Speeches by Murray.

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for sharing the history of his constituency on this important issue. SAFE is an issue that the Government and other actors in both France and the UK are working quite deeply on. Obviously, we are not in SAFE now, but we can still hope for the future. The point about UK-France relations is not…”

“My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. The UK and France have substantial military technology sectors, which are critical for not only our security but the rules-based international order that the relationship between the two countries props up. When it comes to new technologies, whether it is AI or military hardwar…”

“I agree entirely with the point my hon. Friend makes. Like him, I have worked a lot with the Franco-British Council, and he is right that Europe’s strategic autonomy and ability to act collectively and in coalitions of the willing—an issue I will come to in a second—is important, given the changing geopolitical situati…”

“I did not know that the Festival Interceltique de Lorient was focusing on Cornwall this year, but I have another interest to declare, because I remember going to that festival as a schoolboy; it is one of the things that inculcated in this Scottish person a love of French and Celtic culture. I absolutely know the impor…”

“The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Speaking as an MP whose constituency is a tourist centre—we welcome people from across the world, and particularly from France—I know that such organisations contribute so much. Many businesses in my constituency are dependent on tourism from France but find it difficult to …”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have had the entente cordiale, the entente industrielle, which I referred to earlier, and the entente amicale. Bilingual schools have a huge role in allowing children not only to understand one another’s cultures, but to live both sides of their identity. In the 21st century, that…”

“I will first declare an interest: I worked at the UK embassy in Paris—the quality has improved a lot since I left. I completely agree with the right hon. Gentleman: the UK staff in France, both in Paris and in the consulates, and the French staff here in the UK, both in the embassy in London and in the consulates—inclu…”

“Thank you, Mr Dowd. I was on the point of winding up there, do not worry. My hon. Friend made an excellent point; he and I could spend hours discussing the Government architecture distinctions between the UK, France and, I would argue, Scotland—Scotland makes different mistakes in its Government structures in compariso…”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that relationships between political leaders are critical to developing relationships between nations, and I look forward to the work we will be doing on the APPG in that regard. I welcome the return of the Erasmus+ and youth experience schemes. I studied in France under Erasmus a…”

“My hon. Friend makes a really important point. The immigration system needs reform and needs to meet the public’s expectations, but that must happen in a way that works for the economy and works for families and individuals, taking cognisance of the fact that these are people’s lives. I believe that is possible within …”

“I wish everyone a very Murray Christmas. The communities of Niddrie, Bingham, Magdalene and The Christians are fantastic places full of hard-working people who take pride in their community. Sadly, they have been let down by austerity in recent decades. Will the Leader of the House join me in strongly welcoming the £20…”

“I strongly welcome today’s announcement, which is important not only for workers in Grangemouth but for the wider Scottish economy. Whether it is today’s announcement about Grangemouth, protecting shipbuilding on the Clyde or the supercomputer in Edinburgh, the Labour Government are standing up for workers and for Scot…”

“I will ask a small follow-up on the specific type of asylum cases that we are seeing. There has been an increase in people coming to the end of their student visas, applying for asylum at the point it runs out and moving from student accommodation into an asylum hotel. There is a lot of public mistrust around why it is…”

“Can I just pick up on a few things you said there? I want to test a hypothesis on you. Cross-channel asylum crossings are supply and demand. The demand is that people are fleeing war and persecution, we speak English and there is a flexible labour market. What do you think about the argument that the demand is inelasti…”

“An asylum seeker, for whom there is a power to provide support. Is there a possibility that they will become homeless, or refugees who have been recognised? So both.”

“No, not at all. Do you think this will have an impact on homelessness, especially for recognised refugees? There is a housing emergency everywhere across the country; there is a homelessness challenge everywhere. I know it from my own city of Edinburgh. How do you see this intersecting with the homelessness challenge w…”

“You touched on one of the points I wanted to address.”

“I have one more question if that is okay. Thank you, Chair. One of the things that was also announced when the Home Secretary was in Parliament a fortnight ago was the toughening of the support given to asylum seekers. What is your view on moving from a duty to a power to provide support to asylum seekers? What will th…”

“One of the things that the Home Secretary mentioned recently was the creation of safe and legal routes, which is something the refugee rights sector has been calling for, for a very long time. Do you welcome that announcement? What will you be looking for it to include? What kind of number should we be looking for? Obv…”

“I hear and understand that people might realise they are gay when they come to the UK, or their home country might go to war during their course year, but do you accept that there is also a likelihood, or at least a possibility, that it is people trying to use the asylum system as a mechanism to stay in the UK beyond t…”