Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Thursday 30th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier]

I thank the Secretary of State for his answer. The Prime Minister flippantly said that we will be leaving EU institutions, but not Europe, as if that was a good thing. EASA plays a crucial role in excluding from European airspace any aircraft or company that has poor safety records, safeguarding the security and wellbeing of people right across the continent. Now that the negotiations are under way, the Government have a duty to tell passengers in the aviation sector whether the UK will be a participant, or are they happy to compromise our economy and passenger wellbeing to achieve their Little Britain hard Brexit?

[Mr Speaker]

I must say to the hon. Lady, in the friendliest possible spirit, that there is no danger of her suffering ill health as a result of excessive hurry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Thursday 2nd March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

Yesterday during a session of the Scottish Affairs Committee, we heard evidence from Gary Mitchell of National Farmers Union Scotland, and two things were made very clear: access to migrant labour for seasonal work is essential for our agriculture sector and the Government are yet to the respond to the representations made by NFU Scotland over these concerns. Will the Minister commit to looking into this and providing an urgent clarification to the agriculture industry on where they stand on migrant labour?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Lady can now breathe.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Thursday 23rd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

Points of order ordinarily come later, but if it flows from Question Time and is brief and not disputatious, we will hear it briefly.

[Margaret Ferrier]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I seek your guidance. In response to my earlier question, the Minister suggested that ending toll charges in Scotland had led to bridges in Scotland being closed. When the Forth road bridge was damaged it was repaired ahead of schedule. The Queensferry crossing is being completed on time and significantly under budget without the need for tolls. Perhaps the Minister of State would like to take this opportunity to correct his earlier comments.

[Mr Speaker]

I very much doubt that the Minister wishes to do so. The hon. Lady, who is well informed and I imagine has a very good vocabulary, has just feigned ignorance of the word “disputatious.” I said that her point of order should not be disputatious, but it was disputatious. I think we will leave it there. I am not knowledgeable upon the matters to which she has referred and, more importantly, I have absolutely no responsibility for them myself, which is a great source of relief.

Royal Assent

Unaccompanied Child Refugees

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Thursday 9th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The capacity of the hon. Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) to chunter from a sedentary position is not in doubt and does not require proof, but she should desist. I very politely say to her that as she is a supporter of West Ham—[Interruption.] Well, I am glad she is an Arsenal supporter, but she still should not chunter. As she represents West Ham, she might find it therapeutic to blow some bubbles.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

As part of our commitments under the Dubs amendment, we have consulted local authorities on capacity. It is clear that there is capacity to support the children whom we intend to take from Calais at the same time as meeting our other commitments. I find it unbelievable that councils would be willing to take in only an average of two children each. Did the Home Office ask all local authorities individually how many children they could actually take, or did it suggest numbers to each of them?

Jobcentre Plus Offices: Closure

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Monday 30th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

What an unenviable dilemma! I call Margaret Ferrier.

[Margaret Ferrier]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have been out on the streets of Halfway and Rutherglen in my constituency over the past two wet weekends, collecting signatures for the petition to keep the Cambuslang jobcentre open. Collecting the signatures has not been a difficult task; people are outraged by the DWP’s decision and they want to make their views known. Will the Minister please allow them to do that by doing the right thing and opening up the consultation process to all DWP sites marked for closure?

US Immigration Policy

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Monday 30th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

My keenness to accommodate colleagues is undiminished, but may I very tactfully say that if people feel that they are going to add further insight to our proceedings with their contributions they can of course continue to stand, but it is not compulsory to do so?

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

The Prime Minister wants to do business with President Trump, presumably in the same way that she does business with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Muslim majority countries that are not on the banned list. Not a single terrorist attack on United States soil has come from one of the seven countries on the list, yet 90% of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Has the Foreign Office made any assessment of a potential conflict of interests between the President’s personal business dealings and his domestic policy?

Human Rights: Burma

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Wednesday 18th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

First, I will not be in the Chamber tomorrow, Mr Speaker—I know you will miss me—but I know it will be your birthday, so may I take the opportunity to wish you an early happy birthday?

Minister, since the Burmese security forces started their campaign in October, it has been established that around 65,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the country. According to reports, the minority group has been subject to arson, rape and murder at the hands of the military. Such allegations are incredibly serious, so I ask the Minister—I believe for the fourth time—whether he will continue to call for the establishment of an independent investigation into the claims?

[Mr Speaker]

Thank you.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Thursday 20th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I would call the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier) if she were standing, but she is not, so I will not.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Ah! She is. Enlightenment has dawned.

