Frank McNally MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 17 Dec 2025 · INEOS Chemicals: Grangemouth · Hansard source

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  Is it not the stark and inconvenient truth for the Opposition parties that for years the Tories and the SNP sat on their hands and allowed the industrial needs of Scotland to go to the wall? Does my hon. Friend agree that, with this £120 million package, this Government are serious about backing our strategically vital industries as well as protecting thousands of jobs on the site and through our supply chains?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Child Poverty Strategy · Hansard source

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  I greatly welcome the child poverty strategy. More than 2,000 children in my constituency and close to 100,000 children in Scotland will benefit from the abolition of the two-child benefit cap. However, it is a shocking reality that 10,000 children in Scotland are languishing in temporary accommodation this Christmas. The SNP has declared a housing emergency but has done very little to address it. Will my right hon. Friend outline what steps she can take to work with the Scottish Government if necessary to try to tackle this crisis head on?

• 3 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  9. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing economic growth in Wales.

• 3 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  The UK and Welsh Governments are rightly prioritising the next generation through apprenticeships and engineering opportunities linked to the Wylfa SMR project. Does my right hon. Friend agree that young people in Scotland deserve access to the same world-class training pathways as those in Wales, and will she work with colleagues to ensure that Scottish businesses can participate fully in the UK-wide nuclear skills pipeline, despite the ideological opposition of the SNP, which prevents similar investments from being realised in Scotland?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  The actions of this Government will make life easier for thousands of my constituents and millions across the country, and let us be clear: action is needed. The Conservative party decimated our public services, entrenched austerity to push millions into poverty, and engaged in acts of fiscal vandalism that crashed the economy. Let us also be clear about what this Budget means. I am absolutely pleased that it will save the average family £150 by cutting levies on energy bills for all my constituents, and the extension of the warm home discount to a further 3 million of the poorest households in the country will save thousands of my constituents a further £150. The Budget has also delivered an additional £820 million for Scotland, on top of the record £5.2 billion delivered to the Scottish Government last year. It is a sad reality that the Scottish National party Government have failed to make use of last year’s investment to fix Scotland’s public services, particularly the NHS, where one in six people—that is 1 million—are stuck on waiting lists; in fact, more people are waiting for two years or longer in my health board area of NHS Lanarkshire than in the whole of NHS England. It is imperative that the Scottish Government get off their hands and act in the short time that they have before, hopefully, being removed from office next May. In the remaining time that I have, I want to focus on the important steps taken to eliminate the two-child benefit cap. In my constituency, one in four children are living in poverty, and in some areas the figure is as high as 50%. For far too long, parents have been forced to take decisions that no parent should have to take. They have been forced to choose between feeding their kids and turning on the heating, or forced to go without meals themselves. I recall, when I was a councillor, having a conversation with a lone parent who told me that she was often forced to decide which child would have a small lunch and which child would have a small dinner. It is unacceptable that children in my constituency leave school on a Friday having had lunch in the canteen, but do not eat a proper meal again until they return to school on the Monday. That is a shocking reality, which intensifies over holiday periods.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I am more than happy to respond to the hon. Gentleman. This Government made it clear that when we had the economic ability to remove the cap, we would do so. It is the prudence of the Chancellor that has allowed it to be removed in full, and that has been done within 18 months. The hon. Gentleman’s Government could have done it eight years ago, and refused to do so. This decision will lift 2,000 children in my community, 95,000 across Scotland and 450,000 across the UK out of poverty. As Gordon Brown observed last week, the Chancellor has done more in this Budget to transform the lives of children in poverty and their families than any of the seven previous Tory Chancellors. This action, combined with significant uplifts in the national minimum wage by 8.5% and the national living wage by more than 4%, will help to tackle the scourge of poverty—and that represents a pay rise for more than 200,000 Scots. This is a fair Budget, which builds on the Government’s efforts to grow the economy, tackle the cost of living crisis and fight poverty. It puts more money in our constituents’ pockets, and I am proud to support it.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree. Let me also say, in response to some of our colleagues across the House, that the SNP Government could have eradicated the two-child cap eight years ago, but refused to do so. They chose to play politics with the cap; this Government have acted after 18 months to remove it. The two-child cap is the savage reality of austerity. It is the embodiment of cruelty, and it pushed children into the depths of poverty.

