Brian Leishman MP: speeches

Speeches

• 13 Jan 2025 · Firefighters: Occupational Diseases · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her answer. Exposure to toxic substances is an avoidable risk and every firefighter should have access to the resources they need to protect themselves. The dangerous nature of being a firefighter has also been amplified as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has had more than 1,400 frontline firefighter jobs cut since 2010, a reduction of nearly 20%. Does the Home Secretary agree that the fire service needs proper investment and a national body with legal standing to set standards on fire cover, training, equalities, and health and safety?

• 7 Jan 2025 · Northern Gaza · Hansard source

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  Thank you very much for that upgrade, Madam Deputy Speaker. In my opinion, there is no grey area to be had here: to sell arms is to be complicit. How can the Government realistically and honestly say that Britain is doing everything it can for a ceasefire and for peace when we continue to sell any arms to Israel?

• 7 Jan 2025 · Workplace Pay Gaps · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for bringing this important issue to the fore. As a declaration of interest, I am a proud member of Unite the union and the Community union. At the heart of this debate is the ongoing problem of inequality and, ultimately, who actually holds the power in our country, which has been the consistent issue that workers have faced for centuries. The truth is that our country and our economy has always been run for the benefit of the few—historically, those who owned the land and its resources, and the people who worked on it. Whoever controls that will have wealth; therefore, inequality is not a new phenomenon. If I may be permitted a little more history, the creation of the Labour party in 1900 meant that at last the working class and the trade union movement had an effective voice in Parliament. But for women, it took until 1928, when the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 was passed, to deliver them equal voting rights with men. However, pay discrimination for women is still an issue. To focus specifically on Scotland, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, using the Office for National Statistics annual survey of hours and earnings, has shown that women in Scotland can expect to earn an incredible £3,000 a year less than men. That gender pay gap rose from 6.4% in 2023 to 8.3% in 2024, up by 30%. While the typical Scottish male has seen their hourly pay increase by £1, a Scottish female has seen it increase in comparison by 74p: yet more inequality built into our society. That is sadly reflected when we look at local government workers in Scotland, approximately three quarters of whom are female. Local authority workers need and deserve a wage that genuinely reflects their worth and value to society. After 17 years of the SNP’s own brand of austerity, the Scottish Government must now invest in workers and the public services that people so drastically rely on. An article published yesterday described how a FTSE 100 boss’s hourly pay has now hit £1,298. That shows the gross inequality and unfairness that exists in workplaces. The huge disparity between pay for those at the very top of industry and their staff—those who generate that wealth—has grown bigger. We cannot look at pay inequality in isolation because, in the ongoing fight for a fairer society, multiple issues must be linked. In Britain today, as well as pay inequality, millions of people are in the grip of food poverty, living in substandard housing, in a society where, overall, many are victims of tax injustice. We are still a country where wealth and power continues to be concentrated in the hands of corporations and not ordinary working people. The truth is that the cost of living crisis has not gone away, but it is not a crisis for the banks, supermarkets, utility companies or individual oligarchs who have seen their wealth explode. Austerity and the cost of living crisis have been crises for the poorest, most vulnerable, the most disadvantaged and the working class. Thankfully, over the last two years the British Labour movement has led the fight against insatiable corporate greed and avarice. The collective power of trade unions as an effective fighting force for workers’ rights has thankfully been re-established. The fight for equality in the workplace and across society, just like the cost of living crisis, goes on.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Community Energy Projects · Hansard source

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  I declare the interest that I am a Unite the union member. Communities all across Scotland rely on the Grangemouth refinery for their energy. As closure looms, Unite has given the Government a plan that will save jobs, help hit sustainable aviation fuel targets and build new green industries for the future. It is not too late to save those jobs and achieve the just transition that my community desperately needs. Will the Secretary of State agree that the plan has great potential and agree to meet Unite to see what the Government can do to achieve a truly just transition for the refinery workers and keep Scotland’s only refinery working?

• 17 Dec 2024 · Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report · Hansard source

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  In the framing of my question to the Secretary of State, I first wish to say that I am appalled by this announcement. I have campaigned with WASPI women, as have many parliamentary colleagues, and this is an incredible let down for them. In my opinion, WASPI women certainly do not need words of disappointment and hollow statements. What they need is justice. Does the Secretary of State not agree with that?

