Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
15 July 2026
Independence Referendum
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 th…
Commons
Oral Questions
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
9 July 2026
2 contributions
Tuna Fishing Licences
7. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the geographical distribution of tuna fishing licences.
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 Scotlan…
Commons
Debate
9 July 2026
Israeli Settlements: Trade Ban
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, b…
Commons
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
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 s…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
7 July 2026
Topical Questions
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 i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
2 contributions
Distillers
3. What steps he plans to take to support distillers.
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 Har…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
10 June 2026
2 contributions
Promoting Scottish Interests Abroad
2. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to promote Scottish interests abroad.
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 Glasgo…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
2 June 2026
Household Energy Bills
I welcome the Government’s measures to support domestic consumers of kerosene heating oil. I am told that if those who are eligible filled their tanks today, they would pay the equivalent of what they will be paying in February 2027. In my constituency we have big commercial users of kerosene oil, s…
Commons
Debate
21 April 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
I thank the Chancellor for her statement and her nimble response to the energy shock, including support for heating oil consumers, who make up half the households in Na h-Eileanan an Iar. The future of energy security is not an either/or. We must pursue renewables with a community share in the wealt…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 April 2026
3 contributions
Cost of Heating Oil
It is a pleasure to serve with you as Chair, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) for securing this timely debate, and I thank the Minister for visiting the Western Isles last month to hear directly from my constituents in Na h-Eileanan an Iar how the spike in pr…
Like the hon. Member’s constituency, many businesses in my constituency, including distilleries, rely on kerosene heating oil for manufacturing processes. Would he urge the UK Government and the Scottish Government to devise a loan scheme to help these businesses to get over this Trump spike?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service
Some 40% of flight diversions from Stornoway, Benbecula and Barra airports in my constituency could have been avoided if we were part of EGNOS, which was shamefully abandoned during Brexit by the Conservatives. As the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) pointed out, this has hu…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 March 2026
Heating Oil: Rural Homes
I welcome the UK Government’s support for heating oil customers in my constituency and the follow-up support from the Scottish Government, but I am slightly baffled that the Scottish Government have chosen to centralise support through Advice Direct Scotland, instead of entrusting local authorities.…
Commons
Debate
23 March 2026
Middle East
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. Despite talk of a “complete and total” resolution of hostilities from across the Atlantic, I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy) that we cannot give false comfort to our constituents that there will not be lasting economi…
Commons
Debate
16 March 2026
Heating Oil Support
I thank the Minister and the Government for their swift response; £4.6 million to Scotland will be very welcome in my constituency, where up to 50% of homes outside the town of Stornoway rely on heating oil. What discussions has the Minister had with the Scottish Government to ensure that the £4.6 m…
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
10 March 2026
Topical Questions
T4. When it comes to the rising cost of living, may I ask the Chancellor to look again at the rural fuel relief scheme? The scheme is meant to give a 5p discount per litre on petrol and diesel in specific island rural communities, but I have checked and found that, in Stornoway in my constituency, p…
Commons
Debate
9 March 2026
Middle East: Economic Update
I thank the Chancellor for her statement, for her support for the armed forces, and for acknowledging the anxiety of constituents abroad. Closer to home—at home, in fact—half of my constituents in Na h-Eileanan an Iar outside the town of Stornoway rely on heating oil to heat their homes. They face g…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
25 February 2026
2 contributions
World Cup: Travelling Fans
5. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support Scottish football fans travelling to the FIFA world cup 2026.
Despite fears of trade tariffs, I have checked and the price of a pint of beer in Boston, Massachusetts, where Scotland is due to play its first game, is about $8. That is a bargain, because the SNP wants to charge its fans £750 a pint to have a drink with the right hon. Member for Aberdeen South (S…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
2 contributions
Health and Social Care: Rural Communities
1. What steps he has taken to increase health and social care coverage in rural communities.
In places like Na h-Eileanan an Iar, going the extra mile to provide care is part of the job, and I pay tribute to the carers in my constituency who travel miles in darkness and bad weather to deliver support for the elderly. In some parts of the Western Isles, and indeed across rural Scotland, ther…
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 February 2026
2 contributions
EU Membership Referendum: Impact on the UK
Nobody can doubt the hon. Member’s Europhile credentials, but I do doubt his party’s commitment to unions of any kind. Why else would the SNP spend more fighting a by-election in Shetland than it did fighting the Brexit referendum? When he has finished answering that, perhaps he can tell us why his …
Who’s he?
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 February 2026
Firearms Licensing
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) for the balanced way in which he introduced the debate. I will say at the outset that my constituents completely understand the need to consult on regulations. The fata…
Commons
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
Consumer Energy Prices: Scotland
It was good to see you walking in today, Mr Speaker.
I welcome the publication of the local power plan, which will be keenly read in my constituency—the heart of the Atlantic—where communities are taking their share in the wealth of wind. To renew and expand community energy, we need to get connect…
Commons
Oral Questions
Science, Innovation and Technology
4 February 2026
2 contributions
Project Gigabit: Rural Areas
4. What steps she is taking to ensure the Project Gigabit roll-out prioritises rural areas with poor levels of broadband connectivity.
The figures are impressive, but 10% of constituents in the Western Isles cannot get more than 10 megabits a second. While I welcome Project Gigabit, the islanders tell me that the areas first being considered for connection already have good fibre connection. They are getting a fibre upgrade, while …
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
2 February 2026
High North: Defence Resources
Along with that of the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael), my constituency has an obvious interest in the High North and the defence of the western approaches. I welcome the £40 million investment in anti-submarine sonobuoys and the Atlantic Bastion operation’s defence of our …
Commons
Debate
22 January 2026
4 contributions
Fishing Industry
Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is a matter of considerable regret that the Scottish Government asked for the fishing and coastal growth fund to be devolved without first agreeing the mechanism outside the Barnett formula that would reflect the fact that Scotland has a larger share of th…
The right hon. Gentleman speaks about the fishing industry being heard. I hear reports of the SNP saying that Shetland would be listened to if it had a seat at the SNP table. I have a message for Shetland: we in the Western Isles have an SNP MSP, and we have not been listened to for 18 years.
+2 more contributions in this session