Graeme Downie MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 28 Oct 2024 · China: Human Rights and Sanctions · Hansard source

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  Does the Foreign Secretary agree that when it comes to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, it is vital to co-ordinate rules globally, including with China, to protect British people and our technological infrastructure?

• 24 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Over the last few years we have seen an increase in attacks by foreign Governments on UK cyber-security. Will the Minister please update us on what steps his Department is taking to ensure our public services across the UK are fully protected?

• 24 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Despite there being a healthy number of large supermarkets and other petrol suppliers in the city of Dunfermline, research by a group of my constituents has found that petrol there is consistently up to 5p per litre more expensive than it is when sold by the same suppliers less than 10 miles away. That harms small businesses and individuals alike. Can the Leader of the House suggest a way to examine that clustering of prices in order to ensure that businesses and individuals are treated fairly?

• 24 Oct 2024 · The Union and the Devolved Administrations · Hansard source

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  This new Labour Government have already outlined that they are going to invest in sectors vital to the economy of Dunfermline and Dollar, including renewables, defence and engineering. That investment can only fully deliver if there is alignment with the Scottish Government to deliver the pipeline of skills needed for local people to fill those jobs, which is an agenda that the SNP has singularly failed to address in 17 years in power. Will the Minister outline how this Labour Government will co-ordinate with and press the SNP to ensure that the opportunity of this investment is fully realised?

• 24 Oct 2024 · The Union and the Devolved Administrations · Hansard source

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  11. What progress he has made on resetting relations with the devolved Administrations.

• 23 Oct 2024 · Paternity Leave and Pay · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. I will be very brief. I am a former small business owner—does my hon. Friend agree that as part of that review, we should also be looking at and promoting to small businesses the benefits of adequate family leave and flexible working at the same time to help grow the economy?

• 22 Oct 2024 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for his very welcome statement. He mentioned the importance of the Ukrainian forces’ efforts in the Black sea against the Russian Black Sea Fleet and how important that is to the Ukrainian economy. Could he go a little further and describe how this funding for Ukraine will help to ensure that security and perhaps go even further in the Black Sea?

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. At the core of the Bill is the need to raise wages for people across Fife, across Scotland and across the UK. That will be a key achievement of this Bill, which has been undertaken by this Labour Government within the 100 days that we promised the electorate. The change in the landscape has been caused by a rapid advancement of technology in our economy, a shift in working patterns, the evolution of the largest contributors to the economy and welcome changes to the nature of family life, with an increase in shared parenting, as we have heard from so many Members across the Chamber. It is nothing but shameful that the previous Government took no action to adapt to those changes or help them to drive forward our economy. As ever, it has fallen to the Labour party to make the radical changes that we need to see. A look at the Opposition Benches tells us how much the Conservatives care not only about workers’ rights, but about the economy for the future. I welcome clause 7, which will apply the objective test for an employer to refuse a reasonable request for flexible working. Like hon. Friends who have spoken today, I ran and owned a small business for 10 years. I know the benefits that businesses get from welcoming and embracing flexible working patterns. They assist with staff retention and improve and facilitate communication between employers and employees. They lead to more constructive relationships at work and—as I saw at first hand—to more productive teams and a business that is better for everyone involved. A shift to a clear objective test will further aid the process and will help both businesses and employees. I also welcome clauses 20 and 21, which will provide additional protection for working parents. Along with my hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Josh Simons), I am delighted to support the Dad Shift campaign, which has been campaigning for better statutory paternity leave to help mums, dads, children and our economy. The benefits of modern and flexible paternity leave would help families to raise their children in the way they see fit, so they can still progress their own careers and contribute to the economy and to society. I would like to see more progress on those issues during the passage of the Bill, as hon. Friends have highlighted, but none the less it is an important first step in making sure that new parents have the right protections. This is a long overdue Bill that would only ever be brought forward by a Labour Government—a Government who understand the changing nature of business, of society and of our workforce and who realise that only by bringing the three together can we push forward and grow our economy together, creating a more prosperous and fairer society across the UK.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  It is a privilege to follow the maiden speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Hamilton and Clyde Valley (Imogen Walker). I visited New Lanark on a school trip when I was younger, as many people in Scotland did, and it was a fantastic portrait of a beautiful part of the country. I pay tribute to other Members who have made a maiden speech today, including my hon. Friend the Member for Airdrie and Shotts (Kenneth Stevenson). I, too, know some of the language to which he was referring. I draw attention to my declaration of interests, including my proud membership of Unison. I will use my short time to emphasise two elements of the Bill. Not only is it the greatest increase in workers’ rights in a generation, but it will ensure that the UK economy adapts to the changed landscape in which we find ourselves and to the businesses that will contribute to it and make us a success.

