Torcuil Crichton
MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar · Labour · United Kingdom
“Q8. In bad weather—and sometimes we do have it in the Hebrides—one in six landings at the isle of Barra airport and 40% at Stornaway airport are turned away due to the lack of low-visibility radar, known as EGNOS.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I commend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero for the decision to approve Jackdaw. It takes courage to lead, and the same logic applies to Rosebank.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I pay tribute to the men and women of Scottish and Southern Electricity, who are out there right now reconnecting the homes in the Western Isles that lost power over the weekend due to the storms.”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Will the Minister call in those companies and get them to up their digital game and ensure that there is digital resilience—not just in the places that are easy, but on the edge, where people are vulnerable, isolated from their neighbours, and where the ambulance is an hour away?”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the Chair for the report, which is one of many valuable reports that have come from the Scottish Affairs Committee under her leadership. I welcome it in particular as it relates to unlocking the potential of SMEs in Scotland, which, according to the report, currently receive less than 0.078% of MOD spending.”
House of Commons26 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On the universal service point, there are huge disparities across the country. A Consumer Scotland report recently laid bare the deep divisions, with quality of service in HS postcodes—Na h-Eileanan an Iar, the Hebrides—standing at 59% whereas across the UK it is 76%, and of course the Royal Mail target is 90%. Does the hon.”
House of Commons26 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
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“I commend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero for the decision to approve Jackdaw. It takes courage to lead, and the same logic applies to Rosebank. Does the Secretary of State agree that the £2 billion fund set up to transfer jobs from oil, gas and carbon into renewables sends a signal to workers that we are with them in the North sea, today and for years to come?”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Q8. In bad weather—and sometimes we do have it in the Hebrides—one in six landings at the isle of Barra airport and 40% at Stornaway airport are turned away due to the lack of low-visibility radar, known as EGNOS. The European geostationary navigation overlay service is available to pilots at the touch of a button, but the Tories switched it off during Brexit. My constituents rely on flights not for holidays, but for health—for chemotherapy and for ordinary appointments that they should have at home. The Prime Minister has a summit with European leaders next month, so will he put EGNOS on the radar and on his agenda so that, at the very least, my constituents can get to their hospital appointments?”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Will the Minister call in those companies and get them to up their digital game and ensure that there is digital resilience—not just in the places that are easy, but on the edge, where people are vulnerable, isolated from their neighbours, and where the ambulance is an hour away?”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I pay tribute to the men and women of Scottish and Southern Electricity, who are out there right now reconnecting the homes in the Western Isles that lost power over the weekend due to the storms. Resilience is in-built on the islands, but as other Members have pointed out, we have major problems with connectivity because of the move from analogue to digital phonelines, which means that when the power goes out, people do not have the phone or the internet—and they often do not have a mobile signal either. BT and Openreach’s response—to give powerpacks to vulnerable customers who ask for them—is simply not adequate, and mobile phone providers do not have the means to maintain their signal during storms.”
House of Commons27 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the Chair for the report, which is one of many valuable reports that have come from the Scottish Affairs Committee under her leadership. I welcome it in particular as it relates to unlocking the potential of SMEs in Scotland, which, according to the report, currently receive less than 0.078% of MOD spending. I was pleased recently to see the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry launch Project Safari at the MOD Hebrides range, which will make it easier and simpler for SMEs to access test and evaluation facilities here in the UK. Does the Chair agree that the 50 highly skilled jobs at the Hebrides range and the vast area of the Atlantic that it offers for test and evaluation are an invaluable contribution to the defence capability of this country and will help unlock the potential of Scottish SMEs to grow?”
House of Commons26 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On the universal service point, there are huge disparities across the country. A Consumer Scotland report recently laid bare the deep divisions, with quality of service in HS postcodes—Na h-Eileanan an Iar, the Hebrides—standing at 59% whereas across the UK it is 76%, and of course the Royal Mail target is 90%. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there is a danger of fragmenting the service, and that commercial priorities take over and rural communities are left behind? If there is to be a service, it has to be a universal service, not a postcode lottery across the UK.”
