Chris Kane MP: speeches

Speeches

• 10 Jun 2026 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  1. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support economic growth in Scotland.

• 10 Jun 2026 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  UK Government funding is transforming a former Ministry of Defence site in Stirling into a major film studio, creating opportunities for skilled jobs, innovation and growth across Scotland’s screen sector. As this industry is international and relies on a skilled workforce to thrive, a joined-up approach across Government is vital. The funding unlocks the site, but what discussions is the Secretary of State having with the Scottish Government, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and local partners to ensure that my constituency has the skills, infrastructure and support needed to maximise the opportunity? Will he join me in visiting the site to see its potential at first hand?

• 28 Apr 2026 · Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges · Hansard source

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  A referral to the Privileges Committee, particularly involving a Prime Minister, should be rare. The bar should be high, because we have so many other processes available to us in this place, and with this issue, many of those processes are already in action. The Foreign Affairs Committee, excellently chaired by my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), is taking evidence and will report in due course. The Humble Address from this House has put a process in place to ensure transparency, and the Government are complying with it. Then there is attendance in this Chamber. I have no doubt that the Prime Minister will continue to make himself available here, as he has done in recent weeks through statements and at Prime Minister’s questions, both because it is right and because the processes of this House require it. Let us be honest about the timing. Bringing this motion forward one week before elections is political. I do not criticise that—it is part of the system we operate in—but we should be clear about it. I have been reflecting this week on the concept of pressure. We have heard from senior civil servants that there was pressure to proceed with the appointment of Peter Mandelson before vetting had concluded. They have not said that the pressure was inappropriate; they have said simply that it existed. For his part, the Prime Minister has been clear: he has said that this was the kind of pressure that exists in any high-performing environment where decisions need to be made and progress needs to happen. That is very different from pressure to do something that you are not comfortable with. I suppose the truth is that my experience of pressure is not the same as the Prime Minister’s—a degree of recalibration is required on my part. I am a member of the Public Accounts Committee, and we apply pressure to senior civil servants every week. We expect them to account for their decisions, often in difficult circumstances and under public scrutiny. Time and again, I am struck by their professionalism and ability to handle that pressure, and I am equally struck by the Prime Minister’s ability to do the same. Whether it is at Prime Minister’s questions or in extended sessions such as the one we held last week, when the Prime Minister answered questions for more than two hours, that level of scrutiny is constant and unrelenting. In my time in this House, I have never known the Prime Minister to act in anything other than good faith. He is focused, serious and determined to deliver in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Is he perfect? Of course not—none of us is. His is an almost impossible job in turbulent times, but that is the nature of government. The public elect a Government and give them time to govern. That requires consistency, judgment and, at times, the ability to change course as circumstances demand. It does not require abandoning the course entirely at the first sign that another ship looks to be sailing more smoothly. We are quite clearly in the middle of a storm. It is not a passing squall, but sustained, difficult conditions—economic pressure, global instability and challenges at home that have been building for years. In those circumstances, what matters is not whether the sea is calm, but whether the vessel is seaworthy and whether the person at the helm knows how to navigate. No ship is perfect—there will always be repairs to make, adjustments to take and decisions that, with hindsight, might have been handled differently—but abandoning a ship mid-storm or trying to sink it is a risk. We may find another ship that is sailing in different waters and under different conditions, but let us be honest: the same storm is heading its way. The real question is not whether things are perfect, but whether we have a vessel that can withstand the conditions and a captain who can steer it. When I look across the Chamber, I do not see credible alternatives ready to take us through what lies ahead. On one side, we have a Conservative approach that too often feels like a ship designed for a different age—a wooden ship that is not equipped for the realities of the world we now live in. It is a vision that looks backward, rather than forward. On the other side, I see the SNP. If it cannot reliably build and run the ferries that connect its own communities, that raises serious questions about its readiness to navigate a much bigger journey. The SNP’s is less of a fully equipped vessel and more like something assembled for the appearance of movement, rather than the reality.

