Speeches by Law.

“I almost sympathise with the Minister, because really everybody in the House is exasperated by the lack of action. I represent Dundee, which has been twinned with Nablus on the west bank for the last 45 years. The members of the Dundee-Nablus Twinning Association write to me regularly about positive things that could b…”

“May I take this opportunity to congratulate both the SNP in Scotland on an historic fifth landslide election and Plaid Cymru on its historic win in the Welsh Senedd elections? That brings together the north of Ireland, Wales and Scotland as being represented by Governments who believe not only believe in the people, bu…”

“As artists and songwriters gather today for the Ivor Novello awards, fans across the country are still being ripped off by ticket touts, despite the Prime Minister’s promise to act “as soon as possible”. It is incredibly disappointing that the Government have proposed only a draft ticket tout ban Bill in the King’s Spe…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“I am not supporting illegality; the question is the scale of the illegality. To go back to the 0.3%, 0.05% are found to be guilty, and the cost to the entire United Kingdom per year—bear in mind that we are talking about £4 billion in asylum costs at the moment—is roughly £277,000. Can the Minister not agree that altho…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. Where to begin? The regulations brought by the Government today are a depressing illustration of the Labour party’s failure to challenge an immigration-obsessed far right and are a shameful surrender to the Conservatives and Reform in demonising and scapego…”

“The arson attacks targeting synagogues in recent days are sadly part of a pattern of escalating antisemitism designed to intimidate Jewish people, leaving them fearful for their safety. This vile form of racism can never be tolerated, and we must act collectively to defend our Jewish communities. Given the potential li…”

“In January, the UK Government announced that the listed places of worship grant scheme, which has allowed congregations to reclaim VAT on repairs to listed places of worship, would close at the end of March. While a replacement scheme was announced for England, I understand that the Scottish Government were not informe…”

“The UK was once regarded as a world leader in international development, yet today UK aid cuts are the steepest, deepest and most brutal of any G7 country—astonishingly, they are going further and faster in withdrawing support from the world’s most vulnerable people than even Donald Trump’s US Administration. It is utt…”

“The fishing and coastal growth fund saw an utterly meagre £28 million devolved to Scotland and £304 million allocated to England, even though Scotland represents 60% of fishing capacity in the UK. Despite the Government’s inability to understand basic arithmetic, is the Minister considering mitigations to ensure that S…”

“The Secretary of State has made great efforts to make the point that investing in steel production is crucial to the strength of the economy and to our national security, which is true. It is also true that Brexit has been disastrous for our steel industries, as he is aware. It is stark that the UK Government are willi…”

“Thank you, Mr Speaker. Of course, I will always welcome the fact that Scotland punches above its weight, whether it be industries abroad or investment in Scotland. Indeed, under the SNP, foreign direct investment has been higher in Scotland over the last 10 years than anywhere else in the UK outside of London—something…”

“Like all statements, it is not just what is in but what is left out. We learned today that the due diligence, which has not been spoken about in any detail in the statement, provided to the Prime Minister before Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, warned that it would pose a “general reputational risk”. Thi…”

“The Government will be well aware that, through the united front, the Chinese Communist party has created a global network of individuals and organisations that act as a political weapon to isolate, neutralise or counter Beijing’s critics. Indeed, a Jamestown Foundation report published this month shows that the UK is …”

“The revelations in the press that Peter Mandelson was, while Business Secretary, leaking confidential Government secrets to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein should be more than enough evidence to warrant his expulsion from the House of Lords, yet we hear that this will not happen through legislation. Sadly, this is yet anoth…”

“Over the past weeks, thousands of Chinese fishing boats have been trapped, creating a blockage up to 300 miles long in the east China sea off Japan. This is seen by many as a strategy for a future blockade. Given the huge reliance on that route for trade, such action would cause a global economic shock, threaten thousa…”

“Will the Minister confirm that the UK Government are happy with rewarding and emboldening a nation that has one of the worst human rights records, that conducts espionage on these islands and in our Parliament, that has imprisoned a UK national—Jimmy Lai—on trumped-up charges, that has committed crimes against humanity…”

“It is.”

“The UK Government do not seem aware of the message that disregarding safety and approving the Chinese mega-embassy would send to Tibetan, Uyghur and other exile communities in the UK who face intimidation, surveillance and abduction attempts almost daily. On transnational repression, we have heard warm words about upho…”

“I thank the hon. Member for giving so much time for interventions. He will not be surprised to hear that I represent one of four science centres in Scotland. Over the last 25 years, Dundee Science Centre has given STEM experiences to more than 2.5 million people, and we look forward to enhancing that through the Eden P…”