House of Commons26 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I welcome the Minister’s announcement and remind others that this is not just a question for the north-east or for Aberdeen South. There are only two postal code areas in the UK that do not have a jobs connection to the North sea, so despite the scant appearance of the Opposition Benches, this affects every constituency. I welcome the £2 billion investment in the transition, because we need those skills, that workforce and that supply chain as stepping stones to the transition to new industries. I caution my hon. Friends to ensure that we are not remembered as the Government who let down the North sea workforce in the way in which the Conservatives let down the coalfield workers. May I ask the Minister to detail, and encourage him to rush through, the tiebacks and the decommissioning that will keep us in the North sea for years to come?”
House of Commons21 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“However, I hope she will be no less ambitious than I am, or my hon. Friends the Members for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes), for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson), and for all points in between who have stayed on tonight to show their support not just for the Minister, but for an idea that would define not only a building or a city, but a country, and leave a legacy for this reforming Government that she and I serve in. For many, I hardly need detail the catastrophe that has befallen the Glasgow School of Art’s Charles Rennie Mackintosh building, and the pall it has cast over Scotland’s largest city for more than a decade now. I will quickly summarise the brutally cruel circumstances that led us here.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I begin by welcoming the Minister to the Dispatch Box for what I believe is her first time as Under-Secretary of State for Scotland. Some might argue that 11.20 pm on a Monday night is just the right time for a Minister to make their debut at the Dispatch Box, and perhaps the right time to make the kind of speech I am about to make. I assure her, though, that we on the Labour Benches are very proud of her, and I am sure Members across the House will appreciate her talents and skills as they relate to the Scotland Office, other parts of Government policy and other parts of the world, where her dedication and leadership have been shown before. That is where the praise stops, because the ask I am about to make may well go beyond the Minister’s briefing and the Scotland Office’s budget.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I was up there on Friday, between events at the Royal National Mòd in Glasgow—I congratulate the organisers and the city for hosting a brilliant week in the city of the Gaels. The contrast between the vibrant, youthful buzz of the revived and living culture that the Mòd represents and the tragic shadow hanging over the Mack could not have been stronger.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Despite that blow, the Glasgow School of Art and its patrons across the globe rose to the occasion and committed themselves to the faithful restoration of the building. That was painstaking and specialised work, but it was moving on apace when a second and much more devastating fire swept through the building in 2018, engulfing not just the Mackintosh building but the neighbouring ABC music venue on Sauchiehall Street. The 2018 blaze was so fierce and all-consuming that its cause may never be known, but its consequences certainly are. Glaswegians are reminded of the destruction every single day, as the charred husk of the Mack building stoops withered and crippled on the city’s skyline.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I do, and I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. I will detail and explore some of those options later in my speech. She is right: it is shameful that we have this shrouded ghost on Garnethill casting a shadow over the city. To summarise, the fire that brought down the Mackintosh building broke out in 2014, as art students were finalising their end-of-year degree show. That fire was devastating and heartrending—I was in a meeting of another cultural board as the news broke, and people cried in that meeting as the smoke rose above Garnethill. Around 70% of the building was saved, although the library and the famous hen run—that glazed passageway so beloved by generations of art students—were lost.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I do. There is a need for greater transparency, and there are great lessons to be learned from the recent management of the estate and the building. The Glasgow School of Art has committed to restoring the building. In July this year, eight years after the second fire and following extended and painful arbitration with the insurers, the GSA published a report outlining that the cost of restoring the Mack is estimated to be £265 million at today’s prices. That is a simply insurmountable sum for Glasgow School of Art alone. It is more than five times its annual turnover. That is why I am making this speech this evening.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am glad to have the right hon. Member here bringing not just his experience, but cross-party support. I appreciate what he did and what previous Governments did after the first fire. There are hundreds of competing pressures on politics and on our political and financial capital, but he is right that it is a building of national importance. It was also a very beautiful building.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“If the Minister is looking for evidence of how the Mack runs through our lives, she will recall that tonight at Dover House, as she made her speech for the Poppyscotland appeal, which we all support, she was heralded by a painting by Adrian Wiszniewski on one side and one by Ken Currie on the other—the new Glasgow boys; the most recent wave of artists to come out of the art school.