Speeches by Gethins.

“I join others in congratulating the Minister on his nuptials—that is happy news for everybody. The Minister will be aware of the fantastic work that UK-based non-governmental organisations have done about civil society stability, which is crucial in these darker times. With the cuts to the international development bud…”

“I welcome the Norwegian investment in Glasgow’s shipyards. The Norwegians understand the importance of European security. The Norwegians understand the importance of territorial integrity. The Norwegians understand the importance of the high north. I pay credit to those at RM Condor, in my constituency, for their work …”

“During the spending review period, the Scottish Government will have to continue to mitigate some of the cruellest Westminster policies. They had to do that under the Tories, and it continues under Labour, not least with the two-child cap. Can the Secretary of State tell us whether there are any plans to scrap it?”

“I am not sure the Secretary of State quite caught the question there. We voted against the two-child cap. If there is cash to go around and UK Departments are getting bigger spending increases than the Scottish Government, why will he not prioritise child poverty? The Child Poverty Action Group described getting rid of…”

“I absolutely acknowledge the impact that inflation and interest rates have had, and the Liz Truss Budget had a huge impact on small businesses as well as mortgage holders—again, a direct consequence of policies that were made here. I would have thought, and the hon. Lady would surely concede, that one would therefore a…”

“The hon. Member, as usual, makes a powerful case for his constituency, but I am surprised that he is repeating the Labour figure of £9.1 billion, which has already been heavily criticised by the Fraser of Allander Institute. Did Labour get it wrong or did the Fraser of Allander Institute get it wrong? I just want clari…”

“Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan says that Brexit is costing the Exchequer £40 billion, so before I bring the hon. Member in—I will do so, because he was very fair—I want to ask the Minister this: if it is costing the Exchequer £40 billion, what impact is it having on the devolution settlement?”

“On that point, gladly.”

“I will gladly reflect on that, but I make the point to the hon. Lady—let us take universities as an example—that at the University of Dundee, the difference between Scottish and English fee income would not even have covered the national insurance increase, and that increase was further dwarfed by the reduction in inte…”

“The hon. Member talks about border control. Obviously, I am not in the Scottish Government.”

“The hon. Member is very kind in apparently conceding next year’s election already. I am quite surprised by that; he may have given up on it, but I think we should all be competing. The hon. Member talks about the Scottish border. The border is obviously devolved to Westminster, so because we are holding Westminster to …”

“As I mentioned the hon. Member, it is only fair to give way.”

“You are quite right, Sir John. It surprises me that the Labour party does not want to talk about a Labour Government, but then the fact that they lost, or nearly lost, that kind of vote after less than a year gives us some idea of the impact of what has happened over the past year. This is my appeal to the Labour party…”

“The hon. Member mentioned low growth. We know that growth has been hampered by our being outside the single market and the customs union—that is not just my analysis but that of most economists—so can she tell me why Scottish Labour has abandoned the policy it adopted after the Brexit referendum of rejoining the single…”

“Given that we sit in the UK Parliament, does the hon. Member concede that the numbers she mentions are absolutely dwarfed by the billions on Brexit, the hundreds of millions on Rwanda, and the billions blown by the Truss Budget, all of which will have had a material impact on the amount of money that the UK Government …”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“I know the Minister was asked a lot of questions, and I thank her for that answer, but what I asked was whether she would come to the University of Dundee to see for herself the profound impact of these policies. There has been a good Scottish bail-out from the Scottish Government, which is welcome, but will a Home Off…”

“It is a pleasure to be with you this morning, Sir John. I congratulate the hon. Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) on securing the debate and on making the points that he made. The hon. Member, like other Labour Members, in particular, seems to like talking about the Scottish Government, who are not answ…”

“I thank the Minister for giving way; she is being generous with her time. She talks about resetting the relationship, but I have one thing in particular to ask. I am sure that she and her colleagues think that last night was a triumph with the welfare reforms, but they will have a direct impact on the Scottish Governme…”

“I see that we are not going to get a straight answer out of the Minister, just as the people in Hamilton did not get a straight answer out of Labour’s candidate. That will be why Labour is sinking without a trace. Let me put it this way: does the Minister think that the Prime Minister was right to slash the winter fuel…”