• 18 Nov 2025 · ExxonMobil: Mossmorran · Hansard source

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  This is devastating news for the Kingdom of Fife. May I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) for her diligent work today and over a period of time on this issue? Does the Minister share my frustration that despite attempts to fully engage with ExxonMobil over recent months, including through multiple ministerial engagement sessions, the Government were presented with no viable plan to save the plant by the company—despite, as has been highlighted, a £25 billion profit having been made by ExxonMobil last year? Will he outline what steps he will take, working with colleagues both in Scotland and other Government Departments, to ensure that the workforce receives all necessary support through the Department for Work and Pensions rapid response service and Partnership Action for Continuing Employment?

• 27 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T9. Many of my constituents are experiencing delays in migrating to universal credit, due to years of Tory mismanagement of our welfare system. This is a stressful time for claimants and a very busy time for the Department. Will my right hon. Friend outline what steps the Department is taking to ensure it is fully resourced, so that delays are reduced and claims are processed?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Suicide Prevention · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) for securing this debate and for his incredibly powerful remarks a few moments ago. Suicide is one of the most pressing public health challenges we face. Behind every statistic is a devastated family, a community shaken and lives changed forever. There are between 650 and 850 deaths to suicide in Scotland every year. My local authority area of North Lanarkshire experiences between 40 and 62 annually. While Parliament rightly debates this national issue and seeks a national response, I want to highlight the work being done in my own community. Several years ago, the spotlight fell on my area where, despite there being a drop in deaths by suicide in Scotland, communities in Coatbridge and Bellshill and across north Lanarkshire were experiencing near record highs. North Lanarkshire council, working alongside partners in health education, sport and the voluntary sector, have put suicide prevention at the heart of their wellbeing agenda. The suicide prevention strategy is a model of how public services, anchor organisations and grassroots groups can come together, promote early intervention, raise awareness and ensure that support is available at the right time and in the right place. We know that men between the ages of 34 and 54 are the group with the highest risk of completing suicide. I am proud of the way my community has specifically used sport as a force for change. For many years there was a great partnership with local public services and all of Lanarkshire’s professional football teams. I was involved in that prior to my election to this place. I was told a story in the weeks after that partnership launched that has always remained with me. One of our clubs got a phone call to their main office on a Monday morning from a man who had walked through the turnstiles two days prior for the 3 pm kick-off on the Saturday afternoon. He was clear that it would be his last game, as he was planning to complete suicide that very night. As the game progressed, he noticed the new signage erected around the stadium on suicide prevention. He took a note of the number on the billboard and, in an act of immense bravery, he made a call. His subsequent call on the Monday to the club was to say that going to the game on the Saturday had saved his life. Just yesterday, the annual North Lanarkshire suicide prevention football tournament took place. It is not only a competition; it is a statement. It is a statement that through sport, camaraderie and community, we can break down stigma, start conversations and let people know that help is there. I am also proud to be wearing the bespoke tartan of Samaritans Scotland, a new tartan to recognise Suicide Prevention Day. I pay tribute to them, as my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme did, and to all those who work so diligently to support my constituents at such a challenging time in their lives. But suicide prevention still requires national leadership. There are too many still dying, too many stories being cut short, too many chapters not written, too many experiences lost and too many families enduring life sentences of heartbreak. We must ensure that mental health services are properly resourced, that schools and employers are equipped to support those at risk, and that public authorities are given the funding and flexibility to expand the work they are already doing so well. Above all, we must send a clear message from this House that suicide is preventable, that no one should suffer in silence and that help is always at hand.

