Speeches by Murray.

“I join the right hon. Gentleman in his tribute to Peter MacMahon as he steps down as the political editor of ITV in the Borders region. He and I share something closely: we both have good faces for radio, but it is always nice to appear with Peter MacMahon on television. This Government are committed to clean power by …”

“What the hon. Gentleman has just proved is that the winter fuel payment in Scotland is actually devolved.”

“I think what the hon. Gentleman is tending to forget is that the winter fuel payment in Scotland is devolved. It was the SNP Scottish Government who decided to means-test it as well. If it was not for the £4.9 billion extra delivered by our Labour Chancellor at this Dispatch Box to end austerity, which the Scottish Gov…”

“Of course, I could not agree more. It is not just the £4.9 billion, but all the other investment that the UK Government made outside the Barnett consequentials. The Labour Government have delivered billions of pounds more for schools and hospitals in Scotland. It is more money than ever before, but the SNP MPs voted ag…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his question; he is absolutely correct. The UK Budget chose investment over decline, including investment directly in my hon. Friend’s constituency as part of the £200 million towns fund, as well as the biggest Budget settlement in the history of devolution. He is also right to say that our h…”

“No projects have been cancelled. The Perth deal is under consideration by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Treasury. It has not been cancelled; it has merely been paused. The hon. Gentleman should speak to his colleagues in the Scottish Government, who have £4.9 billion extra in Barnett…”

“Mr Speaker, I am sorry for such a short response to the hon. Gentleman, but there are 4.9 billion reasons why that question is rubbish.”

“I would refer Committee members to the Institute for Fiscal Studies report that says that the Scottish Government’s budget problems are as the result of the decisions that they have made, in large part. Those are political decisions that are made. They have every right to make them. They have the mandate from the elect…”

“There are no plans to fill it, no.”

“Good morning and congratulations on your chairmanship of this Committee. It is very much welcomed. Congratulations, also, to everyone on the Committee. I know that elections, on the Labour side anyway, were very hard fought. It is nice that you have the Committee up and running and it is a great delight to be here in m…”

“Success is about delivery. I can give you an example. Our GB Energy mission, which is one of the key missions of the Labour Government in getting to clean power by 2030, can only be achieved through both Governments working together. Of course, devolved and reserved issues are involved, whether, say, in consenting or p…”

“If you would not mind my saying so, our relationship with the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and indeed the Scottish Government are probably slightly better than your own at this point in time. We have worked very closely together. In the way in which the fiscal statements work, there is a lot of market-sens…”

“Devolution works best when both Governments work together. That is quite clear. However, market-sensitive information has to be given at the time it has to be given. For the Budget, for example, the Chief Secretary and I met with Shona Robison via Zoom. We went through the entire Budget with her about two hours, maybe …”

“The Scottish Parliament can put together rules and regulations for what it wants to do. Individual parties can also do that. I would find double-jobbing incredibly difficult. There is not enough time in the day to do one job, let alone two, particularly if we want to represent our constituents properly. I would have th…”

“May I pass your question to Baroness Smith, our fantastic new Advocate General for Scotland? She is steeped in Sewel.”

“There are two parts to this. The first part is the technical, legal side, the way the Sewel Convention operates in terms of the legislation, legislative consent motions, and so on. Then there is the political side and of course that butts up against the other side. I suppose this goes back to the answer to the Committe…”

“The United Kingdom Internal Market Act is also being reviewed. There is a commitment in the Act for it to be looked at next year. In the meantime, we are looking at the way it operates. The First Minister was very clear that the principle of the Internal Market Act is there. That it is quite clear what it is supposed t…”

“The intergovernmental relations infrastructure is indeed complex but it has been built up over a number of years to deal with various issues, to ensure that people know what is happening and that common interests and goals can be looked at across the infrastructure of both Governments. The Council of Nations and Region…”

“The manifesto commitment was very clear. It was for the nations and regions and the mayoralties of England. MHCLG has put out an offer to regions or areas of England that do not have a mayoral structure to set up a structure so they could be involved in the Council of Nations and Regions. It was set up for the First Mi…”

“Essentially, we cross between the politics and the legal here in terms of section 35. Just to emphasise what Baroness Smith has said, the very fact that section 35 had never been used before in the 25 years of devolution actually shows the strength of the Scotland Act in terms of its operation. What section 35 was doin…”