Christine Jardine MP: speeches 2025

213 published records · newest first.

Speeches

30 Oct 2025 · Land Value Capture · Hansard source
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We begin with a Select Committee statement. Florence Eshalomi will speak on the publication of the third report of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, “Delivering 1.5 million new homes: Land Value Capture”, HC 672, for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of the statement, I will call Members to put questions on the subject of the statement. I will then call Florence Eshalomi to respond to them in turn. Questions should be brief, and Members may ask only one question each.
30 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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I have previously raised the case of a young constituent with an inoperable brain tumour. He has since been granted named patient access to a drug that is being trialled, and he is responding well. Unfortunately, however, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recently decided not to allow the drug to be used in the NHS in England yet, and the decision will be considered by a second committee in November. My constituent and his family are concerned about the wider issue of access to these drugs, and particularly the relationship between NICE and the Scottish Medicines Consortium. Would it be possible to have a meeting with Ministers to clarify the situation and see what next steps could be taken?
27 Oct 2025 · North Sea Oil and Gas Industry · Hansard source
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I accept the Minister’s comments about Petrofac, but it is a very worrying day not just for the 2,000 workers whose jobs are at stake but for the entire oil economy in north-east Scotland. Two things are missing that we desperately need in Scotland: one is investment in the jobs and skills that we will need for the renewable industries the Minister talks about, and the other is the reform of the taxation system and the windfall tax to ensure that it is consistent for the North sea area. What are the Government going to do about those things?
27 Oct 2025 · Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay · Hansard source
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This is a valuable and important debate. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that as well as having new policies, we have to know that they are being implemented properly and fairly, and that therefore it will be necessary to require large employers to publish their policies and data in the same way that they have for gender pay? [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]
20 Oct 2025 · Maccabi Tel Aviv FC: Away Fans Ban · Hansard source
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I welcome the Secretary of State’s remarks and commend her for her conciliary tone and attitude. Yes, safety is paramount for all football supporters, but, as she has said, this is not taking place in a vacuum, and this country is now in a very tense situation. She mentioned a strategy going ahead to make Jewish communities feel more welcome. Can she outline a wee bit more of that, setting out what we might expect and when we might expect to see it?
20 Oct 2025 · Alleged Spying Case: Home Office Involvement · Hansard source
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Notwithstanding the Home Secretary’s reassurances about spads or Ministers not being involved in the advice, does the Minister accept that this matter has reinforced the growing concern in this country about a lack of clarity on our position towards China, the fear of a threat to our energy security from the involvement of Chinese companies, and the super-embassy in London? My constituents are becoming increasingly concerned about the activities of the consulate in my constituency. Can the Minister reassure us that this Government will make their position towards China absolutely clear in the near future?
14 Oct 2025 · Speaker’s Statement · Hansard source
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Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I would also like to pay tribute to Ming Campbell, whom I met personally in later years, but whose political influence has hung over my entire adult life. As an 18-year-old student at the University of Glasgow, I heard about these three great figures of British politics who had studied together and been great friends: Donald Dewar, who became the first First Minister of Scotland; John Smith, whose legacy as leader of the Labour party is well respected; and, of course, Ming Campbell. I found that his persona, his influence, his attitude to politics and his integrity influenced me. It was one of the things that pulled me towards the Liberal party, as it then was. The first time I came across Ming personally was years later, about a year after he had stepped down as leader. When I made my maiden speech to the Scottish conference, I discovered that I was speaking on a motion proposed by Ming Campbell, which was, of course—this will come as no surprise to many—about RAF Leuchars, its future and what we needed to do to defend it. That was a thread that ran through. In 2017, when I was standing in Edinburgh West, Ming came to launch my campaign—in fact, he helped me up on to a chair so that everybody could see me. He was there to be supportive. I learned a lot about his kindness and thoughtfulness a few weeks later, when my husband died and Ming took the time to take me aside and make sure I was okay and that I had the support I needed to get through the campaign. Most of all, though, I enjoyed my chats with Ming on a Monday in the departure lounge at Edinburgh airport. He always had a tale to tell, and he always had a kind word about my column in The Scotsman . My team in the office were endlessly amused by how pleased I was that Ming Campbell had even read my column, never mind agreed with it. Ming was, in many ways, with the integrity, kindness and thoughtfulness that everyone has spoken about, an example that we should all aspire to and try to live up to. There is a certain restaurant in Pimlico, which I am sure my colleagues are aware of, that many of us were introduced to by Ming Campbell. I am sure we think of him every time we go there, as I think we will the next time we go. We may make a point of going there and raising a glass to someone who was an example not just of what we should be, but perhaps of what the world needs now more than ever among its politicians.
14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source
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Like everyone else in this House, I am sure, I feel enormous relief at the fact that a ceasefire has been achieved, but that can be nothing compared with the relief felt by those Israeli families who thought they would never see their loved ones again and those thousands of children in Gaza who were able to sleep last night without the fear of being bombed. But we have been here before, and for their sake we cannot let the hope of today disappear in the same way that the promise of the Oslo agreement did. Crucial to that will be confidence in the peace process. The Prime Minister has alluded to the lessons we can bring to that process from Northern Ireland. One of them is on decommissioning. Can he tell us what support the US Administration will offer to allow us to use that expertise and experience?
11 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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T8. Further to the earlier comments about driving test centres, the problem is serious in my constituency. All five of the closest centres have waiting times of 24 weeks —six months—and people are now looking to other parts of Scotland for tests. I appreciate what the Minister said about employing extra people, but can I ask that specific interest and special attention is given to Scotland, where this is a particular problem in rural areas?
10 Sept 2025 · Qatar: Israeli Strike · Hansard source
