Speeches by Downie.

“T7. I recently met two local businesses that have been hammered by the Scottish Government’s changes to business rates—Osborne Motors has seen its business rates increase from £185 a month to £695 a month, and Big Sky Campers in Rosyth has seen an incredible 470% rise from £180 a month to £1,025 a month—putting both bu…”

“I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. We must bring the British people with us on this journey and trust them with that information. Only by moving together as a country can we defend ourselves against the threats we face.”

“I know how closely my hon. Friend worked with Aeralis to ensure that it was considered. Having visited RAF Valley earlier this year, I saw how pressing the need was to replace the Hawk as a trainer aircraft—and it is a need that must be met quickly. I am aware that I have taken more interventions than other Members, so…”

“Very quickly.”

“I totally agree with my hon. Friend that if we are to have an effective deterrent in the Baltics, it must be operationally ready to fight the threat that he identifies, not just look good on paper. I will move on to the role of information and how we are informing the British public of the threat. I have made the point…”

“It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for South Shropshire (Stuart Anderson) in what has been a constructive debate with a lot of cross-party consensus. I welcome the Minister’s speech about the measures that were included in the King’s Speech, such as the Armed Forces Bill and the commitment to support drone tes…”

“That would be helpful. It goes back to the earlier point that we need to try to explain this to our constituents as well, because we will get these questions.”

“In what way? I am aware that we are slightly short of time but can you expand on that slightly?”

“Is that based on things such as one-in-1,000-year events? We heard about some of this risk last week from GBE-N, when we were trying to get to the bottom of what they mean by “risk” or “events”, and we never quite got there.”

“What are the additional risks from having a larger number of SMRs compared to having a small number of central, larger nuclear power stations?”

“I can hear Sir Humphrey telling you, “On the one hand, and on the other hand”.”

“Regardless of having more targets, as long as the standards are the same—”

“We have experience of that kind of security when it comes to physical buildings. What reassurance do you have from suppliers around cyber-security as well? We have quite a good history of building buildings that we understand. How are we making sure that we are similarly protected from cyber as well?”

“Are there requirements on suppliers and contractors to engage with the National Cyber Security Centre?”

“Just to pick up, first of all, on some of those questions from Mike around security, there have been some concerns about the requirement for importing nuclear fuel from Russian dependencies. How exposed are we to that risk?”

“Just finally, we have touched on some issues regarding siting. What consideration is given to rapidly changing climate when you are considering which sites might be safe for nuclear development? How is that playing into some of the siting studies that you were discussing?”

“Is that being built into any of the contracts for requirements for the future—that nothing can be relied upon from Russia?”

“I have a couple of wider points around physical and cyber-security. What lessons have you learned so far from attacks or concerns in both Ukraine and Iran around nuclear infrastructure? What is the Department doing to protect the UK in the future?”

“I would be quite keen to know if you have more information on that. Again, the concern is not so much just at the top-level supply chain but the soft underbellies that appear down the line, which is where we could be more vulnerable, so I would appreciate any additional information you are able to share on that. We hav…”

“I want to talk about the generic design assessment and ask each of you to describe very briefly what your view is on how effective it has been up to this point, given that only one has led to construction. We will then explore some issues around that. Andy, a very short answer to start with, please, and then we will ta…”