Gordon McKee MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Sept 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source

  More

  Saving for a secure retirement is a baseline expectation for the people I represent. For some members of the civil service pension scheme, that expectation has been replaced by unanswered emails, long phone calls and an indefinite wait. That frustration is compounded by the fact that they are not waiting for a favour but for their own money. I will never forget a woman who came to one of my summer coffee mornings. She had worked all her life and to mark her retirement had booked the holiday of a lifetime with her husband. Instead of being able to enjoy that holiday, it was punctured by the anxiety caused by Capita’s incompetence. There is a power imbalance: retirees know that they are owed and Capita knows there is a problem, but Capita is the only one able to fix it. People are left screaming into a faceless bureaucracy, somewhere inside which their pension is trapped. I know the Minister cares as deeply as I do, and I look forward to hearing of the work she is doing to ensure that we fix this urgently for my constituents.

• 10 Sept 2026 · Technology and Innovation · Hansard source

  More

  16. What steps she is taking to use technology to support innovation across Government.

• 10 Sept 2026 · Technology and Innovation · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Minister for his answer. The pace of innovation has never been faster, which means that the value lost by slow procurement processes has never been higher. We need the Government and Departments to be able to buy in the most advanced software and technologies without lengthy delay. Can the Minister say what work he is doing to enable Departments to do that?

• 8 Sept 2026 · Conflict in Sudan · Hansard source

  More

  I was pleased and privileged to join my hon. Friend on the delegation to Egypt. At the event at which we met Sudanese refugees, what most struck me was the scale of medical need. Almost every participant at the roundtable was in need of a doctor or medical support, or had family similarly in need. Does my hon. Friend agree that the aid we are providing to the conflict is not just about what is happening in Sudan, but about the people who leave Sudan for Egypt and elsewhere, and the medical need that they have in those countries?

• 8 Sept 2026 · Media Green Paper · Hansard source

  More

  The Minister is making an important point, and I completely agree. My question is quite simple. Every nation around the world is grappling with this problem, although we have the BBC, which is a phenomenal and unique achievement. Has he looked at other jurisdictions and countries to gather international best practice? Every nation is dealing with the fact that all of our media now takes place on platforms that are mostly owned by big American tech firms.

• 7 Sept 2026 · Surrogacy Law and Legal Parenthood · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is being very generous with his time, which I very much appreciate. He and I share the desire for strict rules to prevent abuse of any kind, as I am sure everyone in the House does. I want to make a point relevant specifically to Scotland. In England, the suitability of intended parents is assessed by the courts and through a publicly funded system, but it is funded privately in Scotland, which means that intended parents potentially have to pay £2,000 or £3,000 extra of their own money to go through the process. Will my hon. Friend join me in calling on the Scottish Government to find a reform to fix that system?

• 3 Sept 2026 · Sporting Events Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

  More

  I am privileged to represent Hampden Park in Glasgow, which will be one of the stadiums that hosts Euro 2028. It is a huge opportunity, and it attracts investment, as the Minister has said. Does she agree that when we have these major sporting events, it is important that the right legislation is in place for the communities around the stadium, and that the Government work with the council and police to ensure that there is no antisocial behaviour, littering or other disruption to those communities?

• 3 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T7. Football is not the private property of Gianni Infantino or a handful of rich and powerful men; it belongs to the billions of people who watch it, play it and enjoy it. Given that UEFA is proposing to make a criminal complaint about the conduct of FIFA’s leadership, will the Minister join me and others in calling for a genuinely independent investigation into FIFA’s decision to try to sell off the world cup?

• 16 Jul 2026 · Gibraltar: UK-EU Treaty · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the Minister on the agreement. Does he agree that it is only possible in part because of the work that this Government have done to repair the relationship between Britain and the European Union? That is in the interests of the people of Gibraltar and the people of Glasgow who I represent.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Work and Pensions Committee · Hansard source

  More

  I am grateful to the Select Committee Chair, my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams), for her statement. Did she look in her report at the measures the Government could take to keep older people in work? As she rightly noted, that is a problem as people get older.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Work and Pensions Committee · Hansard source

  More

  rose—

• 16 Jul 2026 · Work and Pensions Committee · Hansard source

  More

  indicated assent.