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I am pleased to have the Minister’s confirmation that, despite yesterday’s egregious actions by Israel, Qatar will continue its commitment to pursue the peace that we all long for in the middle east. To that end, the Government have said that they would commit to recognising a state of Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly if Israel failed to meet certain conditions. Has Israel failed to meet those conditions, and will the Government recognise Palestine as a matter of urgency?
4 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Over the summer, a constituent who is a mortgage adviser came to me with concerns about so-called conditional selling by estate agents, where prospective home buyers feel pressurised to take the estate agent’s in-house mortgage rather than risk losing out on a house. This practice breaches the Estate Agents Act 1979. It has been raised in investigations by the Financial Times and “Panorama”, which suggested that the practice is common. Could the Leader of the House point me to the Minister responsible so that we can have a discussion? Perhaps we could have a debate on this matter in Government time.
3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source
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Those families also tell me that bigger businesses, like Edinburgh zoo and fantastic tourist businesses, which the national insurance changes have added—
3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source
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No, I will not give way. We hear the hon. Gentleman. I will repeat the phrase for him again: tourism tax. Yes, we know that Edinburgh is taxing tourists, but it is doing that to support its hospitality business, which has been under threat for a decade. We need to look at the burden that our businesses are carrying: the national insurance burden; VAT, which could be reduced; and the business rates in many places. I appeal to Ministers to listen to the constituents we have heard from today—to listen to my constituents. They should listen to the fact that if those businesses fail, our economy will not have the growth on which this Government and every Government depend so much for our future. Each of those small businesses makes up an important part of that big picture: the hundreds of millions of pounds—the billions—that hospitality brings to this country.
3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman is beginning to sound a bit like a parrot.
3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source
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No, actually—I think the hon. Member has said enough today. Those businesses are suffering and they have been for years. Hon. Members know how important they are not just to my constituency, to Edinburgh or to Scotland, but to the United Kingdom, because of the jobs that they create and the people they employ. That little picture is about families who are dependent on those businesses and who tell me that they are unhappy with the national insurance changes.
3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source
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I come to Parliament this week fresh from the Edinburgh festival—on which note I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Hon. Members will be pleased to hear that I was there not as a performer, but because every year I am tempted across the border into neighbouring constituencies by the absolute feast of music, theatre, dance, literature and comedy that is the Edinburgh festival. Every year it contributes £400 million to the city’s economy, and it is hosted and supported by a hospitality industry that, in my constituency alone, is valued at £200 million and supports 6,500 jobs. That is the big picture, but there is a much smaller and individual picture about the businesses who come to me every week with complaints. I have to say to Conservative Members that this issue did not miraculously start in July last year; it has been going on for the past decade and since the Conservative Government destroyed the economy on a whim a couple of years ago. These businesses are suffering and under threat.
1 Sept 2025 · Pension Credit Uptake · Hansard source
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Earlier this year, a constituent of mine in Edinburgh West contacted me about the delay she had faced in getting the pension credit she was entitled to. She applied in September last year and was told that she would receive it in November, but it was March before she got her pension credit awarded. The delay meant that she went without extra support just when she lost her winter fuel allowance, so what steps will the Minister take to cut those delays and stop more vulnerable pensioners from being left cold this winter?
1 Sept 2025 · Pension Credit Uptake · Hansard source
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14. What steps she is taking to increase the uptake of pension credit.
1 Sept 2025 · Borders and Asylum · Hansard source
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I welcome the Home Secretary’s confirmation in her statement of the expedited visas for students, particularly those from Gaza. I wrote to both the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary this summer to appeal for exactly this move, and I know how welcome it will be to those students. The Home Secretary talks about a capped work scheme. We talk a lot about the pressure on local authorities and the cost to the taxpayer. Does she not agree that if we gave asylum seekers the right to work, pay national insurance and tax and contribute, they would then be carrying their own burden, and they would no longer be a weight on the taxpayer?
17 Jul 2025 · Strategy for Elections · Hansard source
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I very much welcome what is in the Government’s policy, particularly votes for 16 and 17-year-olds. We already have this in Scotland for the Scottish parliamentary elections and I have also campaigned for the change to be made for general elections. Will the Minister confirm that this will be in place in time for the next general election, and how the information will be passed out to 16 and 17-year-olds that they will now be able to vote in general elections?
17 Jul 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source
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19. What steps he is taking to support the hospitality sector.
17 Jul 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source
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I hope the Minister will join me in thanking all the hard-working hospitality staff who are about to have a very busy summer, particularly in Edinburgh West, where they are about to be immersed in the Edinburgh international festival, to which the Minister and the Secretary of State—all the Ministers, in fact—are, of course, invited. We are very hospitable in Edinburgh. The hospitality industry is worth £198 million to my constituency, but businesses are suffering because of the national insurance changes, and in Scotland we will not benefit from business rates reform. With the national insurance changes and the impacts of Brexit and covid, it is a very uncertain time. What else will the Minister do to help businesses across Scotland that will not have the benefit of business rates reform?
16 Jul 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source
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2. What discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the potential impact of the spending review 2025 on Wales.
16 Jul 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source
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I was pleased to see funding for a number of transport projects in Wales in the spending review, not least because my city of Edinburgh is now linked directly by rail to the Secretary of State’s city of Cardiff. Lumo, which runs services in Scotland through open access, is hoping to begin a service through south Wales. Does the Minister agree with me that the spending review presents a fantastic opportunity for such projects, which create jobs, strengthen the Union and boost the UK’s economy?
15 Jul 2025 · Radio Teleswitch Service · Hansard source
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15. What steps he is taking to manage the radio teleswitch service switch-off.

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