Speeches by McAllister.

“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?”

“That is very interesting. Thank you very much, Mhari.”

“What message do you have for them this morning, then, if they are watching this?”

“How satisfied have you been with their response since? Are the companies you mentioned—Vodafone, TalkTalk, Sky—taking steps now to build that resilience and comply with the guidance?”

“Have you had communication with them about that?”

“Is there now?”

“When you and other islanders took out the contracts originally, were you aware that those providers were failing to follow the network guidance you spoke about?”

“I take it that that was not widely known at the time. Is it widely known now which providers do and which do not?”

“Without internet?”

“Can I ask if your own internet service provider had that alternative cable route? Did you experience that?”

“Scottish colleges are struggling to cope with huge cuts to staff and funding, including West College Scotland in my constituency. The Scottish National party has cut funding by 20% in five years. What can the Minister do, working with other Departments such as Defence, to ensure that Scottish colleges become engines of…”

“My questions are also to Shetland’s outspoken resident, as you described yourself. Can I turn to the damage that was caused in 2025? As I understand it, there were two incidents—one, I think, in July and one in October. The first was likely to have been caused by fishing boat damage, and the second perhaps by rough sea…”

“Long-term trends suggest a decline in regular weekly church attendance; however, there was a rise in church attendance across the UK this Christmas, and I enjoyed visits to various churches in West Dunbartonshire, not least the Hope Community church in Clydebank and Dalmuir Barclay church. Christmas and Easter are ofte…”

“3. What assessment the Church has made of the potential implications for its policies of trends in levels of church attendance during Christmas 2025.”

“Alexandria is one of many post-industrial communities within my constituency, and the Bank of Scotland recently announced the closure of the town’s last remaining bank, but as a result the new Alexandria banking hub opened in my constituency in November 2025, which is a very welcome addition to the high street. Does th…”

“Will the Minister take another intervention on that point?”

“I welcome the focus of the national cancer plan on diagnosing cancer faster. That is needed across all cancers, but particularly for leukaemia. Research by Leukaemia UK has found that one in four patients face an avoidable delay in their diagnosis, and that 37% of patients are diagnosed in an emergency setting. How wil…”

“4. What steps his Department is taking to support the diagnosis of cancer patients.”

“It is also a source of great pride that the torch has now been passed to our Government. By removing the two-child benefit cap, we will lift more children out of poverty in a single Parliament than ever before—2,260 children in West Dunbartonshire and 95,000 children in Scotland. Does the Prime Minister agree that this…”

“Q9. It is a source of great pride to Scottish Labour MPs that, as Chancellor, Gordon Brown lifted more children out of poverty than any other Chancellor before him. It is also a source of great pride that—[Interruption.]”