Does the Minister really consider this a just transition? We have thousands of contractors arriving in the highlands. They stay in workers’ camps, and very few legacy houses are agreed. The companies are not employing local people, and this is all in an area with the greatest fuel poverty in Britain…
CommonsOral QuestionsScotland22 October 20252 contributions
4. What steps he is taking to help ensure that people do not pay disproportionately high energy prices in Scotland.
Will the Minister acknowledge the unfairness that my constituents in Skye, and indeed people all across rural Scotland and rural Great Britain, are paying four times as much to heat their houses using locally generated renewable electricity—often while looking at wind turbines outside their windows—…
Would the hon. Member agree that transmission line operators should consider the impact on local communities by leaving legacy housing, employing graduate apprentices from the area and not swamping local villages with workers’ camps?
CommonsWestminster Hall15 October 20255 contributions
I beg to move,
That this House has considered access to community helipads in rural areas.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I am delighted to be speaking on an issue that impacts not just my constituents, but pretty well the whole of rural Britain.
I spoke in this Chamber…
The hon. Gentleman makes a very valid point. Safety is at the bottom of it all, but I will be talking about over-safety in one particular instance.
I am always pleased to recognise the dedication of the helicopter crews, but there is one specific case I want to talk about, in Portree on the Isle of…
It is difficult to get a word in. [Laughter.] I am married; I know about these things.
I have 100 staff members in the hospitality industry in the highlands, and I can say that all is not well in hospitality by any means. Those who are not on mains gas are paying for electricity, by and large, and …
My son is a serving soldier, and he tells me that many are leaving the forces because of this issue. We are tens of thousands below our recruitment level. Does the hon. Member think he is right and that this is damaging our ability to defend our country?
The transmission line from Skye to Fort Augustus has been approved. Due to a technicality, the people along the route will be deprived of £22 million. Will the Minister take this up with Ofgem?
When the hon. Lady was on that Bill Committee, did she consider the fact that a large part of the hospitality sector in Scotland would have no business rate relief, even though businesses in the south could get it? It was a favour done for England and Wales, but did not help Scotland.
At the start, I declare an interest, as my children and I own a cinema, restaurant and big visitor centre in Fort William, employing more than 100 people. I was brought up in a rural inn and my brother has a brewery. I am steeped in the hospitality sector.
At the autumn Budget, the Government incre…
CommonsWestminster Hall30 June 20252 contributions
As we speak, there is a massive fire south of Inverness. All around that fire are the gamekeepers in that area. It is they who are controlling that fire, but they do not own that land. The heather has been allowed to grow long, lank and uncontrolled. Does the hon. Lady agree that gamekeepers play an…
Rural Britain, and particularly remote Scotland, is in crisis. The young are moving to the cities, the schools are closing, healthcare is being centralised and the cost of living is far higher than in the conurbations. Soon, our glens will be populated only by incoming retirees.
I took my townie fr…
CommonsWestminster Hall24 June 20253 contributions
Thank you for allowing me to speak, Mr Vickers, after I turned up late.
Few people can speak about VAT with such excitement as I can. I was UK entrepreneur of the year, I have lectured on entrepreneurship for 20 years, and I have mentored many early-stage businesses. I have concluded that the one t…
The hon. Gentleman mentioned the increase in the registration threshold from £85,000 to £90,000, which came after many years of it not being increased and is far below inflation. In your time in office, you did no favours for small businesses, as far as VAT is concerned. Would you agree with that?
I hope this is not too much of a diversion, but the Minister will know that mains gas is 6p per kWh, largely imported and certainly a carbon fuel, while renewable energy is selling at 24p per kWh. We cannot get the public behind us as long as the environmental tariffs are on the renewable energy and…
CommonsWestminster Hall18 June 20253 contributions
I wonder whether I can make the case for real support from the Government for community benefit from renewable energy. It is being proposed at a fairly modest level by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, but it is one of the biggest opportunities for rural Britain to transform its econo…
I want to make the case for a review of the VAT system. VAT starts at £90,000 and above, and I think that that level should be increased to £250,000. The UK has 3.1 million sole traders. Many of them do not want to grow above £90,000 because they do not think they are in the business of administrati…
If a woman goes all the way through to full term and then decides it is an inconvenience, does the hon. Lady still think that she should be covered by this legal protection?
I suggest that England is in an extraordinarily lucky position, because in Scotland we are not getting business rates relief. There is none for retail or leisure; there is some for hospitality, but only up to a point. The hon. Member should thank the Lord he lives in England.
May I posit the idea that what my hon. Friend is suggesting, and what the previous intervention was suggesting, is a slippery slope? It is an enormous concern, and I suspect that in a few years’ time we will see a very different Bill.