• 15 Jul 2026 · City Region Deals · Hansard source

  More

  7. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of city region deals in Scotland.

• 15 Jul 2026 · City Region Deals · Hansard source

  More

  Cities such as Manchester and Liverpool have benefited enormously from their regional devolution. Greater Glasgow, 30 years ago, was split up into more than a dozen local authorities, so I ask the Secretary of State to press the Scottish Government to devolve power out of Edinburgh and into Glasgow.

• 15 Jul 2026 · Waste Management Sites · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is making an important speech and representing her constituents very well. I want, perhaps unusually, to put on record an example of good practice by a waste management company. In my constituency, the community engagement team at Viridor, led by Karen Peer, do excellent work with local schools and the community to make sure that they are aware of what is happening. Does my hon. Friend agree that we should see that kind of practice across the country?

• 15 Jul 2026 · Regional Accents and Social Mobility · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is making an important and interesting speech. Confidence is incredibly important, especially for young people. We have a huge youth unemployment crisis in this country, and part of that is down to young people not having confidence. Does she agree, first, that we must ensure that there is not accent bias so that people do not lose confidence and, secondly, that we must build young people’s confidence, partly through work experience and other schemes?

• 15 Jul 2026 · Iran · Hansard source

  More

  The Minister mentions the attacks that Iran is carrying out. Will he join me in recognising that cyber-attacks are one of the consistent threats Iran has posed to the United Kingdom, and that we must ensure in any negotiation with Iran that those attacks are prevented and stopped?

• 15 Jul 2026 · Iran · Hansard source

  More

  rose—

• 15 Jul 2026 · Iran · Hansard source

  More

  The right hon. Gentleman is, as always, making a very good speech. I want to make a point that I think is often under-appreciated when we talk about drones and drone warfare. The Ukrainians are, of course, world-leading, but I think that many of us in the west did not realise the extent to which Iran had advanced its drone technology. For instance, Iranian Shahed drones have been used by Russia to harm civilians in Ukraine. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that we must watch closely not just what our allies are developing, but what our adversaries are developing?

• 9 Jul 2026 · NATO Summit · Hansard source

  More

  I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement. Recent events have underlined the need for us to co-operate much more closely with our European allies and partners, so what discussions did she have at the summit with her European counterparts on joint procurement between British and European defence industries, which I think will ultimately make our country safer and stronger?

• 9 Jul 2026 · Conflicts: Impact on Older People · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is making a powerful and important speech, particularly on women in Ukraine who have suffered sexual violence during war. Does she agree that having proper support for those women, and an ability to record what they have experienced, is important, not just to support them, but to make sure that when the war in Ukraine ends, justice, as much as it can be done, is done for those people?

• 9 Jul 2026 · Israeli Settlements: Trade Ban · Hansard source

  More

  I want to place on record that my constituents feel as strongly as my hon. Friend’s constituents in Dumbarton about this: we have to ban trade with illegal settlements. Does he agree that although the Government have taken welcome steps, as he referenced, they must go further to ensure this trade is not allowed?

• 9 Jul 2026 · Science, innovation and technology Committee · Hansard source

  More

  I welcome this very interesting and timely report, and I particularly welcome the recognition that one of the barriers to developing or strengthening our sovereignty is the lack of access to deep capital markets at the later stages of start-ups’ development. Will the Chair tell the House a little bit more about what the Committee found on that, and how she thinks the Government can help make sure that companies that want to rapidly grow in the UK can get resource in the UK, rather than in the United States?

• 8 Jul 2026 · NHS Corridor Care · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is being generous in taking interventions. There are few Members of this House, if any, who know about this subject in more detail than her. In Scotland, where my own constituents are facing the problem of corridor care, the Royal College of Nursing said a few weeks ago that we are “trailing behind” even what is happening in England, partly because the NHS in England is publishing statistics on corridor care. Does she agree that the Scottish Government should do the same so that we can track corridor care and therefore help resolve it?

• 8 Jul 2026 · National Youth Strategy · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is generous in giving way, and she is making an important speech. The crisis of young people not in education, employment or training is one of the biggest problems we have in this country. Does she agree that youth clubs and the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme are part of how young people get the skills that will help them to get into the world of work?