David Mundell MP: speeches

Speeches

• 2 Sept 2026 · Rewiring the State · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the First Secretary of State on her appointment. Will she confirm to me and to the House that the intergovernmental relations responsibilities in her Department will be given the weight they require? Indeed, part of that is about making the case for the continuance of the United Kingdom. We have three First Ministers across the United Kingdom whose position is that they want to break up the United Kingdom. The Scottish Government have already brought forward a time-wasting and unnecessary Bill to hold another divisive independence referendum. It is vital that the Government play their part in pushing back against independence in Scotland and elsewhere, and making the case for the United Kingdom.

• 1 Sept 2026 · Face-to-Face Banking: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend acknowledge that some people who would otherwise be willing and able do not have access to these services? Many of my constituents do not have good enough mobile service to operate apps.

• 1 Sept 2026 · Face-to-Face Banking: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Wishart. I know that you like good news, so I will start with some. Last week I met Stuart Miller, the chief executive of the Cumberland building society. He confirmed that the building society will keep all its branches open indefinitely —including those in Dumfries, Lockerbie, Langholm, Annan and Gretna—and that it is already seeing an uptick in customers coming from banks that have closed. My constituency—which, as you will know, Mr Wishart, is larger than any consistency in England—has seen the wholesale closure of all Lloyds and Bank of Scotland branches. We have only one Royal Bank of Scotland NatWest branch left. The branch in Biggar is about to close, and there is no real arrangement in place for what will replace it. There is very poor mobile reception, as I experienced yesterday, and there is no commitment to a free-to-access cash machine. The hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) made an important point, which I have also raised with the Minister’s predecessor: Link abides by the rules—it is a rules-based organisation. In Moffat in my constituency, there are technically two other cash machines—one is in a shop and never has any money in it, and the other is in another location that is not open 24/7—so we are unable to get a free-to-access cash machine in the centre of what is a very busy town. That issue needs to be looked at. As the Minister and others may know, Henry Duncan founded the world’s first savings bank in my constituency in 1810. It seems rather ironic that it was easier to access banking 200-odd years ago than it is now.

• 1 Sept 2026 · Direction of Government · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Prime Minister back to the House of Commons and genuinely wish him well in his endeavours. I gently point out, however, that No. 10 North is three hours south of my constituency; I hope his view of the north involves a whole-of-the-north approach. One measure that would not cost him anything and would be popular in the north, and across the whole of the UK, would be to rule out something that appeared in the previous Prime Minister’s Green Paper on the future of television: the suggestion that terrestrial free-to-view television could be switched off in 2034. That would mean that everyone would have to pay to watch television, which particularly affects the elderly, vulnerable and those who live in rural areas.

• 8 Jul 2026 · European Entry and Exit System · Hansard source

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  I echo the point made previously about the Scottish holidays having already begun and the need to focus on holiday hotspots, if I can use that expression, such as the Spanish and Greek islands, to ensure that travel is made as easy as possible for Scottish travellers. May I raise the issue of coach travel? Many people travel by coach. What assessment has the Home Office made of the impact of the EES on not just passengers but coach drivers?