• 28 Apr 2026 · Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges · Hansard source

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  To finish my metaphor—not about the SNP—we must hold steady, make the adjustments needed and focus on getting safely to better conditions. That is the task in front of us, and that is why I will support the Prime Minister to continue doing the job that he was elected to do, keep a steady hand on the tiller and guide the country through challenging times. I urge colleagues to do the same. In the end, this is about stability, seriousness and leadership, and that is what this country needs. Today’s motion feels to me like a distraction from that mission, so I urge colleagues across the Chamber to vote against it.

• 22 Apr 2026 · Mountain Rescue · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. In Stirling and Strathallan we are served by three outstanding teams: Lomond Mountain Rescue Team, based in Drymen; Killin mountain rescue, operating from Killin and Callender; and Ochils mountain rescue, operating from a neighbouring constituency, but also on the hills that dominate the backdrop of the city of Stirling. Those teams are made up of highly trained volunteers—people with jobs, families and everyday lives—who are ready to respond at a moment’s notice, often in the most difficult conditions and terrain in the country. Such teams are not an add-on to the emergency services; they are the emergency services in certain areas. They have the medical training to treat people on the mountain, but crucially they are the only ones who can get them off the mountain, to safety and further treatment. I want to talk about some specific issues that have been raised through the volunteer rescue services all-party parliamentary group. The steps the Government are taking to regulate independent medical care at temporary sporting and cultural events are welcome and necessary. But mountain rescue teams are not properly part of the conversation, and are perhaps being unintentionally captured by an approach that was never designed with them in mind. The consequences, as we have heard, can be significant. These teams are facing new layers of bureaucracy, increased administrative requirements and potential financial liabilities that simply do not sit easily with a volunteer model. As we have heard, the reality is that many teams are now considering stepping back from providing event cover altogether. That matters for two reasons. First, those events are a key source of fundraising for teams that rely heavily on public support to fund their operations. Secondly, it has an impact on public safety. If mountain rescue is not present at events, it is no longer able to provide immediate care. Instead, it is called out later, often when situations have become more serious. Some 10% to 15% of the UK’s geography is such that mountain rescue is the primary emergency service, because the police, ambulance and fire services cannot operate effectively in that terrain. So there is a clear and reasonable ask here: that we give serious reconsideration to how this new approach applies to mountain rescue. There is also a wider lesson. If we want to avoid situations like this in the future, we need to involve mountain rescue and the wider search and rescue community much earlier in the policymaking process. They must be part of the conversation from the outset. Search and rescue services interface across multiple— [ Interruption. ]

• 22 Apr 2026 · Mountain Rescue · Hansard source

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  As a former council leader, I always say that the Scottish Government have to keep on top of what that figure is and invest in it, because volumes can change, and the amount of money is never enough to do all the work required. They need a robust approach to ensuring that the funding model is adapting and changing, particularly with all the additional costs and fees. They have to make sure that they are investing enough, and that requires constant vigilance to make sure that they have done so. Does the hon. Member agree?

• 22 Apr 2026 · Mountain Rescue · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Ms Lewell, for calling me back. Please give me one second to find out where I was—is it still Tuesday? As I was saying, if we want to avoid such situations in the future, we need to involve mountain rescue and the wider search and rescue community much earlier in the policymaking process. They must be part of the conversation from the outset. Search and rescue services interface across multiple parts of Government—Transport, Health, the Home Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Cabinet Office all have a role. From the perspective of those delivering the service, that can feel fragmented. There is a strong case for a single point of contact within Government—a clear champion who understands the role of volunteer search and rescue, and who can bring the different strands together. The Cabinet Office, given its co-ordinating role, might be a sensible place to consider having that, because ultimately, this comes back to people: highly skilled volunteers giving up their time, raising their own funds and stepping in when people need them most. They do not do it for recognition, but they deserve support. When something goes wrong on the mountain, what matters is simple: that someone comes—and whether it is in Stirling and Strathallan or any difficult terrain anywhere in the country, they always do. For that they have our thanks and support, and I hope a commitment from the Minister to engage in the specific asks that our volunteer rescue teams have around Care Quality Commission registration and other issues. The Minister is always welcome at a future meeting of the APPG for volunteer rescue services to hear more.

