Alistair Carmichael MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Sept 2026 · English Whisky: Single Malt Definition · Hansard source

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  I am really struggling to see what the Government are seeking to achieve by removing the requirement for the whole process to be carried out on a single site. It seems to me that they risk confusing the definition for the Scotch, Welsh and Irish industries, and they undermine the investments that have already been made in the conventional model by other English distilleries. Are the Government trying to create a new market for a different product, and if that is what they are doing, should that not be reflected in its name?

• 8 Sept 2026 · Falkland Islands: Sovereignty · Hansard source

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  I do not know whether this is something I still need to declare, Mr Speaker, but I visited the Falkland Islands in 2003 as a guest of the Falkland Islands Government. They have never invited me back. It was apparent then that the principle of self-determination, on which we fought and for which British service people lost their lives, remained unchanged. I have seen nothing to change that view today. When the Minister speaks with the American ambassador, might she gently remind them that in 1982 the Americans were not exactly full-throated in their support of us at that point? It made no difference then and it should make no difference now.

• 3 Sept 2026 · Jackdaw and Rosebank Oil and Gas Fields · Hansard source

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  The Minister is surely aware that there is no route to net zero that does not go through oil and gas hydrocarbons, and that not exploiting resources on the UK continental shelf leaves us reliant on imports, which also has carbon consequences that must be taken into account. If we do not maintain critical mass in the supply chain in the north-east of Scotland and elsewhere, it will be more difficult to develop the next generation of clean, renewable energy—particularly marine renewables, which are being developed in my constituency. Finally, can she just remember that we are talking about two different commodities here? It is not helpful to speak about oil and gas as if they were the same thing.

• 3 Sept 2026 · Bluetongue Virus in Livestock · Hansard source

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  I remind the House of my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and also that my wife is a practising veterinary surgeon. What is happening was predictable because it was predicted. The Government were warned by the National Audit Office in June last year that they were unprepared for outbreaks of this sort. Will the Minister tell us what actions were taken by the Department following that? The priority for the moment must be getting a better vaccine supply and faster testing turnarounds, but then there are questions that need to be answered about the lack of a proper awareness campaign earlier in the midge season, because we will be coming back to this. Why is better information not available for vets and farmers? I vaccinated my stock last year. I could not even find out this year whether that was going to be sufficient, or whether vaccination would need to be done again. The Minister is right about the protection we get from vaccination. The second most important thing is reliable information.

• 2 Sept 2026 · Rewiring the State · Hansard source

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  The transition to clean energy could be an opportunity to build a different model that would, to use the First Secretary of State’s own words, end “overly centralised decision making and over-privatisation”. Development thus far has simply concentrated power in the hands of the big corporates and left communities feeling left behind and disempowered. In Shetland, we host one of the largest onshore wind farms in the country, but we have the highest levels of fuel poverty, and last year the developer SSE was paid £9 million in constraint payments not to generate electricity—that is regulatory madness. In this rewired state, will the communities that host renewable energy developments have control and get direct financial benefit from them?

• 1 Sept 2026 · Direction of Government · Hansard source

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  I welcome what the Prime Minister just said about strengthening farming. If he is serious about this, one of the first things he can do is ensure that our farmers do not have to compete with imported food that is produced to lower standards than we expect. On Thursday, the European Union will ban the import of beef from Brazil, because it is not satisfied that it is produced safely, and the USA, China and Norway are likely to do the same thing. Will the Prime Minister offer to our consumers and farmers the same protections that those Governments offer theirs?

• 15 Jul 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q4. Like others, I have always respected the Prime Minister as somebody who was in politics because he wanted to give service to his country, and he has earned our gratitude for that. In my constituency, those who volunteer as coastguard rescue officers also do so from a wish to give service to their community. In the time that remains for him in office, will the Prime Minister ensure that the money paid to them properly reflects the respect that they earn for their service?

• 9 Jul 2026 · Iran Conflict: Ceasefire · Hansard source

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  I am glad that the Minister made that point. May I welcome his acknowledgment and recognition of the implications for domestic industry of what is happening in the Gulf, especially for our food producers and food price inflation? The Minister’s Department has an enormous amount of expertise and knowledge. Will he give me some assurance that that expertise and knowledge is being deployed across Government so that we can mitigate the worst effects on our domestic economy, especially in relation to giving early warning of what is going on?

• 9 Jul 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I welcome the new Minister for farming to his post and welcome his willingness to meet the National Pig Association, and presumably the National Farmers Union Scotland pig sector, too. However, I suggest that the situation needs a bit more urgency than meeting in due course. There is a clear and present crisis for the sector, which is complex and requires action from producers, processors, retailers and regulators. Will he convene a summit of all these different interested parties and come forward with a package for help? Without it, we are going to lose the smaller independent producers.

• 8 Jul 2026 · Maritime and Coastguard Agency · Hansard source

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  Through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank Mr Speaker for allowing me the opportunity to ask this urgent question today, and I thank the Minister for his answer. As he knows, last week, we had more than 30 Members in Westminster Hall for a debate on these changes. I am pleased to hear that as a result of his intervention, the check-in meetings were postponed, and that the matters are now under full consideration. Is the Department considering the possibility of legislative change to deal with this problem? The House goes into recess at the end of next week, so can the Minister give the House an undertaking that those check-in meetings and this process of change will not be resumed during the recess, and without a statement first being made to this House? Since last week’s debate, I have been contacted by a number of full-time officers who have described to me a toxic management culture within the agency. I have been told of at least three whistleblowing complaints that were made to the Department in March. Despite the passage of time, the whistleblowers remain unclear about the progress of their complaints. Can the Minister give me some reassurance that those whistleblowing complaints will be properly and speedily investigated, and that a proper and independent investigation will now be initiated into the management culture within the Maritime and Coastguard Agency? Finally, information obtained under a Freedom of Information Act release indicates that responses to the MCA’s own survey show that almost 40% of CROs would either reduce the number of call-outs to which they respond or leave the service completely. That contradicts what Members of this House were told by the MCA. Can the Minister please explain why this information was not disclosed voluntarily by the agency? Will he now fully disclose the outcome of that survey?

• 8 Jul 2026 · Maritime and Coastguard Agency · Hansard source

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  (Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will make a statement on the management of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and proposed changes to payments made to coastguard rescue officers.