• 10 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 bans prison officers from taking industrial action and limits trade unions’ ability to protect prison officers from attacks on their terms and conditions and wages. Thankfully, these fundamental trade union rights have been reinstated for prison officers in Scotland. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is time for section 127 to change so that workers’ rights are fully restored for prison officers in the rest of the UK?

• 3 Dec 2024 · Management of Public Finances · Hansard source

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  I declare an interest: I am a member of Unite the Union. The Grangemouth refinery costs £100 million a year to run, and its economic contribution to Scotland exceeds £400 million per annum. Unite has a credible plan to save the refinery and prevent thousands of job losses. Will the Treasury consider the plan, and meet me, Unite and the refinery owners to discuss its viability and Government intervention for the public good?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Hansard source

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  I might only be five months in as an MP, but I have heard every Government promise to cut red tape. The thing is, regulations keep people safe in their homes and in the workplace. There are organisations and people who should have faced a trial over Grenfell by now. The criminal process should have happened simultaneously with the inquiry. There is plenty of evidence—plenty of proof—but the survivors of Grenfell are still waiting for action and justice. When we look at Orgreave, Hillsborough, infected blood, the Women Against State Pension Inequality, Horizon and Grenfell, we see that the list of injustices that impact working-class communities goes on and on. These are shared struggles, because Grenfell is not about cladding. Grenfell is about how the state has repeatedly treated the working class with utter disdain and contempt. In reality, there has been a lack of urgency around implementing lifesaving changes so far. The inquiry must change things. Time is of the essence, because how many Lakanal Houses or Grenfell Towers must there be before things really do change? We can all talk in sombre tones in the Chamber, but why are people still going to their beds surrounded by flammable cladding tonight? Grenfell survivors deserve justice, and firefighters and every community across the country deserve a properly funded fire service with the equipment they need to save lives and keep themselves as safe as possible. For example, firefighters deserve proper decontamination units to reduce their risk of getting cancer while at call-outs. Funding, rules and regulations do save lives. Our fire service and our working-class communities across the country need to be invested in, not stripped bare, hollowed out and failed by the state.

• 26 Nov 2024 · Release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah · Hansard source

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  4. What recent progress he has made on helping to secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

• 26 Nov 2024 · Release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah · Hansard source

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  I thank the Foreign Secretary for his answer. Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, is in the Gallery today on the 58th day of her hunger strike in protest at the continued imprisonment of her son, a British citizen, whose prison sentence in Egypt ended in September. I am sure that the Foreign Secretary feels the same as me and understands that Laila wants to know that her Government are doing everything they can to bring her son home. Will the Foreign Secretary guarantee that the UK Government will put a hold on any new economic or financial partnerships with Egypt unless and until British national Alaa Abd el-Fattah is freed?

• 19 Nov 2024 · Food Banks · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this vital debate. Austerity is, of course, ideologically driven. It was, in the first instance, an assault on the most vulnerable and the poorest in society. As poverty grew, we saw a decade in which the wealthiest in society accelerated away from everyone else as they enjoyed tax cuts. Obviously, gross inequality followed. Areas such as my constituency have seen industry leave and low-wage insecure employment become the norm, with rising poverty and suicide rates, and decreasing life expectancy. Austerity has ripped the soul out of Britain, and has naturally increased food bank usage. After this ideological assault on the poorest and most vulnerable, a new target was needed. This was neatly labelled as the cost of living crisis, but really it was a continuation of the degradation of working-class people. To show how things have changed, I am 42 and when I was at school, if there was a classmate who was poor, it was probably because mum and dad did not work. Nowadays, we have the creation of a new strand of society—the in-work poor. That is a situation where both mum and dad work full-time jobs but still do not have enough to put food on the table. The scale of the cost of living crisis cannot be denied—rocketing energy bills, increased food costs, wage suppression and stagnation and out-of-control inflation. Austerity and the cost of living crisis have been crises for the poorest, most vulnerable and most disadvantaged and for the working class. It is little wonder that food bank usage is what it is. The Government cannot afford to tinker around the edges when it comes to what we do—we must transform society. The welfare system, as has been mentioned, needs to be changed. Universal credit is too low. People cannot afford the basic essentials needed merely to get by and to meet their basic needs for food, heating, toiletry and accommodation costs. The decline of local councils is well documented. It is local councils that provide vital public services. England has seen local councils declare bankruptcy, and that is a realistic possibility for Scottish local authorities. Bankruptcy is the result of councils eventually buckling under the strain of rising costs and funding cuts. Now is not the time for the Government to have limited ambition.

