Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower

Douglas McAllister Excerpts

Friday 26th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Douglas McAllister (West Dunbartonshire) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to make my maiden speech to the House in this debate on making Britain a clean energy superpower. I congratulate you on your elevation.

It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan), who always speaks with great eloquence and passion. It is also a privilege to speak in a debate led by the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks). I offer him my warmest congratulations as he takes up his position, and I wish him well, as I am sure we all do.

I recognise the great honour that has been bestowed on all of us to be in this House, and I am so proud and fortunate to represent my constituency of West Dunbartonshire. It contains three very distinct communities, the Vale of Leven and the towns of Dumbarton and Clydebank, the latter of which is my home town. I have lived in Clydebank with my family all my life, and I pledge to work tirelessly in this place for all my fellow residents.

My constituency can best be described as stretching from the banks of the River Clyde to the shores of Loch Lomond, from industrial Clydeside to the gateway to the highlands. I therefore can boast of the unrivalled natural beauty of Loch Lomond and Dumbarton castle, one of Scotland’s royal castles. The town of Dumbarton is the ancient capital of Strathclyde, granted royal borough status by Alexander II in 1222, and it was home to Denny’s shipyard, which built the Cutty Sark. The Vale of Leven is renowned for its Turkey red dyed and printed cottons, exported across the globe. Singer’s factory in my home town, where my late father worked, made the famous sewing machines, and there was a time last century when virtually every home in the land possessed a Singer sewing machine.

Clydebank is synonymous with John Brown’s shipyard, where the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mary, the QEII and the Royal Yacht Britannia were built—a history we are rightly proud of. However, in doing that, we gained an unwanted legacy as the European hotspot for asbestos-related industrial illness and death. It is on that cause, among countless others, that I wish to pay tribute to my predecessor, Martin Docherty-Hughes. Martin was a powerful advocate in this place in the pursuit of truth and justice for the victims of asbestos-related industrial death and for their families in the fight for fair compensation. I know how closely he worked with the Clydebank Asbestos Group, and it is now incumbent on me to pick up the baton. Martin Docherty-Hughes conducted himself with great dignity before and after the general election, and I wish to thank him for his nine years of service and the generosity and courtesy he extended to me throughout. I wish him the very best in his future endeavours.

The great honour of representing West Dunbartonshire is emphasised yet further when I reflect on my other predecessors who served with great distinction in this House, including Gemma Doyle and my great friend Tony Worthington, who represented the former constituency of Clydebank and Milngavie. It is truly humbling to follow them and, of course, the Lord Speaker, Lord McFall of Alcluith, who is also renowned for his chairmanship of the Treasury Committee in this place.

Many of the great industries of the Clyde are sadly gone, consigned to history, and while as a Bankie I am rightly proud of our history, it is to our future that I look. I was elected by my constituents to deliver change, and I am determined to do that and to play my part in ensuring that all communities across West Dunbartonshire can look forward to a dynamic and prosperous future. The work of the regeneration of Clydeside and the town centres of Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven will be my priority. The Government have the ambition to grow the economy, make work pay, and create jobs and new employment opportunities for our young people, and I have great confidence in the abilities of the youth of West Dunbartonshire to match those ambitions. Providing them with the same life opportunities as children in any other constituency across this great nation of ours will be my driving mission.

I pledged during the election campaign to fight to ensure that everyone in my constituency has access to that very basic of rights: a safe, warm and affordable home. My local authority of West Dunbartonshire declared a housing emergency in May, amid unprecedented pressures on the ability to meet the needs of those in social housing or seeking a council property. I welcome my Government’s ambition to unlock the barriers to building more homes, but it is essential that they are affordable so as to tackle that injustice and insecurity. That is why we campaigned for a publicly owned GB Energy company headquartered in Scotland. It is therefore particularly satisfying to make my maiden speech during this debate. GB Energy will cut bills in West Dunbartonshire, deliver energy security and put Scotland at the forefront of the clean energy revolution. It will be publicly owned and will utilise our extraordinary natural resources.

That brings me back to the natural resources of the River Clyde. The yards may have gone, but the future is with clean energy. On the site of the former John Brown’s shipyard, to which I referred earlier, is now the West Dunbartonshire energy centre, a groundbreaking project featuring Scotland’s largest water source heat pump installation, which takes water from the River Clyde and uses it to generate heat. This publicly owned district heating system is truly groundbreaking, helping West Dunbartonshire to transition towards a net zero future. Crucially, it also allows us to address the fuel poverty of my fellow residents. I will be delighted to welcome the Minister to visit the centre in the very near future.

In taking my place in this House, I stepped away from 25 years of appearing daily in courts throughout Scotland. As a solicitor, I represented some of the most vulnerable members of our society. As I step away from the profession to take my seat in this House, I do so with a heavy heart. I leave behind a demoralised profession ignored by successive Governments, who failed to recognise that a properly funded legal aid scheme is the bedrock of a fair society. My experience is with the Scottish courts, but I understand that south of the border the system is in similar peril. I am sure the House will recognise that upholding, respecting and promoting the rule of law requires us to ensure access to justice, fair representation and a widening of the scope of legal aid eligibility, and also to recognise that the courts are as vital a public asset and as much of a foundation stone of society as schools, social services and hospitals.

I also leave 21 years of unbroken service to local government as a councillor at West Dunbartonshire. Local government is on its knees, starved of vital funding, the last of the low-hanging fruit long since picked. Frontline services are under serious threat, and I wish for this House to recognise those across all political parties and in all public offices at local government level, and all the highly dedicated staff who share the same desire as we all do across this House to advance the wellbeing of our local communities. They deserve greater support from us.

My constituency is supported in this endeavour by a wealth of local charities and community organisations. As provost of West Dunbartonshire, I gained unique insight into this vital support chain, which includes groups such as Mentor Scotland that provide mental health support, as well as the Men’s Shed, local not-for-profit trusts such as Flourishing Faifley, Bags full of Love, Duntocher village hall, Antonine Sports and the Skylark IX Recovery Trust. These and the countless faith groups across my constituency providing food banks and shelter truly are the best of our society.

I cannot finish my maiden speech without recognising the NHS and all its staff. The NHS is in my DNA. My mother was a nurse and a midwife. In particular, I wish to thank the staff at the Beatson hospital in Glasgow. The NHS saved my life back in 2007 when I battled leukaemia. I appreciate that I am fortunate to be in this House, and I will not waste this opportunity to help save our NHS and to ensure that this Government improve our national health service—a service for all, providing care on the basis of need, regardless of ability to pay.

This son of a factory worker and NHS nurse, husband to Alison, father to Tom and Peter, gives this House a solemn undertaking that no matter how long or short my time in this place may be, my defining mission will be to fight for a fairer society for my constituents of West Dunbartonshire and be relentless in my duty to serve their interests.

[Several hon. Members rose—]