Graham Leadbitter MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Feb 2025 · Draft Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance) (Consequential Modifications) Order 2025 · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Hobhouse. We fully support this order to support the ongoing work of Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Government. I was not planning to speak for long, but the Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, has opened a few doors for me so I might as well take them. Although Scotland may be the highest taxed part of the UK overall, 51% of its workforce pay less tax than they would in the rest of the UK. It is simply a more progressive system than the rest of the UK. The Scottish social security system is based on dignity and respect. Many Government Members, and some Opposition Members, will probably welcome that. The UK social security system is incredibly complex—benefit advisers and experts within the system struggle to navigate their way around, never mind the claimants. With this order, there is an opportunity to simplify how people apply for benefits from Social Security Scotland, especially if they have conditions that are not going to improve. People who move on to this benefit in Scotland have the opportunity potentially to apply for the Scottish adult disability payment rather than Scottish adult disability living allowance. That is a choice for the individual, but people have that opportunity and there is dignity and respect at the heart of the process—something that needs to progress much further in the social security system. My final point is that there is one way to resolve the complexity that the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, mentioned: to devolve all the powers of the UK Government to Scotland. I reserve the right to continue to campaign for that circumstance.

• 11 Nov 2024 · Rural Affairs · Hansard source

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  First, I commend the maiden speakers in the House today. There have been some excellent maiden speeches. I particularly liked the reference by the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) to Tolkien, of whom I am a big fan, but today we are talking less about the bounteousness of the Hobbit’s Shire and more about needing a wizard to figure out how the Budget is good for farmers. Like many Members across the House representing rural areas, I have received significant correspondence from those on family farms, and from industry representatives such as the National Farmers Union of Scotland. The changes to inheritance tax and agricultural property relief have sent a wave of despair through the farming community, given the impact on family farms. Labour Members have referred to farmers having time to do financial planning, but significant sums of money will have to be put aside; if we were talking about pensions, we would say that people needed 10, 15 or 20 years to change their financial plans in that way. The NFUS has given the example of a family farm worth £4 million. The vast majority of that value is tied up in farm buildings, machinery and livestock. A family member inheriting the farm could be liable for a £600,000 tax bill—a demand enforceable by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, with £60,000 due within six months. Let us be clear that for many people, the only way to cover that would be to sell off buildings, machinery or stock. That may inherently make the farm financially unviable and put the whole business at risk of failure. A farm owner may choose to protect their family farm assets by selling off tenanted land, creating huge financial uncertainty for tenant farmers, and giving many cause to question whether it is worth continuing in farming. Food security is national security, but these measures are increasing uncertainty and insecurity for hard-working farming families—and in most farms, the whole family is working it together. A constituent wrote to me to say that APR is not a loophole, as has been suggested, but a targeted and necessary relief designed to support multi-generational businesses, food production and economic growth. A second issue of real significance to my constituency is whisky tax. That might not immediately jump to mind when we think about rural affairs, but the vast majority of the 48 distilleries in my constituency are in rural areas. The supply chain for those whisky distilleries is in rural areas; these are rural jobs. If the increase in whisky tax reduces sales, that reduces investment. Those 48 distilleries range from big corporates such as Diageo through to small independents, and even a community-run distillery; I recently had the pleasure of being at its opening. The supply chain includes farmers producing grains—this is a double whammy for farmers in my constituency, as many of them produce grain for the distilleries—as well as mechanical engineers, process engineers, hauliers, maltsters, plumbers, joiners, gardeners, tour guides and those working in retail and hospitality. All those jobs are in rural areas, and they are a lifeline source of well-paid, good employment for many rural communities in Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey. A third impact that I want to touch on is forestry. Here I can maybe throw the Minister a bone, having had a bit of a go about the first two issues. On forestry, I think we have a lot in common. We want to see more housing built; I am very supportive of that. I also support the need to see progress on sustainable aviation fuel. Both of those rely on significant investment in forestry. There is a serious issue about the availability of new wood beyond 2035, and if we are to achieve progress on sustainable aviation fuel and house building, that needs to be in the balance. Forestry needs to be in balance with the rest of our agricultural land needs. I urge the Minister to commit to a statement on the future of forestry beyond 2035, in order to support those two objectives, which, as I say, I believe we share.

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

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  I will not speak for a great deal of time, as this issue is largely devolved in Scotland. However, I welcome the Bill, and the Scottish Government have been keen to support it through a legislative consent motion. That supports the work that has already been done in Scotland. We have put the railway into public ownership as a last resort, but the Bill will provide stability going forward for the Government and the operator and enable them to do much better on medium and long-term planning, with certainty on what the future holds. My amendment 6 brings into the debate the role of rolling stock leasing companies, or ROSCOs. Many Members on the Government Benches will agree that the ROSCOs are taking a huge profit out of the public sector. Rolling stock contracts in the past couple of years took more than £3 billion each year, and the amount of profit being taken from that is in the billions over the lifetime of the contracts. That money could be reinvested in the railways. I appreciate that it is not for this Bill, but I would like the Government to come forward with proposals on ROSCOs in the next Bill that will come forward later in the Session. That is all I want to say at the moment. I do not intend to press my amendment to a Division, but I would like some assurance from those on the Government Front Bench that serious consideration will be given to how we deal with ROSCOs and the amount of profit being taken.