• 25 Mar 2026 · Voluntary Groups and Community Centres · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I approach this debate from a position of experience, because I have seen volunteering and community centres from many levels: user, volunteer, trustee, community councillor, local councillor and leader of Stirling council. I am not talking about community spaces in theory; I am speaking from the reality of trying to make them work. First, if we are still thinking about community centres as we did in the 1960s and 1970s, we have already fallen behind. Too often, the model is a tired hall that is underused, expensive to maintain and slowly declining. I saw that myself as leader of Stirling council. One facility in my area was operating at about 8% capacity and heading towards closure. People chose not to use it, the building deteriorated and the cycle simply fed itself. That is what happens when we fail to maintain or adapt. This is not just about capital investment; it is about activity, purpose and making spaces that people actually want to use. When we have been willing to think differently, we have seen what is possible. Take Braehead community garden in my constituency: what started as a project to grow fruit and vegetables and tackle food waste has become, in effect, an outdoor community centre covering about 2.5 acres. It brings people together, whether they are keen gardeners or, like me, they simply enjoy being there without doing much gardening at all. Its success also shows that these spaces need ongoing support to be sustained. We see that same evolution in our libraries. Places such as Bannockburn, Cowie and my local library, the wonderful Mayfield centre, have moved far beyond books. They are now hubs for technology, innovation and community life, offering everything from digital access and flexible workspaces to makers’ spaces and shared resources that reflect how people live today. We should apply that same thinking to community centres. There are strong examples of that in my constituency. Facilities such as Barrwood, run by the Scouts, combine a traditional indoor space with outdoor activity, woodland and even kayaking. That is what modern community infrastructure can look like. But here is the reality: innovation at local level can go only so far when the system above is holding it back. Speaking as a former council leader, local government in Scotland has been consistently constrained by the Scottish Government. Funding is tight, flexibility is limited and, too often, there is not just a lack of understanding but an element of disdain for what is happening on the ground. We see the consequences of that in Bannockburn enterprise hub, a council-owned building repurposed to support enterprise and community use—exactly what we should be encouraging. Yet under the current SNP council in Stirling, staffing is being removed and replaced with a keyholder model. Issues are not being picked up, addressed or, frankly, taken seriously. That is not how community assets are sustained; it is how they are allowed to decline. That brings me to a bigger point. We still treat these services as non-statutory, optional extras that can be cut when budgets are tight. They are not optional; they are preventive. They support wellbeing and hold communities together. Perhaps it is time that we said that clearly and acted on it. The role these spaces play in addressing issues of mental health, community cohesion and resilience could be formally recognised. These spaces are not an added extra; they are fundamental to the coherence of our communities, and that must be recognised across our public services—not just as a problem for local councils to patch and repair, but as a fundamental need that should be incorporated into the thinking of our health service, our planning system and our approach to wider community resilience. We should be moving towards recognising community spaces, outdoor provision and voluntary sector partnerships as social statutory services, not ones we fund when we can but ones we prioritise because we understand their value. I say to the Minister: support local authorities to think differently, but also give them the flexibility, the backing and the respect to deliver. The traditional model for community centres often looks to a decaying past, not a thriving future. Sometimes, we have to find out where the centre of the community is and go there, rather than hope that the community feel grateful for the centre we tell them they can have. We should also ensure that public toilets are included in our thinking about essential community spaces. Finally, I thank all the volunteers who keep not just our community centres but our communities running, including those I recently spoke to in Killearn at the wonderful Parkinson’s dance class. Perhaps unusually, I also thank our local authority workers for all they do for our communities. They are working under horrendously tight budgets, and they are doing a great job in very difficult circumstances. This Government are delivering positive change in so many areas; let us ensure that our community centres are not just surviving, but thriving.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Social Enterprises and Community Ownership · Hansard source

