Chris Kane
MP for Stirling and Strathallan · Labour · United Kingdom
“For many of my constituents in rural Stirling and Strathallan, energy security also means being able to afford the heating oil they rely on to live and to run businesses from home.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is great to hear my hon. Friend mention the titans of the brewing industry; I have enjoyed a few pints from his constituency in my lifetime. In my constituency, traditional brewing skills are being kept alive by small, independent businesses, often driven as much by a love of the product as commercial considerations.”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I want to offer a Scottish perspective on the subject. In May 2024, the Scottish Parliament declared a national housing emergency. That was a significant admission, but declaring an emergency is not the same as resolving one. More than two years later, the figures make uncomfortable reading.”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“If a hotel or restaurant cannot recruit because workers have nowhere to live, housing becomes an economic as well as a social issue. In small rural communities, even a handful of new, affordable homes can make an enormous difference, but much more needs to be done.”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The “Housing Statistics for Scotland” report found that house building has fallen by 8% in the last year and we have more than 10,000 council houses sitting vacant, often as a result of lack of funds or people to bring them back into use. Housing is a constant feature of my constituency casework.”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have seen what can be achieved when these things come together because Stirling has been ranked first in the UK for roof-top solar installations relative to households. Our long-running programme of installing solar panels on council houses contributed significantly to that achievement.”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
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“Funding is tight, flexibility is limited and, too often, there is not just a lack of understanding but an element of disdain for what is happening on the ground. We see the consequences of that in Bannockburn enterprise hub, a council-owned building repurposed to support enterprise and community use—exactly what we should be encouraging. Yet under the current SNP council in Stirling, staffing is being removed and replaced with a keyholder model. Issues are not being picked up, addressed or, frankly, taken seriously. That is not how community assets are sustained; it is how they are allowed to decline. That brings me to a bigger point. We still treat these services as non-statutory, optional extras that can be cut when budgets are tight. They are not optional; they are preventive. They support wellbeing and hold communities together.”
House of Commons25 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They are now hubs for technology, innovation and community life, offering everything from digital access and flexible workspaces to makers’ spaces and shared resources that reflect how people live today. We should apply that same thinking to community centres. There are strong examples of that in my constituency. Facilities such as Barrwood, run by the Scouts, combine a traditional indoor space with outdoor activity, woodland and even kayaking. That is what modern community infrastructure can look like. But here is the reality: innovation at local level can go only so far when the system above is holding it back. Speaking as a former council leader, local government in Scotland has been consistently constrained by the Scottish Government.”
House of Commons25 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is what happens when we fail to maintain or adapt. This is not just about capital investment; it is about activity, purpose and making spaces that people actually want to use. When we have been willing to think differently, we have seen what is possible. Take Braehead community garden in my constituency: what started as a project to grow fruit and vegetables and tackle food waste has become, in effect, an outdoor community centre covering about 2.5 acres. It brings people together, whether they are keen gardeners or, like me, they simply enjoy being there without doing much gardening at all. Its success also shows that these spaces need ongoing support to be sustained. We see that same evolution in our libraries. Places such as Bannockburn, Cowie and my local library, the wonderful Mayfield centre, have moved far beyond books.”
House of Commons25 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I approach this debate from a position of experience, because I have seen volunteering and community centres from many levels: user, volunteer, trustee, community councillor, local councillor and leader of Stirling council. I am not talking about community spaces in theory; I am speaking from the reality of trying to make them work. First, if we are still thinking about community centres as we did in the 1960s and 1970s, we have already fallen behind. Too often, the model is a tired hall that is underused, expensive to maintain and slowly declining. I saw that myself as leader of Stirling council. One facility in my area was operating at about 8% capacity and heading towards closure. People chose not to use it, the building deteriorated and the cycle simply fed itself.”
