Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Gavin Newlands Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)]

It gives me great pleasure to deliver my maiden speech to the House today as the first SNP Member of Parliament for my home of Paisley and Renfrewshire North. The fact that it was our first victory has not been for lack of effort over the years. My hon. Friend the Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Roger Mullin) contested the seat in the 1990 by-election. He fought a brilliant and memorable campaign, despite the fact that he was hindered by an eager but occasionally ineffective 10-year-old boy called Gavin. I should have been better. By that point I was a veteran, a seasoned campaigner keen to follow my dad to any political event. Two other campaigns from around the same time that I am proud to have been part of were the one against the iniquitous poll tax and that against the closure of the Ravenscraig steel plant in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows).

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the Conservative Government rip the heart out of hard-working families and communities right across Scotland. That was the height of Thatcherism and her Government’s policies caused untold damage to Scotland, to our economy, to our people and to our self-confidence. Little did we know it at the time, but those decisions about Scotland—made on our behalf in Westminster and Whitehall against overwhelming Scottish public opinion—would cause a massive political shift in Scotland that would not only see the Conservatives all but wiped out for a generation, but cause a depth of feeling so strong that a form of self-government was inevitable.

Fast forward a quarter of a century, however, and here I stand—and, as we say back home, “I’ve brought hauners.” I am immensely proud to be representing my home constituency of Paisley and Renfrewshire North, where I have lived almost my entire life. I was very fortunate to be able to vote in what was my old primary school, and is now that of my two young daughters.

I would like to say a few words about my predecessor, Jim Sheridan. Jim was the Member of Parliament for the area for 14 years. He was a dedicated constituency MP and I am sure that the whole House will want to join me in wishing Jim, his family and his staff all the very best for the future.

Paisley and Renfrewshire North is one of the most diverse constituencies in Scotland, with some of the poorest communities as well as some of the most affluent. My own home town of Renfrew is a royal burgh, and is known as “the cradle of the Stuarts”. It was also home to Scotland’s first municipal airport and the RAF’s 602 Squadron, rather misnamed as the City of Glasgow Squadron or Glasgow’s Ain. Unfortunately, Renfrew is also home to the constituency’s latest food bank—yet another symptom of the Tories’ ideological obsession with welfare cuts, which are hitting not only the poor and the vulnerable but hard-working families across Renfrewshire.

If we leave Renfrew and travel north-west towards Inchinnan, we pass the site of the battle of Renfrew of 1164. This relatively little known battle was actually one of the most significant civil battles in Scottish history. Somerled, the Lord of the Isles, gathered an army 15,000 strong and marched on King Malcolm IV’s forces. After a bloody fight, Somerled was slain on the battlefield alongside thousands of his followers before the remainder beat a hasty retreat The message that my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil) should take from that story is “Dinnae mess with Renfrew”. [Laughter.]

Just beyond Inchinnan we find the great new town of Erskine, which is the second largest town in the constituency no less. Indeed, a study by the Post Office last year declared that Erskine was the second most desirable postcode in Scotland to live in. As we continue westwards, we pass the charming village of Bishopton. On our journey down the Renfrewshire riviera, we come across the lovely riverside village of Langbank, which affords magnificent views down to the Firth of Clyde. On a clear day, Madam Deputy Speaker, if you crane your neck and have good eyesight, you may be able to see the obscenity of the Trident nuclear submarines as they slip and slither up the Clyde to Faslane. We were well aware of the shoddy safety standards in the handling and transporting of nuclear warheads long before Able Seaman McNeilly’s recent whistleblowing.

On 11 January this year, 50 mph gales were battering the west coast of Scotland. As a result, high-sided vehicles were warned not to cross the Erskine bridge over the Clyde. I am not sure about anyone else, but the very last thing I want driving over a 150-foot bridge during such high winds is a convoy loaded with nuclear warheads. Unbelievably, that is exactly what the Ministry of Defence chose to do. My colleagues and I will not only lead the fight for better maintenance and security of those weapons, but ensure that the voices calling for the complete abolition of those obscene and senseless weapons of mass destruction are heard loud and heard often.

My constituency includes a number of affluent towns and villages, such as Langbank, Crosslee, Bridge of Weir, Brookfield and Houston, although it should be noted that despite their relative wealth, those areas still have pockets of deprivation. Just outside Paisley lies Linwood, another area deeply damaged for generations by Thatcherite economics. The famous Linwood car plant, which provided work for 13,000 people at its height, had its Government support pulled and overnight the town was devastated. Parts of Paisley, including Whitehaugh and Ralston, are slightly more affluent but certainly not without their issues. Shortroods, Gockston, Ferguslie Park and Gallowhill all have pockets of deprivation but a people whose spirit is unbending in the face of Tory misery.

The House should note with deep regret and concern that the Paisley job centre has doled out the most sanctions in the west of Scotland; that sanctions across Renfrewshire have soared by 148% since 2010; that the demand for the aid of food banks in Renfrewshire has exploded by 1,763% since 2012; and that one in five kids goes to bed hungry each night. That is the legacy of the coalition Government, it is the record of this Conservative Government and they should be ashamed.

The Budget will do nothing to lift any of those people out of poverty. In fact, it will have the reverse effect. Countless children will, before long, find themselves living in poverty through no fault of their own, but I am sure that they will be comforted by the fact that the Government’s response to child poverty is to change the definition. This Government believe that if they fiddle the figures to show what they want them to, children and their families will—as if by magic—soon find themselves out of poverty and living a life of comfort. The message that came from the Chancellor last week was clear: do not work in the public sector; do not have children; do not be out of work; and do not, heaven forbid, be a young person.

Over the last few weeks I have received countless messages from constituents who are growing increasingly frustrated and angry with the Tory Government’s arrogance. The Conservatives, a party that was near routed in Scotland with the worst result in its history and with only one MP, deign to tell Scots that we cannot have what we voted for in overwhelming numbers. The Government must stop playing games with the Scottish electorate and devolve the powers as proposed, without caveat, without veto and without delay.