• 19 Nov 2024 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for securing this vital debate. The current humanitarian situation in Palestine needs to be analysed through a much wider historical lens, because the intense suffering being felt by Palestinians began many decades ago. The term “Nakba” translates from Arabic as “the catastrophe”, and it is a catastrophe that is felt by Palestinians as a collective trauma. The Nakba in 1948 led to approximately 750,000 people, half of Palestine’s predominantly Arab population, being expelled from their homes and having to flee their communities. Displacement is not a new occurrence for Palestinians. From the 1940s to the present day, ethnic cleansing has been continuous. It is part of the daily struggle of the colonised Palestinian people. Ilan Pappé, the Israeli historian, described it perfectly when he said, “Palestine’s blood never dried.” The seizing of land and possessions, the violence, the refusal to recognise culture and basic human rights, the imprisonment, the apartheid and now the blocking of water, food, medicine and, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) mentioned, even a fire engine donated by the Fire Brigades Union Scotland to the people of Gaza when they need it most—these are all examples of settler colonialism that sees removal of the local population through ethnic cleansing and a genocide. The international community, and especially the UK and the US in their November and December United Nations Security Council presidencies, must do more, and a lot more than the timid condemnation of the Israeli Government’s belligerent and truculent actions, which have inflicted death and destruction. We must let the world see just how special a relationship we really have by stopping all arms sales to Israel, achieving the release of all hostages, brokering an end to the killing with a lasting ceasefire, making sure that lifesaving humanitarian aid reaches those people in dire need, and by ensuring a safe Israel alongside a rebuilt, prosperous and free Palestine. That means a free Palestine that is not an open-air prison shoehorned into a confined area, but a real nation with its people free of the relentless Nakba and persecution that they have been the victim of for generations.

• 12 Nov 2024 · House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill · Hansard source

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  For the record, when we talk about more reform, it is with a lower case “r”. For many people, the other place in its current format embodies what Britain really should not be: it is undemocratic, it is unelected and—to touch on this only very lightly—it has had its fair share of controversial appointments. There is a suggestion of nepotism here and a dash of financial scandal there, not to mention a sprinkling of oligarchy. Therefore, it represents what a classist society of haves and have-nots can produce. As we know, some Members are there on a hereditary basis, and some are there on the whim and wishes of political leaders who, of course, have their own political motives for having them in position. It is also clear that the different regions that make up the United Kingdom do not have fair representation. The other place does not just have a geographical imbalance, but a gender one—none of which I care for. I believe that there should be an upper Chamber. In Scotland, we have seen some ill-thought-out political policy that has been financially costly. An upper Chamber would likely have prevented that with the benefit of added scrutiny. Like British society, the other place needs transformational change. What the Government propose is only a step in the right direction to what I, as a Labour party member, will continue to campaign for from within the party, which is ultimately to change the other place into an elected Chamber where class and privilege are not the entry requirements, but where talent and ability are what get you there.

