Speeches by Cross.

“Will you be publishing a strategy for Brand Scotland? If not, how do we understand how taxpayers’ money and deliverables are being spent? How are we going to measure it? Will there be a report in this year’s accounts and what are you going to focus on?”

“As the two strategies are complementary, how will you attribute success to one or the other? Coming back to not having a published strategy, how will we know if success is down to Brand Scotland or not?”

“How aligned is the strategy with the Scottish Government’s 10-year plan?”

“To confirm, because it sounded like you were saying slightly different things, will a strategy be published? Is there one coming, or is there never going to be a public strategy?”

“I do not think businesses will either, but it comes back to spending public money well. Are we effectively putting the same money in two places for two different Governments to do the same thing?”

“I assume you have sat down with the Scottish Government and discussed the two strategies together.”

“I think the criticism is that it was—as you said yourself—a £25 billion tax raid on businesses, which they were not prepared for and they are bearing the brunt of. Jobs and working people are paying the cost, and that is not stabilising the economy. We will see employment decreasing. We have already seen unemployment r…”

“So there will be a strategy that everyone can see, and that we can hold the success or otherwise—let’s hope success—of Brand Scotland to. We will be able to see and use it so exporters know what they will be working towards, and it is going to be there and transparent for everyone to see.”

“Secretary of State, you said it was your understanding that the NICs increase had stabilised the economy. Is that what you said? Is that really the case that is being made for NICs? Certainly, from what I am hearing on the ground—I will not be alone in this—it has not stabilised the economy at all. It has put an absolu…”

“Not job numbers.”

“That black hole has not been credited by the OBR. It does not say that is a black hole.”

“The UK Government are still considering Mingyang as a credible supplier for turbines for the Green Volt offshore wind project, and the SNP Scottish Government have given Mingyang priority status for a factory to build turbines based in Scotland under their strategic investment plan. Both say to me that neither Governme…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for securing this debate, and all Members for their contributions. I am, of course, very pleased to respond to today’s important debate on behalf of the Opposition. It is an undeniable truth that while tale…”

“In recent weeks and months in this House, we have become familiar with votes of conscience. The amendments that I shall speak to—new clauses 1, 20 and 106—are also matters of conscience. Although I am responding for his Majesty’s official Opposition, Conservative Members will have free votes, so the views that I expres…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention. On the one hand, abortion would be decriminalised for women; on the other, restrictions on her ability to access that same procedure in a safe, controlled and supportive setting would remain. We must be careful not to create a law that has unintended and potentially ha…”

“I thank all the Members who have made contributions to today’s debate. I am particularly grateful to the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for bringing the debate before the House, giving Members a chance to speak about their and their constituents’ experiences of, and with, the Windrush generation…”

“I think that Windrush and other scandals that have plagued our society are a stain on the UK. Whether the cause was, as the hon. Member said, a few bad apples or any other reason, the fact remains that we have to take action to address the issue that was created. We must ensure that those who were affected are compensa…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that. Television, drama and even radio and other non-visual means can show the story in a lot better light than anyone making a contribution at this Dispatch Box or in this Chamber. Seeing these things in real life, in colour and out in the streets is the way to bring them to life and to mak…”

“4. What steps he is taking to help reduce employment costs for employers.”

“Yesterday, Scotbeef announced the closure of its abattoir in Inverurie in my Gordon and Buchan constituency, with 90 job losses and another blow to agriculture in north-east Scotland. It blamed rising costs. In April the increase to national insurance contributions came in—a huge tax rise on businesses—and the Office f…”