Angus MacDonald MP: speeches

Speeches

• 3 Mar 2026 · Small Charity Sector · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) on securing the debate. I want to speak briefly about mental health charities. Fundamentally, we have an enormous problem in the UK: the public sector no longer funds the mental health sector properly, and the charities cannot fill the gap. Almost 800,000 kids in the 16 to 24-year-old group are not in education or employment, and covid has meant that the situation is effectively becoming a national emergency for the young. We all see in our casework an enormous number of parents getting in touch about their children. We have a big issue. There is one thing that the Minister could do to help. My wife’s father committed suicide. He was a farmer in Northern Ireland. Without the charities that I know of, I think a lot more people who are contemplating suicide would take their own lives. I would like to mention the charities Ewen’s Room, Lochaber Hope, and Mikeysline in Inverness. They have one particular request. Unlike VAT-registered businesses, charities cannot reclaim the VAT they pay on essential costs, from maintaining their premises to repairing vehicles. Does the Minister agree that reviewing the VAT rules for small charities could be a practical and immediate step to relieve some of the intense financial pressures facing the sector?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Taxation: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises · Hansard source

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  The Scottish Affairs Committee is doing an inquiry into the viability of high streets. We heard from a professor at Glasgow University who specialises in the subject, and he made an extraordinarily convincing case that Amazon is basically being subsidised by the high street—that Amazon is being hugely undertaxed and the high street is being overtaxed. Would the hon. Gentleman support me in asking the Minister to look into that subject and the cost of whether it is actually killing the high street?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Rural Broadband: Installation · Hansard source

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  We have heard about the 78% and the 99%. In north-east Skye we have 3% gigabit availability, and in south Skye we have 4.5%. We are dealing with enormous levels of depopulation among our young, with the number of children under the age of 15 at school halving in the last 15 years. A large part of that is because the place is an internet desert. Can the Minister reflect on that?

• 7 Jan 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q6. According to the Office for National Statistics, 174,000 people under the age of 35 moved abroad in the year ending June 2025. In the highlands, the problem is especially acute: demographic statistics show that young people are not staying in rural communities and pupil numbers in schools are down by 40% to 50% in the past 20 years. Rural depopulation and youth emigration are two sides of the same story: lack of opportunity. We have a demographic crisis. What is the Prime Minister doing to ensure that the UK offers strong apprenticeship and skills pathways for young people? Does he agree that the SNP’s failure in Scotland, diverting away £170 million intended for apprenticeships and skills development, shows exactly what happens when opportunity is not delivered?

• 17 Dec 2025 · Neurodiversity in the Workplace · Hansard source

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  I left school at 16. I did extremely badly at school and seem to have been fine ever since, largely. It is now very clear to me that people who are neurodiverse in many ways contribute far more than normal people. If they were given a chance, they would succeed. Just 30 seconds on the internet produces the names Bill Gates, Greta Thunberg, Richard Branson, Emma Watson, Steve Jobs and many other people who have clearly excelled, all of whom would describe themselves as extremely neurodiverse. Employers should understand what they can contribute to an organisation.

• 11 Nov 2025 · Support for Dyslexic Pupils · Hansard source

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  It is an incredibly important subject. I left school before I was 17, and that was the end of my education. I have had a fantastic business career, I have written lots of novels and I am now an MP. That is despite no help at all from the educational system, and society as a whole putting across the message that people such as me at school are not on the same level as more intellectual people. The subject is close to my heart. Does my hon. Friend agree that society should better recognise people such as him and me, to help people get on with their careers?