House of Commons25 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Too often, such organisations rely on a small number of dedicated volunteers and face real pressures around capacity, funding and long-term sustainability. If we value community ownership—and we should—we must back it. These organisations are not asking to replace the state, but to work with it, and when that happens the results are clear: stronger communities, protected local assets and people with a real stake in the places that they call home. I will quickly mention the community-owned pubs, the Black Bull in Gartmore and the Gothenburg in Fallin, which has endured for over a century. Finally, I am wearing my Stirling Albion pin badge in this debate; Stirling Albion football club became the first community-owned team in Scotland 15 years ago. Go Binos!”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That same spirit continues across my constituency, from development trusts transforming local buildings into community hubs to projects such as Bannockburn House, where heritage, restoration and public benefit come together. That has now inspired further work, including the Plean House and Stables initiative, which has recently gained charitable status. I wish every one of those projects success. Those examples show a simple truth: when communities are trusted and supported, they deliver. However, I want to be clear that community enterprise is not a substitute for Government or local authorities; it must be complementary to them and, if that partnership is to work, it must be properly supported.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In constituencies such as mine, social and community enterprises are thriving. They are practical working solutions, driven by local people who care deeply about where they live. We see that in employee ownership, such as in United Auctions, where employees now have a direct stake in the business. We see it in community energy, through organisations such as the Callandar community development trust, which generates income that is reinvested back into local priorities. We also see it in communities stepping up to protect vital assets. After a devastating fire in Gargunnock, it was the community that rebuilt the village shop, securing its future.”
House of Commons18 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Many households in the rural part of my constituency—including in Carron valley, whose community council I met on Friday—rely on heating oil and live in older housing stock that can be difficult to make energy-efficient. Many of those communities also have an older population. Does the Minister recognise the particular challenges this creates, and will the Government consider future measures that better reflect the nature of rural housing?”
House of Commons16 March 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Does the Secretary of State agree that yesterday’s SNP budget, which metes out another round of civic vandalism to local authority budgets, demonstrates a failure to understand that economic growth is built from the ground up and requires well-funded local authorities delivering schools, infrastructure and clean, safe communities? Does he also agree that Scotland needs a Labour Government at Holyrood, with the same ambition for growth being shown by this UK Labour Government, if it is to unlock its full economic potential?”
House of Commons14 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I welcome the Government’s plans for a local media strategy and would be grateful if the Minister could update us on how that work is developing. We should support and invest in local media. If we lose it, we will miss it more than we can ever imagine.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government have a procurement role, too. Our advertising and procurement choices should reward those who are genuinely investing in local reporting—yet that commitment is not always clear. Reach’s recent redundancies, including that of a Stirling Observer reporter with nearly 30 years of experience, and STV’s shocking plans for significant redundancies in the north of Scotland show how fragile the ecosystem has become. Public money should support organisations that maintain real journalistic capacity, whether that is a long-standing local title rooted in its community or an experienced local journalist building a new platform. A healthy, sustainable and independent local media sector is not a luxury; it is part of the democratic infrastructure of our country.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The BBC is a vital institution and the local democracy reporting service shows the good it can do, but the move into local online news has created pressure for commercial services that rely on digital audiences to survive. In rural areas like mine, resilience has to be part of the conversation. When the BBC begins to ask whether it is time to switch off digital broadcasting because digital connectivity is almost universal, I would invite them to visit places such as Killin in my constituency, where residents are still waiting for FM radio to reach them—a technology first introduced by the BBC in the 1950s. Grassroots competition should not be feared. Many talented journalists who have faced redundancy are using platforms such as Substack to build genuinely local alternatives. They may well become the next generation of local media.