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  In constituencies such as mine, social and community enterprises are thriving. They are practical working solutions, driven by local people who care deeply about where they live. We see that in employee ownership, such as in United Auctions, where employees now have a direct stake in the business. We see it in community energy, through organisations such as the Callandar community development trust, which generates income that is reinvested back into local priorities. We also see it in communities stepping up to protect vital assets. After a devastating fire in Gargunnock, it was the community that rebuilt the village shop, securing its future. That same spirit continues across my constituency, from development trusts transforming local buildings into community hubs to projects such as Bannockburn House, where heritage, restoration and public benefit come together. That has now inspired further work, including the Plean House and Stables initiative, which has recently gained charitable status. I wish every one of those projects success. Those examples show a simple truth: when communities are trusted and supported, they deliver. However, I want to be clear that community enterprise is not a substitute for Government or local authorities; it must be complementary to them and, if that partnership is to work, it must be properly supported. Too often, such organisations rely on a small number of dedicated volunteers and face real pressures around capacity, funding and long-term sustainability. If we value community ownership—and we should—we must back it. These organisations are not asking to replace the state, but to work with it, and when that happens the results are clear: stronger communities, protected local assets and people with a real stake in the places that they call home. I will quickly mention the community-owned pubs, the Black Bull in Gartmore and the Gothenburg in Fallin, which has endured for over a century. Finally, I am wearing my Stirling Albion pin badge in this debate; Stirling Albion football club became the first community-owned team in Scotland 15 years ago. Go Binos!

• 16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source

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  Many households in the rural part of my constituency—including in Carron valley, whose community council I met on Friday—rely on heating oil and live in older housing stock that can be difficult to make energy-efficient. Many of those communities also have an older population. Does the Minister recognise the particular challenges this creates, and will the Government consider future measures that better reflect the nature of rural housing?

• 14 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  14. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support economic growth in Scotland.

• 14 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  Does the Secretary of State agree that yesterday’s SNP budget, which metes out another round of civic vandalism to local authority budgets, demonstrates a failure to understand that economic growth is built from the ground up and requires well-funded local authorities delivering schools, infrastructure and clean, safe communities? Does he also agree that Scotland needs a Labour Government at Holyrood, with the same ambition for growth being shown by this UK Labour Government, if it is to unlock its full economic potential?

• 3 Dec 2025 · Local Media · Hansard source

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  Back in 1991, when I was 15 years old, I applied for work experience at Central FM in Stirling. I was meant to be there for a week, and I stayed for 10 years as a broadcaster. Those were golden days of Scottish local radio, shaped by stations such as Central, Radio Forth and Radio Clyde, by familiar voices, great music and genuinely local news. When a winter storm hit, we tuned in to hear which schools would be closed. We rallied behind Cash for Kids and other campaigns that defined that era. A few years later I began writing for the Stirling Observer . I can still picture the newsroom buzzing with reporters, sub-editors, photographers, and the sense of a team that knew its community inside-out. Then came the world wide web. None of us realised how profoundly it would change everything. When I started at Central FM, I had 17 radio stations to choose from. Today my teenage children can access almost any station on earth—if they choose to listen to radio at all, that is. They consume radio in ways that would have been unimaginable to me as a teenager. I start with those reflections because they remind us that change in the media landscape is not new. What is new is the speed and scale of the disruption we now face, and the reality that the future of local journalism is genuinely at risk if we choose not to protect it. The consolidation of power among the world’s tech giants and the unprecedented influence they hold over what information we see is deeply troubling. They extract extraordinary profits, while Governments and communities are left to face the democratic and social consequences of their decisions. The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee’s “The future of news” report warned that, “the period of having informed citizens with a shared understanding of facts is not inevitable and may not endure”, and it is right. Recent legislation has helped. The Media Act 2024 gives broadcasters clarity. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 begins to address imbalances between publishers and platforms. The Online Safety Act 2023 is a great first step, but it will need constant attention to ensure it remains up to the task. It is clear that much more will be required. We might need better legislation to ensure that local journalism has a fighting chance in a world being reshaped by AI, which is already challenging how people access news. Too often AI is scraping journalists’ work without permission, payment or attribution. By serving up instant summaries of that material, it risks becoming the main gateway between readers and local information, using content it did not create and preventing those who did create it from earning a living or building the trusted relationships that sustain local reporting. One of the biggest missteps we made at the start of the age of social media and smartphones was to blindly follow the tech companies into the brave new digital future they were creating without proper oversight or guardrails. Let us not make the same mistake with AI. The upcoming BBC charter renewal is an opportunity to look again at how the BBC can support local news, rather than compete with it. The BBC is a vital institution and the local democracy reporting service shows the good it can do, but the move into local online news has created pressure for commercial services that rely on digital audiences to survive. In rural areas like mine, resilience has to be part of the conversation. When the BBC begins to ask whether it is time to switch off digital broadcasting because digital connectivity is almost universal, I would invite them to visit places such as Killin in my constituency, where residents are still waiting for FM radio to reach them—a technology first introduced by the BBC in the 1950s. Grassroots competition should not be feared. Many talented journalists who have faced redundancy are using platforms such as Substack to build genuinely local alternatives. They may well become the next generation of local media. The Government have a procurement role, too. Our advertising and procurement choices should reward those who are genuinely investing in local reporting—yet that commitment is not always clear. Reach’s recent redundancies, including that of a Stirling Observer reporter with nearly 30 years of experience, and STV’s shocking plans for significant redundancies in the north of Scotland show how fragile the ecosystem has become. Public money should support organisations that maintain real journalistic capacity, whether that is a long-standing local title rooted in its community or an experienced local journalist building a new platform. A healthy, sustainable and independent local media sector is not a luxury; it is part of the democratic infrastructure of our country. I welcome the Government’s plans for a local media strategy and would be grateful if the Minister could update us on how that work is developing. We should support and invest in local media. If we lose it, we will miss it more than we can ever imagine.

