Sustainable Fisheries

Peter Grant Excerpts

Wednesday 4th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Of course, the network of marine conservation zones exists to ensure that we can have healthy and sustainable seas for the future. I will, of course, do everything possible to provide reassurance to his constituents. Either I or a DEFRA Minister will make time to ensure that we can see them as well.

[Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP)]

Mike Russell, the Scottish Government’s constitutional relations Minister, has said that the UK Government

“failed to engage with”

the Scottish Government

“in any significant or meaningful way before producing its White Paper”.

Fergus Ewing, the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy, has said that the Scottish Government were only shown a

“final copy a few days before publication”.

Are these statements true? If not, will the Secretary of State undertake to place in the Library of the House a full record of the discussions that the Government had with the Scottish Government before publishing this document?

[Michael Gove]

I do not think that anything in this document is a particular surprise to anyone. Of course we shared it with the Scottish Government. Our superb team of officials at DEFRA has been working with Scottish Government officials to secure an outcome. The hon. Gentleman, for whom I have an enormous amount of respect, has been reduced to processology, because on the substance of the matter, I am afraid that the Scottish National party stands against the interests of Scotland’s fishermen because it wants to keep us in the common fisheries policy. This processology misses the point, which is that Scotland’s fishermen enjoy fantastic new opportunities as a result of a Conservative Government and the leadership shown by 13 superb Scottish Conservative MPs.