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Too often AI is scraping journalists’ work without permission, payment or attribution. By serving up instant summaries of that material, it risks becoming the main gateway between readers and local information, using content it did not create and preventing those who did create it from earning a living or building the trusted relationships that sustain local reporting. One of the biggest missteps we made at the start of the age of social media and smartphones was to blindly follow the tech companies into the brave new digital future they were creating without proper oversight or guardrails. Let us not make the same mistake with AI. The upcoming BBC charter renewal is an opportunity to look again at how the BBC can support local news, rather than compete with it.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee’s “The future of news” report warned that, “the period of having informed citizens with a shared understanding of facts is not inevitable and may not endure”, and it is right. Recent legislation has helped. The Media Act 2024 gives broadcasters clarity. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 begins to address imbalances between publishers and platforms. The Online Safety Act 2023 is a great first step, but it will need constant attention to ensure it remains up to the task. It is clear that much more will be required. We might need better legislation to ensure that local journalism has a fighting chance in a world being reshaped by AI, which is already challenging how people access news.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“When I started at Central FM, I had 17 radio stations to choose from. Today my teenage children can access almost any station on earth—if they choose to listen to radio at all, that is. They consume radio in ways that would have been unimaginable to me as a teenager. I start with those reflections because they remind us that change in the media landscape is not new. What is new is the speed and scale of the disruption we now face, and the reality that the future of local journalism is genuinely at risk if we choose not to protect it. The consolidation of power among the world’s tech giants and the unprecedented influence they hold over what information we see is deeply troubling. They extract extraordinary profits, while Governments and communities are left to face the democratic and social consequences of their decisions.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Back in 1991, when I was 15 years old, I applied for work experience at Central FM in Stirling. I was meant to be there for a week, and I stayed for 10 years as a broadcaster. Those were golden days of Scottish local radio, shaped by stations such as Central, Radio Forth and Radio Clyde, by familiar voices, great music and genuinely local news. When a winter storm hit, we tuned in to hear which schools would be closed. We rallied behind Cash for Kids and other campaigns that defined that era. A few years later I began writing for the Stirling Observer . I can still picture the newsroom buzzing with reporters, sub-editors, photographers, and the sense of a team that knew its community inside-out. Then came the world wide web. None of us realised how profoundly it would change everything.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Years of SNP underfunding have pushed Forth Valley college into financial crisis. Just when we needed to deliver skills for Stirling’s film studio, the Grangemouth transition, and shipbuilding and defence in the Forth and Clyde, the Alloa campus faces closure. Does the Secretary of State agree that the SNP is undermining Scotland’s future by neglecting the institutions that could drive growth? Does he also agree that Scotland needs a Labour Government, with Anas Sarwar, to rebuild our colleges and our skills base?”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Does this decision not just underline the urgent need for a robust industrial strategy in Scotland that protects jobs, strengthens the supply chain and ensures a manufacturing basis that is fit for the future?”
House of Commons18 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We have heard an awful lot today about the professionalism of the journalists at the BBC, and I wholeheartedly agree with that, but there are less of them now than there were last year and we hear that the BBC is in the fight of its life across a whole number of fronts. Well, when you are in a fight across multiple fronts, it seems odd to send some of your best fighters home, but that is what is happening to our journalists where there are less of them in our newsrooms. Does the Secretary of State agree that journalism, delivered free from fear or favour, costs money—and that it costs a lot of money to do it really well? Does she also agree that delivering that has to be at the centre of gravity for the BBC now and in the future, and that how we protect journalism and resource it properly has to be at the heart of the charter review?”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As the years pass, we no longer know their faces or hear their voices, yet we can still speak their names and wonder who they were, how they lived and what they dreamed of, and in that wondering—in the act of remembrance—we keep them present in the life of our communities today. Margaret Fleming’s name is not recorded on Stirling’s war memorial, but it will now be recorded on the record of this place. At the unveiling, Stirling’s provost spoke of his mingled feelings of grief and pride. Time dampens grief, yet deepens pride. It is with that in mind that I say with my heart full of peace, full of hope and full of love that we will remember them.