• 26 Nov 2025 · Skills, Development and Training: Forth Valley · Hansard source

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  5. What discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on skills, development and training for the Forth valley area.

• 26 Nov 2025 · Skills, Development and Training: Forth Valley · Hansard source

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  Years of SNP underfunding have pushed Forth Valley college into financial crisis. Just when we needed to deliver skills for Stirling’s film studio, the Grangemouth transition, and shipbuilding and defence in the Forth and Clyde, the Alloa campus faces closure. Does the Secretary of State agree that the SNP is undermining Scotland’s future by neglecting the institutions that could drive growth? Does he also agree that Scotland needs a Labour Government, with Anas Sarwar, to rebuild our colleges and our skills base?

• 18 Nov 2025 · ExxonMobil: Mossmorran · Hansard source

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  Does this decision not just underline the urgent need for a robust industrial strategy in Scotland that protects jobs, strengthens the supply chain and ensures a manufacturing basis that is fit for the future?

• 11 Nov 2025 · BBC Leadership · Hansard source

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  We have heard an awful lot today about the professionalism of the journalists at the BBC, and I wholeheartedly agree with that, but there are less of them now than there were last year and we hear that the BBC is in the fight of its life across a whole number of fronts. Well, when you are in a fight across multiple fronts, it seems odd to send some of your best fighters home, but that is what is happening to our journalists where there are less of them in our newsrooms. Does the Secretary of State agree that journalism, delivered free from fear or favour, costs money—and that it costs a lot of money to do it really well? Does she also agree that delivering that has to be at the centre of gravity for the BBC now and in the future, and that how we protect journalism and resource it properly has to be at the heart of the charter review?

