Alan Brown
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“I congratulate the member for securing the debate, which seems, in effect, to be on behalf of the trade body the Nuclear Industry Association. It will come as no surprise to the member that I disagree with a lot of what he said, but I also have to say that his motion contains several inaccuracies. Nuclear is not green.”
“The current strike price for Hinkley C—the Scottish National Party’s bête noire—is £131 per megawatt hour. Finally, on waste, nuclear power is unique in that its waste is fully identified, regulated, contained and managed.”
“The reality is that a new station that has taken 15 years to build does not address energy security. The other point concerns low cost. The projected cost of Hinkley Point C station is now £50 billion, but the original estimate was £18 billion.”
“As I said in my remarks, Hinkley Point C’s strike price is about £131 per megawatt hour, and the strike price for floating offshore wind is about £230, so the member has just misled the chamber. Alan Brown: The member is not listening to me.”
“The member keeps talking about baseload. Does he realise that, as long ago as 2015, the then chief executive of National Grid said that baseload was an “outdated” concept?”
“I am grateful for the member’s intervention, because it allows me to put him straight yet again. He actually adds to the counterarguments that I will no doubt face from the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Energy.”
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“One aspect that is being discussed with stakeholders, including house builders, is how we ensure that the fund works for new build as well as existing properties, and what implications there are for the market. However, I go back to the points that the First Minister and I heard this morning— that there is a keen demand out there for a fund such as this one and an appreciation among developers that it could be a tipping point for someone’s being able to afford their first home. I do not think that we need to look at regionalisation to get success from the scheme. However, the member can make that point, if he wishes to do so, once we have learned from the first round of the scheme.”
“It is fantastic to hear the cabinet secretary roll out the manifesto commitment on the first homes fund so quickly. Will there be any consideration of regionalisation or prioritisation of funding, or will it remain a Scotland-wide fund? Will there be consideration of a review of the success of the scheme that will consider the impact on house prices and, hopefully, a positive uptick in what is now a more sluggish new-build housing market? Shirley-Anne Somerville: As I said to Donald MacKinnon, I am not minded, at this stage, to look at regionalisation or the prioritisation of funding in this open round, but I am keeping an open mind on that.”
“Oh dear—Alan Brown has a lot to learn in this place. Businesses want certainty. Oil and gas workers in the north-east want certainty. I am really pleased that Jackie Dunbar agrees with calls to “drill, baby, drill”—my colleague Liam Kerr was very pleased about. We will ensure that we tell voters in Aberdeen South that the SNP agrees with us. We need to support our NHS and reduce crime. The Scottish Conservatives will always stand against the SNP’s obsession with independence. We just hope that the other unionist parties will join us in doing so. 16:23”
“We have heard the argument that this is one of the most powerful devolved Parliaments in the world. Sadly, it is not even the most powerful devolved Assembly or Parliament in the UK: Northern Ireland has powers over the constitution, pensions, social security and even the civil service. Surely unionists should argue for Scotland to at least have parity with other devolved Parliaments—never mind our argument for full independence? Rachael Hamilton: Alan Brown thinks that the grass is greener, but he cannot even deal with his own lawn. Is that not a shame? The Scottish Government cannot even get the number of GPs that we need. It promised drop-in clinics. There was a six-hour waiting list in its trial clinic, according to a freedom of information request, and it cannot even get GPs to fill the posts.”
“I say to football clubs and the football authorities, with all respect, that they are within their rights to call on the Government to change legislation, but, standing here today as the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, having seen the impact on policing this weekend, I am also well within my rights to call on them to step up to the plate. The Presiding Officer: I thank the 10 colleagues who asked those questions and I thank the cabinet secretary for her stamina in responding to them. Business Motion 16:07”
“Angela Constance: Mr Brown is quite correct to say that, despite pitch invasion being a specific offence in England and Wales, pitch invasions still occur there. However, I will look at the issue in good faith. We intend to legislate for football banning orders, and we can widen the scope of our endeavours in that area. We will need to look at the issue very closely, but I am open to doing that. I will repeat what I said earlier. Even if the Scottish Government were to change the law, that would not for one minute let any other stakeholder, either locally or nationally, off the hook.”
“After the pitch invasion occurred, the Scottish Professional Football League released a statement calling on the Scottish Government to introduce legislation to make it an offence to encroach on a football pitch, just as it is in England and Wales. That would not be a panacea, although I note that, in 2018, the English Football Association fined West Ham United Football Club £100,000 because its fans invaded the pitch. However, it seems to me that that call is a deflection tactic by the SPFL. For years, it has refused to discuss strict liability for football clubs failing to take responsibility for fans in and around the stadium. If the cabinet secretary is engaging with the football authorities, will she pursue them on the consideration of strict liability?”
“I, Alan Brown, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. So help me”