• 15 Oct 2024 · Scotland’s Economy · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (John Grady) on securing this important debate. Back in the mists of time, in 2007, a new economic strategy for Scotland was announced by a new kid on the block, a certain Mr John Swinney, a member of a Government that would rely on Conservative votes for its survival. Let us see how it went. In 2007 John Swinney promised a “wealthier and fairer” Scotland that would “enable businesses…to increase their wealth.” As has already been said, Scotland’s economy has performed far behind what we would have expected and hoped. Just this week we saw the latest NatWest regional tracker published, analysing economic activity across the UK, with Scotland languishing in eighth place out of the measured regions—not a good start. John Swinney said Scotland would be “smarter”, yet in 2017, when he was Education Secretary, the Scottish Government admitted that young adults “are more likely to experience low paid, precarious work, and cycling between this and unemployment”. Just this week the Scottish Funding Council said that the “reform of the post-school…landscape has not yet been implemented”. So much for smarter and better opportunities. It was said that Scotland would be “healthier”. As a former board member of NHS Fife, I could waste an entire speech explaining exactly how that has not been the case: £1.7 billion of NHS funding on agency staff, £1.3 billion on delayed discharge, and a chaotic, overreaching attempt to design a national care service. That makes it three down so far for the First Minister’s 2007 plan. It was said that Scotland would be “safer and stronger”, but we have had the shambolic implementation of Police Scotland and lower police numbers since 2008. The First Minister also said that Scotland would be “greener”. Is there any consolation at the end? Well, I guess we could give him partial credit here. The Scottish Government did become greener, albeit for only a short time, when a calamitous coalition with the Green party saw climate change targets abandoned and a disastrous attempt to implement an ill-considered and ultimately abandoned deposit return scheme. Before SNP colleagues begin drafting their press releases about more powers, I point them to the foreword to the 2007 document, which said that the strategy could be achieved “with the levers that we have”. Scotland deserves better, and that is what this Labour Government—who have been in power for only a little over 100 days, rather than the 17 years of the SNP—are already attempting to deliver. We have established a national wealth fund, launched the largest increase in workers’ rights, launched GB Energy, announced a record-breaking £1.5 billion of funding for clean energy, and issued an industrial strategy focused on growth sectors where we know Scotland can and should perform better in the future. That is what we should be aiming for.

• 15 Oct 2024 · Scotland’s Economy · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the failure of both the SNP and Conservative Governments to plan for the site at Longannet, which closed in 2016 and now lies empty, is a missed opportunity? Does he agree that all Governments in the future should be looking to work together on that, to bring thousands of jobs back to that area of west Fife?

• 15 Oct 2024 · Scotland’s Economy · Hansard source

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  Does the Minister agree that a key area for investment from the national wealth fund should be Scotland’s port infrastructure in order to ensure we are making the best economic use of our coastline, such as at places like Rosyth in my constituency?

• 10 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  With many high street banks announcing local branch closures and pointing people to the post office as a resource for services, the attractiveness of being a sub-postmaster has never been more important. In my constituency, though, our post office in Cairneyhill will be closing, and those considering taking it over are being put off by the costs and complications involved. Could time be allowed for a discussion of how to support new postmasters to take on those vital community roles?

• 12 Sept 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Farming and agriculture are a vital part of the economy in west Fife and in my constituency of Dunfermline and Dollar. Yesterday, I was delighted to meet a delegation from NFU Scotland. Given the economic, social and environmental value of active farming and crofting in Scotland, and its significant contribution to the wider UK economy, will the Secretary of State share what he will do to ensure that food security and food production in Scotland remain at the heart of our national security?

