Speeches by Murray.

“10. What discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the potential impact of the spending review 2025 on Scottish public services.”

“It was two days or something—not a significant amount of time!”

“Thank you very much. As somebody who grew up in Glenrothes, and who currently represents Cumbernauld, the New Towns Act 1946 was a very strong part of my 1970s primary education. Cumbernauld celebrates its 70th anniversary on 9 December, and we are getting close to the 80th anniversary of the Act and the establishment …”

“Thank you very much.”

“I would really like it if it could be around the December anniversary, but I might be a bit late to get in for that.”

“Secretary of State, you referred earlier to the importance of trust, and putting trust in the process. In the Committee’s inquiry on legacy, we have asked what the various stakeholders see as the exemplar process that they would have trust in. It keeps coming back to the Kenova process. The Kenova interim report was pu…”

“If you have responded, is there an intention to make that response public?”

“To the recommendations.”

“A significant recommendation was a review of the “neither confirm nor deny” policy, and particularly to introduce a legal duty on public authorities for information disclosure to legacy investigations. Is that something that you will deal with as part of the upcoming legacy announcement?”

“I would like to turn to the subject of violence against women and girls. It has been documented that Northern Ireland is one of the most dangerous places in Europe to be a woman or a girl. Certainly, the Government have taken a cross-governmental approach to ending VAWG and have set very challenging targets. It would b…”

“That will probably follow in the next question.”

“9. What steps she is taking to support people on universal credit into work.”

“My constituent Tracy is living in local authority temporary accommodation after fleeing domestic violence. She is currently trapped on universal credit because the cost of her accommodation is way beyond anything she could earn locally—by a factor of about 10. As a single young person, she faces years before she is lik…”

“Is there anything you want to add?”

“I apologise for not being here at the very beginning, but thankfully I have managed to catch most of the session. I will take over from David’s previous question. As you said earlier, Sonya, there was an absolute need for collaboration on ending violence against women across all the four nations that make up the United…”

“Do you want to add anything?”

“I want to pick up on one thing from that. You talked about being listened to, but the other bit is being heard, and they can be very different things. A lot of this is about action, as well as being there. How can the United Kingdom Government and the Northern Ireland Executive work better to end violence against women…”

“T4. One of the main concerns I have about assisted dying is that it should never be easier to help someone die than it is to help them live. If passed, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would make thousands of terminally ill people every year eligible to end their lives on the NHS. Does our health service ha…”

“Cumbernauld is fast becoming a centre for advanced manufacturing, with too many companies to name basing themselves there. Will the Minister set out how the UK’s trade agreements are helping such companies to expand into new markets, creating growth and jobs in places such as Cumbernauld? What steps are being taken to …”

“1. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK’s trade agreements programme.”