• 10 Sept 2025 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Access · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) on her contribution and her tireless work in this space. The humanitarian picture, especially in Gaza, is beyond desperate. The UN special rapporteur has described the situation as “apocalyptic”. Whether it is the starvation of the population, the repeated strikes on health facilities or the obstruction of aid, it is our duty to ensure that the UK’s response—diplomatic, legal and practical—helps to turn statements into access to safe and sufficient aid, and the opportunity for people to survive. We must fight for safe and reliable aid delivered at scale, backed by a robust ceasefire that protects aid convoys, warehouses, hospitals and shelters. We must also seek to guarantee the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel. That means an end to evacuation orders, which clearly cannot be done safely under the current conditions. Israel must also face the consequences for grave breaches of international law. The Government must support international investigations and the enforcement of international humanitarian law, so that impunity does not become embedded as a grim legacy of this conflict. We must champion a comprehensive political track that delivers the only durable answer: security, dignity and self-determination, including the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a just peace.

• 4 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The infected blood scandal has had a devastating impact on families across the country, including my 82-year-old constituent Jean Campbell, who tragically lost her much-loved husband. Spouses who have lost those dearest to them have also, in many cases, lived restricted lives, yet they are still having to fight for compensation. I greatly welcome the announcement in July, but can my right hon. Friend secure time for a statement or debate, to provide reassurance to those like Jean that they will not have to wait years for compensation, particularly given the age of some of the victims of this scandal?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  As the final person to ask a question of the Leader of the House today, may I join the thanks to all in the House and to the Leader of the House for her commitment to these sessions? The Motor Neurone Disease Association is holding a day of action in Parliament Square today to raise awareness of Tofersen, a groundbreaking precision therapy for SOD1 MND. The association’s aim is to highlight the growing number of patients eligible to access the drug, but who are unable to do so due to a lack of capacity and clinical support. Will my right hon. Friend provide Government time for a debate to explore what more can be done to break down the barriers to that MND treatment, and what more Government can do in partnership with scientists, researchers and clinicians to find a cure ultimately for this devastating disease?

• 8 Jul 2025 · Alcohol and Cancer · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Cat Smith) on securing the debate. Colleagues have rightly focused on the policy requirement of addressing alcohol harm, not just for the health of our constituents but to address the seismic burden that the effects of alcohol place on our public services, particularly the NHS. As my hon. Friend mentioned in her excellent speech, inaction is not acceptable or sustainable. This debate is especially pertinent, as we now understand that at least eight cancers can be linked to alcohol following new research from the IARC showing the link, as my hon. Friend mentioned, between alcohol and pancreatic cancer. I would like to focus on the importance of early intervention in tackling excessive alcohol consumption. The UK consistently tops the table for binge drinking, and Scotland has long had a higher rate of alcohol-related death than the rest of the UK. More than one in four alcohol-attributable deaths were due to cancer. Furthermore, public awareness of alcohol harm is low, with polling research suggesting that 50% of people are unaware that alcohol causes cancer. Sadly, 53,000 people are hospitalised in Scotland due to alcohol each year. Although we may be tempted into complacency by data that suggests that young people are drinking less than preceding generations, the stakes really are too high when we look at the figures. That is why early intervention initiatives, such as the work of Community Alcohol Partnerships, are so essential. Early intervention can prevent such health challenges from arising in later life. Their work is driving young people away from alcohol in 300 areas across the UK. My constituency is home to the View Park and Bellshill community alcohol partnership, which was recently recognised as Scottish CAP of the year. It has gained recognition for its approach to engaging young people while also partnering effectively with the police, NHS, local authority, residents groups and retailers to tackle under-age drinking head on. The impact of that work is significant, with the latest national figures from CAP showing a 63% reduction in drinking among 13 to 16-year-olds. We know the impact of under-age drinking on those under 15, and the consequences that it has. There is, however, much more to do. I was pleased to sponsor the launch in Parliament of CAP’s report on the parental supply of alcohol recently. The report highlights that too many parents still believe that giving alcohol to children at home will teach them to drink responsibly or reduce the risk of them getting alcohol elsewhere. The report shows that every year earlier that a child is given alcohol, their risk of binge drinking, alcohol harm and health-related consequences as an adult increases significantly. CAP is set to launch a new pilot programme in 2026 aimed at preventing the parental supply of alcohol in six areas. I am very pleased that my area is one of those that is being looked at. Early intervention is critical in the battle against alcohol-related cancers. I commend the CAP report to the Minister and all Members, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre for bringing forward this debate and highlighting the importance of this subject for my constituents and for people of all ages across the United Kingdom.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Government Performance against Fiscal Rules · Hansard source