• 11 Nov 2025 · Remembrance Day: Armed Forces · Hansard source

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  On Sunday, I was at the war memorial in Stirling city centre to lay a wreath and to reflect. Stirling’s memorial was completed in 1922. Six hundred and ninety-two names were recorded on the monument that first year, and behind every name was a story of a life lived and a life given to war. I want to talk about three of those names today, but I want to start with a woman who I have no doubt was in the crowd the day the memorial was unveiled. Her name was Margaret Fleming. Margaret and her husband, John, lived in Stirling. Margaret worked in a local grocer’s shop and John was a sailor—a stoker on a steamship—who travelled the world’s oceans for months at a time, leaving Margaret to raise their family, including their sons Thomas and Martin. When war was declared, the Fleming men, like so many in every town and village across the land, answered the call to serve. John joined the merchant navy, Martin joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and Thomas joined the Black Watch. On each of the days the men in her life left for war, I suspect Margaret would have helped them to pack, prepared a packed lunch and walked them to the railway station. I think she would have walked slowly. As a parent, I know I would. In autumn 1914, the first of five battles of the war in Flanders took place near the town of Ypres, which stood between the advancing Germans and the channel ports—a vital line that the allies could not afford to lose. Eight thousand soldiers were killed in that battle, with nearly 30,000 wounded and more than 10,000 missing. Along with the letters she would have craved, there was one method of communication Margaret would have dreaded receiving: a telegram. Among the telegrams that arrived in family homes across Britain that month, one would have found its way to Bank Street in Stirling, telling Margaret that her son Thomas had fallen on 27 October and been buried near where he died. A second telegram would arrive three years later. Margaret’s husband, John, was serving on the steamship Batoum, carrying vital supplies across the Atlantic between the USA and Ireland. John was a donkeyman, working the small engine that pumped water from the bowels of the ship. It was a hot, hard and dangerous job. On 19 June 1917, the Batoum was less than six miles from home waters; the crew could see the lighthouse at Fastnet Rock—a beacon of safety after a 4,000-mile voyage—but they never saw the German U-boat or the torpedo that struck the ship. Forty-one of the forty-two members of crew survived. The only man lost that day was John, who stayed to tend to his engine, pumping water from the sinking ship to buy his comrades time to escape. In 1918, just three months before the guns finally fell silent, a third telegram arrived. In the last months of the war, both sides threw everything they had into one final push and one million men were lost—80,000 fell in August alone. One of them was Martin Fleming, who was killed in Flanders on 10 August 1918. He was 20 years old. Margaret had lost her husband, her oldest son and her youngest son. For those gathered at the memorial that first year, it was a deeply personal experience. For each of the parents, wives and children, each name recorded was a son, a father, a husband and a friend; all would have been known personally to someone in the crowd. The ongoing sacrifice of the families who were left behind by the devastation of war is more quietly marked than the sacrifice of the soldiers who died in the conflict, but we must remember both the lives lost in war and the lives lived on with the pain of loss to war. At the unveiling in Stirling, Margaret would have stood before the memorial bearing the names of her husband and sons—three men she had loved and lost to war—their names cast in bronze, quietly carrying both the weight of her sorrow and the endurance of her love. As the years pass, we no longer know their faces or hear their voices, yet we can still speak their names and wonder who they were, how they lived and what they dreamed of, and in that wondering—in the act of remembrance—we keep them present in the life of our communities today. Margaret Fleming’s name is not recorded on Stirling’s war memorial, but it will now be recorded on the record of this place. At the unveiling, Stirling’s provost spoke of his mingled feelings of grief and pride. Time dampens grief, yet deepens pride. It is with that in mind that I say with my heart full of peace, full of hope and full of love that we will remember them.

• 23 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  For 17 years, the Stirling Observer has run its “Give a Gift” appeal, rallying big-hearted people, businesses, schools and community groups to make sure no child wakes up on Christmas morning without a present to unwrap. This year’s appeal launched this week. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking the Stirling Observer —and especially the brilliant and tireless Kaiya Marjoribanks, who has driven this appeal from day one—and consider making time for a debate on the vital role local newspapers play in strengthening our democracy and the communities we all serve?

