Scotland: General Election and Constitutional Future

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Wednesday 17th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I inform the House that I have selected amendment (b) in the name of the Prime Minister.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tommy Sheppard]

I am sorry; I think I have to move on. I am not sure—[Interruption.] Am I okay taking some more interventions, Mr Speaker?

[Mr Speaker]

It is up to you, is the short answer.

[Tommy Sheppard]

I am aiming for a time limit, Mr Speaker, but I give way.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ian Murray]

It will not be in our manifesto because our manifesto will be a covid recovery plan for the nation.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are not here to debate what referendums might be in parties’ manifestos. Otherwise, we will be here a long time, and which election would we start with?

[Ian Murray]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Just for the record, there are Members for Edinburgh East and for Edinburgh South. The hon. Member for Edinburgh East does not represent the whole city, despite the fact that the SNP thinks that it represents the whole of Scotland.

Let me go back to what we could be debating today. We could have debated the dreadful picture that everyone will have seen on social media from George Square in Glasgow last month, where 220 people were queuing up in sub-zero temperatures in the snow to get food from the soup kitchen. A photo says a thousand words, and those words were that both the UK and Scottish Governments are failing the people of Scotland who need their Governments the most. But, no, we are not debating that.

We could have debated universal credit and the £20 uplift becoming permanent, extending it to legacy benefits, removing the rape clause and helping those most in need.