve the Jackdaw gasfield, the United Kingdom Government are committed to a pragmatic approach to the North sea. We recognise that domestic oil and gas will continue to play an important part in our energy mix for decades to come...." Douglas Alexander - View Speech
"The point that my hon. Friend makes is well taken. The supply chain supporting oil and gas, and the energy sector more generally, is not limited to the north-east but stretches right across Scotland, including in his Stirling constituency. I hope that he will listen with interest to the words …..." Douglas Alexander - View Speech
"There is a certain irony in the Conservative party lecturing the Government on deindustrialisation in Scotland. In reality, it left an energy system in 2024 that was less secure, more exposed to international shocks, and slower to invest. The hon. Lady’s question might have more credibility had we not agreed …..." Douglas Alexander - View Speech
"Conservative Members are experts in dither and delay, and over the decade preceding July 2024 and the election of the Labour Government, alas 70,000 jobs were lost. Of course, we hit peak production in the North sea more than 20 years ago. That is why we need a credible plan …..." Douglas Alexander - View Speech
"The Conservative party’s policy towards the North sea was a study in incompetence. The reason we took the decision on Jackdaw last week was that the Conservative Government so messed up the process that we ended up in court...." Douglas Alexander - View Speech
"The SNP-led Government in Edinburgh are not short of opinions on anything, apart from their view on the Jackdaw decision that we reached last week. The First Minister opposed the decision in recent months and the former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that she wanted the “fastest possible just transition” …..." Douglas Alexander - View Speech