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  When the Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999, there was an expectation that devolution would not stop at Holyrood, but would build stronger systems of local government. Donald Dewar put it best in his first speech: “A Scottish Parliament. Not an end: a means to greater ends.” We should celebrate Holyrood’s achievements over the past 25 years, but we must also face a truth: devolution has stalled or even gone backwards when it comes to local government. The first phase moved power from London to Edinburgh, but the second phase—transferring power from Holyrood to our local communities—never came. Instead, powers have been stripped away. Business rates, water, further education, police, fire and local enterprise were all once local responsibilities that have now been centralised. The principle of devolution is simple: the best decisions are made closest to the people affected by those decisions, yet in Edinburgh we have a Government run by the Scottish National party, and no one could accuse it of being the Scottish local party. Before I came here, I was the leader of Stirling council. About 80% of our budget came from a Scottish Government grant, with the rest from council tax, which is the only fiscal lever left to councils. It should be set locally, but for most of the last 18 years the SNP Government have frozen or capped it. Arguments for and against tax rises should be made in town halls, not dictated from Holyrood. For devolution to work there must be respect between different levels of government. I welcome efforts by the UK Government to reset that relationship. I only wish the Scottish Government would show the same respect to local authorities. Meanwhile, England has raced ahead. Metro mayors and combined authorities are transforming the landscape. We have seen the next step in English devolution in recent weeks and months, with exciting reforms pushing power outwards. By contrast, a tired SNP Government are pulling power inwards through quangos and direction from the centre.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman has talked about the need for different legislatures to learn from each other. Ater 10 years of COSLA saying to the Scottish Government that funding for local government has been stripped to the bone, libraries are closing, swimming pools are closing, schools are underfunded, our teachers are at their wits’ end in the classroom, and the ones who want to be in the classroom cannot get a job because there is not enough money. What has his party learned from COSLA, after 10 years of its pleas for local government to be funded better?

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  I completely agree—that goes back to what I was saying. Donald Dewar said: “A Scottish Parliament. Not an end: a means to greater ends.” If we all remembered to think about the evolution of devolution, and strived to make it as good as it can be, we would all be doing the people of Scotland a service. The risk of divergence between Scottish devolution and English devolution is stark. Glasgow is the UK’s fourth largest city, yet without a metro mayor or combined authority, it has no mechanism to secure trailblazer deals, as Greater Manchester and the West Midlands have. If Glasgow performed at the level of its peers, Scotland’s GDP could rise by an amount equivalent to our entire oil and gas sector—that is the real prize of real devolution. Scotland’s eight cities, including Stirling, should be able to debate what greater devolution would mean for our economies and communities. Partnership requires honesty, however. The Verity House agreement promised “no surprises” but within months, Ministers imposed another national council tax freeze without consultation. That is not partnership; it is central direction. If we are serious about devolution, we must be serious about accountability. Audit Scotland and the National Audit Office should deepen collaboration. Joint funding streams must be scrutinised coherently. Public trust depends on transparency. Devolution was never meant to be a one-off event. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has long warned that Scotland is now one of the most centralised countries in Europe. While England powers ahead, our councils are squeezed, our communities feel remote from decision making, and our cities risk falling behind. What Scotland needs is a new phase of devolution: more fiscal autonomy for councils, genuine partnership with national Government, more powers for communities through development trusts, community councils and other bodies, and the option of combined authorities or mayors where local people want them.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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• 4 Sept 2025 · Future of Terrestrial Television · Hansard source

