Angus MacDonald MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Oct 2025 · Community Helipads: Rural Access · Hansard source

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  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 earlier this year during the debate secured by my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) on coastguard helicopter services. At that time, I pointed out that search and rescue helicopters are an extremely valued facility; I think everybody who has had any dealings with them would respect the quality of people involved. I have personal gratitude to them, because my wife was going along a ridge and fell off and was scraped up by Arrochar mountain rescue team and flown to Glasgow hospital, where they fixed her up—which was good news, she tells me. In addition, my father was involved in the Glencoe mountain rescue team for the whole of my youth. He said the search and rescue helicopters were probably the biggest positive change for saving people’s lives in the mountains, so this is a very important debate.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Community Helipads: Rural Access · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend very much. I do not think that many people in urban Britain know how important the ambulance services are to remote and rural areas, so her point is bang-on. Had that lady in Portree had a heart attack while walking to that helicopter, would we not all be shouting at the Health and Safety Executive, asking, “Why wouldn’t you allow the use of the purpose-built helipad?” We would all be saying that. We would have had another Derriford-type inquiry, because a helicopter landed on a boggy hillside rather than on the perfect helipad on the other side of the fence. I hope that I have articulated the reason behind my application for this debate, which was to shine a light on what I consider to be a bewildering anomaly of over-regulation. I have great respect for the CAA, the coastguard, Bristow and the Department for Transport, all of which have been incredibly responsible and helpful. However, I ask the Minister to meet me in person to discuss in more detail the issue that I have raised today, so that, hopefully, we can move to a position where it is resolved once and for all.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Community Helipads: Rural Access · Hansard source

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  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 Skye. The Portree and Braes Community Trust manage the helipad, not NHS Highland or anybody else. The helipad is a community venture; the trust raised the money and built it. It was set up 30 years ago and has been refurbished in conjunction with the coastguard, NHS Highland and other bodies, so it is very much an approved helipad. The ambulance can drive right up beside it; there are lights that can be turned on from the helicopter; it has windsocks; it is fenced off; it has special paint demarking the H—it has every facility one could want from a helipad. Despite that, members of the community trust tell me that the helicopter is not allowed to land on that H. It has to land on the boggy, wet hillside beside it. It is not allowed to use that helipad. That sounds quite extraordinary; I am sure everybody here is wondering why, so let me inform them. The aviation regulations have been updated, meaning that the helipad is no longer functioning for search and rescue. It is being used by air ambulance and other helicopters, but not by the Bristow search and rescue helicopters. Understandably, that is causing a lot of confusion and irritation for mountain rescue, the community trust and the wider Portree community. What is behind this? In March 2022, a lady attending an appointment at Derriford hospital in Devon was knocked over by a downwash from a helicopter and died tragically from a head injury shortly thereafter. Following that tragic incident, safety guidance was tightened—but in practice the new approach has gone too far, and has created a fear of litigation rather than a focus on safety. In April 2024, the Civil Aviation Authority published the third edition of its guidelines, “CAP1264: Standards for helicopter landing areas at hospitals”, which some Members may have read. In August 2024, following the CAA’s publication, Bristow helicopters undertook a thorough review of all helicopter landing sites and helipads that may be used for hospital purposes, to assess their compliance. The review highlighted that the majority of those sites were not compliant with the new guidance, and so Bristow withdrew from operating on the non-compliant helipads. Out of fear of litigation after the Derriford tragedy, Bristow insists that it needs legal authority to operate from sites that are not CAP1264 compliant. The problem is not the quality of Portree helipad; it is the red tape around liability and the ownership of risk.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  When the hon. Gentleman prepares his agenda for the next small company roundtable, will he ask companies how they are getting on with the 8.7% national insurance increase, and the total employment cost increase of 12.4% as a result of the Budget? That is four times inflation. I think he will be surprised how uncomfortable the answer is.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  Would the hon. Gentleman admit that what actually happened in the Budget was a transfer of 2% of GDP from the private sector to the public sector? That private sector is, to a significant extent, the hospitality sector.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  May I intervene, please?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  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 we are paying four times as much for energy as people in the city. Moreover, we in Scotland do not receive the same business rates relief as the rest of the UK. [Interruption.] I thank my Scottish National party friends, who are sitting next to me. Our staffing costs, including employers’ national insurance contributions, have increased by 12.4%. So we have real problems, and I must say to the Minister that all is not well.

• 14 Jul 2025 · Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution · Hansard source

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  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?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Artificial Intelligence: Scotland · Hansard source

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  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?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  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.

