Speeches by Cross.

“Exxon has said that the plant’s closure “reflects the challenges of operating in a policy environment that is accelerating the exit of vital industries, domestic manufacturing, and the high-value jobs they provide.” When are the Government going to take responsibility for the decisions that they are making? We see no p…”

“The Government have clearly lost control of this Budget process. While they have been flying kites, businesses across the UK have been sending up distress flares. The £40 billion of tax from them in the last Budget saw hiring down, confidence down and investments down, and we are now seeing the same again. If any busin…”

“Projections show that if we fully utilised the oil and gas in the North sea we could cover half our energy needs up to 2050, so there is a lot more in there than five years-worth, but even if it were true that there was only five years-worth, why would we be increasing our imports to cover it? Why would we not be using…”

“I was just wondering whether the Minister remembers what else happened in 2022, around February time, that might have impacted gas prices.”

“Will the Minister give way on that point?”

“The Minister just referred to the oil and gas sector as “the status quo” or something that we should be moving away from. Does he also mean the 100,000 jobs supported by that sector, the millions in investment and the billions that we get in revenue from that sector? Which part of that does he not support and which par…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Family businesses are crucial to our high streets, including mine in Inverurie, Ellon, Turriff and Huntly. Indeed, they are the backbone of our high streets, yet this Government’s national insurance contributions changes and Employment Rights Bill, and their slashing of business property relief, will have a huge impact…”

“I want to understand a wee bit more about the coverage and the impact this will have on coverage and relevance of news to viewers in the north of Scotland. My understanding is that there are about 1.3 million people covered by the licence in the north of Scotland, a huge number, particularly if you look at the proporti…”

“I think it is more the news side that is of concern, but we will leave it there. Thank you very much.”

“But you said we do not know if they are in decline any differently in the north versus anywhere else because it is not split out. How do we know what the viewing figures in the north are doing if you cannot split them out?”

“Are the north on target or off target?”

“I am sure they are a huge asset and we would not want to lose them, along with anyone else up in the north. So they are on target and they have good viewing figures, yet the decision is that is where we will make the cuts?”

“You would not be able to say, for example, if the north region licence is beating its sales targets? You are not able to say that, yes or no?”

“Given the north has 40% viewing figures compared to say 25% in central, it certainly says to me that it is a hugely valued resource up in the north. Even if we could look into those figures to see where the decline is coming from—because if the decline is coming from a smaller base versus the decline coming from the no…”

“Quickly on the digital side and the move to digital access and coverage, you mentioned previously that the digital figures are more a worldwide indication and how linear is more what we are seeing at home. Do you have figures to show what parts of the country or where the difference between linear and digital is at the…”

“We do not know how the north is performing relative to this?”

“Mr Hain, you said audiences are decreasing and revenues are decreasing. Is that for STV as a whole or for north in particular? What are the figures for the north region? Have they been consistently falling?”

“We urgently need to restore confidence and stability in our oil and gas sector, or we will be here again and again as more and more businesses suffer and more and more jobs are lost, whether in my constituency, across north-east Scotland, in Scotland as a whole or in the UK as a whole—there are oil and gas and energy j…”

“When was the Attorney General informed that the case was going to collapse?”