Business of the House

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 18th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

They are globally important issues. This morning, as my hon. Friend may know, a written statement was issued to update the House on the outcomes of the conference, and my ministerial colleagues from the Department of Energy and Climate Change were here to answer questions from Members, including topical questions. I am sure that there will be further opportunities to debate the issue before the meeting in Paris next year. Indeed, my hon. Friend may wish to create such an opportunity with the help of the Backbench Business Committee.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

Yesterday saw the publication of the long-awaited report of the independent inquiry into excessive pension charges and the selling of pension products, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. The report gives the full details of the scandal of excessive charging. The Minister for Pensions has said that he is deeply shocked, which is surprising, given that the Leader of the Opposition gave some of the details of the scandal more than two years ago. When the Minister has recovered from his shock in the new year, may we have a debate in Government time to establish how the Government intend to stand up for the hard-working people all over the country who have been ripped off?

[Mr Hague]

As has already been said, the Government have a strong record on standing up for hard-working people. However, these pension issues are very important, and there will be opportunities to ask my colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions about them. As the hon. Gentleman knows, it is also open to him to press for a debate through all the normal means.

Devolution (Scotland Referendum)

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

It is several hours since the right hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Michael Moore) made his contribution, as an appointee to the Smith commission. As the other Member sitting on the Smith commission, I shall try, in much less time, to make some observations about this process.

As we have heard, some are already attempting to rewrite the history of the referendum. The First Minister said the referendum would decide the issue for a generation, but we now see more clearly by the day that in his mind, and the mind of his colleagues, a generation is not a long time.

[Mr MacNeil]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Gregg McClymont]

I want to develop my argument.

On 18 September, the Scottish people said yes; they said yes to the continuation of the economic, social and political sharing that constitutes the UK; yes to the continued, undiluted, equal and fair voice that Scotland currently enjoys inside the UK; and yes to further devolution inside the UK, building on the 1999 settlement and the Scotland Act 2012. The task before us in the House, and before the Smith commission, is to take that sovereign and settled will of the Scottish people forward: to sustain that political, economic and social partnership, at the same time as devolving power where it makes sense to do so. It is a clear task, but not a simple one. Clarity, of course, does not necessarily mean simplicity.

It has been very evident today that there is a strong feeling among Government Members that England’s voice must be heard. I hear the sincerity of their view, and I have no doubt that it represents letters, e-mails and phone calls that Government Members are receiving, but I ask them to consider this. I think that the United Kingdom has been a great success over the past 300 years, making all four of its countries prosperous, stable and secure, and often serving as a beacon to the rest of the world. That success, or at least a central part of it, has been based on England’s tolerance of the desires—I will put it more strongly than that: the needs—of the much smaller Celtic nations of this Union. That tolerance has been acknowledged—

[Stewart Hosie (Dundee East) (SNP)]

Celtic needs!

[Gregg McClymont]

Does the hon. Gentleman wish to intervene?

[Stewart Hosie]

I should be delighted.

The hon. Gentleman is making a number of very interesting points while trying to rewrite the outcome of the referendum. May I ask him to confirm that the first page of the Scottish Government’s submission to the Smith commission makes plain our understanding that the commission will simply be about devolution and will not lead to independence, and that we absolutely understand and respect the outcome of the referendum? Will he now work with us to maximise the powers—[Interruption.]

--- Later in debate ---

[Gregg McClymont]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is very comforting at one level to hear the words of the hon. Member for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie), but by their deeds shall ye know them, and the deeds of the Scottish National party since the referendum have made their view very clear.

I was suggesting to Government Members that the tolerance of England, which is by far the largest constituent part of the United Kingdom, has been central to the United Kingdom’s success. A number of references have been made to the unfairness of Scottish Members of Parliament and others from other parts of the United Kingdom voting on English-only matters. First, there is the question of what constitutes an English-only issue. Research has suggested that very few pieces of legislation are English-only. More widely, however, the unfairness to which Members refer reflects the asymmetry of the United Kingdom, and the different sizes of its constituent nations.