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I completely agree with my right hon. Friend about the style and form of the Mack. It was a beautiful building, and we do miss it. I do not mean that in a sentimental sense, because it was not just a building of bricks and mortar; it was, as she said, more than the sum of its parts. Since its construction at the turn of the 20th century, the Mack has become a symbol of Glasgow’s flair. It has been an incubator for Scotland’s creative spirit, and it has been a building of significance, as Members have said, not just for the city, but for Scotland and the country. It is a story that runs through the Scottish nation, and through the lives of so many famous artists, writers and performers who have been inspired by their time there, and others, like me, who were simply spellbound by its beauty.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That was the phrase of another Prime Minister, which should be embossed on the walls of this Chamber, because, as we know, it was rebuilt from the ruins of world war two and functions now much as it did before that visit from the Luftwaffe in 1941. Buildings do more than occupy space; they define who we are. Few understood that more profoundly than Charles Rennie Mackintosh, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) pointed out. His design for the building created an environment in which art, everyday practicality, and beauty and simplicity of design came together as one.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The school’s influence runs everywhere, and not just in Dover House. In the Lobby tonight, the hon. Member for Foyle (Colum Eastwood), who is not in his place, mentioned how his brother had been to Glasgow School of Art. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has spent so much time at the Dispatch Box today, but his mother was at Glasgow School of Art, as were so many friends of mine. I was only ever a graduate of the art school dance; I never actually went to art school, but many friends, colleagues and constituents did. We shape our buildings and then they shape us.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is an emblem of what Scotland has contributed to the global story of design and success over the last century. It should not just be left to Glasgow School of Art, to Scotland or to the alumni of the art school to take this on. Collectively, we are all custodians of the Mackintosh. It should fall on us as a nation to restore the building to its glory. The Government should be willing and ready to engage with Glasgow School of Art in the project. Let us be clear: this can be done. We need only look across the channel to the example of Notre-Dame, which was burnt down in a fire in 2019. The French Government stepped in with the full muscle of the state to implement a reconstruction programme.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I could not agree more. We must remember that the art school itself began as a design school—almost an engineering school for the shipyards and the industrial base of Scotland. There is a plan to make the art school, with a restored Mackintosh building, the anchor of cultural and economic development again. What my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East says is true: the Glasgow School of Art and the Mackintosh building have become a symbol of Glasgow, and Glasgow has a symbiotic relationship with the art school. That is why it is tragic to see it in its current condition. As the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) pointed out, the Mack is not simply a national treasure for Scotland; it is a cultural and creative asset for the whole of the UK.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I would temper my language and invite the Scottish Government, the UK Government and other interested parties to come together, put their hands under the Mack and lift it out of the ashes. There is a case for doing that, as a fully restored Mack, in line with the Glasgow School of Art’s ambitions to deliver a re-energised cultural quarter for Glasgow, can be just as much an economic driver for the city and the country as Notre-Dame is for France.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I know the SNP First Minster had some speech making of his own to do on the weekend—I did not play his speech back, I must admit—but if I were him, I would listen closely again to the Prime Minister’s message and to my own. If he is looking for progress, he should realise that for the Mack and for Glasgow, he could be in for a big win for himself and for both Governments. Nothing could symbolise a new era of doing politics differently in Scotland than the two Governments coming together, with other interested parties, to raise the Mack out of the ashes and do nothing less than restore it to its former glory.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a tried and tested formula, and this approach would see the reinstated Mack building contribute to the economy and the regeneration of Glasgow, as has been pointed out, but it cannot be done by the Glasgow School of Art alone, the UK Government alone or the Scottish Government alone; we must do it together. Because I was in Glasgow on Friday attending the Mòd, I missed the Prime Minister’s speech in neighbouring Motherwell in which he offered a new direction and a promise of a new deal between Scotland’s two Governments. On the way back south, I listened to the speech— I played it back—and it struck me as a very nuanced and sophisticated offer of co-operation. I hope, beyond the rhetoric, it is recognised as such in Bute House and in Holyrood.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Member for Aberdeen South (Douglas Lumsden) that the Scottish Government, as well as the UK Government, could have a role to play in putting their hands underneath the Mack and supporting its restoration. There is a plan for restoration. There is passion and professionalism in the design team commissioned to look at the restoration, and there is an economic analysis produced by the Glasgow School of Art to rebuild the Mackintosh. That is compelling and attractive, because heritage-led place making is often one of the most effective tools for driving urban regeneration.