Speeches by Alexander.

“The UK Government are transforming our defence sector into an even more powerful engine of growth, with skills and training being a central pillar of the strategy. If the SNP-led Scottish Government will not do the right thing, we will. That is why we stepped up with £2.5 million to fund a specialist welding centre in …”

“I sincerely hope the Scottish Government are listening to the very powerful points made by the hon. Lady. Some 89,600 young people in Scotland are not in work, education or training. That is equivalent to about 16.1% or one in six of our young people in Scotland. Scotland deserves better than a Scottish Government who …”

“I would like to say that I am shocked and surprised, but very little that the Liberal Democrats do can shock or surprise me. The truth is that the Employment Rights Bill is expected to benefit people in the most deprived areas of the country by up to £600 in lost income from the hidden costs of insecure work. That is e…”

“I am happy to tell the hon. Gentleman what I think it will take: it will take a change of Government next May. It is time for a new direction in Scotland.”

“It will not surprise the House that I am not going to prejudge announcements that the Chancellor will be making from this Dispatch Box in just a few minutes, but I certainly do not recognise the characterisation that the hon. Gentleman has offered of the first 15 or so months of this Labour Government. It was always go…”

“Immense, and again you do not need to take my word for it. Ask the Scotch Whisky Association and it will confirm that given it is the largest whisky market by volume, there are huge opportunities. Probably the single statistic that I can give you that is most illustrative of this is when I was travelling with the Prime…”

“Well, the conversations continue. We are in an enviable position as a UK Government in having secured the first trade deal of any country in the world with the United States. Secondly, it is right to recognise that the former human rights lawyer, the Prime Minister of the country, Kier Starmer, has formed a somewhat im…”

“As I say, the constitutional apparatus that was in place in 2014 remains in place, so in that sense we have been very clear as to the basis on which Scotland made its choice. On what John Swinney is claiming will happen after May, respectfully I would rather play the game than engage in the post-match analysis before a…”

“I have many responsibilities as the Secretary of State for Scotland but speaking on behalf of the White House is not one of them. They are entitled to their own characterisation of the President’s visit and it is perfectly reasonable that they do so. As I say, the basis on which the response was offered by the UK Gover…”

“To echo the points that Kirsty made earlier, not only are they responsible for policing in Scotland but they are in a position where the UK Government have provided very significant additional resources—£5.2 billion in the latest settlement—and it emerged last week that they have underspent their budget by £1 billion. …”

“If you would let me answer the question. You are perfectly entitled to ask questions; I am perfectly entitled to answer them. We made our choice as Scots in 2014. I know that was a matter of disappointment for some on the Committee, but we made a clear and categoric choice by 10 percentage points, by 55% to 45%. At the…”

“The character of the visit is determinative of the funding. The key difference in the visit that took place to Scotland in the summer is that in previous visits it followed a formal UK Government request and invitation to the visiting President of the United States that triggered the established funding principles. The…”

“I think there is a risk you are adding two and two together and getting about 27 and not four. Respectfully, what would have been churlish would have been—given the very explicit request of the Scottish Government that there should be a devolved fund in Scotland and that they should operate that fund—if that had been r…”

“It is allocated under the Barnett formula, which is the established formula for how devolved areas of expenditure are allocated. As Kirsty says, it reflects the general approach that is taken across the UK.”

“I have huge respect and admiration for Torcuil. He is a good friend as well as a very esteemed colleague. Torcuil is perfectly entitled to make the case he chooses on behalf of the Western Isles. He brooks no quarter in advancing what he judges is the right approach. It will not be the first time that Torcuil has said …”

“Respectfully, the First Minister claims a lot and is pursuing what I regard as a core vote strategy with independence supporters.”

“Yes. As I say, the ambition was never to judge the effectiveness of UK Government spend by—with respect to the civil servant sitting on the panel—the number of civil servants that we employ or the number of bureaucrats who are working on public policy. The opportunity was to scale hundreds, and indeed thousands, of job…”

“The request was made by the Scottish Government to have a discrete Scottish fund and there is an established formula that once those funds are established, funds are allocated.”

“Excuse me, I am not blaming Scotland.”

“Thank you for your three questions. Let me try to deal with them each in turn. First on GB Energy, I had the opportunity to meet with GB Energy leadership in Aberdeen on Thursday. I would respectfully and politely observe that we promised to set up a publicly owned energy company, the first in 70 years, and our Governm…”