Members—Scots, and, I am sure, our Welsh and Northern Irish colleagues too—often grumble about unfairness, usually when they have been at the receiving end of another defeat at football or rugby by England. They grumble about the unfairness of England’s being so much larger as a nation. However, if we are to have the continuation of the United Kingdom, a recognition of the reality of asymmetry must be enshrined in any decisions that we make about the constitution.

Business of the House

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 26th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

The House will recall that we have rightly had many opportunities to debate childhood obesity. My understanding is that the advice was that fruit juice intake should be moderated, rather than excluded from children’s diets. It is important to moderate the intake of all foods in a child’s diet to make sure it is balanced. We are looking for a proper balance between calories in and calories out, and the more we exercise, the easier it is to strike that balance. On a positive note, the latest data have shown a reduction in childhood obesity among pre-school children, and that needs to be sustained. It is only one positive step in what needs to be a long journey to reduce childhood obesity.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

Trade union officials at the Cumbernauld office of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs were told yesterday that the regional post-room where 40 people are employed has been earmarked for closure in March 2015, but the decision has yet to be taken. However, they were also told that 170 new jobs are to be created there. Can we have an early debate on this issue so that the Government can clarify for the House the plans for both job losses and job creation in Cumbernauld?

[Mr Lansley]

I cannot promise a debate at the moment. As the hon. Gentleman knows, not least from the answer the Prime Minister gave to a question yesterday, the HMRC is rightly trying to ensure that it is as efficient as possible in collecting tax and cracking down on tax evasion and avoidance. In the process, sometimes, changes inevitably have to be made to the structure of the business it undertakes. However, I will ask Treasury Ministers to respond to the hon. Gentleman, in so far as there is any particular information relating to Cumbernauld.

Business of the House

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I will seek a response from my right hon. Friend. The Minister for Schools, my right hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Mr Laws) is on the Front Bench and will, no doubt, have heard that question.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the best use to which the Government can put the rather hefty fines that some banks are paying over the manipulation of LIBOR? Do the Government agree that it would be a good idea to transfer that money to the new green investment bank in Edinburgh?

[Mr Lansley]

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman and the whole House would agree that the fines have so far been used very well in support of the military covenant. However, I will raise his suggestion with Treasury colleagues.

Business of the House

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 6th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend will be aware that that matter is being reviewed by some of the leading clinical bodies and by those representing families and other groups. I will of course talk to my colleagues in the Department of Health about it. The Liverpool care pathway, when properly used with informed consent, can ease people’s circumstances as they move towards the end of life, and it is important to recognise how it can be used properly.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House will be aware that this morning another nail has been hammered into the coffin of the Scottish National party’s claim that a separate Scotland would automatically become part of the European Union, in the form of a letter written to the Houses of Parliament. Will he facilitate a debate on accession to the European Union, so that as Scottish voters approach the referendum in 2014, they are able to understand the full implications of that decision for Scotland’s place in the European Union?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that point. It is a pity that that further information was not available when the House debated Scotland and the Union—just last Thursday, I believe. The House expressed its view very forcibly in that debate. As the hon. Gentleman says, the evidence demonstrating that Scotland is better off in the Union and the Union is better off with Scotland will continue to grow.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Hugh Robertson]

This has to be one of the silliest points made for a very long time. We had a thoroughly excellent Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose), who covered tourism, heritage and gambling. We now have a Minister who covers sport, tourism and gambling. I cannot remotely see that that is in any way a downgrade. There were three responsibilities before and there are three now—the maths are very simple.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

5. Whether she has discussed with the BBC Trust the potential effect on the BBC of an independent Scotland.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

I am in regular contact with the Culture and External Affairs Minister in the Scottish Government on a range of broadcasting matters. The Government encourage broadcasters to undertake production throughout the UK, but the future of individual BBC services and production in Scotland is a matter for the BBC and we do not seek to intervene.

[Gregg McClymont]

The separatists tell us that a separate Scotland could replicate the success of Danish TV. However, looking at prime-time Danish TV schedules for this evening, I see few zingers ready to wing their way across to the United Kingdom, although three top-class independent UK productions are featured. Does the Minister agree that Scotland is much better off as part of one of the most successful TV industries in the world?

