Brian Leishman MP: speeches

Speeches

• 18 Mar 2026 · Royal Mail: Performance · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair, Mr Twigg. I refer Members to my registered interests. I thank the hon. Member for Exmouth and Exeter East (David Reed) for securing the debate. “Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water”— I could not agree more with that quote, which was leadership pledge No. 5 from the now Prime Minister, then simply the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras, when he was bidding to become the leader of the Labour party. Public ownership really does offer the best solution for ending the managed decline of Royal Mail. It would put an end to the reductions in service provision; to the cuts to resources, including recruitment and retention issues; to the prioritisation of parcels over letters; and to the disgraceful imposition of low wages and inferior conditions for new starters in 2022. Postal workers across Alloa and Grangemouth are sick of their working conditions. Every day, they see a national institution being ravaged by private capital. No wonder morale is at an all-time low. We, as Back-Bench or Front-Bench Labour MPs, are here as trade unionists. What is happening to our postal workers is against everything we believe in. Our postal workers need us to be in this place for them. It is not too late for us to step in to stop the asset-stripping of Royal Mail and nationalise it. What would a Labour party in opposition say about the situation? I would put everything I own on that Labour party agreeing with leadership pledge No. 5.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Immigration Reforms · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair, Mr Stringer. My appreciation goes to the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart) for securing this debate. He has been consistent in defending human rights in his decades of service to this place, and he has my respect for that. When the country elects a Labour Government, it does so with certain ideas in mind: to lift people out of poverty, to improve public services, to offer genuine left-wing solutions for the problems the country is facing, and to show compassion to the most vulnerable people, both domestically and from across the world. That is why I vote Labour, and one of the main reasons why I joined the party. No one ever votes Labour with the desire to be tough on the weak and weak on the tough. But with its immigration reforms, the Home Office is being tough on the very weakest—the most oppressed people. The reforms do not represent the values of the Labour party that I joined, and that I am still proud of. We should always stand up for oppressed people at home and all over the world. That really should be a given. The feeling of perpetual review and assessment will cause no end of uncertainty. The change from five years to 30 months will negatively impact people’s ability to integrate and contribute to Britain. What a barrier to building a new life for people who have fled war, oppression and persecution—the sort of traumas that, personally, I cannot comprehend. This is most certainly not the route to making the country a more caring and more tolerant place. I honestly do not know why the current leadership seems to think there is mileage in copying the far-right ideals of Reform. Thinking that that is the route to gaining electoral success is incredibly misguided and in no small measure wrong. No one voted Labour thinking that we would make social media videos bragging about deporting some of the most vulnerable people in the world. It is beyond distasteful and it is dangerous, because this is a huge political and moral moment, not just for this Labour party but for this country. We all see that the far right is making headway across Europe. Fascists are already in power in Italy. France looks likely to elect as President a known extremist with a racist past. With the Government’s cruel reforms, we are trying to appease and pander to the far right’s lack of humanity. If it came to a vote, I certainly would not vote for the reforms, and anyone who would needs to have a look at themselves, and ask themselves the serious question of what happened to their humanity.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Immigration Reforms · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 17 Mar 2026 · Immigration Reforms · Hansard source

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  I appreciate it, and I will be quick. I understand what my hon. Friend is saying, but could he clarify what he thinks, with regard to Labour values, about the horrendous social media posts that we have seen, showing people being bundled into the backs of vans?

• 17 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. Prison officers are beyond frustrated. They want the Government to sit down with their union, the POA, to negotiate a fair and realistic pension age. We were told in this Chamber over a year ago that Ministers were waiting for advice from civil servants. What does the advice recommend, and does it recognise that for prison officers, 68 is too late?

• 12 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The sudden shift in steel import policy has created uncertainty for firms that have invested heavily in expanding their operations based on previously stable trading conditions. Will the Secretary of State commit to working with affected businesses in Scotland, including Central Rebar in Alloa, and provide clarity to prevent further disruption and to ensure that companies vital to the Scottish industrial base are not placed at a competitive disadvantage?

