Alan Gemmell MP: speeches

Speeches

• 17 Jun 2026 · Job Creation · Hansard source

  More

  9. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help create new jobs in Wales.

• 17 Jun 2026 · Job Creation · Hansard source

  More

  Universities in Wales and Scotland are engines of job creation through the crucial role they play in fostering innovation. Will the Minister please update the House on what the UK Government are doing to fuel innovation in Welsh universities?

• 17 Jun 2026 · National Security (State Threats) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  May I put on record my thanks to the Home Secretary and the team for the speed with which they have addressed the major issues in the Bill? I also thank the Home Secretary for making it clear on Second Reading that the Bill’s provisions will not apply to humanitarian organisations.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Defence Investment Plan · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend may know that Aeralis, a British aerospace company seeking to develop a replacement for the Red Arrows, has gone into administration, and the company is in part blaming the delays to the defence investment plan for that terrible outcome. I thank my hon. Friend for the time he has taken with me, looking for opportunities to invest defence spend in my constituency, but can he do more to ensure that the defence investment plan creates good-quality jobs across the country?

• 8 Jun 2026 · Cuba: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Minister for his response. The situation in Cuba is very worrying. Can he set out what the UK Government are doing to ensure that aid reaches those who need it?

• 2 Jun 2026 · Relationship between Social Security Scotland and the DWP · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) on the debate she has had tonight. I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Elaine Stewart) on her new position in the Department. Does the Minister agree that at £600 million—or the cost of 5,000 motorhomes—the set-up of Social Security Scotland is a national scandal?

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Minister for his statement. I am proud to be part of the Labour Government who took the historic decision to recognise the state of Palestine. However, the prospect of a single, unified Palestinian state is now under enormous pressure from the expansion of illegal settlements. Does the Minister agree that anyone who wishes to have a just and lasting peace in the middle east must oppose settlement expansion?

• 20 May 2026 · Defence Readiness · Hansard source

  More

  I put on record my support and recognition of the bold and principled speech by my right hon. Friend the Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) earlier today. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) for his support of the Government’s defence agenda. Does he share my deep disappointment that British manufacturing scale-up Aeralis has gone into administration? Aeralis was potentially about to create the UK’s replacement to the Red Arrows’ Hawk jet, and with its loss, we may see our beloved Red Arrows no longer being British.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Arctic Security · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Foreign Secretary for setting out the UK’s position that the future of Greenland is for the people of Greenland and the Danes to decide. It is not right that one of our closest and oldest allies is threatening us with economic sanctions, so I have two questions for the Foreign Secretary. First, how will she explain to the US Administration our interests and our actions at this time, and stop the sanctions and resolve the situation? Secondly, building on the excellent question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah), might the Foreign Secretary take an interest in the Franco-British fast jet replacement programme and a company called Aeralis, so that we do not have to rely on an American solution?

• 14 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Secretary of State for the announcement of £11 million of local growth funding for Ayrshire. Ayrshire boasts internationally successful businesses in the engineering, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defence and energy sectors, and I have been working with my excellent Ayrshire colleagues and the Ayrshire chambers of commerce to ask businesses what more we can do to grow the economy. Does the Secretary of State agree that we must support Ayrshire’s most successful sectors and ensure this region plays its part in growing Scotland’s economy?

• 14 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

  More

  2. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support economic growth in Scotland.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Venezuela · Hansard source

  More

  The UK’s overriding interest should be to maintain international law, keep as many countries as possible in the global rules-based order and ensure that what has happened in Venezuela is not a gift to Russia or China. Is the Foreign Secretary sure that we can maintain our position at the Security Council and promote our values, our interests and the rules-based order?

• 11 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

  More

  11. What steps his Department is taking to help create economic growth.

• 11 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

  More

  My constituency is home to NATS—the good kind, helpfully, because NATS is the UK’s leading provider of air traffic control services. It employs 5,000 people around the country and 500 in Central Ayrshire, and exports its world-class expertise around the world. Will the Minister meet me to discuss that great British success story and how we can continue to champion it?

• 9 Dec 2025 · Illegal Migrants: Unknown Whereabouts · Hansard source

  More

  Is that allowed?

• 9 Dec 2025 · Illegal Migrants: Unknown Whereabouts · Hansard source

  More

  You have a responsibility to be an adult!

• 3 Dec 2025 · Pension Schemes Bill · Hansard source

  More

  Will my hon. Friend allow me to put on the record my thanks to my constituent Patricia Kennedy and the pre-1997 pensions justice campaign for asking for exactly what she suggests? The Minister has taken a brave decision on the Pension Protection Fund pensions, and we should try to do that now for those pre-1997 pensioners.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Power Station: Wylfa · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the Minister on the announcement and the thousands of jobs that it will create. Is he as disappointed as I am in the SNP’s immature stance on new nuclear in Scotland that would mean that communities like mine in Ayrshire, where we have Hunterston, would not have access to thousands of new jobs? Is there anything that the Minister could do to change the SNP’s mind, short of a stonking Scottish Labour victory next year?

• 11 Sept 2025 · UK Ambassador to the US: Appointment Process · Hansard source

  More

  I associate myself with hon. Members’ condolences and concerns about my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson). I thank the Minister for his statement. I too am disgusted and appalled by Epstein’s actions, and my thoughts are with the victims of his crimes. Will the Minister confirm that we have an excellent deputy ambassador in Washington, who will ensure that our mission continues and that next week’s visit will go ahead?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Aviation Sector Support · Hansard source

  More

  10. What steps she is taking to support the aviation sector.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Aviation Sector Support · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Minister on his new position. I spent the weekend in the bonny town of Ayr for the Ayr show, celebrating the aviation sector’s contribution to my constituency and the wider west of Scotland economy. That contribution includes companies such as BAE, Collins Aerospace, GE Caledonian, NATS, Spirit AeroSystems and Woodward, the turnaround of Prestwick airport, and the commitment of defence scale-up Aeralis to build the first British-built jet in 50 years at Prestwick. Does the Minister agree that we need to continue to support our aviation sector to create well-paying jobs at Prestwick and across the UK?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Supporting Scottish Agriculture · Hansard source

  More

  Does the Minister agree that Scottish agriculture, salmon and distilleries like Lochlea in my constituency will benefit from our three trade deals? Can she work out why the SNP failed to support them?

• 7 Jul 2025 · Pension Schemes Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Minister for giving way and the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for raising this issue. What will the Bill do for my constituent Patricia Kennedy and the members of the Hewlett Packard Pension Association who are asking for more action on their pre-1997 non-index-linked contributions.