• 29 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  Before I make my contribution, I apologise to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to the House for failing to mention during the Employment Rights Bill debate last week the financial donations made to me by Unite the Union of £7,500, and by the Communication Workers Union of £3,500. I appreciate that being a first time MP is no excuse, and I extend my sincere apologies to you and to the House. On that note, I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, where it also says that I am a member of Unite the Union, which I will refer to later in my remarks. There is so much to like in the GB Energy Bill: a publicly owned clean energy company, the creation of skilled jobs, reindustrialising communities and cutting household bills. It is a transformative and bold idea, which is to be applauded and to be proud of. Since coming to this place, I have heard it said—indeed, I have said—that a nation’s energy security is linked to its national security. GB Energy should eventually help with both those things and create thousands of skilled jobs. That is excellent. However, what about the jobs of the Grangemouth refinery workers, the same workers who are right now crucial to Scotland’s energy security, and therefore to Scotland’s national security? Those workers are nearing the end of their 45-day consultation process, during which the focus should be on how jobs can be saved and maintained for those workers. Recent comments include, “These workers will be okay and it will all be fine because they’ll get employment elsewhere.” If the workers have to leave, that will not help my community. Stopping refining does not help Scotland’s fuel or national security. There can be no doubt that my constituency will be much weaker for losing the refinery—job losses will run into the thousands. There can also be no doubt that Scotland will be weaker for losing the refinery. After all, Scottish Enterprise has reported that the economic contribution of the Grangemouth refinery is north of £400 million. Mark my words, stopping refining at Grangemouth and closing Finnart will have monumental consequences for all of Scotland. It will not take long for the pumps on forecourts all over the country to be impacted, and so too the public. Although this is not a problem of this Government’s making—the previous UK Tory Government and the current SNP Scottish Government have long since turned their backs on the refinery, and it was previous UK Ministers and Scottish Cabinet Secretaries who got us into this mess—make no mistake, it is our mess to clean up now.

• 28 Oct 2024 · Remembrance and Veterans · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to be given an opportunity to speak this evening as we look ahead to this year’s remembrance events across the country, and as we recognise the service and courage of the exceptional men and women who helped safeguard our values and freedom. My contribution seeks to commemorate some of the local effort from my constituency. Perhaps the biggest contribution of Alloa to the D-day landings took place at the now gone McLeod and Sons shipyard. The workers there laboured day and night to refit ships for war, including around 130 of the tank landing craft for Operation Neptune. Indeed, a message from their lordships at the Admiralty was sent to McLeod and Sons after the war, congratulating the entire workforce on their “magnificent effort during hostilities”. Over in Grangemouth, what was planned to be the country’s largest commercial airfield became a fighter base to defend against bombing raids. Once the fear of airstrikes had subsided, it was designated as a training centre for daring young pilots to learn to fly the iconic Spitfire. More than 60 young men from all over Britain and the Commonwealth, as well as from Poland, Holland and what was then Czechoslovakia, died as student pilots, along with some 20 ground crew who also paid the ultimate price while serving there. Today, a replica Spitfire on Bo’ness Road reminds us of their sacrifice, with thanks to the members of the 1333 Grangemouth air cadet squadron for their efforts in pushing for that memorial more than a decade ago. Veterans of our armed forces deserve not just our respect and gratitude, but our practical and meaningful help as they seek to find a place in civilian life. I commend organisations such as the Falkirk Veterans and the Wee County Veterans from Clackmannanshire. The bond among our military personnel extends well beyond service, and veterans’ groups such as those in my constituency play a phenomenal role in so many ways. There is currently a difference in opinion between the Royal British Legion and many in the veterans community as to the consequences of cutting the Armed Services Advice Project. Personally, I feel that the veterans have legitimate concerns about the removal of ASAP: some have told me that an in-person interaction with an ASAP adviser was the difference between life and death. On the face of it, I share the same reservations as many veterans, as replacing ASAP with a call centre could be a potentially fatal reduction in service provision, and I urge the RBL to reconsider. Over the last 14 years, this country has seen what happens when austerity takes hold and vital services are sacrificed. Everyone deserves better, especially our veterans.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Let me declare first that I am a proud member of both Unite the Union and the Community trade union, and secondly that I am even prouder that the Bill will positively transform thousands of lives across the Clackmannanshire and Falkirk council areas that I serve in this place. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) and my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) for their comments about prison officers. Under section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, prison officers were banned from taking industrial action. Correctly, the Scottish Parliament restored the right to strike in 2015, but today prison officers in the rest of the United Kingdom find themselves in a poorer position than their Scottish counterparts, in that they are not allowed to withdraw their labour. Section 127 has also limited trade unions’ ability to protect prison officers from wage stagnation and attacks on their terms and conditions, which has led to a recruitment and retention crisis and, naturally, to low morale. As in professions such as nursing, the police, the fire brigades and teaching, it is often the camaraderie of colleagues on the shift that keeps things going in a job that provides a vital public service that has been disgracefully underfunded. The state of our prisons is well documented. Ruthless Conservative austerity has hammered the service. More than a quarter of prison officers have left since 2012. Prison officers were not exempted from the Conservative Government’s raising of the public sector pension age to 68, which, given the physical nature of the day-to-day work, is obviously unfair, unrealistic and, of course, incredibly dangerous. Since that wealth of experience has left, violence directed at both officers and prisoners has escalated. The prison system is another mess that this Government have inherited and must now sort. Prison officers should have the right to retire at 60 or after 30 years’ service: it is just the right thing to do for employees. No one should feel like a disposable commodity that is there to be exploited and then discarded when every last ounce of work has been wrung out of them. It is also right that prison officers in the rest of the UK achieve parity with Scottish prison officers: they too should have a fundamental right to withdraw their labour.