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  Following the election, I was deeply disturbed to discover that the close to £20 million of towns fund money that had been promised for Coatbridge by the last Government did not actually exist. It had been announced with much fanfare, but had not been budgeted for. However, thanks to this Government and their plan for neighbourhoods, that £20 million is now coming to Coatbridge. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we must never go back to the fiscal irresponsibility of the Conservative party, which was always keen to promise but always failed to deliver?

• 2 Jul 2025 · West Bank: Forced Displacement · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) for securing the debate. It is entirely unacceptable that in the west bank—territory long recognised as occupied under international law—Palestinian families continue to be forcibly displaced from their land, homes and schools, ripped from their livelihoods, and everything else. The roots of the crisis stretch back to 1948, when an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes. During the six-day war, close to 325,000 Palestinians were displaced from the west bank and Gaza. Today’s displacement is part of a continuing cycle of land seizure, settlement expansion and state-backed dispossession that United Nations and Oxfam reports describe as the largest forced displacement in the west bank since 1967. UN figures show that since late 2024 over 40,000 Palestinians have been uprooted, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarm, due to IDF raids and the bulldozing of homes. In 2023 alone, more than 4,000 Palestinians were displaced, with settler violence and access restrictions being the principal causes. Alarmingly, settler-instigated violence is intensifying. In June, 100 armed settlers attacked Kafr Malik, throwing petrol bombs and setting homes ablaze. Three Palestinians were killed and several others were injured, not only at the hands of settlers, but in confrontations involving the IDF. Of course, that has been encouraged by some within the Israeli Government hierarchy. These actions have long been condemned by the United Nations, critical charities and other organisations, including Amnesty International. As parliamentarians, we must fight to uphold international law. Forced displacement and its consequences are not just a violation, but a crime against humanity. We must fully condemn the forced displacement of Palestinians, advocate for the enforcement of ICJ rulings and UN resolutions, support humanitarian access in affected areas, press for the immediate cessation of settler violence and forcible evictions, and ultimately bring an end to these illegal settlements. Displacing Palestinians from their land is not collateral damage; it is a deliberate policy. From 1948 to today, these forced removals continue, sanctioned by settlement expansion and protectionism. There will be no peace in the region until the Palestinian people are protected under international law.

• 1 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  This Government delivered a record real-terms settlement for Scotland at the spending review, so it was deeply concerning to hear from the Scottish Government last week that there is a £2.6 billion black hole in the public finances, which could see NHS spend reduce by 12%. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the SNP’s long-standing record of fiscal mismanagement must end, and that Scottish Ministers must ensure that the funding gets to the struggling Scottish public services?

• 26 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  At a time when the Government are reducing NHS waiting lists across England, they continue to rise in Scotland. Just yesterday, the SNP Government announced plans that could see investment in NHS services reduced by a shocking 12%, resulting in a significant reduction in frontline NHS staff. Does my right hon. Friend agree that people in my constituency deserve a Scottish Government focused on improving our NHS, as has been the commitment of this Government since the general election?

