Speeches by Law.

“No, I have not had the chance to look at the Government website, but I thank the hon. Member for raising that. As I have broadly said, I support the Bill, but there are reasons why I am contributing to the debate, not least because of a lack of devolution to the Scottish Parliament, which I will come to shortly. On Sec…”

“I listened to the hon. Member with interest, but I suggest that she has that debate in the Scottish Parliament. After all, we are talking about the devolution of powers here in the UK Parliament. A framework for collective bargaining in the adult care sector has been developed by the Scottish care unions—Unison, the GM…”

“I thought I was asking a question of the Scottish Labour MPs, only to be asked another question. The hon. Lady will be well aware that the Scottish Government have worked collectively with both unions and other bodies to ensure that the living wage in Scotland is higher than in any other part of the UK. I remind her th…”

“I rise to speak to new clause 75 and to other new clauses and amendments in my name. Last year, the Labour party committed to “strengthen statutory sick pay, remove the lower earnings limit to make it available to all workers and remove the waiting period.” Although the removal of the lower earnings limit and the waiti…”

“I apologise to the Minister because he has moved on, but I want to come back to the new level of statutory sick pay, which is £118.75 or 80% of an employee’s weekly earnings. An employee with weekly earnings of £125 would at present get £116.75, but under the new model, they would receive only £100. Is that correct?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Obviously, increasing investment in Scotland’s economy is crucial to delivering the SNP Government’s priorities, which are improving public services, supporting a thriving economy, tackling the climate emergency and eradicating child poverty. I want to put this on the record again, just to be very clear in this House a…”

“I am glad that the hon. Gentleman would like to hear it. What I just heard was breathtaking. I remind him that Scotland’s economy is one of the best performing in the UK. Since 2007, Scotland’s GDP per person has grown by 10.5%, outperforming the UK’s 6.5%, while productivity has risen at an annual rate of 1%. I would …”

“Like everyone in this House, I stand in full solidarity with Ukraine and recognise the threat posed by hostile actors such as Putin. I agree that UK defence spending must increase to enhance our national security. However, the decision to raid the development budget does not increase security. It does the very opposite…”

“Q3. This week President Trump has ended military aid to Ukraine, reportedly banned the UK from sharing US intelligence with Ukraine and is now seeking to lift sanctions on Russia to appease Vladimir Putin, a murderous lying dictator. Regrettably, it is clear that, for now, the US can no longer be relied upon for securi…”

“I thank the Prime Minister for being consistent in his message to his allies that any future negotiated peace must include Europe and Ukraine, must be sustainable, and must protect the territory and sovereignty of Ukraine. However, achieving that lasting peace will require engagement with civic societies engaged in pea…”

“What details can the Minister give us about the financing that will be given to the Global Fund? More importantly, there is a rumour that official development assistance is going to be cut from 0.5% to 0.2%, to cover an increase in defence spending. Can the Minister confirm whether that is the case?”

“On the third anniversary of Putin’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I welcome the United Nations having just passed a resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine. However, in the last 15 minutes—this will shock the House —it was opposed by Russia and the United States. It was said in the press that “This…”

“I have listened very carefully to what has been said this morning. We have known since November that this was coming, even though the press were saying that we would somehow get a special relationship. What is clear today is that Trump shows strength towards countries that are in a position of weakness, which is where …”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. On 28 October, in response to a question on his statement on the middle east, the Foreign Secretary stated that the terms of annihilation, extermination and genocide were “largely used when millions of people lost their lives in crises such as Rwanda and the Holocaust of the s…”

“Biomass burning has always been a sticking plaster, and it has allowed successive Governments to claim green progress while continuing to emit immense amounts of CO2. The public were promised £20 billion a year of green investment, but instead we are getting less than 6% of what is needed. When will the UK Government c…”

“Despite Scotland being one of the most energy-rich nations in Europe, decades of mismanagement by different colours of UK Government—whether Labour or Conservative—have led to a shocking one third of households in Scotland living in fuel poverty. That number is set to rise, along with energy bills. The Government were …”

“1. What recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of fuel poverty.”

“Over the past week, the UK Government have committed to support a runway in London, a football stadium in Manchester and a science corridor for Oxford and Cambridge, yet for the past year, Conservative and Labour Governments have failed to act to secure the long-term future of Grangemouth, after INEOS announced the clo…”

“This week, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation forecasted child poverty levels across England and Wales for the next five years. The results are stark: child poverty rates are forecast to increase in both Labour-run Wales and Labour-run England. However, there is hope and a way forward. Child poverty rates in Scotland, whic…”