• 11 Mar 2026 · Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation · Hansard source

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  I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Having spoken with postal workers from across Alloa and Grangemouth, I know that morale is at rock-bottom because of years of savage cuts, and restructuring that has negatively impacted their ability to do their job. Does the Government accept that the erosion of the service and workforce morale is due to privatisation, and that an essential public service like Royal Mail should be under public ownership, for the public good? When will the Government effectively hold bodies like Ofcom to account, because its inaction and impotence is costing our constituents dearly?

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  It is interesting to note that, for the duration of this statement and the question and answer session, there has been zero participation from the SNP and Reform, which goes to show exactly how much both parties care about Scotland’s energy security. I appreciate that the Secretary of State will not be able to give an in-depth response at the Dispatch Box, but can he give any update on Project Willow at Grangemouth? Specifically, I want to know about the future jobs coming to the town and any potential Government ownership to secure our industrial security and Scotland’s energy sovereignty.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Palliative Care · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) for bringing the debate to the House, and for all the campaigning that she does. She is a force for getting palliative care the funding that it truly needs. Laura and Keith Turner and their daughter Kate are at the heart of the community spirit that makes Sauchie such a special place. The Turners shared the story of their son, Kate’s younger brother Calum, who was just 16 when diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma. No family should face what the Turners did with Calum’s illness. When the Turners were told that no more could be done, Calum made the decision that he wanted to pass away somewhere familiar—at home. The family did everything they could to make Calum’s final days comfortable and as peaceful as possible, but the Turners experienced a system designed for adults. District nurses and adult hospice services, dedicated as they are, are more equipped to care for elderly patients, not a 16-year-old boy. The sensitivity and understanding required for caring for a young person at that stage of life is very different from that required for caring for someone in their later years. While Calum had the bravery, attitude and confidence of an adult, he was still a child. Traumatically, the Turners waited more than seven hours for morphine, and were negatively judged for taking the decision to bring Calum home, but that changed when Children’s Hospices Across Scotland became involved. CHAS nurses brought dignity and understanding. They listened. They treated Calum as a young person, not as a patient. Crucially, they allowed his family to stop being carers and simply be mum, dad and a loving sister in those precious final days. Families deserve a system that recognises that young people at the end of life are individuals, with a unique set of needs. I ask the Minister to please listen to Calum’s story and invest further in palliative care, so that other families do not find themselves in the same position as Laura, Keith and Kate. There is not a pounds-and-pence figure in any budget that can be put on giving families the best treatment and comfort possible at the time they need it most.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Commonwealth Troops: First World War · Hansard source