[Mr Vaizey]

I have huge regard for the hon. Gentleman. I did not know that he was fluent in Danish and a regular studier of Danish television schedules, but that only enhances my regard and I agree with his point.

Business of the House

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 22nd March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I applaud the generosity of Sir Robert Ogden in making those funds available. It is right that the building should be named after him. My hon. Friend will have read “Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer”, which was published in January last year. It outlines our commitment to improve outcomes for cancer patients and to save 5,000 additional lives every year by 2014-15. I understand that the new centre to which my hon. Friend referred is being funded jointly by Macmillan Cancer Support, the local NHS foundation trust and the donation. That is exactly the sort of progress that we want to see to enable us to hit our cancer targets.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

My constituents in Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch were delighted to learn this week that the Olympic torch will be relayed through Cumbernauld on 13 June. That is particularly appropriate given that the British female handball captain hails from Cumbernauld. May we have a further debate on how we can ensure that everyone in the United Kingdom can get involved in these great Olympics? That is very important for the good of the country.

[Sir George Young]

We have just had questions to my colleagues at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman was able to intervene in those exchanges. The issue of how we will ensure that the benefits of the Olympics are broadly shared throughout the country has been debated in recent exchanges and debates involving DCMS. I will see whether there is anything that we can say to the hon. Gentleman that impacts directly on his constituency. I hope that the handball captain leads her team to success.

Business of the House

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 19th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend is right that the number of abduction cases is growing. If a child is abducted to a country that has not signed up to The Hague convention, there are real difficulties getting them back. I will draw the possible loophole to the attention of the Home Office and my right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor to see whether action can be taken to close it.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

Many of my constituents work in Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs office in Cumbernauld, the largest in the country, and are worried about what they perceive to be the creeping privatisation of HMRC through the introduction of private providers in its call centres. May we have a debate on whether bringing private providers into the call centres is sensible?

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Gentleman will recognise that the previous Government used private agencies in public sector organisations where that was the right way to proceed, and I am sure that he would support measures to reduce costs within HMRC and make it more efficient. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor and his team will be here on 24 January for Treasury questions, when the hon. Gentleman might have an opportunity to ask his question again.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

I should like to echo what the shadow Olympics Minister said about today being international Paralympic day. The Paralympics have a special place in our nation’s heart because it started here in Stoke Mandeville in 1948. We want to welcome more than 100 chefs de mission from Paralympic teams to London this week, wish the organisers success and, particularly, wish our brilliant Team GB Paralympian success next year. At the Beijing Olympics, they thrashed Australia; they thrashed America; they thrashed Russia; they thrashed every single country in Europe and came second in the world only to China.

[Gregg McClymont]

I add my own congratulations to our Paralympians and would like to return to the question asked by the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Mike Crockart) about why the Scottish Government have not matched the UK Government’s broadband funding? Does the Minister agree that this is a short-sighted decision, which is inimical to Scotland’s long-term prosperity?

[Mr Hunt]

I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman because all the evidence on economic growth shows that it is the more remote, dispersed communities that benefit most from having a good broadband connection. This can stop villages losing their economic lifeblood; it allows people to work from home; and it helps disadvantaged, elderly and disabled people to gain access to services that they would not otherwise be able to receive. I strongly encourage the Scottish Government to respond positively to the extraordinary generosity of the UK Government and to get Scotland connected.

Business of the House

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I hope that the extra resources that the Government are putting into the NHS will mean that the more dramatic scenario that the hon. Lady paints will not take place. I would welcome such a debate, and perhaps she should like to apply for a debate on the Adjournment so that we can hear more about the heroic work that is being carried out.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

May we have a Government statement on the status of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ change plan? A year after the spending review, the 500 staff in the Cumbernauld HMRC office remain in the dark about the impact of HMRC cuts on their jobs.

[Sir George Young]

There was an opportunity on Tuesday to ask Treasury Ministers about the future of the staff at Cumbernauld, but I will raise that issue with the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and ask him to write to the hon. Gentleman.