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  I entirely agree that we must do all we can to protect digital terrestrial television for as long as it is needed. As a former radio presenter, I would argue that free radio could do with the same future protection. Colleagues have rightly made the case for the broadcasting medium; I want to make the case for the retailers, the engineers and the aerial installers—the people who deliver, set up and explain. My family has been in that line of work for nearly a century. My brother Michael runs Radio Music Store in Bannockburn, helped by Pam and Logan. He took over from our father, who retired last year. My father took over from his father in the ’70s, and my grandfather started the business in 1932, five years after the first BBC radio broadcasts came to Scotland. The store rented out its first television set in time for the very first TV broadcast in Scotland in March 1952. It was 7.30 pm, and people crowded around small, low-resolution screens to watch pictures of this place—the Houses of Parliament—and the River Thames, which were the first things to be seen. Only 2,730 television licences had been issued in Scotland at the time. By the 1980s, when I was a teenager helping out in the school holidays, televisions were everywhere. Rental remained popular because sets were costly and the analogue technology was forever blowing valves, tubes and circuits. But every town had engineers who could repair them. Most shops had backrooms that looked like laboratories, with people soldering components and bringing sets back to life. It was a skilled trade, common across the United Kingdom. Most of the businesses were small, family-run shops. Many were part of the Radio, Electrical and Television Retailers Association. Some were larger chains, but most were independents, rooted in their communities. Those communities were stronger for their presence. Today it is a different picture. Fewer retailers cover larger areas. Many are part of Euronics, a co-operative of independent retailers, my brother’s store among them. They are still embedded in their towns, but fewer in number and serving much larger areas. It is one thing to support the continued broadcasting of terrestrial signals, but what use is that if people cannot get hold of a television? What use is that if nobody is available to realign their aerial after a winter storm? What use is that if manufacturers insist a new set cannot be set up without connecting it to the internet first? My grandfather would have been horrified at how easily televisions worth hundreds of pounds are written off for want of a 50p fuse. Once upon a time, engineers repaired components. Now entire circuit boards are thrown away, as often are the televisions that they are in. Right-to-repair legislation has gone some way to address this, but where once we had a network of engineers in most towns making a living, now we have a handful of larger companies in urban areas and a patchwork of volunteer-run repair cafes. This is not just about nostalgia for a golden age of repair shops. It is about resilience. It is about making sure that older people, rural households and those without reliable broadband are not left behind. It is about ensuring that communities from Bannockburn to Bolton have someone nearby who can get them connected again when their set goes dark. Yes, let us protect terrestrial television broadcasting. But let us also support the ecosystem that makes it receivable: the shops, the engineers, the local support and the skills. Let us recognise that broadcasting also means receiving, and there are a lot of people needed to ensure that reception continues. Finally, a plea: shop local when you can because, like so much of the high street, you will miss it most when you need it and it is not there.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  In my constituency of Stirling and Strathallan, castles and scenery may draw tourists, but it is the people in our pubs, cafés, restaurants, clubs and hotels who make them feel welcome. In my constituency, we have no shortage of world-class heritage, picturesque rural communities, scenery, and pubs, restaurants and cafés. At Stirling castle, visitors can see the great kitchens that provided the hospitality to the court of many a Stuart monarch. After that, they can go to the Portcullis hotel or Stirling’s oldest pub, the Settle Inn, which was built in 1733. In Causewayhead, the Birds & Bees is nestled in the shadow of the Wallace monument. In Balmaha, we have the Oak Tree Inn on the shores of Loch Lomond. In Tyndrum, the Real Food Cafe and the wonderfully named Green Welly Stop are on the West Highland Way. Visitors to Bannockburn—where Robert the Bruce defeated the English—can go to the 1314 pub, the King Robert Hotel, the Borestone Bar, or the Tartan Arms, where the steak pie, in my opinion, is the best in Scotland. Out west to Gartmore is the Black Bull bar and restaurant, which was taken over by the community and is now run as a charity. The macaroni there is a treat. In Kippen, we have the Cross Keys pub and the Woodhouse farm shop and restaurant, which are great for a Sunday drive. The Buttercup café in Doune is wonderful for lunch. In Kinbuck, Andy and Kim Murray are breathing new life into the Cromlix House hotel, and, of course, we have the world-famous Gleneagles as well. In Fallin, a mining village, we have the Gothenburg—or simply the Goth—which is a community-run pub founded in 1911. It is one of the few remaining still running under the Gothenburg system with all the profits donated to the community. During the miners’ strikes in the 1980s, it hosted soup kitchens and supported miners’ strike funds. When the Opposition talk about their conversations with hospitality businesses, what they leave out is as telling as what they put in. Too often, they are not talking to or listening to the employees themselves. Those employees deserve the best employment rights and a fair wage for doing their job, which is why I am proud of this Government’s landmark Employment Rights Bill and our commitments on the living wage. I set out this roll-call of hospitality not just to show my pride in Stirling and Strathallan, but because I have had to cut out all of my other points as the speech time limit has been reducing. I also want to make a point that is often lost in these debates: for every venue that struggles—and there are venues struggling, including in my constituency—there are many more that are thriving, innovating and contributing to their communities. Let me end by offering my thanks to everybody working in hospitality in Stirling and Strathallan, and across the United Kingdom. They are doing a remarkable job, and our communities and our country are all the better for it.