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  More than 1 million troops from Commonwealth nations died in the “war to end wars”. My thanks go to my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) for securing this important debate today to honour their service and the service of their comrades who did survive the first world war. Anyone who has been in a secondary school history class knows that world war one was the result of hyper-nationalism growing across Europe, coupled with a passion for militarism. Armament is all too familiar once again today, with the perverse and absurd theory that spending billions of pounds more on weaponry than on housing, health, education and funding vital public services will be the route to improving people’s living standards. History shows that after nationalism and militarism, imperialism is likely to follow. Back then, European nations were vying for resources, colonies and the expansion of trade routes in Africa and Asia, so war was a certainty. History also teaches us that it is mainly nations’ working-class populations that are sent off to fight and die. In world war one, the working class, including from Commonwealth nations, were treated as nothing more than fodder; they were disposable. They were sacrificed for glorious imperial gain. Across two world wars, fanatical nationalism, extreme militarism and the pursuit of imperial supremacy accounted for more than 75 million deaths. We have had terrifying contributions from Members across the Chamber regarding the massive increase in spending to rearm the country. Do people not see that we are heading towards more conflicts, more war, more destruction and more death? The path that we are on will lead only to more suffering for the working class of all nations. War is a relatively easy thing to talk about, especially for people like me who have never served in a war in uniform. The respect and gratitude that I have for those who have and who do is enormous. Tragically, I find it incredible that the post-war consensus of trying to avoid war at all costs seems to have been largely forgotten.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Small Charity Sector · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for securing this important debate. When times are hard, the charity sector is always asked to do more. The unholy trinity of austerity, which made millions poorer, a global pandemic, which widened the inequalities created by that austerity, and the ongoing cost of living crisis has placed incredible demands on the charity sector across various communities in my constituency—I will speak about some of the fantastic charities that do so much. It was an honour to be invited by Andy Roxburgh and Johanna Wilkinson to celebrate the Wee County Veterans 10th birthday just a few weeks ago. That group provides camaraderie and companionship for veterans who find themselves back on civvy street. There is no doubt that the support that the group has given has saved the lives of brave ex-servicemen and women. The Sauchie Community Group has done so much for nearly 35 years. Laura’s Tiny Tots group gives children the best start in life; Anne always guarantees a warm welcome at Chatty Latte; and Keith’s recently formed history group preserve and promote Sauchie legends. There are also lots of other positive mental health activities in various musical groups, all of which are fantastic. The Sauchie resource centre is always busy. Love in a Box was founded by two ladies from Alloa: Sharon McCafferty and Margaret Douglas. They want every kid in Clackmannanshire to experience the festive season. They make sure that every child wakes up on Christmas morning with presents to open. Heading across the Forth to Grangemouth, it was a pleasure to meet Kirsty from Talbot House, who runs a lunch club for pensioners. Coming together to spend an afternoon in company over a meal and playing bingo is a social highlight for so many. In Larbert and Stenhousemuir, Keeping Larbert and Stenhousemuir Beautiful was originally set up to tidy green spaces and plant and maintain flowers in the community. Now, it also runs a food pantry for vulnerable people in low-income households. It is a vital community drop-in centre for local people to come and spend some time. Then there is the Carronshore heritage forum, a volunteer-led organisation dedicated to strengthening local community spirit in the village through projects, initiatives and events. For example, it is always great to see so many people come to the Christmas lights switch-on and for kids to meet Santa Claus. I thank the trustees, Craig, Colin, Stewart, Gordon, Robert and Davy, for inviting me along to serve up tasty dinners at the senior citizens Christmas lunch. It was commented that seeing an MP do an honest day’s work was somewhat refreshing.

• 23 Feb 2026 · Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill · Hansard source

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  There are pockets of Grangemouth with the deepest poverty in Scotland. Tonight in Clackmannanshire, 29% of children will go to bed living in destitution. Hunger and hardship are becoming more common. That is why I support the new clause tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell). It is obvious that four decades of de-industrialisation and the economic and social consequences that followed have been devastating for communities like mine. Of course, I understand that we cannot reverse 40 years of decline in 19 months, but we must be bolder than we have been so far, because delay will be lethal. Let us forget talk of stability. After 14 years of austerity, a global pandemic that exaggerated the inequality that austerity created, and a cost of living crisis that is making people poorer, stability just will not cut it. It is transformation we need. Truthfully, there is plenty of money in society; the problem is: who holds it? Through solutions like an annual wealth tax on the very wealthiest in society—those with assets of over £10 million—and the redistribution of that wealth into public services, education and health, we will improve people’s living standards and effectively tackle the scourge of poverty. Doing that will mean making very different political choices. Our Labour Government must meaningfully shift the dial on poverty in my constituency and across the entire country. We have to make those choices because, frankly, no one else will. There is no doubt that lifting the two-child cap will help many families in my communities, but we cannot stop there, as my hon. Friend the Member for Salford (Rebecca Long Bailey) said. Sadly, Labour Governments do not come round all that often. We have the chance to be a Labour Government who will transform Britain into a fairer, more equal place, which is what my communities, and others like them all over the country, so desperately need. Tonight, I urge the Government to do much, much more. I urge them to think of previous Labour Governments’ records on lifting people out of poverty, and the words of a previous Labour Prime Minister: we are a moral crusade or we are nothing. It is about time that we acted on those words.

• 23 Feb 2026 · Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review · Hansard source

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  When the Prime Minister came to power, promising to clean up politics, he declared: “Journalism is the lifeblood of democracy.” We all know that Labour Together helped to mastermind the Prime Minister’s rise to the highest office in the land, and that it stands accused of running an orchestrated campaign to smear and discredit journalists. I think the Prime Minister should be here in this House answering questions, but my prediction is that that day will come. In the meantime, does the Minister agree with me and an ex-founder of Labour Together that this is some “dark shit”?