• 12 Sept 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

• 11 Sept 2024 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q11. As the Prime Minister will know, Fife has a proud defence heritage, and that continues in my constituency of Dunfermline and Dollar with the dockyard at Rosyth, which constructs Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy, and a supply chain of local small and medium-sized enterprises. Will the Prime Minister ensure that the strategic defence and security review team visit areas of strategic importance, such as Fife, so that they can engage fully with the local supply chain and ensure that the SDSR supports Britain’s security and local economies?

• 10 Sept 2024 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  One of the key features throughout the statement and the discussion today has been the importance of consensus and co-operation in building a coalition. Will the Secretary of State give an update on what steps he intends to take next to ensure that we are supporting Ukraine with the broadest and best coalition possible?

• 3 Sept 2024 · Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Chair. I am delighted to make my maiden speech today as the first MP for the new constituency of Dunfermline and Dollar. It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Bicester and Woodstock (Calum Miller), and I would like to congratulate all MPs who have made such fantastic and powerful maiden speeches this afternoon. With such a high turnover of MPs, the calibre of the speeches I have heard since the election should give everyone a sense of optimism about the future and what this Parliament can achieve. I believe I must start my speech with a particular tribute, and so I shall. They are known for being colourful and preening, strutting around like they own the place, and expecting to be waited on hand and foot by a fantastic team of underpaid and overworked staff. They demand honours, and they disappear without permission whenever the mood takes them. In the past century, their names have included Andrew, Malcolm and Angus, and I am even told that some individuals have been found in bushes in a horrible state. No, these are not my honourable predecessors. They are not even Members of the other place. Instead, they are the names of just some of the peacocks that reside in the beautiful surroundings of the Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline, and that only last week were awarded the freedom of the city. I am sure that my immediate predecessors for the seats that now make up the constituency of Dunfermline and Dollar will not object to being upstaged by the peacocks, but I would like to place on record my thanks to both Douglas Chapman, the Member for Dunfermline and West Fife from 2015 until retiring prior to the election, and John Nicolson, the Member for Ochil and South Perthshire. Douglas and John worked hard on behalf of their constituents in the best and truest tradition of public service, and I wish them well. I would also like to thank my immediate predecessor from the Labour party, Thomas Docherty. Thomas is still known by many in this House, and we should remain grateful to him for first proposing the idea of recalling MPs, although I suspect that gratitude is perhaps felt by me and some of my colleagues rather than by some of the Members opposite. My “Aww, Dad” sense of humour is something I was accused of having long before I had children, and where better than a debate on railways to put some of that reputation to the test. So I will steam ahead with my remarks and do my utmost to stay on track, hoping to reach my destination on time and not come up against the buffers of your patience, Madam Chair. I have never served in the armed forces, but I was raised in a family that did. Much of the sense of public service that I hope to bring to my contribution to this House is rooted in the values of the members of my family who have done so. My grandma, Margaret Delworth, was a plotter for the RAF during the battle of Britain, with the air raid sirens next to her playing a part in the deafness she suffered later in life. My grandpa served in the Royal Signals in campaigns in north Africa, Italy, including at Monte Cassino, and later with the UN in Korea. My parents, Jim and Cathy, were both members of the Royal Observer Corps—indeed, that was where they met—and I am very proud that they are in the Public Gallery today. When I was six, my parents took what I now realise must have been an incredibly brave decision: to move our family to Berlin, where we lived on RAF Gatow for three and a half years. Many of my early memories are from there, and it has shaped the rest of my life: I played football with FC Westend, a German club based nearby; the death of Rudolf Hess was historic but meant I got a day off school; and the defection of a Soviet general saw my sister locked in the cellar of an air traffic control tower for hours—Helen has always been a very supportive older sister, but I would be lying if I said that there have not been times when I wished she had been left there just a little longer. But it was an early November morning in 1989 that truly shaped my politics. I was woken at 2 am by my dad, who sat me down in front of a German TV channel and proclaimed, “This is history.” I watched as tens of thousands of people scaled the Berlin wall, heralding the beginning of the end of the cold war and moves towards a united Germany. The events of 1989 taught me that oppression is not, cannot