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I agree with my hon. Friend. Part of the Glasgow School of Art’s ambition is that the Mack building could anchor the regeneration of the whole of Garnethill and that part of the city. Right now, all we have are the singed bones of the building, shrouded in scaffold for so long while the Glasgow School of Art grappled with the insurance arbitration process. I understand that there may be some progress: the street may be reclaimed to some extent, and we will see the mausoleum of the building visible but protected. However, preventing the building from collapsing appears to be close to the limit of what the Glasgow School of Art can deliver on its own through the insurance claim. I take the point made by the hon.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend proves my point that the Mack and its influence echoes in every postcode in every part of Britain and beyond. In terms of solutions, some have called for the Mack building to be part of an independent body. The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, for example, has called for an independent body to oversee the restoration of the building and for its ownership to be transferred away from the Glasgow School of Art. Personally, I am agnostic about the means but devout about the delivery. I believe that restoring the Mack simply must be done.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Restoring the Mack should be everyone’s priority. All proposals are worth exploring around the table with all interested parties. The Minister who will answer from the Dispatch Box tonight has experience and a reputation for conflict resolution. She is ideally placed to persuade both Governments to seriously consider how they can achieve this joint aim: the faithful restoration of the Mack as a living, breathing school and studio, sparking the inspiration for another generation and another century in Scotland.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“For that reason, can the Leader of the House join me in expressing deep condolences to the families and communities affected and to all the other families and fishers who touch that razor’s edge of the deep every day and, for our good, go down to the sea in ships?”
House of Commons15 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Western Isles have been struck this week by maritime tragedy with the sinking of the fishing vessel Kilda in a Tuesday night storm off the coast of Lewis, with what we fear is the subsequent loss of the three souls aboard. I pay tribute and express thanks to the coastguard officers, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution crews, helicopter crews and police officers who are still involved in the search for two of the missing men. Events like this cut deeply into our communities and leave salted wounds of grief; I think of Ness, Barvas and Carloway, and the homes and villages there that this crew left from. That pain of grief will be echoed in other coastal communities across the country. All those who fish will mourn, and they that spread their nets on the ocean will languish.”
House of Commons15 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Minister has been to my constituency and seen it for himself, so he knows about the challenges of administering and delivering benefits in the Western Isles, or Na h-Eileanan an Iar. The process could be made simpler if the verification of identity could be done virtually in some cases rather than requiring a home visit, which, for DWP staff, could involve travelling to other islands. The Minister also knows about the challenges posed by weather and the failed ferry system that we have inherited from the SNP. Will he consider changing the one-size-fits-all system of verifying claims and identities to take account of the rurality and the insularity of constituencies such as mine?”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the Prime Minister for his statement and for highlighting the effect of Brexit on the salmon farming industry. Salmon farming is worth £189 million to the Western Isles, with £34 million of that direct, and over 200 jobs. Similarly, fishing is worth £16 million, with most of that prawn exports to Spain and France. We are physically furthest from that EU market, but we need that deal—we need to get our fish and our produce in. While we are at it, let us get a deal for our young people to get them studying and working again in Europe.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Regardless of how we divide on the referendum, I wonder if colleagues on the SNP Benches will find it in their hearts to put political division aside at 8 o’clock tonight? I did not come of age in time for the 1966 world cup finals, but the older boys in my primary school were all nicknamed after the England world cup squad, so we had Nobby Stiles and Charlton in our Scottish playground. That is a Hebridean example of respect and rivalry. Does the Secretary of State agree with today’s Daily Record editorial, which says that “there is always room for friendly rivalry with neighbouring nations,” but that “Bringing…politics into football does nobody any”—”
House of Commons15 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My constituent, Angus Campbell, held the only commercial licence for tuna in 2025. He has invested thousands in equipment and a route to market for the bluefin tuna now swimming off the Atlantic coast of the Hebrides. This year, he got no licence. In fact, the two applications that came from Scotland came from the Western Isles, but of the 29 licences allocated, none came to Scotland. Will the Minister review why there is no regional distribution of licences? Why was a fisher with an established track record of commercial landings turned down? Can the Minister look for a speedy resolution through a second round of licensing from the approximately 100 tonnes of quota allocated to tag and release, mortalities, bycatch and scientific research?”
