Speeches by Kane.

“When I look at that integration between immigration and skills in the devolved nations, I want an assurance that, in terms of the policies, procedures and, Antonia, all the changes that you have suggested for getting the data and an assurance, these structures will be as strong for the devolved nations—so that you have…”

“In paragraph 2.10, it says that the Government are launching Skills England, a new arm’s length body, “to form a coherent picture of skills gaps” across the United Kingdom. Is that correct that it is Skills England’s job to form a cohesive UK picture?”

“I am going to push this one more time; it is important, because words matter. When I am reading that Skills England is responsible for a coherent picture of skills gaps across the United Kingdom, it can be perceived as a tone-deaf name, Skills England, for what really is Skills UK. I want to make sure about that.”

“Thank you for that; I appreciate the clarification. Moving on slightly, in my constituency, Stirling University, like all universities, is finding that our policies are having a negative impact on the desire to attract the best PhD students and researchers. Given how much value we place in this country on skills and in…”

“If it is useful feedback to hear, I am hearing a lot of frustrated researchers and professors at universities say that it is not working for them. Their frustration is palpable when they are writing to me, but thank you for that. Antonia, you look like you want to say something.”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) for securing this important debate. Parkinson’s UK tells me that there are about 230 people living with the condition in my constituency of Stirling and Strathallan. Across Scotland, almost one in six people with Parkinson’s are under 65 and o…”

“Residents in Buchlyvie in my constituency are losing their only pub, which is being turned into holiday lets. This comes despite the objections of local residents and Stirling council’s planning panel refusing the change-of-use application. The Scottish Government’s planning reporter has stepped in and made what many l…”

“As you know, Mr Speaker, the parliamentary archives are moving from Victoria tower to the National Archives. I was fortunate to be part of the final tour yesterday led by archivist Mari Takayanagi. In my constituency, our archives hold treasures such as letters from Bonnie Prince Charlie and King James VI, and they are…”

“Scotland produces world-class potatoes, which are supplied to our iconic fish and chip shops, such as the Real Food Café and the Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum, Vincenzo’s Fish and Chips in Stirling—its fish supper won an award last year—and Corrieri’s in Causewayhead; Robert and Peter Corrieri will retire this year after…”

“T6. Given the recent decline in the number of international students coming to the UK, what measures is the Minister taking, along with colleagues from other Departments, to ensure that universities such as Stirling, which have long benefited from diverse international student populations, remain attractive and accessi…”

“Euan and team, thank you for a very informative visit to Sellafield. It was good to see it and thank you for your candid approach when we were there. David, do you mind if I quickly go back to your opening line that you will never criticise Sellafield for missing targets, given the type of waste and the safety issues? …”

“Going back to that broader issue of targets that we are seeing, what is the value in setting it at all if it can change? What is the value of having a strategic tolerance date of 2039?”

“If you have named it, it must have an importance. What I have heard is that strategic tolerance seems like an important day, but you have said, “It is not really because we can change that”.”

“I think that the line in the report is “strategic tolerance”. I suppose, to finish that answer, we probably need a better understanding of what strategic tolerance means in this instance.”

“It seems to me that you are using this 2039 as this is when you want it finished. I think that it was the tolerance level for the infrastructure. It feels to me that you are using 2039 as the date that you are aiming for and then you are working back and saying that this is how much—I think that it was 130 cubic metres…”

“To square the circle, I would hope that that sophistication you have on the frontline also extends to a sophisticated approach to those who are interrogating the targets. Possibly there was a disconnect in the sophistication that goes across those who are scrutinising and those who are actually taking out. Going to my …”

“It is motivation, so it is an arbitrary target. I do not mean this in a negative way. I am just trying to understand the value of it.”

“It is an arbitrary target date rather than an engineering, structural or nuclear safety evaluation of the infrastructure.”

“I would agree with that. It is absolutely right to say that, if you paused at this point, you could say that that is the right decision, but the lesson learned would be then looking back at the beginning of the decision to see what was or was not right then. It is not about criticising the current decision, but about a…”

“It was very interesting listening to that. I have a question for David. I am going to quote you from the PAC Report from October 2018, which said, in paragraph 3, “The NDA has not identified the lessons from project cancellations and past mistakes. The NDA has cancelled three projects since 2012 after spending £586 mil…”