• 23 Feb 2026 · Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review · Hansard source

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  I withdraw.

• 23 Feb 2026 · Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review · Hansard source

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  Please accept my apology, Mr Speaker. I withdraw the bad language.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. ExxonMobil has just closed the Mossmorran ethylene plant. ExxonMobil also paid out $17 billion in shareholder dividends. Scottish workers are being betrayed for corporate greed. Does the Secretary of State agree that we need Government ownership in vital industries, because private capital will always just look after shareholders’ interests and not those of workers, communities and national prosperity?

• 5 Feb 2026 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Genocide Risk Assessment · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber (Brendan O’Hara) for securing this debate and for so clearly and accurately setting the scene. The awkward truth for many in this Parliament is that genocide has occurred in occupied Palestine for decades, and the silence from the international community has allowed and enabled Israeli Governments to persecute and oppress the Palestinian people. It has emboldened Netanyahu and his murderous regime to commit the genocide that we have all witnessed in Gaza. Israel commits different types of genocide. Last November I was fortunate enough to be in the west bank, and I heard of the cultural genocide that is taking place, with students and lecturers unable to go to university because of roadblocks and checkpoints. I heard about the universities, colleges and schools that have been flattened throughout Gaza, with lecturers now giving classes in tents as makeshift classrooms. How on earth do we expect Gaza to be rebuilt when Palestinians are unable to be educated? Netanyahu’s Government have also by design crippled the Palestinian economy by impacting on Palestinians’ ability to trade, making them reliant on Israel for goods, produce and, ultimately, their very survival. Israel uses economic terrorism as a tool of subjugation. With the seizures of Palestinian farms, and by making it almost impossible for those who remain to trade, Israel impoverishes Palestinians. There is a concerted international effort to normalise Palestinians’ reliance on Israel to be the provider of lifesaving aid, while making it near impossible for Palestinians to be self-sufficient, driving Palestinians to starvation. As well as this collective punishment of Palestinians, another goal of this broader plan is to impose capitalism through the imperial project that the Israeli Government promote. That is all wilfully aided by western democracies. Shame on any Government of any party of any nation who have allowed and been complicit in these awful atrocities.

• 5 Feb 2026 · Road Safety · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) for securing this debate. I also thank Alan Faulds and Melanie Mitchell for inviting me to a Safe Drive Stay Alive event last week, where emergency service workers shared real-life experiences with local secondary school children about working at collisions and dealing with the aftermath of what has happened. As a parent, it was John Galloway’s contribution that I have thought about most this last week. John told the story of what happened in 2001 to his son, David, who was then an 18-year-old with his entire life in front of him. He was involved in a road traffic accident—one that was entirely avoidable. John detailed the accident and how David was hospitalised for two years, as well as the pain and heartbreak that John and his wife felt, and continue to feel. It was full of raw emotional trauma. David then came on to the stage in his motorised wheelchair, and John explained how he struggles with swallowing and must now be fed through a PEG—percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy—in his stomach. After the event, I had the honour of speaking with the Galloway family. The Galloways have been attending Safe Drive Stay Alive for nearly two decades now. They go and share their story because they do not want other families to experience the pain they have. Safe Drive Stay Alive costs around £36,000 a year to run—Clackmannanshire council provides £3,000, Falkirk council £5,000 and Stirling council £10,000. The rest must be made through donations from local businesses and individuals, and I give credit to Air Products, which has a site in Alloa, for getting behind the campaign and making a donation. The three councils are facing financial issues, and when we consider the fact that each road death in Scotland costs approximately £2.8 million, they feel that they might not be able to step up and fund Safe Drive Stay Alive going forward. We really cannot put a pound sign in front of that.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Armed Conflict: Children · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Stringer. My thanks go to my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn (Sarah Smith) for securing this debate. For me, the most depressing and terrifying departmental questions that we have in this place are Defence questions. We had a session on Monday this week, and it was no exception. There always seem to be questions from nearly every corner of the Chamber about increasing military spending: about more money for more bombs and more weapons—“Let’s make Britain a defensive industrial powerhouse.” Respectfully, if anyone thinks that the route to improving living standards for millions of people in this country is making drones, weapons and the like, I am confident that they are wrong. When we watch the news and see what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria and other places across the globe, do we think that what the world needs right now is more killing, more death and more weapons? I do not. I categorically think that we need less. When I watch the news and see children in warzones, sitting in rubble, traumatised, starving and orphaned—the victims of the horrors of war—I feel overwhelming sadness. But should we not also think about the weapons that have been used to create this appalling humanitarian situation? In Gaza specifically, we have seen parents carry the bodies of dead children. Doctors have come to Westminster to tell MPs about tending to children who have been shot in the head by Israeli drones. Millions of people have taken to the streets all across Britain to protest at the deaths of innocent civilians. Save the Children—not a fringe organisation—says that more than 20,000 children have been murdered. On average, one Palestinian child has been killed every hour by Israeli forces over nearly 23 months of war. More than 1,000 children killed were under the age of one, while at least 42,000 children have been injured and 21,000 have been left permanently disabled. During so many urgent questions and statements in the main Chamber, Foreign Secretaries have said that arms sales are a complicated issue, but thousands of children being massacred is not complicated.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Armed Conflict: Children · Hansard source

