Speeches by Ferguson.

“Sitting suspended.”

“Does the Scottish Secretary agree that given the incoming Scottish Government have a whole list of issues and problems on their plate, the last thing they should be concerning themselves with is another divisive referendum?”

“That is really good news, and I very much hope that my hon. Friend will relay that kind of activity to the Scottish Government and encourage them to do more for young women and girls in Scotland. It is very important. I could not resist the challenge of responding to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). One of…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. For the period of the games, George Square will be fenced off and will be a building site; indeed, it has been for some time now. It is the place where Glaswegians traditionally gather to celebrate events—it was where we celebrated London 2012 and Glasgow 2014—so it is disappointing …”

“I could not agree with my hon. Friend more. In fact, one of my bugbears over the years has been that it is far too easy for cash-strapped local authorities to cut back on sport and culture, because they are not part of the statutory services that everyone expects them to deliver. The Scottish Government need to realise…”

“Does the Scottish Secretary agree that given the incoming Scottish Government have a whole list of issues and problems on their plate, the last thing they should be concerning themselves with is another divisive referendum?”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered Government support for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. Today marks 43 days until Glasgow hosts the 23rd Commonwealth games. The games will happen from 23 July to 2 August, and the city will welcome about 3,00…”

“On 26 February I raised with the Leader of the House my fears that the unreliability of the postal service might affect constituents in Glasgow West who wish to vote by post in the Scottish Parliament elections. Since then, I have been advised of a situation where a proxy vote application was received some days after t…”

“Does the Chief Secretary to the Treasury agree that it is right that we did not rush into the Iran war and that our Government’s plans and actions to support households are responsive to changing events, rather than being knee-jerk reactions that end up causing more damage to our economy in the longer term?”

“I thank the Minister for his statement. According to the United Nations, the number of violent incidents in the west bank caused by illegal settlers increased to a record level last August. It is no coincidence that that is the time of maximum harvests in the area. Will the Government continue to enact sanctions agains…”

“My constituent recently applied to renew his passport. As requested, he returned his old passport to His Majesty’s Passport Office. He then received two consecutive messages advising him that he had sent the wrong passport—he had not. Subsequently, he received from HMPO a package purporting to contain his old passport,…”

“In January, 15-year-old Jordan Kerr went to the aid of a person who had collapsed on the platform at Drumchapel train station. Jordan administered CPR—cardiopulmonary resuscitation—having learned that skill in the Army cadets, and ultimately helped to save the passenger’s life. Will the Leader of the House join me in o…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. Like others, I was not aware of this condition until I was contacted by my constituent Jo, who has bravely shared her story widely. I am grateful that she has done that. However, one of the things that Jo wanted to have raised today is that a recent repor…”

“Prime Minister, we recently had a very good discussion in Committee with a number of very innovative SMEs and start-up companies. They expressed to us a frustration about not being able to get on to a list of contractors, a list of tenderers, and wondered how they might do that. Can you reassure them that there is a sp…”

“Last week we heard reports that the Type 83 frigate programme could be delayed to plug gaps in the defence budget. Do you recognise that such delays could hamper the momentum that has been building in the shipbuilding industry in recent years?”

“The Scottish Affairs Committee visited Faslane in autumn 2024 and saw for ourselves the scale of investment needed to maintain the base’s operational readiness. What investment has been made to ensure that the Faslane and Lossiemouth bases can continue to maintain NATO’s defence posture in the High North?”

“How do we ensure the balance between exporting frigates and retaining enough for our own use?”

“Moving away from BAE, which is partly in my constituency, Babcock at Rosyth is on track to win a £1 billion contract from the Danish navy for Type 31 frigates. Can you tell us how close you think we might be to securing that deal? At a time when the Royal Navy is very stretched, how do we ensure that we get the right b…”

“I thank the Foreign Secretary for her statement. It was reassuring to hear her say that we will not be outsourcing our foreign policy—something I think we should all agree with. Is she confident that the United States properly understands that its actions in the middle east have not only made peace in Palestine much mo…”

“I draw the hon. Member’s attention to a scheme that has been running in Scotland since about 2000. It used to be called “Bookstart” and is now called “Bookbug”. New-born babies through to children at the beginning of primary school go along to the library with their parent or carer and take part in communal reading, si…”