Speeches by McAllister.

“Tomorrow marks the 85th anniversary of the Clydebank blitz, when across the nights of 13 and 14 March 1941, my hometown of Clydebank suffered horrendous losses: 528 people were killed, and of the 12,000 homes, only eight remained undamaged. I will be attending the service of remembrance at Kilbowie St Andrew’s church i…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) on securing this debate on such an important issue. The levels of homelessness in our United Kingdom are appalling, and it is shameful that a wealthy country like ours has allowed…”

“My West Dunbartonshire constituent Janice shared with me the very personal story of her daughter, who three years ago became so unwell that she was admitted to hospital. She was desperately ill, but she survived. The signs had been there, but they were missed, with the diagnosis coming at the very last moment, in an em…”

“Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of my constituent Jagtar Singh Johal’s acquittal of all charges in the only court case against him in India that has actually proceeded to trial. Despite that, he remains arbitrarily detained in an Indian prison, as he has been for more than eight years now. Will the Leader of …”

“The hospice sector in Scotland is under severe and growing financial pressure, with two thirds of hospices making cuts or planning to do so in the near future. That is due to underfunding that has left hospices stretched to breaking point; many are forced to cut services at a time when they are needed more than ever. N…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) on securing today’s debate. In my constituency of West Dunbartonshire, local history and strong ties to our past have shaped our communities and towns. In post-industrial areas such as mine, stor…”

“Do average customers across the UK currently pay a sum on their bills that goes towards debt recovery costs?”

“It really sounds as if it is about the price of energy and making energy more affordable, rather than a debt relief write-off scheme. It sounds as if that really should be the aim.”

“Thank you very much. I understand that you are designing a new debt relief scheme to take effect this year across the UK. Can you explain to the Committee what the structure of that will be and how it will be administered?”

“Do you think that that is going to reduce the £4.4 billion?”

“If it is something that you can take away and look at, we would greatly appreciate that. Is that perhaps something that you could provide to this Committee in writing in the future?”

“£300 million towards £4.4 billion sounds like the tip of the iceberg or a drop in the ocean, and that £4.4 billion is rising. Is it going to have any effect?”

“Could you work out how much that would add to a bill?”

“Why can you not establish the extent of the debt in Scotland? It is a figure, for instance, that Citizens Advice in Scotland was interested in obtaining. It gave evidence to this Committee earlier. You started this hearing by saying that you have an 800-strong workforce in Glasgow and across Scotland. You are the head …”

“How much of that write-off is added on to consumer bills in the UK?”

“But you know that it might recover £300 million this year.”

“Levels of consumer debt are at their highest since records began. It is now sitting, as I understand it, at £4.4 billion-worth of energy debt in the UK. Can you tell me what the figure is for Scotland?”

“How much do you think your new scheme is likely to add to our bills, if it is almost ready this year?”

“That is from all of us.”

“The new debt relief scheme sounds as if it is going to add more to energy bills.”