• 1 Jul 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  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 increased the rate of NIC by 8.7%, which, added to other measures, resulted in an increase of 12.4% in payroll for hospitality businesses like mine. That is four times the rate of inflation. The hospitality sector in my constituency and other remote areas faces additional challenges, particularly the cost of energy. Businesses that cannot access mains gas often have to use electricity, which is four times the price of mains gas. A hotel in rural Britain, whether it be in Cornwall or the highlands, would need to pay £100,000 to heat itself using electricity; using mains gas, the cost would be £25,000, and if it were in America, heating would cost £10,000. Environmental tariffs are on the wrong energy source. They are on renewable energy and not on imported carbon fuel mains gas. That is just so wrong. The Government declared that they are a growth Government; we now know that they meant growth in costs rather than growth in revenue. The impact of the autumn Budget was a 2% increase in the cost of the public sector and a 2% reduction in the private sector. It seems that the hospitality sector is bearing the brunt of that. I would say that the hospitality sector in rural Britain has not struggled more in my lifetime. Both the last two Governments have plucked the golden goose of hospitality so often that it no longer has any feathers.

• 30 Jun 2025 · Driven Grouse Shooting · Hansard source

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  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 friend, a senior politician, along the beautiful 30-mile single-track road along the south side of Loch Ness. The road winds through a patchwork quilt of well-managed heather moorland. It is lined with well-kept cottages, pubs and village halls. As we drove, I pointed out where I had stayed as a teenager, grouse beating one glorious August. I explained to my companion the extraordinary social role that shooting plays there. There were 50 folk from three generations together, many the descendants of those who have gathered there for the same purpose for two centuries. Back then, as no doubt today, the chat was great. We set off in a convoy of locally bought Land Rovers, ready to walk a dozen miles across the hill, with the beaters’ spaniels dashing back and forth in front of us. Interspersed along the long line were the gamekeepers: men and women from various estates nearby. Fit and strong, they are the pillars of the local community. They serve in the volunteer fire service, they run the village hall, and their spouses and partners staff the medical centre and pub. Without their children, the local primary school would close. The keepers are not in well-paid jobs. They earn a tenth of the income of a certain celebrity TV presenter who spends his time vilifying them. They do it for the love of the countryside, the wildlife, and the traditions of the land from which they hail. They know where the curlews nest, can identify a golden plover from 500 yards, and know how to restore a collapsed wall or lay a hedge. They keep the mink, rats, crows and other vermin under control. If they did not, our precious wildlife population would collapse. The founder of Curlew Action says that conservationists must choose between gamekeepers with curlew, or no gamekeepers with no curlew. Yes, there are a few unscrupulous keepers who, egged on by grouse-greedy lairds, kill raptors, but raptor deaths are at an all-time low, and there are bad eggs in every profession, as we MPs know only too well. The owners of the moors could take their money elsewhere, and buy yachts, or chalets in the Alps. Instead, they choose to pour money into our area for the love of grouse. Their passion results in good jobs in remote areas, and lots of spin-off economic benefits for caterers, fencers, diggers, drivers, gamekeepers and so on. Grouse moor activities also play an important role in reducing loneliness and mental health in rural areas. In the last 15 years, the big buyers of moors have been those wanting to conduct carbon offsetting by rewilding the land: conservation charities, corporates and wealthy individuals, almost invariably receiving massive Government rewilding grants, paid for by the unknowing taxpayer. Invariably, this involves the issuing of P45s and the loss of housing for the gamekeepers, some of whose fathers and grandfathers lived and worked on that same property. If we love our moorland, if we want to see our wildlife thrive, and if we strive for the economic viability of remote areas and good local jobs, we must keep grouse shooting going. Do not let urban MPs once more hammer us rural people without knowing the awful consequences. I conclude with a little ditty: “No more the keeper tracks the hill, His shotgun cold, his bothy still. The ghillie’s rod, the shepherd’s dog, Lie idle in the creeping fog. The red deer fall in bloody ranks, Not for food, nor sport, nor thanks, But culled like vermin, cast away, So saplings might have room to sway. No flight of grouse along the scree, Just silence now, for every tree. There is no healing of the glen, When land forgets the touch of men. The crofter’s roof caves in with rain; The keeper’s track turns wild again. The pub is shut, the school is bare— What future grows when none live there? So mark this truth in storm and soil: This land must live by native toil. Let birch and beaver find their place— But not at the cost of the Highland race.”

• 30 Jun 2025 · Driven Grouse Shooting · Hansard source

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  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 important role in stopping fires on moorlands?

• 24 Jun 2025 · VAT Registration Threshold: SMEs · Hansard source

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  I am reluctant to come in on the side of the Opposition on this issue, but I can tell the Minister that my constituency has never suffered as much in my whole business career as it has since the Budget last year. National insurance increases and related increases have absolutely crucified business up there. If the Government cared to come up to the highlands and come round local businesses with me, they would be in for a real shock, but I strongly recommend that they do so.