• 7 Oct 2024 · Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage · Hansard source

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  I was happy to hear the Secretary of State’s words last week when he said that industries should not die, and the Government investment in Merseyside and Teesside is most welcome. Can he commit to the same level of bold and transformative Government action to retain the Grangemouth refinery workers’ jobs, as they face the prospect of redundancies and their industry dying?

• 12 Sept 2024 · Sir David Amess Adjournment Debate · Hansard source

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  I thank all hon. Members for their wonderful maiden speeches, especially my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster Central (Sally Jameson). I look forward to speaking to her about her career in the Prison Officers’ Association and the “68 is Too Late” campaign. It is an honour to speak in the Sir David Amess Adjournment debate. The warmth and respect with which he is spoken about is a measure of the gentleman. My contribution is neither light-hearted nor happy. The news that Grangemouth will stop refining oil in quarter 2 of 2025 is devastating. It is accurate to say that the mood music from the refinery owners has been pessimistic for some time, but even with the threat of closure that has been hanging over the refinery, today’s news is shocking. What is happening will be felt far beyond Grangemouth. It will reverberate around Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England—the areas of the UK that Grangemouth primarily services. Its closure will have an impact on all the constituencies there. I will give a brief history. Some 100 years ago, Grangemouth was the perfect location for a refinery. There was an abundance of flat land, a bustling harbour and, crucially, an already skilled workforce that was experienced in shale refining. It was one of the first crude oil refineries in the UK. It is currently the primary supplier of aviation fuel for Scotland’s main airports and a major supplier of petrol and diesel ground fuels across the central belt of Scotland. It also provides power to the Forties oil pipeline, bringing oil and gas ashore from the North sea. Although operations and procedures have changed over the century, a highly skilled local workforce remains a constant. I could detail the statistics about how the Grangemouth site contributes 4% of Scotland’s GDP and is a key piece of Scottish infrastructure, but while that is accurate and pertinent when talking about the refinery, I want to talk about the human side of the issue. When the refinery was known locally as “the BP”, there were social clubs and gala events for families. Grangemouth was known as Scotland’s boom town. The refinery, and specifically the workers, created a community that was industrious and working class, where the jobs were dangerous, skilled and highly valued. The Grangemouth refinery provided apprenticeships to local people, and the possibility to gain the experience and world-class qualifications that provided the opportunity of forging a career, a platform for self-improvement, and social mobility. For those of us who represent constituencies with social issues, which are often born out of industry leaving those communities, social mobility has become a negative journey, not a positive one. The comparison with the miners of four decades ago is clear. And like the miners of the 1980s who kept Britain warm, the refinery workers of Grangemouth keep Britain moving. What happened to the miners cannot be the fate of Grangemouth refinery workers. Over the past few months, the campaign to keep Grangemouth working has spread the message of extending the life of the refinery, investing in the workforce and making sure there is no gap that would see workers lose their jobs. I have stood in solidarity with the refinery workers, and I will continue to do so. Unite the union has said that it does not accept that the future of the refinery “should have been left to the whim and avarice of shareholders.” I completely agree. Energy security is intrinsically linked to national security, and for both to be in the hands of a foreign Government and private capital is inherently wrong, not to mention utterly reckless. The primary ideal of the Keep Grangemouth Working campaign is to extend the life of the refinery so that a truly just transition can be achieved. That is what should happen, and nothing will convince me otherwise. Oil will still be part of the energy mix for a while yet, and the refinery workers know that. They also know that oil will not last forever. They know that cleaner industries must come, and they tell me that they want to be part of a new green industrial revolution. They have so many of the skills that will be required for us to achieve net zero and make Britain a clean energy superpower, but if there is a gap between refining stopping next year and these new industries being ready, the truth is that the workforce will be gone. Workers cannot hang around and wait, because mortgages need to be paid and families need to be fed. Jobs must be found or talent will leave. The impact on the local community and the local economy would be enormous. The shops, the pubs, the restaurants, the hotels, the cafés, the bed and breakfasts and the snack vans would all suffer if the refinery were to close. As a Government, we must do everything we can. I welcome the steps that the Secretary of State and his team have taken with the announcement of £20 million of funding to support the community and its workers by investing in local energy projects to create new growth for Grangemouth. I have previously spoken positively about Project Willow and the importance of it being a joint commitment between both Governments to determine what the industrial future of Grangemouth will be, because both the UK Government and the Scottish Government will need to work together. The new working relationship that this Labour Government have with the Scottish Government has already shown its worth. I know how hard the Secretary of State has worked during the intensive discussions with the refinery owners to secure tailored support for the workers who are impacted and, along with his counterpart in the Scottish Government, to devise a plan that will help to secure Grangemouth’s industrial future and protect the workforce. I thank them both for showing what can be achieved when both Governments work together, but it is just a start. This Labour Government have done more on this issue in eight weeks than the Conservative Government did in 14 years. Today’s news, although shocking, has been coming. Truthfully, Project Willow or the like should have been done and delivered years ago. The workers and the Grangemouth community need action that leads to us creating something truly transformative and world leading at Grangemouth. Sustainable aviation fuels, low-carbon hydrogen and clean e-fuels—let us not rule anything out of the equation for the Grangemouth site. But we must act quickly, because time is of the essence. If we are to have a truly just transition, one that looks after workers and their communities, we must move with purpose and speed on determining the industrial future of the Grangemouth site. And Grangemouth must continue refining until these new energies are ready. There has been an environmental need for a green industrial revolution for a long time, and it has been discussed for ages, but now we see the social need for a transition to clean energy, and the need for that has been incredibly accelerated today.