• 26 Jun 2025 · G7 and NATO Summits · Hansard source

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  It is clear today that the Leader of the Opposition should never represent the United Kingdom on the world stage —it was absolutely outrageous. I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for his statement. Following the comments of other hon. Members, may I ask him what assessment he has made of the potential opportunities for Scotland-based defence and aerospace industries, which already support hundreds of jobs in Coatbridge and Bellshill, arising from the expectation that spending will reach 4.1% of GDP by 2027? Does he share my concern that the SNP’s disjointed defence policy risks jobs and investment in Scotland? We need to fight that at all costs.

• 12 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  New College Lanarkshire was recently recognised as further education institution of the year at The Herald education awards. Deputy principal Ann Baxter and student Chloe Sandilands were also recognised, winning the lifetime achievement and outstanding contribution categories. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating all at the college on its 160th anniversary? Does she agree that the Scottish Government must end their unfair cuts to the college sector to allow people access to the skills that they need?

• 12 Jun 2025 · Covid: Fifth Anniversary · Hansard source

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  In the time I have available, I will focus on education and care provision during the pandemic. I was serving as North Lanarkshire’s chair of education when the Scottish Government directed the closure of schools in March 2020. Within days, the entire country was locked down, and we moved to home-schooling and virtual lessons.

• 12 Jun 2025 · Covid: Fifth Anniversary · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The UK Government are investing significantly in skills and apprenticeships for some of those young people who were impacted by the pandemic, and we need to see that in Scotland as well. For children transitioning from early years to primary 1, and from primary 7 to secondary, it must have felt like experiencing an alternative universe, given social distancing, the expansion of digital learning and the use of PPE. Sadly, despite the best efforts of those on the frontline, young people lost learning, and we have to tackle that head-on. However, they showed resilience. Sadly, that resilience and those efforts were trampled on when the Scottish Government sought to downgrade the highers results of 2,900 children from my local authority area. Some 46% of young people were discriminated against based on their postcodes, rather than recognised for their ability. Thankfully, young people successfully fought back on that. I will also touch on the role of carers. Like so many frontline workers, they showed up and put their health and wellbeing on the line to serve some of the most vulnerable in our communities. They did so despite, at times, limited and faulty PPE, entrenched low pay, and poor policy decisions that saw frail patients discharged from hospitals and into care homes untested, contributing to 5,000 care home deaths. There can often be a focus on Downing Street parties or deleted WhatsApp messages, but at the forefront of our minds must always be the victims of covid, including those who died unnecessarily and those who live with long covid and the psychological impact of the disease, as my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) said. There are also those who delivered the ultimate act of service, including refuse collectors, police officers, nurses, shop workers and many others from the voluntary sector and religious establishments. As we recognise the fifth anniversary of covid, their efforts in the face of such hardship, their resilience and their sacrifice must be the true and lasting legacy of such an unprecedented pandemic, which we must all fight to ensure that we never experience again.

• 10 Jun 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the Minister for coming to the House tonight and for the steps that have been taken, given the despicable actions of the two Israeli Ministers cited throughout the statement. Of course, more must be done. Does the Minister recognise the UN special rapporteur’s characterisation of Israel’s approach to aid delivery as “brutal humanitarian camouflage”? What further measures will the Government take to challenge grotesque attempts to use aid as a cover for ongoing violence towards Palestinians, including further sanctions and, critically, the recognition of a Palestinian state?

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I welcome today’s announcement. It is right that, despite the horrendous financial situation that this Government inherited from the Conservative party, they are reinstating the winter fuel payment for 75% of pensioners and specifically targeting those in the most need. Following the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter), will the Minister outline what discussions he expects to have with Scottish Ministers about the Scottish Government’s universal approach to winter fuel payments in Scotland? At a time when public services in Scotland are facing significant peril, the SNP’s position is to continue to give winter fuel payments to millionaires at a time of deep hardship for people in Scotland.

• 7 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. My right hon. Friend will know of the growing concerns around social media algorithms increasingly promoting misogynistic and harmful content to children, particularly using the hook of dangerous online influencers. What steps is she taking working with Cabinet colleagues to protect young people from such destructive influences?