• 24 Jun 2025 · VAT Registration Threshold: SMEs · Hansard source

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  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 thing we can do that could transform the small business community is to increase the VAT registration threshold to allow microbusinesses to scale up. Has anyone tried to get hold of a tradesman recently—a plumber, a decorator or an electrician? I will use the collective word plumber, to make it easier for people of my mentality to understand. There is an army of plumbers —mostly men who work alone—who seem incredibly hard to get hold of. They tend to be older, they learned on the tools or at a technical college, and they are happy to limit their income to squeeze below the £90,000 VAT restriction. There are many who, looking for a bit of holiday money, might do a job on the side for cash. There is a real shortage of plumbers, joiners and electricians, in part due to the closing down of technical colleges, and the young pursuing non-vocational degrees while loading themselves with student debt. Historically and internationally, skilled tradespeople have been held in great esteem, although not so much in today’s Britain. We all know good tradespeople with a great client list and reputation, all of whom make excellent money and are their own boss. An early learn for all those people is that the VAT registration threshold is essential: they need to pay 20% beyond that £90,000. My key point is that these sole traders will not take on an apprentice or an assistant, because that would take them over the VAT starting point. Not being VAT-registered is a fantastic advantage for a person. He or she has a 20% advantage over competitors who have several staff. In addition, the sort of person who likes being on the tools is not the sort of person who would relish the additional paperwork of being VAT-registered. It is not only doing the VAT paperwork that puts sole traders off growing their business; it is the real burden of hiring people, the payroll, the contracts of employment and the HR responsibilities. We need to make it worth their while, so an increase of a few tens of thousands will not do the job. There are 4.4 million self-employed people in the UK; just think what a catapult forward for our economy we would see if only 10% of them were to hire a couple of people. I propose that the VAT starting level be increased from £90,000 to £250,000 for all businesses. If that happened, I predict that a massive number of microbusinesses would hire an apprentice or two, creating a pool of young plumbers getting trained. As the availability of plumbers increased, householders would get work done quicker, there would be more competition and therefore lower charges, and clients would be happier. Small businesses, having built up a bit of a scale with three employees, might then grow into a proper business with 100 or more employees, like Pimlico Plumbers. It is believed that my proposal would cost the Treasury perhaps £2 billion in lost VAT, but I am sure that HMRC would win out overall. It would get income tax and national insurance from the newly-hired and well-paid staff, and the bigger companies would start paying corporation tax. It would also reduce the tax-avoidance cash economy. In my opinion, the 20% difference in the change from £90,000 to £250,000 would be easily made up. Arguments are made that we should drop the threshold to zero and make all sales subject to VAT, but that would be a massive disincentive to people starting a business. The results of my proposed VAT change would be more people in well-paid employment, a gateway for the young into an excellent career, a solution to skilled trade shortages, a stimulant to the economy, and higher tax collected by the Exchequer—a win-win. Why would we want to incentivise millions of people not to hire youngsters, not to grow their businesses and not to pay more tax?

• 24 Jun 2025 · VAT Registration Threshold: SMEs · Hansard source

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  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?

• 23 Jun 2025 · Geo-engineering and the Environment · Hansard source

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  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 not on the carbon fuel. May I have her opinion on that?

• 18 Jun 2025 · Businesses in Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister acknowledge the disparity in energy price between rural areas and urban areas? Businesses in urban areas can access mains gas and pay 6p per kilowatt for their energy, whereas businesses in rural areas pay 24p per kilowatt for their energy. What a disadvantage that is for rural areas.

• 18 Jun 2025 · Businesses in Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  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 economy.

• 18 Jun 2025 · Businesses in Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  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 administration, and quite a lot do cash business in March just to get past that. If we lift the limit to £250,000, many of them would employ an apprentice or two. Some might become quite major. We would enable a junior level of people who were not particularly good at school to join the trades sector, in plumbing, for example. This is a fantastic opportunity if we want to take the foot off the neck of micro-businesses and would allow us to grow a worthwhile SME sector.

• 17 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  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?

• 4 Jun 2025 · Business Rates Relief: High-street Businesses · Hansard source

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  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.

• 16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  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.

• 29 Apr 2025 · National Wealth Fund: Opportunities for Industry · Hansard source

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  The domestic user of electricity pays 24p per kilowatt; the domestic user of mains gas pays 6p. People who live in urban Britain buy their energy for a quarter of the price paid by people in rural Britain. This is a massive problem, and I wonder whether the Minister could explain how the Government will address it.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Sewage · Hansard source

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  We have been hearing all about monitoring in one hour and the huge amounts of discharges. We do not have any of that information in Scotland as it is not a requirement for Scottish Water to release that and the SNP Government are not taking any steps to do so. We have no idea about the extent of the problem, but we know that it is substantial. Will my hon. Friend back me in supporting the cause for the Scottish Government to release the same information as there is England?