• 11 Sept 2024 · Building Safety and Resilience · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her speech. We have heard fantastic maiden speeches today, especially from my comrades, my hon. Friends the Members for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) and for Edinburgh North and Leith (Tracy Gilbert), and of course my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley). Parents always want better for their children, and he achieved it by joining the Labour party. [ Laughter. ] A slow burner. I want to start by paying tribute to the victims and survivors of the Grenfell fire, as well as the wider Grenfell community. I thank the brave firefighters who go to work every day all over the country to keep our communities safe. Theirs is a genuine public service and their expertise and selflessness deserve more than just respect, starting with funding and investment to see them properly resourced at their work. The contributing factors to the Grenfell tragedy can be seen in constituencies and communities all over Britain. We see them every day when local authorities have their budgets cut and the services they provide are negatively impacted. Of course, it is not just local authorities that feel the pain of budget cuts. Our emergency services are no strangers to savage underfunding. In Scotland, more than 1,000 Scottish fire and rescue staff have left the service in the last decade. The Scottish Government have called on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to find £36 million-worth of savings by 2027—savings being the more palatable, yet misleading, name for cuts. Credit must go to firefighters and their union in Scotland, because they are protesting against the cuts that will see hundreds of jobs lost and fire appliances taken off the run. This relentless underfunding, whether to essential public services or in building regulations, leads to immiserated and impoverished communities that face heightened danger. The topic of this debate is highly relevant to an issue in my constituency, as 102 domestic properties in Clackmannanshire have been identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, including roughly 2% of the council’s housing stock. Last October, 30 homeowners in Tillicoultry received a knock on their door informing them that they had just two hours to gather their belongings and evacuate their property. I can only imagine the stress that those people must have felt. Understandably, the confusion they felt at such news meant that many left behind important documents such as driving licences and passports, as well as personal belongings and precious family heirlooms on which, frankly, a monetary price cannot be put. Nearly a year on, those homeowners still have not been granted access to retrieve their possessions. Among the residents impacted by RAAC, I met a couple who had lived in their flat for 40 years. This hard-working couple had achieved the dream of home ownership; when they finally paid off the mortgage on their ex-council flat, they described it as a moment of immense pride and achievement. Those emotions have been replaced with anxiety, despair and, in no small measure, anger—anger at the insurance companies that told residents that there was no obligation to cover such things, as they said that RAAC is not a named peril or insured cost. After evacuation, some of the homeowners found themselves placed in hotels. Some chose to stay with family or friends. Some had to present as homeless and be relocated to Clackmannanshire council’s temporary accommodation. Some were relocated to bed and breakfast accommodation in Kirkcaldy in Fife, a town 31 miles away from Tillicoultry. What a situation to be in for those homeowners who work locally, have children in school or look after elderly relatives. Nearly a year on and those constituents live a life in limbo: some are leading a nomadic existence, going from property to property; some feel like a burden on their friends and family; some tell me their physical and mental health has suffered; and some have told me that they are staring into the abyss, that their golden years of retirement have been snatched away because of the financial impact of what has happened to them. But all of them are united by the anguish of not having somewhere to put down roots and call home. The ever-reducing budgets provided to local authorities are likely to mean that the solution my RAAC-impacted constituents will have to be a collaborative effort. To reiterate, Clackmannanshire council, like so many local authorities, as well as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, know about budget cuts. With housing being a devolved matter and the Scottish Government announcing half a billion pounds’ worth of cuts only last week, I fear the Scottish Government will not right this wrong either. I say that with no criticism of the Scottish Government. My constituents do not want finger-pointing; they want action. I warmly welcome the resetting of the relationship between the Scottish Government and this Labour Government. This new positive working relationship is exactly the approach my constituents from Tillicoultry will need for them to receive the equitable solution and justice they deserve. With that, I hope the Minister will meet me to discuss possible solutions to the benefit of my constituents.