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“For those gathered at the memorial that first year, it was a deeply personal experience. For each of the parents, wives and children, each name recorded was a son, a father, a husband and a friend; all would have been known personally to someone in the crowd. The ongoing sacrifice of the families who were left behind by the devastation of war is more quietly marked than the sacrifice of the soldiers who died in the conflict, but we must remember both the lives lost in war and the lives lived on with the pain of loss to war. At the unveiling in Stirling, Margaret would have stood before the memorial bearing the names of her husband and sons—three men she had loved and lost to war—their names cast in bronze, quietly carrying both the weight of her sorrow and the endurance of her love.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On 19 June 1917, the Batoum was less than six miles from home waters; the crew could see the lighthouse at Fastnet Rock—a beacon of safety after a 4,000-mile voyage—but they never saw the German U-boat or the torpedo that struck the ship. Forty-one of the forty-two members of crew survived. The only man lost that day was John, who stayed to tend to his engine, pumping water from the sinking ship to buy his comrades time to escape. In 1918, just three months before the guns finally fell silent, a third telegram arrived. In the last months of the war, both sides threw everything they had into one final push and one million men were lost—80,000 fell in August alone. One of them was Martin Fleming, who was killed in Flanders on 10 August 1918. He was 20 years old. Margaret had lost her husband, her oldest son and her youngest son.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Along with the letters she would have craved, there was one method of communication Margaret would have dreaded receiving: a telegram. Among the telegrams that arrived in family homes across Britain that month, one would have found its way to Bank Street in Stirling, telling Margaret that her son Thomas had fallen on 27 October and been buried near where he died. A second telegram would arrive three years later. Margaret’s husband, John, was serving on the steamship Batoum, carrying vital supplies across the Atlantic between the USA and Ireland. John was a donkeyman, working the small engine that pumped water from the bowels of the ship. It was a hot, hard and dangerous job.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“When war was declared, the Fleming men, like so many in every town and village across the land, answered the call to serve. John joined the merchant navy, Martin joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and Thomas joined the Black Watch. On each of the days the men in her life left for war, I suspect Margaret would have helped them to pack, prepared a packed lunch and walked them to the railway station. I think she would have walked slowly. As a parent, I know I would. In autumn 1914, the first of five battles of the war in Flanders took place near the town of Ypres, which stood between the advancing Germans and the channel ports—a vital line that the allies could not afford to lose. Eight thousand soldiers were killed in that battle, with nearly 30,000 wounded and more than 10,000 missing.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On Sunday, I was at the war memorial in Stirling city centre to lay a wreath and to reflect. Stirling’s memorial was completed in 1922. Six hundred and ninety-two names were recorded on the monument that first year, and behind every name was a story of a life lived and a life given to war. I want to talk about three of those names today, but I want to start with a woman who I have no doubt was in the crowd the day the memorial was unveiled. Her name was Margaret Fleming. Margaret and her husband, John, lived in Stirling. Margaret worked in a local grocer’s shop and John was a sailor—a stoker on a steamship—who travelled the world’s oceans for months at a time, leaving Margaret to raise their family, including their sons Thomas and Martin.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“For 17 years, the Stirling Observer has run its “Give a Gift” appeal, rallying big-hearted people, businesses, schools and community groups to make sure no child wakes up on Christmas morning without a present to unwrap. This year’s appeal launched this week. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking the Stirling Observer —and especially the brilliant and tireless Kaiya Marjoribanks, who has driven this appeal from day one—and consider making time for a debate on the vital role local newspapers play in strengthening our democracy and the communities we all serve?”
House of Commons23 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I only wish the Scottish Government would show the same respect to local authorities. Meanwhile, England has raced ahead. Metro mayors and combined authorities are transforming the landscape. We have seen the next step in English devolution in recent weeks and months, with exciting reforms pushing power outwards. By contrast, a tired SNP Government are pulling power inwards through quangos and direction from the centre.”
House of Commons22 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The principle of devolution is simple: the best decisions are made closest to the people affected by those decisions, yet in Edinburgh we have a Government run by the Scottish National party, and no one could accuse it of being the Scottish local party. Before I came here, I was the leader of Stirling council. About 80% of our budget came from a Scottish Government grant, with the rest from council tax, which is the only fiscal lever left to councils. It should be set locally, but for most of the last 18 years the SNP Government have frozen or capped it. Arguments for and against tax rises should be made in town halls, not dictated from Holyrood. For devolution to work there must be respect between different levels of government. I welcome efforts by the UK Government to reset that relationship.”