[Margaret Ferrier]

16. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Leaving the single market in a hard Brexit will be catastrophic, and the Treasury estimates that the cost to the UK economy could be £66 billion, that 80,000 jobs in Scotland could be lost, and that wages could be hit by up to £2,000 a year. The Tory manifesto clearly stated:“We say: yes to the Single Market”.Will the Secretary of State cast doubt aside, and undertake to make good on that commitment?

Aleppo and Syria

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Tuesday 11th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove (Surrey Heath) (Con)]

The hon. Lady is understandably painting a heart-rending picture of what is happening in Syria. It seems to me, having listened to two speeches, that the SNP’s position is to equate our military intervention with that of Vladimir Putin, and to argue that we should step aside from this carnage and hope that a unilateral act of disarmament on our part will somehow instil in Bashar al-Assad a spirit of generosity towards his own people that he has not yet shown. Does the hon. Lady not realise how absurd the SNP’s position is? Does she not recognise that it is only through both military engagement and humanitarian work that we will be able to bring relief to the suffering people of that country?

[Mr Speaker]

That is the gravamen of the point, for which we are grateful.

[Margaret Ferrier]

The right hon. Gentleman misses the fact that we are not denying that the brutality inflicted by Assad and Russian forces is beyond comprehension. However, the role that we can and should play is a humanitarian and diplomatic one. That, I believe, should be our role.

In an utterly shocking attack—one that possibly amounts to a war crime—a UN aid convoy was struck in an airstrike, which killed at least 20 people. The reality is that there is utter chaos on the ground and in the skies over Syria. Just last month, the MOD confirmed that the UK was involved in airstrikes that killed at least 62 Syrian Government troops. We have become part of the chaos.

Other Members have mentioned the work of the White Helmets, which I want to mention, too. They have saved thousands of lives, and continue to do so on a daily basis. They were recently nominated for the Nobel peace prize. As the bombs rain down, the White Helmets do not stop. They rush in to save civilians. They are the heroes in this conflict.

The UK Government need immediately to halt their airstrikes in Syria, and present Parliament with an alternative coherent plan. We need a sensible strategy—one that actually ensures that the humanitarian situation is not cast aside. We can make a difference in this conflict. We can play some part, no matter how small, in minimising the human suffering in this horrific war. However, it is time for the Government to admit that doing so will require a complete change of strategy.

Terrorist Attack: Nice

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Monday 18th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

I was privileged to attend an inter-faith Eid celebration dinner last night hosted by the Ahmadiyya community—a group that the new Prime Minister is aware of, and a fine example of a group teaching love, not hatred, and committed to helping local communities by raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for UK charities. Does the Home Secretary agree that we need to work with our Muslim communities to ensure that they are not targeted by hate crimes in the UK and that they are not linked to appalling attacks, which they condemn?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. People ought to show some sensitivity to the mores of the House. Forgive me, but that question was far too long.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Monday 27th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier]

As my hon. Friend the Member for Argyll and Bute (Brendan O'Hara) pointed out, the pound is in freefall and every cent it falls against the dollar makes purchasing either the maritime patrol aircraft or the F-35 more expensive. The workers at the Clyde yards have already seen apprenticeship numbers cut by 80%, and the current crisis makes the situation worse. Can the Minister assure me and those on the shop floor in Govan and Scotstoun that the Type 26 programme will begin as soon as possible and not in 2019, as some have suggested?

[Mr Speaker]

Briefly, Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Monday 7th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman himself is the Minister. “Know thyself” is quite a useful principle in politics, as it is more widely in life.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

What steps is the Department taking to promote the installation of fire suppression systems while repair work is being done to schools as part of this programme?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Wednesday 27th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

Q5. Since the Chancellor of the Exchequer took control of the public purse, he has utterly failed to get the deficit under control. To date this year, he has borrowed over £74 billion to plug the gap or—to use the vernacular his party is fond of using for a hypothetical independent Scotland—the monumental financial black hole in his books. Is he now likely to breach his own deficit reduction target for the year by somewhere in the region of £9 billion? Will the Prime Minister finally concede—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I do not wish to be unkind to the hon. Lady, but I think we have the gist.

[Margaret Ferrier]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. That was a polite way of saying that the hon. Lady had concluded her question.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Wednesday 6th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Household incomes in Scotland will be of intense interest, not least to people living in Scotland. We must hear the questions and the answers.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

In a recent written parliamentary question to the Secretary of State, I asked:

“what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the introduction of the Work and Health Programme in Scotland.”