• 11 Sept 2024 · Building Safety and Resilience · Hansard source

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  I am sure the Minister will remember from my speech the harrowing story of my constituents from Tillicoultry who have suffered, and continue to suffer, from the horrible mental and physical impact of being evacuated from their homes at such short notice. Will he agree to meet me to discuss possible solutions for my constituents, bearing in mind the resetting of relationships between this Labour Government and the Scottish Government and the fact that housing is a devolved issue?

• 26 Jul 2024 · Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower · Hansard source

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  Regarding the potential closure of the Grangemouth refinery, the Just Transition Commission recently said that the UK Government have taken positive steps in working collaboratively with the Scottish Government. There is no doubt that we are behind schedule because of the previous Government’s inaction. Will my hon. Friend provide an update on when the Grangemouth future industry board leadership forum will next meet?

• 23 Jul 2024 · Immigration and Home Affairs · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam); I am sure many of us will find him a very hard act to follow. I congratulate all the hon. Members who have made their opening contributions to this Chamber. I have listened intently and been impressed by their passionate delivery and the personal content they have shared. At the outset of my speech, I would like to thank my family for the encouragement and strength they have given me on my journey to this place. Without their unwavering support, I would not have become a local councillor and then an MP. It is with gratitude, and with enormous pride at being elected as the first ever Member of Parliament for Alloa and Grangemouth, that I take my turn to address the Chamber. I also take this opportunity to highlight my respect for all the candidates who were on the ballot paper. I admire anyone who wants to dedicate themselves to public service, and I pay special tribute to Mr John Nicolson. Those hon. Members who were re-elected to this place a few weeks ago will all know that Mr Nicolson’s sartorial elegance was matched by his trademark eloquence in this Chamber and in representing the constituents he served with great distinction. With the Forth running through Alloa and Grangemouth, many people on both sides of the river felt it was not a natural constituency, but when we look at the communities and towns that make it up, our new constituency makes perfect sense. Clackmannanshire, being the smallest county in Scotland, is affectionately known as “the wee county,” but be under no illusion: although it is small in size, it is mighty in its industrial heritage. Industry is a tradition that stretches right across our constituency. Alva and Tillicoultry were the home of luxury woollen mills. Both run along the foot of the impressive and beautiful local hills, as does Menstrie, the westernmost village of the three, which is synonymous with yeast manufacturing —vital, of course, for one of Scotland’s national drinks. Indeed, alcohol production has been a fixture in Alloa for decades, and it was once regarded as Scotland’s brewery town, but sadly nowadays only a few remain. Crossing the Forth, we leave Scotland’s brewery town behind and come to Grangemouth, which was once known as Scotland’s boom town. The Grangemouth refinery started operating in 1924. This being the centenary year means that it should really be a time of great celebration, but it has been announced that refining oil in Grangemouth is to stop—possibly as soon as May 2025. What happens next to the Grangemouth refinery will reverberate around all our constituencies. Oil will be part of the energy mix for years to come—that is a fact—but we also know that we need to accelerate the cleaner, greener energy industries that will combat climate issues, lower our bills, increase national