Speeches by MacDonald.

“Can you explain something? In my constituency work I have had dealings with former servicemen who have come forward about mental health issues and they are dealing with a Department—the Ministry of Defence—that is looking after veterans, but in my experience it has taken many months to get any correspondence from the M…”

“Can you say that again, about the Highlands? Sorry, I missed that.”

“Are you worried that NHS Lothian’s decision to stop funding Veterans First Point could spread to other councils or other NHS areas?”

“My question has been resolved to a large extent because Dave Doogan asked it, but really it is about mental health. Susie, you mentioned that progress in Scotland was notably slow in terms of the pathway. Do you know why and is there any acceleration of this? Can you see it being taken more seriously?”

“Mine is a point, rather than a question: it was Armed Forces Week last week, and there was a really good turnout from Members of Parliament and officials in Westminster. We can be very reassured that support for the armed forces and of veterans in particular is strong in Parliament. I just do not know how well that inf…”

“When the hon. Lady was on that Bill Committee, did she consider the fact that a large part of the hospitality sector in Scotland would have no business rate relief, even though businesses in the south could get it? It was a favour done for England and Wales, but did not help Scotland.”

“At the start, I declare an interest, as my children and I own a cinema, restaurant and big visitor centre in Fort William, employing more than 100 people. I was brought up in a rural inn and my brother has a brewery. I am steeped in the hospitality sector. At the autumn Budget, the Government increased the rate of NIC …”

“As we speak, there is a massive fire south of Inverness. All around that fire are the gamekeepers in that area. It is they who are controlling that fire, but they do not own that land. The heather has been allowed to grow long, lank and uncontrolled. Does the hon. Lady agree that gamekeepers play an important role in s…”

“Rural Britain, and particularly remote Scotland, is in crisis. The young are moving to the cities, the schools are closing, healthcare is being centralised and the cost of living is far higher than in the conurbations. Soon, our glens will be populated only by incoming retirees. I took my townie friend, a senior politi…”

“I am reluctant to come in on the side of the Opposition on this issue, but I can tell the Minister that my constituency has never suffered as much in my whole business career as it has since the Budget last year. National insurance increases and related increases have absolutely crucified business up there. If the Gove…”

“Thank you for allowing me to speak, Mr Vickers, after I turned up late. Few people can speak about VAT with such excitement as I can. I was UK entrepreneur of the year, I have lectured on entrepreneurship for 20 years, and I have mentored many early-stage businesses. I have concluded that the one thing we can do that c…”

“The hon. Gentleman mentioned the increase in the registration threshold from £85,000 to £90,000, which came after many years of it not being increased and is far below inflation. In your time in office, you did no favours for small businesses, as far as VAT is concerned. Would you agree with that?”

“I hope this is not too much of a diversion, but the Minister will know that mains gas is 6p per kWh, largely imported and certainly a carbon fuel, while renewable energy is selling at 24p per kWh. We cannot get the public behind us as long as the environmental tariffs are on the renewable energy and not on the carbon f…”

“I wonder whether I can make the case for real support from the Government for community benefit from renewable energy. It is being proposed at a fairly modest level by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, but it is one of the biggest opportunities for rural Britain to transform its economy.”

“I want to make the case for a review of the VAT system. VAT starts at £90,000 and above, and I think that that level should be increased to £250,000. The UK has 3.1 million sole traders. Many of them do not want to grow above £90,000 because they do not think they are in the business of administration, and quite a lot …”

“Will the Minister acknowledge the disparity in energy price between rural areas and urban areas? Businesses in urban areas can access mains gas and pay 6p per kilowatt for their energy, whereas businesses in rural areas pay 24p per kilowatt for their energy. What a disadvantage that is for rural areas.”

“If a woman goes all the way through to full term and then decides it is an inconvenience, does the hon. Lady still think that she should be covered by this legal protection?”

“Before Christmas, we—and I am sure many others—went round sorting offices and saw that. I think you have every reason to be very proud of it because they are incredibly well respected and liked parts of the community. Let’s come back to the second part of it, which I mentioned in a previous panel, about the service bei…”

“I completely agree, if it is a standard stamp. If you are running a business doing fragrance delivery from Ardnamurchan, you have to go to a post office, get everything weighed, get your—”

“To take that one step further, in rural areas we have a much older population. Could you elaborate on why this might impact that population?”