His response was a masterful example of how not to answer, which is what we have seen again today. Will he now take the opportunity to tell the House whether he has bothered to discuss with the Department for Work and Pensions how this new programme will affect my constituents?

Redcar Steelworks

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Thursday 15th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

It is important and proper that resources and support be given to mitigate the impact of the closure of SSI Redcar, particularly for those staff who will lose their jobs, but it is reactionary, and it seems that little has been learned with the benefit of hindsight. In how many other constituencies will the Government need to repeat this process? What will they do to support the steel industry in my constituency at Clydebridge and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows)—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry, but we must focus narrowly on this particular situation, rather than on wider issues. I think we can leave it there.

Saudi Penal System

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Tuesday 13th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

I have made several representations to both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Office—I am glad to see the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), in the Chamber—over the case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr. I have yet to receive a reply. This young man is still due to be brutally executed by beheading and crucifixion. Would the Secretary of State perhaps like to comment on this case now within the context of the Saudi prison contract, and also in light of numerous brutal and repeated human rights abuses within Saudi, such as that of Mohammed al-Nimr, not to mention the fact that one person is executed every two days, often by gruesome and medieval methods? There is also the growing number of civilian deaths in Yemen by air strikes conducted by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition. I am wondering—and others will be as well—how the Government can continue to have such a close, intertwined relationship with the Saudis. [Interruption.] What can the Secretary of State tell us today to reassure people that the Government will not continue to support and facilitate human rights abuses? I have heard in the Chamber as well that safety and security—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I have been very fair—some would say indulgent—to the hon. Lady. She must accept that her oration—it was more of an oration than a question—is, for now, over, but we thank her for what she said.

Stormont

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Monday 12th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. If I am to call the remaining two speakers, they must each be brief because I want to hear the winding-up speeches from the Front Benches as well. If they could speak without interventions, that would help the House.

--- Later in debate ---

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

Like many others, I have been concerned about recent developments in Northern Ireland. Paramilitary activity has no place in society, and it is right that the Secretary of State has called for an independent review to assess the status of paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland. I hope that that review will facilitate the talks that ensue.

It would be a travesty if Northern Ireland were to return to direct Westminster rule. Such a regressive step would be a hammer blow to the peace process, and could effectively mark the failure of the Good Friday agreement—a deal that was agreed by a majority of citizens in Ireland, north and south, and by the UK and Irish Governments. Peace has been a rocky road in Northern Ireland, and I acknowledge the work of a great many individuals in ensuring that it has lasted.

I am deeply concerned that the peace process does not appear to have been handled as sensitively as it ought to have been in recent years. Failure to find consensus on key areas such as dealing with the past, and external factors such as imposed austerity, are seriously hindering progress. The latter point is a key concern of mine because, as an anti-austerity politician, I find it alarming that such matters are impeding the peace process.

Northern Ireland has real and ongoing issues that are directly attributable to the legacy of the troubles. The situation is deeply complex, and the legacy of the troubles has left long-lasting socioeconomic problems. Northern Irish constituencies, although few in number, regularly sit atop the UK’s unemployment charts. Last month’s figures show that three of the Province’s 18 constituencies are also included in the five highest out-of-work benefit claimant rates per percentage of economically active population. There are generational issues and, not coincidentally, those three constituencies top the tables for unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds—an age group too young to remember the actual troubles. Those are serious issues, and the root causes need to be addressed as part of the peace process.

The bedroom tax has caused misery for millions across the UK, and real damage to the governance of Northern Ireland. Although the Scottish Government protected citizens from that cruel levy, it has caused chaos over the water. It has not been easy, but the Holyrood Administration have done a commendable job of protecting the most vulnerable. At Stormont, however, the power-sharing Executive have been unable to reach a consensus and have repeatedly been thrown into turmoil on that key issue.

I hope that I am not a lone voice of common sense when I state my bemusement that Tory welfare reform is even being mentioned in relation to the peace process. It is clear that the Stormont House talks did not effectively resolve those issues in the way that they were meant to. Although it is not my place to comment on or dictate the nature of talks, agreements or resulting legislation, I hope to see progress and consensus on key issues. I am eager to see a positive outcome to the current talks, and I truly hope, for the sake of all those living in Northern Ireland and the decades-long peace process, that a lasting resolution can be found.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are extremely grateful to the hon. Lady. Unfortunately there will not be time for a Back-Bench winding-up speech. The opening contribution was substantial, for which we are grateful, but we now need to wind up the debate with the Front-Bench speeches.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Ferrier and John Bercow

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Last but not least, I call Margaret Ferrier.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)]

16. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Scotland on the effect of firefighters pension scheme reforms in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.