and never will be either acceptable or effective, and neither should it be tolerated. I want to take this opportunity to add to the sentiment across this House that the UK will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to fight the aggression of Vladimir Putin. He might hold the honorific of “president”, but a dictator is a dictator, as many before have warned from these Benches. It is that history—that privilege of observing good triumphing—that makes me immensely proud to be serving the constituency of Dunfermline and Dollar. The area has a proud military history and, with the Royal Navy base HMS Caledonia, that continues to this day. The firth of Forth was a regular home to the grand fleet, and throughout the 20th and 21st centuries the ships and sailors that protected us then and continue today have called that part of west Fife their home. This allows me to mention Rachel Squire, who some might remember was the Member of Parliament for Dunfermline and West Fife before her sad death in 2006. She led the successful battle to save the dockyard at Rosyth, which remains a vital and major asset to the local economy and our community. I visited the dockyard just last week to see the progress on the construction of the first two Type 31 frigates and was impressed by the talented and dedicated workforce who build and maintain the warships that keep our country safe. As the world continues to look to Britain for leadership and security, we must never forget the communities and workers who are the backbone of a deterrent and strength that so many depend on. I am afraid I will now return to the bad puns as we ride the rails again from Rosyth to Dunfermline, Scotland’s ancient capital. Close to Pittencrieff Park and the preening peacocks we find Dunfermline abbey, the resting place of Scotland’s kings and queens, including Robert the Bruce, and the birthplace of Charles I. Close by is the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie, the great Scottish businessman and philanthropist, who valued and promoted industry, innovation and education with a global view of Scotland and the UK. His legacy of libraries and education is strongly felt in Dunfermline and around the world, and nowhere more so than in the United States, in institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. However, a local historian told me that after Andrew’s death his widow employed a certain Mary Anne MacLeod as a domestic servant in her home in New York—answers on a red baseball cap for why I might not want to dwell on that connection too much. As I continue my journey, poor rural transport sadly means that a replacement bus service is required as I take us to Dollar, a beautiful village at the foot of the Ochil hills. I held an excellent surgery there this weekend and I am very tempted to return this weekend for the village’s annual beer festival—I note that beer has been a theme in many of the maiden speeches we have heard since the election. Dollar is most famous for Dollar academy, and despite cordial disagreements over certain aspects of the Labour party manifesto, I am very grateful for the excellent work it does with the local community and schools in the area to share its learning and experience. Travelling back towards Dunfermline, we will find the railway tracks once again. These tracks transported coal from the mines in nearby villages such as Oakley, Comrie, Valleyfield, Saline and Steelend, and were more recently used by the former Longannet coal power station near Kincardine. As the Member for a constituency with a proud history of mining, I was delighted to stand on a manifesto that will end the injustice of the mineworkers’ pension scheme. At this point, I will mention just one more of my predecessors, Gordon Brown, who was elected as the Member for Dunfermline East in 1983. In preparing my speech today, I read his incredible first contribution to this House. I urge others to do the same, as it was a powerful speech focused on the need to tackle unemployment. With this new Labour Government investing in green jobs, manufacturing and infrastructure, we will have the opportunity to make the constituency of Dunfermline and Dollar and sites such as Longannet drivers of the Fife, Scottish and UK economies once again, tackling unemployment by establishing new industries and expertise that will help the global fight against climate change. I began this speech by talking about the contribution of family and my optimism for the future, and I will begin winding up in the same vein. First, I want to take a moment to thank my wife, Jen. It is very simple: without her love and support, I would not be standing here today. We have heard about the importance of family in maiden speeches from Members from all parts of the House. All Members of this House will be aiming to make even the smallest contribution to creating a better community, a better country and a better world for our own families and future generations. I want my two daughters, Hannah and Eilidh, and all children, regardless of where and how they started their life, to be able to grow up in a world where the opportunity exists for their own aspirations and ambitions to be met, nurtured, supported and fulfilled. That is something we have heard powerfully in speeches this afternoon. As the Dunfermline-born author Iain Banks wrote, “the future remains malleable and retains the possibility of change”. Those are wise words that I will try to remember as I work across the House to create that better future.