Debate on the Address
Debate between Ian Blackford and Anne Main(5 years, 2 months ago)
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Ian Blackford
I thank the right hon. Lady, and I agree with every word she said. We must call out abuse wherever it comes from—wherever it comes from, it is not acceptable. We are all political leaders in this place, and we need to get away from the toxic environment that we live in today.
I make it clear that my colleagues and I believe that our days in this place are numbered, because we want Scotland to become an independent country in Europe. The one promise and the one commitment I give is that—
Ian Blackford
You couldn’t make it up. We are trying to deal with the issue of abuse in politics, and someone shouts, “Will there be a hard border?” The point I was about to make is that, as far as we can achieve, I want any debate on Scottish independence to be respectful. It has to be about the future of our country. It has to be respectful of all points of view, and everybody has a responsibility to ensure that that takes place.
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
Debate between Ian Blackford and Anne Main(5 years, 10 months ago)
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Ian Blackford
Of course, we come to this place under the rules that have been laid down, and under the rules of elections in this country, the SNP won 35 of 59 Scottish seats at Westminster. That is a majority for the Scottish National party in this Parliament. The Conservatives can only dream of having a majority. The Prime Minister went to the country on the basis that she would come back with an overwhelming majority; she came back with a bloody nose and a minority Administration who rely on the votes of the Democratic Unionist party, having handed over vast sums of money to keep themselves in any kind of power.
Today, as the Prime Minister faces a vote on her motion, the threat of resignations overshadows the debate. We know that senior Ministers have refused to rule out resigning if no deal is not taken off the table. Politicians play a slow game, and time is running out for businesses. The Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the hon. Member for Watford (Richard Harrington) said that the Prime Minister’s attempt to put pressure on moderate MPs to back her deal to avoid a disorderly Brexit was “a disaster for business”.
The chief executive of Airbus, Tom Enders, said the business
“could be forced to redirect future investments”
in the event of no deal. The chief executive of Siemens, Jürgen Maier, said:
“The thing all of us won’t be able to manage is a no-deal”
and now the British Retail Consortium warns of food shortages and empty shelves.
Just dwell on this: Sainsbury’s, Asda, Marks and Spencer, the Co-op, Waitrose and Costcutter all warn of not having sufficient supplies and of shelves lying empty. We are used to seeing images of empty shelves in war-torn or failing states, but there is a real threat of empty shelves in the United Kingdom in less than two months. Still the Prime Minister refuses to take no deal off the table. I point the finger of blame at the Prime Minister and her Government. The primary responsibility of any Government is to protect their citizens. We have a massive failure of leadership. If there are shortages of food and medicine, that will be a response to the failures of this Government. There is genuine, heartfelt fear and alarm from some of our biggest businesses.
Mrs Anne Main (St Albans) (Con)
What is the right hon. Gentleman’s objection to enabling the Prime Minister to probe the EU on what it is prepared to give way on, to help to deliver the deal that he would like? What is so objectionable in new amendment (n)? Can he give any reason for not supporting it?
Ian Blackford
This is a complete fantasy. All of us play with the Good Friday agreement at our peril. The peace in Ireland has been hard won. The European Union has reached agreement with the UK on the Prime Minister’s draft deal on the basis of making sure that we enshrine the Good Friday agreement. None of us should be playing with fire and seeking to unwind the Good Friday agreement. That is the effect of what would happen. It is the height of irresponsibility to go down that road. [Interruption.] I am going to come on to the backstop in more detail later.
The Prime Minister could make it clear today that she will bring measures before Parliament to rule out no deal. Prime Minister, it is in all our national interests to remove the threat of supply shortages that is a threat to food safety—remove it today.
Energy Network Charges
Debate between Ian Blackford and Anne MainWestminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
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Ian Blackford
I have immense admiration for the hon. Gentleman, as he knows, but where is the “Better Together” in this? As I have already said, consumers in the highlands are paying 84% more for their transmission charges than someone living in London. Better together for whom? Not for us.
While I am on the topic, we were also told that our European future was secure if we remained in the UK—Scotland in Europe, and part of a wider European energy market. Well, we know where we stand now. The Minister wants to take us out of Europe with the rest of the UK. If she secures her ambition to become Prime Minister, I hope that she recognises the sovereignty of the Scottish people, who voted to remain in Europe.
Mrs Anne Main (in the Chair)
Order. Will the hon. Gentleman stick to his debate about the regional differences in the energy network, rather than European differences?
Ian Blackford
I respect the Chair, but I am trying to do this in the context of the European energy market—
Ian Blackford
France has a universal market for transmission charges. I would prefer a national transmission market, as there is in France, to the unequal system that we have in the UK. Why do we not do as France does and treat consumers equitably? We can learn from Europe, and at the same time we should remain part of it and not be dragged out. If the UK Government will not do that, perhaps we need—to paraphrase others—to take back control ourselves.
Research by the national charity Turn2us graphically shows the kind of challenges that those in fuel poverty are facing. One in two low-income households is struggling to afford energy costs, despite being in work. Among the hardest hit are people with disabilities, with more than two in three reporting their struggles, and families, with almost two in three working parents unable to meet these costs. Worryingly, of those households that are struggling with energy costs, nearly half have done so for more than a year. The knock-on effect is severe, with a third forced to skip meals and more than a fifth experiencing stress and other mental health problems. Here are some of the comments made to Turn2us:
“The bills are killing me, sometimes I have to contemplate paying all the rent or heating my home.”
“There are many pensioners like myself who don’t qualify for any help but still have to decide whether to eat or heat.”
“We have stress, debt, arguments and a low mood at home.”
“Starve or freeze? Either way you get ill and can’t work, eat or pay any bills.”
“No lights, only candles, only hoover once a week, only use washing machine once a week, no heating, meals that cook”
slowly.
In Scotland I am proud that our Scottish Government have used their powers to intervene to mitigate some of the effects of rising energy costs. It has been the failure of Westminster and the regulator to properly protect consumers that has led to a marked deterioration in the level of fuel poverty. Transmission charges are an important factor in the high levels of fuel poverty. The Scottish Government are committed to tackling fuel poverty head-on and ensuring that everyone in Scotland lives in a warm home that is affordable to heat, but the measures we are taking in Scotland are undermined by the austerity measures of the Westminster Government. That is why the responsibility for fuel poverty lies wholly, solely and squarely at the feet of Westminster and not at the Scottish Government’s, as the Minister implied earlier.
Ian Blackford
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way; she has been very generous with her time. Does she appreciate that we have a universal market for the delivery of telephone and broadband and we all pay the same price, regardless of where we live? We pay the same price for a postage stamp. We are still not addressing the fundamental point: people are paying higher prices for transmission of electricity simply because of where they live. We are generating higher levels of fuel poverty as a direct result of that.
On the whole argument about winners and losers, this is about fairness. The Minister talks about being “one nation”; we should be talking about delivering fairness to everybody and not discriminating against people, which is exactly what this Government are doing.
Mrs Anne Main (in the Chair)
Order. Before I call the Minister, I say to the hon. Gentleman: please, respect the Chair. Interventions are meant to be short and they are becoming incredibly long. Standing and talking through the Chair is incredibly disrespectful.