House of Commons22 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“When the Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999, there was an expectation that devolution would not stop at Holyrood, but would build stronger systems of local government. Donald Dewar put it best in his first speech: “A Scottish Parliament. Not an end: a means to greater ends.” We should celebrate Holyrood’s achievements over the past 25 years, but we must also face a truth: devolution has stalled or even gone backwards when it comes to local government. The first phase moved power from London to Edinburgh, but the second phase—transferring power from Holyrood to our local communities—never came. Instead, powers have been stripped away. Business rates, water, further education, police, fire and local enterprise were all once local responsibilities that have now been centralised.”
House of Commons22 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“While England powers ahead, our councils are squeezed, our communities feel remote from decision making, and our cities risk falling behind. What Scotland needs is a new phase of devolution: more fiscal autonomy for councils, genuine partnership with national Government, more powers for communities through development trusts, community councils and other bodies, and the option of combined authorities or mayors where local people want them.”
House of Commons22 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Scotland’s eight cities, including Stirling, should be able to debate what greater devolution would mean for our economies and communities. Partnership requires honesty, however. The Verity House agreement promised “no surprises” but within months, Ministers imposed another national council tax freeze without consultation. That is not partnership; it is central direction. If we are serious about devolution, we must be serious about accountability. Audit Scotland and the National Audit Office should deepen collaboration. Joint funding streams must be scrutinised coherently. Public trust depends on transparency. Devolution was never meant to be a one-off event. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has long warned that Scotland is now one of the most centralised countries in Europe.”
House of Commons22 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I completely agree—that goes back to what I was saying. Donald Dewar said: “A Scottish Parliament. Not an end: a means to greater ends.” If we all remembered to think about the evolution of devolution, and strived to make it as good as it can be, we would all be doing the people of Scotland a service. The risk of divergence between Scottish devolution and English devolution is stark. Glasgow is the UK’s fourth largest city, yet without a metro mayor or combined authority, it has no mechanism to secure trailblazer deals, as Greater Manchester and the West Midlands have. If Glasgow performed at the level of its peers, Scotland’s GDP could rise by an amount equivalent to our entire oil and gas sector—that is the real prize of real devolution.”
House of Commons22 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Gentleman has talked about the need for different legislatures to learn from each other. Ater 10 years of COSLA saying to the Scottish Government that funding for local government has been stripped to the bone, libraries are closing, swimming pools are closing, schools are underfunded, our teachers are at their wits’ end in the classroom, and the ones who want to be in the classroom cannot get a job because there is not enough money. What has his party learned from COSLA, after 10 years of its pleas for local government to be funded better?”
House of Commons22 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is about ensuring that communities from Bannockburn to Bolton have someone nearby who can get them connected again when their set goes dark. Yes, let us protect terrestrial television broadcasting. But let us also support the ecosystem that makes it receivable: the shops, the engineers, the local support and the skills. Let us recognise that broadcasting also means receiving, and there are a lot of people needed to ensure that reception continues. Finally, a plea: shop local when you can because, like so much of the high street, you will miss it most when you need it and it is not there.”
House of Commons4 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“What use is that if manufacturers insist a new set cannot be set up without connecting it to the internet first? My grandfather would have been horrified at how easily televisions worth hundreds of pounds are written off for want of a 50p fuse. Once upon a time, engineers repaired components. Now entire circuit boards are thrown away, as often are the televisions that they are in. Right-to-repair legislation has gone some way to address this, but where once we had a network of engineers in most towns making a living, now we have a handful of larger companies in urban areas and a patchwork of volunteer-run repair cafes. This is not just about nostalgia for a golden age of repair shops. It is about resilience. It is about making sure that older people, rural households and those without reliable broadband are not left behind.”
House of Commons4 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Most of the businesses were small, family-run shops. Many were part of the Radio, Electrical and Television Retailers Association. Some were larger chains, but most were independents, rooted in their communities. Those communities were stronger for their presence. Today it is a different picture. Fewer retailers cover larger areas. Many are part of Euronics, a co-operative of independent retailers, my brother’s store among them. They are still embedded in their towns, but fewer in number and serving much larger areas. It is one thing to support the continued broadcasting of terrestrial signals, but what use is that if people cannot get hold of a television? What use is that if nobody is available to realign their aerial after a winter storm?”
House of Commons4 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The store rented out its first television set in time for the very first TV broadcast in Scotland in March 1952. It was 7.30 pm, and people crowded around small, low-resolution screens to watch pictures of this place—the Houses of Parliament—and the River Thames, which were the first things to be seen. Only 2,730 television licences had been issued in Scotland at the time. By the 1980s, when I was a teenager helping out in the school holidays, televisions were everywhere. Rental remained popular because sets were costly and the analogue technology was forever blowing valves, tubes and circuits. But every town had engineers who could repair them. Most shops had backrooms that looked like laboratories, with people soldering components and bringing sets back to life. It was a skilled trade, common across the United Kingdom.”
House of Commons4 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I entirely agree that we must do all we can to protect digital terrestrial television for as long as it is needed. As a former radio presenter, I would argue that free radio could do with the same future protection. Colleagues have rightly made the case for the broadcasting medium; I want to make the case for the retailers, the engineers and the aerial installers—the people who deliver, set up and explain. My family has been in that line of work for nearly a century. My brother Michael runs Radio Music Store in Bannockburn, helped by Pam and Logan. He took over from our father, who retired last year. My father took over from his father in the ’70s, and my grandfather started the business in 1932, five years after the first BBC radio broadcasts came to Scotland.”
House of Commons4 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I also want to make a point that is often lost in these debates: for every venue that struggles—and there are venues struggling, including in my constituency—there are many more that are thriving, innovating and contributing to their communities. Let me end by offering my thanks to everybody working in hospitality in Stirling and Strathallan, and across the United Kingdom. They are doing a remarkable job, and our communities and our country are all the better for it.”
House of Commons3 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is one of the few remaining still running under the Gothenburg system with all the profits donated to the community. During the miners’ strikes in the 1980s, it hosted soup kitchens and supported miners’ strike funds. When the Opposition talk about their conversations with hospitality businesses, what they leave out is as telling as what they put in. Too often, they are not talking to or listening to the employees themselves. Those employees deserve the best employment rights and a fair wage for doing their job, which is why I am proud of this Government’s landmark Employment Rights Bill and our commitments on the living wage. I set out this roll-call of hospitality not just to show my pride in Stirling and Strathallan, but because I have had to cut out all of my other points as the speech time limit has been reducing.”
House of Commons3 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Visitors to Bannockburn—where Robert the Bruce defeated the English—can go to the 1314 pub, the King Robert Hotel, the Borestone Bar, or the Tartan Arms, where the steak pie, in my opinion, is the best in Scotland. Out west to Gartmore is the Black Bull bar and restaurant, which was taken over by the community and is now run as a charity. The macaroni there is a treat. In Kippen, we have the Cross Keys pub and the Woodhouse farm shop and restaurant, which are great for a Sunday drive. The Buttercup café in Doune is wonderful for lunch. In Kinbuck, Andy and Kim Murray are breathing new life into the Cromlix House hotel, and, of course, we have the world-famous Gleneagles as well. In Fallin, a mining village, we have the Gothenburg—or simply the Goth—which is a community-run pub founded in 1911.”
