Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I offer my best wishes to my hon. Friend, and indeed to you, Mr Speaker, for Lancashire Day. I can put local rivalry aside on this occasion to join my hon. Friend in thanking Lancastrians for their contribution to our country, and I wish her the very best for today’s event.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

Q14. What we have heard from the Prime Minister today is, in essence, that no matter how Scotland votes, Westminster will decide, but democracy demands differently. The late Canon Kenyon Wright said:“What if that other voice we all know so well responds by saying, ‘We say no, and we are the state’? Well we say yes—and we are the people.”It is the people in Scotland who have to be heard. This place cannot stand in the way of democracy. If this Prime Minister with no mandate thinks it can, is he seriously telling us that this is a voluntary Union of equals?

[The Prime Minister]

We are focused not on the SNP but on the people of Scotland; that is who we are delivering for. I am happy to meet the First Minister, as I continue to do, to deliver for the people of Scotland, including in the hon. Lady’s constituency through the growth deal, and also by moving civil service jobs, creating freeports and providing extra funding for public services. This is a Government who will deliver for the people of Scotland, and we will do it constructively and collaboratively.