House of Commons9 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the hon. Member for giving way, and I assure the Father of the House that the passion he feels finds a strong echo in my part of the world, where the cultural memory of being driven off the land is still very strong. The Father of the House said that he would avoid dry, legalistic points, but I agree with the hon. Member that that is what the UK Government are doing: using dry, legalistic points. Does the hon. Member agree that the UK Government should do as other countries have done, as my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) pointed out, and go all-out by imposing a complete ban and then dealing with the legalities afterwards?”
House of Commons9 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Can I also have an assurance that he will keep CROs fully informed about the process and come back before Parliament goes into recess to ensure that we are fully informed?”
House of Commons8 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I declare my chairmanship of the all-party parliamentary group for volunteer rescue services. I inform the House that, along with my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Alison Hume) who chairs the all-party parliamentary group for coastal communities, we are holding a joint evidence session for CROs next week, so that they can come and tell their stories to parliamentarians. When I spoke to my CROs in Stornoway and across the Western Isles, their message was one that I hope has been received by the Minister: pause the consultation, listen to CROs and hear about the vital role that they play as a fourth blue light service. The role is about not just coastal rescue, but delivering carers and emergency workers to the elderly in time of need.”
House of Commons8 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On heating oil, the Scottish National party Government boasted that they would add £5.4 million to the £4.6 million the UK Government gave to domestic consumers. However, there is scant evidence that that is reaching my constituents in the Western Isles, which have the highest fuel poverty figures in the country. Will the Minister join me in encouraging constituents to apply for support? Will he ask the Scottish Government to broaden the criteria and Advice Direct Scotland to get that money out the door, so that people are not left high and dry?”
House of Commons7 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My constituent Carol Campbell is a marine coastguard team leader in Stornoway. Civil servants like her do not just serve the public—they save the public. The June deadline has come and gone, and all she sees is a shambles. I know Carol; she has given a lifetime of service. She tells me, “At 63, I am loath to continue working through another Hebridean winter doing 12-hour dayshifts and nightshifts, but currently I don’t feel I have any alternative.” What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that Capita and its chief executive are held to account for failing these lifesavers?”
House of Commons6 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Distilleries in my constituency—I count nine of them—overwhelmingly rely on kerosene heating oil to make their product. Since President Trump’s folly in Iran, they have seen costs rise by 18%. It is not just the distilleries; seaweed manufacturing, chemical processing at Callanish and the iconic Harris tweed industry all rely on kerosene heating oil to make their products. Domestic consumers in the islands are helped by generous support from the Government, but can the Minister outline what the UK Government can do to help these energy-reliant industries that keep hundreds of jobs in Na h-Eileanan an Iar keep on going?”
House of Commons2 July 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We should make more of tiebacks, and I would like to hear about Ministers doing so. The industry knows what that means—using existing infrastructure to explore and extract extra resources from the basin—but the public do not, and I call on Ministers to make more of tiebacks.”
House of Commons24 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a mature and declining basin, and at the same time we face—as we do outside today—the undeniable reality of a warming planet. We have a responsibility to meet these challenges and a duty to those who will inherit the world after us to act. The transition away from the North sea and into renewables is not the same as abandonment. This Labour Government are not, and must not be, in the business of switching off the North sea. We must not allow a justifiable drive to renewables to lead us into decisions that as a nation we may later regret. There remains lots of work to be undertaken, revenues to be generated and energy to be produced in this sector. As long as this country requires oil and particularly gas, and that can be produced and processed domestically, we should carry on working in the North sea.”
House of Commons24 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Its shifts, weather and fortunes ripple through the Hebrides just as much as they do through the communities of our Doric cousins. It is not appreciated by many in this debate on the transition away from the North sea that our identity, a sense of belonging and who we are because of where we work are a big part of this. The UK is undertaking one of the greatest economic and industrial transformations of our time, from fossil fuels to renewables and nuclear power. I wish the SNP Scottish Government, although apparently they now have a new industrial strategy, would show some maturity on nuclear power and recognise that it has a role in our future as oil and gas diminish. We should be clear-eyed about why we are moving out of the North sea.”
