Oral Answers to Questions
John Cooper Excerpts(3 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Martin McCluskey
I send our congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Jon Pearce) on the birth of his daughter, and I agree with what my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) said. That is why we are making immediate changes to paternity leave through the Employment Rights Bill. We are making paternity leave available from day one in a new job and enabling it to be taken after shared parental leave. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his vigorous campaigning on this issue. I am sure that, like me, he was delighted to vote for the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation, which the Conservative party shamefully opposes.
John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)
One of the criticisms of the employment legislation that is being brought in is that it delivers us into the hands of the trade union barons. Does the Secretary of State agree that we are indeed in the iron grip of the barons, since he was unable to attend an event in his own office last night because he would not cross a picket line?
Martin McCluskey
We will take absolutely no lessons on employment rights from the Conservative party, which left us with a £22 billion black hole in the public finances that we are having to pick up. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor will address that in a moment.
Oral Answers to Questions
John Cooper Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Ian Murray
I congratulate my hon. Friend on winning Glenrothes and Mid Fife. I acknowledge his efforts, and those of many hon. Friends in the House and of people in the local area, advocating for the Methil fabrication yard. The yard, along with many others like it, will have a key role in fulfilling our ambition for Scotland and the UK to become a green energy powerhouse. In addition to GB Energy, there is the national wealth fund, which will help unlock further investment opportunities for ports and heavy industry, and manufacturing companies will have a crucial role to play in creating jobs in our transition to net zero. I have been to the Methil plant twice. It has a world-class workforce, and I can assure them that we will do everything we possibly can to make sure that they have a bright future.
John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)
I welcome the Secretary of State to his place and thank him for his generous words about the work of Sir Alister Jack, who was previously in that role. Does the right hon. Gentleman share my consternation this morning that two sanctioned Russian oligarchs now have a share in Harbour Energy, our largest producer of North sea oil and gas? That seems incredible at this time, not least because the company that they are using to have this stake—LetterOne—was forced to divest itself of a broadband company because it was a threat to national security. Can we look again at this decision?
Ian Murray
May I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his place and congratulate him on winning his seat? The Foreign Secretary is sitting two seats along from me, and I am sure that he will have heard what the hon. Gentleman said. I am sure that the issue is a concern to everyone in the House, and we will make sure that a written response is given to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible.