Speeches by Doogan.

“What is the plan?”

“I am very sympathetic to Angus MacDonald’s view; I see it in my side of the country as well. I wonder what your assessment would be of whether GB Energy and DESNZ—and DBT for that matter—need to make a strategic decision to say, “We have not entirely but substantially missed the boat on onshore wind. But in the UK and …”

“The workforce plan within your strategic plan will have a workforce in GB Energy in Aberdeen of how many?”

“I want to see that too; we all do. We all want to see as many well-paid, good jobs in the energy sector as possible but we are disappointed and disillusioned that the very explicit prospectus is now being backtracked on.”

“I do not think that was clear, Mr McGrail. It certainly was not clear to the people of the north-east ahead of the election last year; that is not your wheelhouse either. We were told that there would be 1,000 jobs in GB Energy coming to our area. This Committee was told that 1,000 jobs would happen, and it would take …”

“I have a question on community energy. You are an energy professional; I am not, so I bow to your knowledge. But actually it would be my assessment that the acquisition of land, the raising of capital and the creation of an energy-generating system at a community level is actually well within the reach of many exercise…”

“The Minister draws attention to the five Scottish Ministers on the Government Front Bench, but not one of them has said anything about the crisis facing those 400 families making a living from Mossmorran. The Minister seeks to hide behind the company’s statement that there was no lack of enthusiasm by the Government to…”

“Will the right hon. Lady give way?”

“Will the right hon. Lady give way?”

“I suggest that the Minister does not crow too much about GB Energy, given that at the Scottish Affairs Committee the Scottish Secretary let the cat out of the bag about the 1,000 jobs—“Well, we never really meant 1,000 jobs at GB Energy, just maybe 1,000 jobs somewhere, some time.” When will Labour lower people’s energ…”

“Speaking of screeching U-turns, when the hon. Gentleman was campaigning for last year’s election, he told his potential constituents that he would lower their energy bills by £300. What is he saying to them now?”

“The three fatalities from Stirling that the hon. Member for Stirling and Strathallan (Chris Kane) has just set out so eloquently were three of the 135,000 men and women who died from Scotland during world war one. There were almost 60,000 Scots casualties in world war two, and more still in campaigns thereafter in Mala…”

“Thank you.”

“That is helpful. Can I get one very small point of clarity?”

“Good morning, Secretary of State. It is nice to see you. In your introduction you referenced priorities including energy. The prospectus that the people of Scotland were offered at the general election was a national energy company, GB Energy, headquartered in Aberdeen. I do not want to get into an argument about the j…”

“He was reading his last answer to a very detailed question. That is what sparked it.”

“Did you see and have an understanding of what the line of questioning would be in advance?”

“I do not know if it is in order, Chair. Did you have advance sight of the questions before this session, Secretary of State?”

“We should all be concerned about the skills and development. It is a very important element—I am a product of it from an EFI college—but I would hate, Secretary of State, for you to inadvertently, through leading questions, create an impression where everything is rosy in the garden in England and a complete basket cas…”

“I am a little concerned that this is coming across as a bit churlish, and I hope you can help to dispel that. It seems to me in answer to Angus that if it had not been devolved, if the UK Government had made a direct support grant to the industry, you would have given Scotland its proportionate share of the fishing val…”