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  I am in complete agreement. I have said that many times in Westminster Hall and the main Chamber, and in the media as well. My hon. Friend is absolutely correct: there is no justification for arms sales to Israel. It is important to talk about that because, in the wider scheme of things, history will absolutely judge politicians in this place. Politicians will be judged on their complicity in this genocide by continuing those arms sales to Israel. Keeping global pools and supply chains stocked is no justification for killing children and other innocents. A ceasefire in name only is no cause for celebration because the killing has continued. This week alone, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 32 Palestinians, including several children. We must get our heads around the truth because it is important. The truth is that the genocide has not stopped.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Animals in Science Regulation Unit: Annual Report 2024 · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir John. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this debate. I add my appreciation to everyone he mentioned at the start of his excellent speech. I do not know of a bigger animal lover than my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) and I thank her for all the work that she does with her excellent APPG. As I said in a different debate yesterday, everything comes down to: “what kind of society do we want to live in?” —[ Official Report, 2 February 2026; Vol. 780, c. 17WH.] This topic is no different. Currently, we live in a country that tolerates and sanctions experimentations that lead to pain, mutilation, intense suffering and, ultimately, the grotesque and very avoidable deaths of animals in laboratories. Over 2.6 million scientific procedures involving living animals were carried out in the UK in 2024. That figure shocked me. It is utterly appalling. Like the Minister answering for the Government here today, as Labour candidates, we stood on a manifesto that committed to working towards phasing out animal testing. However, in 2025 it was approved that over 5 million animals would be used in experiments over the coming years. That simply has to change. In a debate last week I made an intervention regarding passing Herbie’s law. If we are going to meet our manifesto commitment, passing Herbie’s law really is a must. We should move towards more modern, relevant and human-specific technologies for both the animals’ sake and for people needing treatment or who will do so in future. As I said, it is a question of what kind of society we want to live in. The moral case is surely reason enough. It is basic human decency to know that there should be an end to animal experimentation. As with everything, for things to change for the better, there must be the political will to make it so. I implore the Minister and our Government to get behind Herbie’s law. It is the right thing for the animals, it is popular and by adopting it we would be making a genuine difference and change the country for the better.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Violence against prison staff is at intolerable levels, with more than double the number of assaults today than a decade ago, all while prison officers are expected to work until they are 68 years of age. Does the Minister agree that this is unfair and unrealistic, and if so, what are the Government going to do about it?

