Speeches by Cross.

“A recent poll by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation showed that 87% of Scots believe the UK should control access to our fishing waters. Two-thirds of seafood landed in the UK comes into Scotland and it is vital to our economy and to many of our coastal communities. Will the Minister show the House and rural and fishi…”

“5. What plans he has for future fishing quotas.”

“I understand. In the course of the facility proceeding, if you were not satisfied that the operating procedures there were sufficient to replace the legal framework, which is effectively what has happened for possession, would you see that as a cause to revoke or change the prosecution policy in place?”

“I understand what you are saying. The difficulty is that possession is one thing, but obviously drug offences fall into a substantial number of other areas within public prosecution policy. It is not just possession; there is a wide range of things, many of which you have touched on already. Where does the balance lie …”

“Good morning. Thank you for coming in. You have touched on it a bit, but I would like to explore further why possession is the only offence covered by the prosecution policy. Is there a reason why it is the only one? Can you see any reason why it may or may not be extended to other offences? What would the potential im…”

“Finally, we know that the UK Government have highlighted certain areas that they are concerned about, in terms of the operation and prosecution policy. Do legal gaps remain? If so, what is the approach to tackling them? Or are you pretty confident about how things stand?”

“Many rural businesses rely on farms for their trade. Since the Government announced the family farm tax in the Budget, CBI Economics has spoken to over 4,000 businesses and farms across the country—49% said that they have either cancelled or deferred investment, and 34% said that they have reduced or paused it altogeth…”

“I hope it will be apparent that all Members of the House strongly support this motion. Certainly those of us on the Opposition Benches welcome the opportunity for pubs and other licensed venues across the country to stay open late to commemorate VE day without incurring any cost to extend their licences. As time passes…”

“As we have said from the outset, we will support measures that improve policing and ensure that those who commit crimes face the full weight of the law. As such, we will support this finance motion as there are a great number of things in the Crime and Policing Bill with which we agree. Indeed, as we have pointed out o…”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker—I think we can all stop that now. Centrica operates the Rough gas storage site, which provides about half of the UK’s current gas storage capacity. Centrica stands ready to invest £2 billion of its own capital to redevelop Rough into the largest long-duration energy storage facility in E…”

“12. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resilience of the national grid against the potential disruption of offshore energy infrastructure.”

“The UK currently has about 15 GW of offshore wind capacity, which supplies about 17% of our energy. In order to reach the Government’s 2030 targets, this will have to increase by three times to 40 to 50 GW in just five years, and to achieve that we will have to rely on Chinese wind infrastructure and technology. What s…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I welcome the measures put forward by the Government. The changes are necessary to ensure that standards are upheld while allowing for streamlined updates to the process. The 2011 Act was a necessary step in providing a statutory footing for the regulator,…”

“The Secretary of State mentions depopulation in rural areas of Scotland and deskilling. North-east Scotland—as I am sure he is aware, because we have mentioned it more than once in this Chamber—is facing exactly that because of Labour’s policies on the North sea. Skills are being driven abroad at an unimaginable rate c…”

“I thank the hon. Member for giving way and for bringing forward this debate, which is interesting if nothing else. How does the SNP suggest we encourage people to live in Scotland, and particularly rural Scotland, given that anyone in Scotland earning over £28,500 pays more income tax; local government has a £760 billi…”

“15. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of not issuing new North sea oil and gas licences on levels of economic growth in Scotland.”

“I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) for securing the debate. To say that it is really important does not really do it justice; what we are seeing in the North sea—job losses, investment drying up and companies folding or choosing to end their UK operations—is not us being alarmist or pessimisti…”

“It is estimated that Jackdaw could provide 5% of the UK’s gas needs. Would the hon. Member, and the Liberal Democrats, prefer that we imported that LNG from elsewhere instead?”

“A recent report by Offshore Energies UK showed that if the UK oil and gas basin continued to be used until 2050, it could produce half our oil and gas needs. That would do wonders for jobs in the north-east of Scotland, the north-east economy, our energy security and the energy transition, and it would also bring in £1…”

“I welcome the Supreme Court’s ruling and congratulate For Women Scotland and others who have campaigned tirelessly on this issue despite the abuse, threats and attempts to silence them. Will the Minister please confirm what discussions the Prime Minister or anyone on the Labour Front Bench at the time had with Anas Sar…”