Speeches by MacDonald.

“As a variation on that question, the Westminster Government are responsible for defence and the security of the UK. Do you think Shetland can make an extra case for funding to Westminster based on, for example, the Greenland Gap or your oil and gas?”

“I was going ask about London’s or Westminster’s role in funding transportation, seeing as it is a devolved subject. The more I looked into it, the more I came up with a major issue. After the Brexit vote, the UK Government promised their UK shared prosperity fund would replace EU funding in full. The EU funds provided …”

“I thank the hon. Lady for chairing the Committee—she was the driving force behind the report. The curtailment costs demonstrate quite how meagre the community benefits are. I do not have the curtailment cost figures to hand, but hundreds of millions of pounds are often being paid to utilities and infrastructure funds t…”

“It is a privilege to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for affording me the opportunity to make a statement on the publication of the Scottish Affairs Committee’s first report of the Session, on the Government’s clean power 2030 mission. It is a pleasure to speak …”

“That is a bit of a curveball. That is not something I know anything about. If the Minister is better informed, maybe he can answer.”

“It would have been helpful if the Conservative Government had made it mandatory 12 years ago, but they did not. Although I applaud the Scottish Government for doing so, they should have increased the benefit every year, rather than leaving it at £5,000. The £6,000 figure that they have now come up is completely ridicul…”

“Scotland exports 10 to 12 times more electricity than it needs. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is doing a review of community benefits, and we are very concerned that that review will produce a poor outcome for the people of rural Scotland. Could the Secretary of State make representations on that?”

“Scotland exports 10 to 12 times more electricity than it needs. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is doing a review of community benefits, and we are very concerned that that review will produce a poor outcome for the people of rural Scotland. Could the Secretary of State make representations on that?”

“We are waiting for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to come up with the results of the community benefit consultation. The highlands only got £9 million of community benefit last year, and Scotland as a whole got less than £30 million. There are tens of thousands of jobs in renewables in the highlands, b…”

“May I intervene, please?”

“In my constituency, I am getting a substantial amount of mail in my inbox from people who are glad that the Bill has been turned away. What they really wanted to see was investment in hospices, and there has been remarkably little to move that forward. I suspect if this Government made a major investment in hospices an…”

“Thank you. Councillor Steele, can I ask you: we know about the replacement ferries coming from Poland, Turkey, Sanok, and so on. Do you think we now have a ferry replacement programme that will resolve the issue for the next 25 years?”

“I had a meeting with a very informed person who asked me not to mention their name in this. They said there needs to be a 25-year view, a new ferry every year, and it should be a single organisation between CMA and CalMac and legislation be passed to preserve this through the governance in the Scottish Government. Do y…”

“Thank you. I have a slightly different question for each of you, but on the same thing. If I could start with you, Councillor Robinson. Looking at the age of your ferries, I understand that a replacement life for a ferry is approximately 25 years, and yet I see that five of yours are 40 years plus, and the youngest is …”

“Mr Robinson, when we were in the Faroes, we saw how much they were investing and borrowing in order to build their tunnels. When we were reading about investment required, we saw how, due to a very clever move by Shetland Island Council 30 years ago, you basically received a percentage of the revenue coming from oil. I…”

“On the basis that they take, say, three years to replace, if you are lucky, there will be a stage where you are going to have to call an island emergency or something like that. Are you taking steps to preparing the population for the fact that they cannot move between the islands and the Scottish Government that they …”

“I am sure you would agree that it is also not just a Western Isles problem because it impacts Oban, Ullapool, Uig and so on. It is a Scottish national issue; it is not an islands issue.”

“Mr Sloan, can I ask about financing and financing models? When we were in the Faroe Islands, the roads were tolled and visitors paid three times the price of locals. Should the business model include tolling, or would that be politically unacceptable?”

“The Corran ferry from Fort William to Ardnamurchan is being replaced at the moment. A single ferry and two new harbours is £58 million. The cost of tunnelling it was not very much more, and would not have had the cost of replacing the ferry, looking after it, maintaining it and all that. Yet we still opted for the ferr…”

“To support the hon. Gentleman’s argument about the price of electricity, renewable energy is largely generated in Scotland, north Wales and south-west England. We have the highest level of fuel poverty, we have no mains gas, and the suffering caused to those rural areas is remarkable. Until that is improved, we are not…”