Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund
I thank the Minister for coming to the Dispatch Box, and the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for raising this important issue. There is a question of fairness in the geographical distribution of the fund, and the Minister should consider that; I hope the funding wil…
Commons
Debate
22 October 2025
Devolution in Scotland
I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for organising this debate—he is as much an institution as the Scottish Parliament itself. My hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray) speaks about the Scottish Parliament being t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
22 October 2025
Energy Security: North Sea Gas and Oil
Does the Secretary of State agree with me that the Conservatives have got a cheek? Some 77,000 jobs drifted out of the North sea under their Government, and they did not lift a finger. This Government, along with the Scottish Government, invested £18 million in a transition fund to help oil and gas …
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Electricity Infrastructure: Rural Communities
I pay tribute to the hon. Member for securing the debate. I gently remind him that there is an alternative to opposition: participation. In the Western Isles we have the highest level of community-owned wind farms in Britain: 22 MW, alleviating fuel poverty and powering community economics. Our coun…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 October 2025
Community Helipads: Rural Access
I thank the hon. Member for raising this issue. His situation is not unique; we have a similar one in the Western Isles, at the Stornoway hospital. The Scottish air ambulance helicopter is perfectly free to land at the hospital helipad, but the health board has had to set up an alternative site for …
Commons
Debate
14 October 2025
Energy Profits Levy: North-east Scotland
I pay tribute to the hon. Lady for securing the debate. I share her passion for her constituents and their work in the North sea, because my constituents, over three generations, have done the same work, and I want to see people working in the North sea for another three generations. Does she accept…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Industry
On the subject of aviation, the beautiful Isle of Barra airport in my constituency has had to cancel 14% of its flights in the last year on the beautiful beach runway. This is not, on the whole, due to bad weather or tides, but because the Brexiteering Tories withdrew us from the European satellite …
Commons
Oral Questions
Science, Innovation and Technology
10 September 2025
2 contributions
Digital Exclusion: Na h-Eileanan an Iar
1. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reduce digital exclusion in Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency.
I welcome the Secretary of State and her friendly-faced team to their posts. I also welcome the millions going into Project Gigabit. However, that money is finding its way into Openreach’s coffers but not to the end of the road in the Western Isles. I have many constituents, including two in my own …
Commons
Proceedings
8 September 2025
Remote Coastal Communities
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. He is Labour’s south by south-west to my north by north-west. It is good to have our communities connected to a Government who make change for rural areas and coastal communities. My constituency has much in common with his; it faces the sam…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
2 September 2025
2 contributions
Gaza: Ceasefire
9. What recent steps his Department has taken to help secure peace in the Middle East.
I reiterate the concerns raised last night by my fellow journalist and hon. Friend the Member for Earley and Woodley (Yuan Yang) in highlighting Gaza as the deadliest war for journalists. Over 189 have been killed since October 2023, despite reporters being categorised as protected civilians under i…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
Defibrillators
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for bringing this debate to the House, and I wish him well in his recovery.
A few years ago, not many of us in rural Scotland would have known about the impo…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement and for his stamina over the past two hours. I assure him that the horror of the unfolding famine in Gaza and concern about the future of the hostages are felt just as strongly on the Atlantic coast of Scotland as they are on the shores of the eastern …
Commons
Oral Questions
15 July 2025
Renewable Energy: Private Sector Investment
I must declare an interest as a crofting tenant of Knock and Swordale common grazing, as good a definition of a community as you can ever get, but Knock and Swordale, along with several other community power schemes in my constituency, cannot get grid connections except through active network manage…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
14 July 2025
2 contributions
Community Regeneration Funding: Scotland
13. What discussions she has had with local authorities in Scotland on community regeneration funding.
The £20 million community regeneration partnership with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the Western Isles council, will help develop the marine economy of Vatersay and Barra, the cultural heritage of Eriskay and North Uist and the spinal route through the islands. It puts islanders in the driving seat us…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
9 July 2025
2 contributions
Broadcasting: Scotland
3. What recent discussions he has had with representatives of the broadcasting sector in Scotland.
We islanders have always been international ambassadors, and I am delighted that some of the Lewis chess pieces are going to France—a little bit of Gaelic Scotland in President Macron’s pocket. Gaelic broadcasting also has a global reach: 1.8 million viewers watched “An t-Eilean”, MG Alba’s detectiv…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
3 July 2025
Business of the House
We have experienced some cruel heat in this Chamber this week, but in Na h-Eileanan an Iar schools have already broken for the summer. Before they left for their holidays, the P5 pupils of Stornoway primary gave me a lesson, in Gaelic and in English, on their anti-bullying strategy. Does the Leader …
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
2 July 2025
A75 and A77 Roads: Economic Impact
To the A75 and the A77, add the A9, which is the link from the Highlands to Scotland. For 25 years we have been waiting for it to be dualled; the SNP has failed to do that. The Scottish Government cannot make the ferries work and they cannot make the road work. Can the Secretary of State push them i…
Commons
Debate
25 June 2025
6 contributions
Haemochromatosis Screening
I ought to begin with an explanation of what is a very long word. Put simply, haemochromatosis is too much iron in the blood—haemo, blood; chroma, iron; and tosis, too much of it. To save time and the good offices of Hansard , I will refer to it occasionally as HCT in this debate. It is an inherited…
The hon. Gentleman’s interventions are always a blessing, never a curse. I have some information of particular interest to his part of the world later in my speech.
I have declared my interest, as I have haemochromatosis, but it is not just my experience, but that of my constituents and the make-up…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
23 June 2025
Middle East
I understand the priority to evacuate UK citizens from Israel, but advice to our constituents in Qatar to shelter in place until further notice is hardly comforting. May I press the Foreign Secretary to outline what more detail will be provided for UK citizens in the wider region and whether there i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 June 2025
Topical Questions
I welcome the UK-India trade deal, which is good for salmon and good for whisky. Will the Secretary of State use his muscle to ensure that a chain of small distilleries in my constituency and across Scotland can sell a wee dram to India, as well as the big brands?
Mr Speaker, I would like to draw t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Scotland
4 June 2025
Higher Education
The university sector is important for growing the Scottish economy, but so is tourism. Can the Minister enlighten me about the jet safari trips from Clacton to Scotland that have taken place, allowing former bankers to patronise the locals, miss the big picture and be back in England for a pint of …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 May 2025
UK-EU Summit
I suspect that even if there was a barrel of salt herring in it for every Opposition Member, this fishing deal would still not be salty enough for them. In fact, it is a sweet deal for prawn fishermen and shellfish fishermen in Na h-Eileanan an Iar, for salmon producers and for crofters, although no…
Commons
Oral Questions
Defence
19 May 2025
UK-EU Defence and Security Agreement
Will the Minister join me in congratulating the crew of HMS Dragon, which succeeded in obliterating a supersonic missile with a Sea Viper missile off the coast of the Hebrides? The Royal Navy hit their target thanks to the work of the MOD Hebrides range. Will he also congratulate them on their conti…
Commons
Proceedings
15 May 2025
Business of the House
Pupils at Leverhulme Memorial school in Harris, in the most beautiful constituency in the country, have won the top prize in the Eco-Schools Scotland awards. They are the most environmentally aware pupils on the planet, and when I visited the school they gave me a lesson on the effects of microplast…