• 2 Feb 2026 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source

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  St Mark’s gospel says: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” With the political discourse of today largely focusing on blaming immigration for the societal ills our country faces, that commandment is sadly not in fashion. The Government’s proposal for pathways to settlement introduces a new 10-year baseline for people, including those granted refugee status, with time added or taken away for circumstances seen as favourable or unfavourable to the Home Secretary of the day. If someone was to arrive via illegal routes, that adds 20 years to the baseline, meaning it would be 30 years before they could apply for citizenship. Bear in mind that arriving by an irregular route is almost unavoidable due to the virtual nonexistence of safe and legal routes. It must be acknowledged that claiming asylum is a human right; it is not an abuse of any system. Proposals that differentiate between regular and irregular arrivals are unequal at their very core. Differentiating would create an inferior class of people, whose need for protection might well be internationally recognised, but whose long-term status is kept deliberately precarious. In a Scottish context, the Scottish Refugee Council has said that in Glasgow last year there were over 2,000 children from refugee families in temporary accommodation. Scottish local authorities are already at breaking point, with over a decade of underfunding—equating to over £1 billion these last 10 years from the SNP Scottish Government. We all know that children growing up in poverty has a huge long-term impact on life chances, health outcomes, our local and national economies, and the condition and functionality of our public services. I say to the Minister: Labour must do better than copying the right-wing parties and demonising immigrants and asylum seekers. This country does not want or need us to be some diluted version of Reform. Whether we are talking about immigration, welfare, education, the environment, industry, or all the rest, ultimately, the question is always the same: what kind of society do we want to live in? Do we want to live in one that looks after the most disadvantaged, vulnerable and destitute, or one that looks to scapegoat and point the finger at these people for the political decisions that have led to growing poverty and inequality? As a socialist, and someone who believes in the commandment of love thy neighbour, I know what I want my Government to do.

• 28 Jan 2026 · Animal Testing · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend; he is making a powerful case, and a very traumatic one. Does he agree that if we are really to fulfil our 2024 manifesto commitment and enable a transition to more modern, human-specific technology, we should introduce Herbie’s law without delay?

• 27 Jan 2026 · UK Bus Manufacturing · Hansard source

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  Good morning, Dr Murrison; I am delighted to serve under your chairship. I bring attention to my membership of Unite, and I record my appreciation for the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister) and for my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (Euan Stainbank), for securing this vital debate. My hon. Friend and I both have Alexander Dennis sites in our constituencies, and we have campaigned together, representing the interests of the AD workers from Larbert in my constituency and Falkirk in his. Of course, being MPs from central Scotland, we are sadly no strangers to big industrial issues. Scotland’s only oil refinery operated in Grangemouth for a century until last year, when it was closed by its owners—a combination of a multinational company owned by a billionaire and a company controlled by the Chinese Government. Eight miles along the M9 from Grangemouth is Larbert, which is my Alexander Dennis site. It is a huge local employer, and it is feeling the adverse effects of Chinese influence. It is a well-known fact that Chinese buses and batteries currently have a substantial share of the market. Alexander Dennis workers and trade unionists have laid out the realities and issues that British bus manufacturers are facing. As is the case in many different industries, China is now able to overpower more established economies, and the position of European nations in a global trade context has dramatically changed. Let us be clear: as a Government, we are not without power. Things can be done to help British business. The Government must be willing to intervene, impact and change the circumstances for British industry. It can be done. It was done, in December last year, when the Labour Government stepped in and saved the British chemical industry at Grangemouth. Our intervention saved 500 skilled and well-paid jobs on site, reversed the town’s industrial decline and boosted the local and national economy. That is the good that Government intervention does for British industry, British workers and British working-class communities. I say to the Minister that, sadly, Labour Governments do not come around all that often, so it is up to us to be assertive and to create, at the very least, a level playing field. In fact, why not make it more advantageous for British companies to do business? Where things are made matters, and “Buy British” and Britain being “Britain’s best customer” have to be more than political slogans. Things must be changed to make it easier for our companies to be competitive, and we know that the SNP will not do it. It is easy for them to duck responsibility and point the finger at Conservative Governments of the past who treated working-class Scots and Scottish industry with utter contempt. But we have had 20 years of SNP Government with zero industrial strategy. Equally bad has been their public procurement policy. If it is not buses ordered from China, it is ferries built in Turkey or Poland; it is NHS Scotland contracts going to France; it is Scottish Government cyber-security services being outsourced to the United States. Over £7.7 billion of Scottish Government expenditure—public money—has gone to foreign companies. Stronger for Scotland? The treatment of Scottish workers, including the bus industry, which we are talking about today, is a national scandal. In finishing, I say to the Minister: go back to the Department and be bold, be transformative and put our workers, our communities and our businesses at the heart of everything that we do.