Irene Campbell
Main Page: Irene Campbell (Labour - North Ayrshire and Arran)Department Debates - View all Irene Campbell's debates with the Scotland Office
(3 weeks, 6 days ago)
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Mr Alexander
An awareness of all those issues is not simply for the incoming Prime Minister, but for anybody who reads a newspaper in Scotland. What we have witnessed is a travesty of the potential of devolution. It is not simply the distraction of focusing on issues that are not devolved, but the SNP’s abject failure in policy area after policy area that is devolved: ferries, hospitals, schools—the list goes on.
Irene Campbell (North Ayrshire and Arran) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Douglas Alexander)
Great British Energy Nuclear’s technical study, which was recently published, confirms that Scotland possesses land areas with high potential for new nuclear development. Such projects could deliver significant investment and thousands of high-quality, unionised, skilled jobs. As a Government, we remain open to discussions with the Scottish Government on deploying these technologies to boost Scotland’s economic growth and energy security.
Irene Campbell
New nuclear in areas such as my constituency of North Ayrshire and Arran could bring much-needed skilled jobs and investment to the area, but yet again Scotland is losing out. Does the Secretary of State agree with me that the Scottish Government should review and consider their stance on nuclear, given the findings of the report by Great British Energy Nuclear, which show the potential for new developments, including in Hunterston in my constituency?
Mr Alexander
Whether it is Hunterston in my hon. Friend’s constituency or Torness in my own constituency, Scotland has a proud history of harnessing civil nuclear power to bring jobs and growth to Scotland. Alas, the anti-scientific approach the SNP has adopted of denying us the future of carbon-free energy is one that will also, unless it changes, deny us the high-skilled jobs and investment required in North Ayrshire and across Scotland.