Speeches by McNeill.

“That is an interesting point. My hon. Friend has been advancing this case, and he is right: the whole objective of the growth deals is to enable people to live well in the places that they love. As he knows, the UK Government have delivered a historic spending review for Scotland, which includes ambitious plans for loc…”

“Artificial intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. It will turbocharge growth and boost living standards. Scotland, as we know well, has been the UK’s home of AI since 1963, and it will become the home of the most powerful supercomputer in the UK, with this Labour Government investing £750 million in …”

“Much like my hon. Friend, who is a truly passionate advocate for his community, I am proud to represent one of Scotland’s industrial heartlands. He is right to highlight the role that they can play in Scotland’s AI future. As for his comments regarding the First Minister, my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary was p…”

“I am led to believe that the hon. Member has already picked this matter up with the Secretary of State, who will be taking it forward, but I would be delighted to talk to the hon. Member about it.”

“I do agree that we should be co-operating as far as possible. Steps have already been taken to preserve the future of home-grown content and talent through initiatives such as the UK Government’s independent film tax credit and high-end tax relief, providing a real opportunity for the industry to grow, but I should cer…”

“Scotland cultivates the very best produce in the world, and we are absolutely committed to supporting Scotland’s agricultural sector and, indeed, all those who live and work in our rural communities. I was very pleased that the Scottish Government’s Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity joined me for a food and far…”

“The Scottish Government have been given a record settlement in the devolution era, and it is for the devolved Governments to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit. They are accountable to their own legislatures and, indeed, the Scottish public. That is a key principle of devolution, and this Labour G…”

“I would be delighted to report back to the House and Scotland’s rural communities, including my own in Midlothian, about the outcomes of the farming roundtable. We heard directly from stakeholders that they want support and, crucially, for the two Governments to work together, which is exactly why we had the Scottish G…”

“Those three trade deals are some of the proudest achievements of this Labour Government, and they will disproportionately benefit Scotland. As I have already said, it is home to some of the finest produce on the face of the Earth, and we are delighted to be promoting it as part of the Scotland Office’s Brand Scotland e…”

“I agree with my hon. Friend that the Scottish Government have been blessed with a record settlement in the devolution era. The difficulty for those of us on the Labour Benches who have championed that settlement is that we are all too well aware, I am afraid, that the Scottish Government are absolutely addicted to wast…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) on securing this debate on the impact of the spending review on Scotland, on all his advocacy on behalf of his constituents and on gifting us his deep experience, expertise an…”

“We are in ongoing conversation with the Scottish Government on all manner of policies where there is an interplay between reserved and devolved matters. The Scottish Government have been offered all manner of briefings, including—I repeat my disappointment about this—a briefing for the First Minister on the strategic d…”

“I would be delighted to come to Dundee and hear from people directly, but I say gently to the hon. Gentleman that problems at the University of Dundee are a function of the decision making of a number of people, not least the university itself and the Scottish Government. I would of course be delighted to be in ongoing…”

“I should put on the record that the Secretary of State is right: he spends more time with the DFM than he does with me. The ongoing discussions are very regular and a sincere attempt to take each other’s temperature and mind. It is very interesting that there is this focus on the process of how many meetings have been …”

“This is something that has been mentioned quite a lot by all the different stakeholders we have been engaging with. As you will know, we have done huge numbers of roundtables and engagement sessions in QH and in Dover House. We have also been out and about speaking to people. The thing that external stakeholders keep s…”

“I also found having the conversation with you all yesterday very useful. One of the things I am charged with—partly because of the allocation of portfolios inside the Scotland Office and partly because of the Scotland Office role across the UK Government—is impressing on all colleagues with decision-making power across…”

“Another issue that has emerged from the conversations we have been having on the basis of the growth deal regions is that we need another mechanism for parliamentarians to talk to Government regionally so that they do not have to rely on being able to ask questions on the floor of the House or in settings like this. Ye…”

“If I could just add, one of the reasons why the strategy is emerging is because it is supposed to prime innovation. There is a pot of funding available to our overseas network to come forward with ideas because they know their markets best. We are hoping to surface all that expertise around the world. I want to impress…”

“I am the Member of Parliament for Midlothian and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.”

“Obviously, the reach of the UK Government’s overseas network is much wider so, hopefully, that will help with attribution because we are in many more places with expert advice. The other place you are right to push us on is making sure there is alignment so that we are spending the money well and there is no duplicatio…”