House of Commons3 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In my constituency of Stirling and Strathallan, castles and scenery may draw tourists, but it is the people in our pubs, cafés, restaurants, clubs and hotels who make them feel welcome. In my constituency, we have no shortage of world-class heritage, picturesque rural communities, scenery, and pubs, restaurants and cafés. At Stirling castle, visitors can see the great kitchens that provided the hospitality to the court of many a Stuart monarch. After that, they can go to the Portcullis hotel or Stirling’s oldest pub, the Settle Inn, which was built in 1733. In Causewayhead, the Birds & Bees is nestled in the shadow of the Wallace monument. In Balmaha, we have the Oak Tree Inn on the shores of Loch Lomond. In Tyndrum, the Real Food Cafe and the wonderfully named Green Welly Stop are on the West Highland Way.”
House of Commons3 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Does the Minister share my surprise that a Member of the party responsible for more than a decade of rising poverty, record benefit delays, and billions lost to fraud and error is now suddenly concerned about tackling that? Across the House, while we recognise the need to tackle fraud in our welfare system, we should also recognise the huge issue with tax avoidance and evasion—as recently highlighted by the Public Accounts Committee—which requires significant attention.”
House of Commons1 September 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In Scotland, where we have votes for 16 and 17-year-olds in council and Scottish Parliament elections, I have found that some of the most engaging, respectful and searching questions have come from those in that age group, whereas in general elections a 16 or 17-year-old’s response is often, “I’ll go and see if my mum or dad are in”, or occasionally, “My dad’s told me to tell you that he’s not in.” Given how respectful and engaged 16 and 17-year-olds are, does the Minister agree that they should have the right to express that engagement at the ballot box?”
House of Commons17 July 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I suspect that I know the answer to my next question: volunteers are now weeding, so will she join me to do a spot of weeding, in order to give them a break?”
House of Commons17 July 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Sometimes, when the puns keep coming, you just have to “Roll With It”. In my constituency, Braehead community garden is a remarkable 2-acre, community-led project where residents grow fruit and vegetables in raised beds and polytunnels. It also has an apiary, a workshop and a 30 kW solar array. It hosts pumpkin festivals and flower shows, and it was once called the UK’s “best community space” by the Society of Garden Designers. This year, it celebrates its 10th birthday. Just 2 miles away, in Fallin, a new community garden opened this year and is off to a strong start. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking the remarkable volunteers at both projects for all that they do, and will she make time for a debate on the value of community gardens to wellbeing, food education and local life?”
House of Commons17 July 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Even very modest deposits in credit unions—modest by departmental or council standards—can work harder and go further when invested locally. By supporting credit unions, we invest in people’s lives, in communities and in the resilience of our local economies.”
House of Commons16 July 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“This approach would align with many local authorities’ wider goals: it would help to tackle poverty, support inclusive economic development and contribute to building community wealth. It would also align with wider goals across the public sector, including in the UK Government. I urge the Minister to consider what more central Government can do to overcome the barriers to this practice in the public sector and by local authorities, including through updated guidance, best practice examples and formal recognition of the social value that local authority deposits in credit unions can generate. We need to look at the barriers to public bodies placing money in credit unions without changing the broader scope of member ownership.”
House of Commons16 July 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Local authority deposits, even modest ones, would help with the stability and capital that credit unions need to grow, and would send a powerful signal to the public that credit unions are valued, supported and used by institutions. Depositing local authority funds in a credit union could also deliver modest returns while maintaining strong safeguards for public funds, because deposits are protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. It would be a secure, responsible option that also delivered social value. Every pound placed in a credit union is a pound that can be recycled into low-interest loans for local people and small businesses. The money does not disappear into a distant financial centre; it stays local and supports the very communities that we are elected to serve.”
House of Commons16 July 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That approach is, of course, sound and responsible, but allocating even a very small proportion of those funds—small by council standards—to a credit union could have a disproportionately positive impact on the credit union and the community it serves. Credit unions are community-based, member-owned financial institutions that offer affordable loans, promote savings and provide an ethical alternative to high-cost lenders. I have seen their real-world impact in my constituency, where they help families to avoid exploitative borrowing, build resilience and stay afloat during hard times. However, many credit unions operate at the margins of the financial system and struggle to scale.”
House of Commons16 July 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