Commons
Proceedings
29 October 2025
Gaza and Hamas
I get the impression that the Minister shares my despair at what feel like constant impediments to real progress that are being put in place by the impunity of both Hamas and of Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocidal regime. The United States of America has indicated that Israel’s response last night was pr…
Commons
Proceedings
28 October 2025
2 contributions
Points of Order
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. And not to apologise on this occasion—yet.
I will give it a minute!
At business questions last week, I put it to the Leader of the House that he should afford time for my early-day motion in respect of Prince Andrew to be heard. He intimated that options are always available to Members to pursue that, so in due course I wrote to the Prime M…
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
North Sea Oil and Gas Industry
May I convey in the strongest possible terms to the junior Minister the anger and anxiety that is felt by my constituents in Aberdeen? Right now they are providing energy security to each and every one of us on these isles, as well as revenue to his Treasury, yet their only reward, and the only cert…
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Business of the House
In a 2019 “Newsnight” interview, Prince Andrew stated that he broke off ties with the notorious international paedophile Jeffrey Epstein after going to visit him for four days in New York. We have since learned through email chains that he in fact got in contact with Jeffrey Epstein subsequently to …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 October 2025
Middle East
I begin by expressing relief at the release of the hostages, but anger that so many have not lived to see this day, and relief that Palestinians are not sheltering from the skies today, but anger that so many are doing so without friends and family by their sides and without homes to return to. As w…
Commons
Debate
16 September 2025
3 contributions
Ambassador to the United States
I often think it is a grave pity that the cameras in this House tend to be trained just on the individual speaking, because it means that the public did not get the opportunity that we did earlier to look at the faces of the Labour MPs as this debate began—to see the glum, serious look on their face…
Will the Minister give way on that point?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
11 September 2025
3 contributions
UK Ambassador to the US: Appointment Process
I am sure that the Minister is delighted that he has not had to shred his own reputation like his ministerial and Cabinet colleagues have had to do on the broadcast rounds over the course of recent days, including this morning, in trying to defend Lord Mandelson and the lack of judgment shown by the…
rose—
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
10 September 2025
2 contributions
Engagements
Hear, hear! Ten more to come!
Gaza is a graveyard. Yet rather than end arms sales, extend sanctions and stand by international law, the Prime Minister will today welcome into his home—a home entrusted to him by the people of these isles—the man who called for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people and who signed the…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
The Foreign Secretary has just said:
“On the ground, it is unimaginably bleak. Horrifying images and accounts will be seared into the minds of colleagues across this House. They are almost impossible to put into words. But we can and must be precise with our language.”
I agree. It is a genocide, i…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Middle East
On the Foreign Secretary’s watch and in his statement today, he has refused to call it a genocide, he has refused to end all arms sales to Israel and, of course, he continues to refuse to recognise a state of Palestine, so here is something he could do. On his watch, just two wee kids who have been …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Independent Water Commission
In expressing his opposition to the nationalisation of water just yesterday, the Secretary of State did not mention the fact that, under Scottish Water, bills in Scotland are £113 cheaper, or the fact that 97% of Scotland’s bathing waters meet the quality standards expected. No—what he said of Scott…
Commons
Debate
15 July 2025
2 contributions
Welfare Spending
rose—
If I recall correctly, from the get-go, the Labour party suspended seven Members of its parliamentary party for voting to scrap the two-child cap. The Minister’s colleague, the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh), asked her very clearly whether she believes that the two-child cap should be scrappe…
Commons
Debate
3 July 2025
Women’s State Pension Age: Financial Redress
I thank the hon. Lady for giving way and congratulate her on securing this debate today. She has been a very powerful advocate for the WASPI campaigners not just in England and Wales, but in Scotland, too, and that is recognised by them. Does she agree that over recent weeks we have seen that where …
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
2 July 2025
Engagements
In his victory speech last year, the Prime Minister promised to “end the chaos”. Does he think that the public still believe him?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 June 2025
G7 and NATO Summits
It will not have escaped anyone’s notice that while the Prime Minister was rightly away at the G7 and NATO summits, he made tens of billions of pounds of unfunded spending commitments, yet next week he expects Members of Parliament to vote with him to remove money from disabled people who need help …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
23 June 2025
Middle East
A lot of people watching and worrying over the weekend will have seen many of the hallmarks of Iraq. Despite that, the Foreign Secretary cannot tell us whether or not he believes that the strikes were the right thing to do, or whether or not he believes that the strikes were legal, and he has failed…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
10 June 2025
Topical Questions
May I extend an invite to the Secretary of State to come to Aberdeen and meet the highly skilled energy workforce, whose jobs are being put at risk as a result of his policies?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
I cannot help but feel that the Minister is treating Members with a significant level of contempt by telling us that something will happen, but not telling us what that will be or when it will happen. On a more acute point, can he perhaps clarify for the House why he believes it is consistent for hi…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
4 June 2025
Town Centre Regeneration
I will tell the Secretary of State what is bad for town centres, and that is job losses. On this Government’s watch, Robert Gordon University has been forced to publish a report that outlines that there could be 400 job losses in the North sea every two weeks. That is a Grangemouth-type shutdown eve…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 May 2025
Business of the House
May I begin by echoing the revulsion of the Leader of the House in respect of the antisemitic murders in the United States of America in recent hours?
“Cruel” and a policy that sees a third child treated
“as almost a second-class citizen”.
That is not my phrasing, but that of Gordon Brown in desc…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 May 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker—no pressure.
To see the Foreign Secretary finally find some fire in his belly on this issue was certainly most appreciated, but it was long overdue. Ultimately, as has been mentioned, the Government are still a block to action. Would he support this House being given…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 May 2025
UK-EU Summit
I think the Front Benches need to calm the jets a wee bit. This is obviously not a surrender, just as it is obviously no substitute for membership of the European Union; nor, indeed, is it, as the Prime Minister has said repeatedly today, providing “unprecedented access” to the EU market—that is sim…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
7 May 2025
Engagements
Prior to the election, the Prime Minister promised that energy bills would come down; they continue to rise. He promised that he would save the refinery at Grangemouth; it is shut. He promised that he would unleash a generation of secure energy jobs in my city of Aberdeen. Today, Harbour Energy—the …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
6 May 2025
Middle East Update
The hon. Member will forgive me, but there are few things more infuriating in this House than listening to Ministers—whether they are of the blue persuasion, or of the red persuasion, as now—fail to call out collective punishment for what it is, fail to call out war crimes for what they are, continu…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
30 April 2025
Energy Grid Resilience
The Minister will be aware that Peterhead gas station is Scotland’s only high-power, high-inertia facility and that it has an independent black-start facility. Key to the future of that site is the Acorn project, another thing he will be very familiar with. Can he confirm his Government’s intention …