House of Commons24 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I know that we will be one Scotland tonight in Miami, but in reality, Scotland has many different communities and many different voices. A large part of our island identity over the last two generations has been the North sea. The issues that anchored the by-election in Aberdeen South were currents that ran through the Western Isles during our May election as well. The fortunes of the North sea have shaped my village in Lewis and many other communities on the west coast and in the north. It has sustained us for two generations now. It is not just the men who have made that contribution; women are effectively running single-parent families because of the two weeks on, two weeks off or three weeks on, three weeks off pattern of the North sea. The North sea has become part of our identity.”
House of Commons24 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. I thank the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas) for securing this important debate. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Douglas Lumsden) on his recent win. Of course, his was not the only big win in Scotland in recent times. In Na h-Eileanan an Iar—the Western Isles—the Labour candidate Donald MacKinnon won a historic victory after 19 years of SNP neglect and complacency. What we did in Na h-Eileanan an Iar we did against the political tide: despite the polling and without the magic of Makerfield, we created a new king of the north. In short, we won because of Donald MacKinnon’s island credentials. Our local identity trumped the SNP’s artifice of a national identity.”
House of Commons24 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) said, it is not an either/or. Our task is not to choose between the two, but to manage the transition from one to the other responsibly, pragmatically and in a way that protects the country’s energy security and, crucially, ensures that we enrich the communities that have already powered this nation for two generations.”
House of Commons24 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Let me be clear that I support a pragmatic transition in which we utilise domestic gas production rather than importing it, and support Scottish skills and jobs as we move the workforce into renewables and elsewhere. I accept that, as the hon. Member said, there may not be a like-for-like match between existing jobs and emerging jobs. The North sea is one of the most dangerous environments to work in anywhere in the world, and the pay reflects that. But this is not just a question of pay. It is not just a question of economics, climate change or tax regimes, important as all those things are. It is just as much a question of who we are—a question of identity and belonging, and the relationship that we have with place and our place of work, which is a powerful political emotion that we should take note of. And as my hon.”
House of Commons24 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Member for Bromsgrove is a member, recently recommended that community power schemes should have priority access to the grid. Communities and councils should have the right—indeed, they already have the right; it is just that it has not been enacted—to take a 20% stake in any commercial renewables scheme in their area, onshore or offshore, and commercial wind farm companies ought to be incentivised through the planning system to see communities as partners, not just as peanut beneficiaries of their schemes. In that way, my community and those across Scotland that have earned a fortune for this country and for commercial companies in the North sea will have a share in the future and the fortune of renewable energy.”
House of Commons24 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the right hon. Member for that intervention. I hear him and I hope Ministers hear him as well. In that transition, we on the west coast and he in the Northern Isles have a privileged vantage point. We look eastwards to the North sea and the jobs and fortunes that it has provided to our islands, and we look westwards into the Atlantic and see the wealth of wind, the promise of renewable energy and the next chapter of our country’s story. The Minister knows that we in the Western Isles have the highest concentration of community-owned renewables anywhere in the UK. I believe that communities should have a big share in that new industry and in the renewables fortune. The Select Committee on Energy Security and Net Zero, of which the hon.”
House of Commons24 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Most Scottish interests abroad this weekend will be centred on Boston, and if the Secretary of State is considering a last-minute bid for the world cup, he can fly there from Glasgow this weekend for just £740. That is just £100 more than it would cost my constituents to fly from Stornoway to Glasgow this weekend without the air discount. The rising cost of Loganair flights and the loss of the Stornoway-Inverness morning service is of great concern in the western isles, and we have already lost the Benbecula connection, with all the consequences that has. Will the Secretary of State work with Cabinet colleagues, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport—when he returns from his jaunt to America—and others in the industry to review flights across the UK?”
House of Commons10 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the Minister for his statement and the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) for bringing this urgent question to the House. Cuba is on its last breath after a brutal four-month siege that is as commercial as it is ideological in nature. We have seen Spanish hotel operators pull out of the country. We have seen Canadian companies such as Blue Diamond and Sherritt, the Canadian nickel company, thinking again because of the threat of secondary sanctions. It seems that the US President is attempting to sweep aside Canadian and Spanish interests to bring in US crony companies and reintroduce the spirit of colonialism that led to Castro’s revolution in the first place. What discussions have UK Ministers had with their Spanish and Canadian counterparts to make it clear to the US Government that this is not acceptable?”
House of Commons8 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