security and reindustrialise communities. The term “just transition” has entered the modern lexicon, but many people I spoke with while out campaigning did not know what it actually means. It simply means moving from one industry to another without leaving workers and their communities behind to deal with devastating economic and social consequences. Historically, many workers in Alloa and Grangemouth have been victims of deindustrialisation and so-called market forces in a system that has valued profits over people and created a society of gross inequality. We are at a crossroads. We know what will happen if Grangemouth stops refining before a new industrial cluster is ready. It would mean that hundreds of workers lose their jobs, workers and families have to leave their communities in search of work, and the pubs, cafés and shops of Grangemouth all lose custom. Allowing a gap between ceasing refining and the new greener energies being operational is as unfair as it is unpalatable. Grangemouth cannot go from being boom town to ghost town. In the past few weeks, my Government colleagues have engaged with the union, the companies involved with the refinery and the Scottish Government, and we are committed to exhausting all possibilities of making Grangemouth the site that we all need it to be. My constituency is called Alloa and Grangemouth, but it is also my honour to represent Larbert, Stenhousemuir and many surrounding villages across both the Falkirk and Clackmannanshire council areas. As a football fan, it would be remiss of me not to mention one of Sauchie’s favourite sons: multiple European cup winner, Scottish internationalist and respected pundit Alan Hansen. I know that the House will join me in expressing relief at his recovery from a recent health scare. It would also be remiss of me not to congratulate Stenhousemuir football club—the Warriors—on their league championship win last season. I am very much looking forward to the Alloa and Grangemouth constituency derby between Alloa Athletic and Stenhousemuir FC in league one next year. On the subject of sport, before coming to this place I was a golf professional. It might not seem it at first, but being a golf professional has transferable skills for being an MP. The building of relationships, the creation of rapport, serving people and trying to improve things for them are skills that will stand me in good stead in this place—also, working in golf for 23 years has got me used to dealing with Tories. Working in golf was fantastic: it took me to places that I would never have been and allowed me to speak with people I would never have met. We truly are richer when we encounter people from other parts of the world and learn about their culture and customs. That applies not just when we go to different places; it also benefits us here in Britain when we welcome people into our communities. Our communities need action that improves people’s lives and gives them not just hope but the route out of struggle. Rest assured, I will work with local businesses, charities and third-sector organisations in my constituency, and with UK Government colleagues and counterparts from the Scottish Government, to deliver the change that people need. I know that my voice carries the necessary weight to bring about that change—not because of who I am, but because of the position I hold. The people of Alloa and Grangemouth have given me the responsibility to use my voice, and I intend to do so for the benefit of everyone from every community across the constituency that I am so proud to represent.

• 18 Jul 2024 · Clean Energy Superpower Mission · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for the constructive manner in which he and the Government have approached the vital issue of the Grangemouth refinery, which is crucial to life in my constituency. Can he confirm that the UK Government will be tenacious and resolute in seeking an industrial future for the Grangemouth site? Will he agree to meet me to discuss potential options for its future?