Oral Answers to Questions

Martin McCluskey Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Graeme Downie (Dunfermline and Dollar) (Lab)]

4. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the number of defence sector jobs in Scotland.

[Martin McCluskey (Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Ministry of Defence on supporting Scotland’s defence sector, which makes a vital contribution to growth in both Scotland and the UK, and helps the UK remain safe in the face of current and future threats. The Secretary of State was pleased to visit the Babcock site at Rosyth dockyard recently with my hon. Friend, where he saw at first hand the fantastic work done there.

[Graeme Downie]

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply, and I congratulate him on his debut at the Dispatch Box this morning. As he mentioned, earlier this month the Secretary of State joined me on a visit to Rosyth dockyard in my constituency. Does my hon. Friend agree that the failure of the SNP to support the defence sector in recruiting the highly skilled workers it needs from my constituency and the rest of Fife is a damning indictment of the SNP’s commitment to the security and prosperity of the people of Scotland? Will he reassure me that he will do all he can to ensure that the defence sector in Scotland contributes fully to the UK’s security and future economic growth?

[Martin McCluskey]

My hon. Friend has been a champion for the defence sector in his constituency since his election, and I commend him for that work. I agree that it is essential that any Government engage with the defence sector, not just because of the jobs created across Scotland, but because of the vital technology that the sector is developing. There is a real opportunity to create and retain skilled work in Scotland, and all of us have a responsibility to promote that as much as possible. I am happy to reassure my hon. Friend that the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Government will continue to champion the defence and manufacturing sectors in Scotland.

[Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)]

5. What recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for the arts in Scotland.

[Martin McCluskey (Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West) (Lab)]

The Scotland Office is committed to championing Scottish arts, and regularly showcases the sector’s significant cultural and economic contributions to UK and Scottish Government Ministers. In the Budget later today, the Chancellor will set out her spending decisions, and those will allow the Scottish Government to make their own spending decisions on devolved matters, including arts funding.

[Jess Brown-Fuller]

I was glad to hear the Secretary of State celebrate events in Scotland in his opening remarks. Scotland, and the UK in general, boasts one of the world’s leading arts industries, and we have the notable Edinburgh Fringe festival, but it faces funding pressures due to Government cuts and increased Brexit red tape, which complicates travel to Europe. British artists are being shut out of European markets, which hinders their ambitions and success. What steps is the Minister taking with other Departments to ensure that a thriving arts sector is unimpeded by Brexit red tape?

[Martin McCluskey]

The hon. Lady has a background in performing arts, and brings her experience to this House. I agree with her: Scottish artists are world-renowned, and it is important to them and to promoting Scottish culture around the world that they can perform internationally. We are supporting Scottish artists, and continue to work to help our musicians tour, including through the Government’s successful music export growth scheme, the international showcase fund, and the Department for Business and Trade’s internationalisation fund. We are engaging across Government with the EU and member states on how best to improve arrangements for touring in Europe without a return to free movement.

[Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)]

Since being elected, my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray) has secured a Westminster Hall debate on the culture and economic contribution of the Edinburgh festivals—the first debate on the subject since 1992. Does my hon. Friend agree that that highlights the SNP Government’s shameful treatment of the Scottish creative sector, and can he outline what the UK Government will do to secure the future of the industry, and support thousands of Scottish writers, artists and performers?

[Martin McCluskey]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s comments, including those about my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray). I was pleased to attend his debate in Westminster Hall, at which those issues were discussed. The UK Government have supported creative industries across Scotland, including in the city of my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Tracy Gilbert), with £8.6 million for the Edinburgh festivals, £2 million of capital funding for the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh, and £5 million of capital funding across Scotland for the Burrell Collection. Millions more have been committed to Falkirk arts centre through the Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal. We will continue to support arts and culture across Scotland.

[Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)]

6. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the potential impact of the Government’s new industrial strategy on workers and businesses in Scotland.

--- Later in debate ---

[Blair McDougall (East Renfrewshire) (Lab)]

8. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on supporting employment rights in Scotland.

[Martin McCluskey (Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend will know that the House recently gave the Employment Rights Bill its Second Reading. Shamefully, the Conservative party opposes the Bill, which is the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation. The Government are taking a joined-up and collaborative approach to the delivery of the plan to make work pay, which has been developed with businesses and trade unions. We are committed to continuing that approach through consultation on the plan’s implementation, to ensure that the changes we are making work well for both employees and businesses.

[Blair McDougall]

I am sure the whole House will join me in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Jon Pearce) on the birth of his daughter Connie. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] As my hon. Friend enjoys his paternity leave, I am sure the Minister will be familiar with the Dad Shift campaign, which seeks to increase paternity leave for more fathers. Will he support that campaign so that more fathers can enjoy paternity leave, in addition to the tens of thousands the Government have already opened it up to, and does he agree that that is a huge contrast with the Conservative party’s spending its time talking about getting rid of maternity leave?

[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.

[Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry) (SNP)]

I join the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) in congratulating the hon. Member for High Peak (Jon Pearce) on the birth of his daughter. On the demographic challenge, just before the election the Scottish Labour deputy leader said

“there is something we can do to incentivise”

more people to come to Scotland. In terms of employment in Scotland, have the Secretary of State and colleagues sat down with the Home Office to discuss encouraging more migration?

[Martin McCluskey]

The Government will work closely with the Migration Advisory Committee. We welcome the contribution that migrants make to the economy, but we will take no lessons from a party that has consistently said that the positive destination for people in Scotland is a zero-hours contract, and whose Members sat on their hands last night when we dealt with the Great British Energy Bill.

[Stephen Gethins]

Let me try to challenge the hon. Member. In a spirit of collegiality, the UK Government have committed to working with the Scottish Government. The hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Torcuil Crichton), who is in his place, has said:

“When it comes to immigration policy one size does not fit all. It shouldn’t be beyond us to devise ways to attract more people to work and settle here.”

Will the Minister confirm that the Scottish and UK Governments should work together, and will he commit to a meeting between the Governments so that we can take forward the idea of more migration to Scotland, which the Labour party committed to and we committed to, and business is crying out for?

[Martin McCluskey]

We have committed to Scottish representation on the Migration Advisory Committee, which would go a long way to dealing with these issues, but it is for the Scottish Government to do things like build houses in areas where we need more migration in order to encourage people to come to live in Scotland.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

9. Whether he has had discussions with the Scottish Government on the criteria for assessing the potential impact of planning applications for offshore wind near UNESCO world heritage sites.