Ian Murray MP: speeches

Speeches

• 22 Jan 2025 · Strengthening the Union · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has been a doughty champion for Drumchapel and was key, at the heart of this Labour Government, to getting that funding across the line. The health service in Scotland is in crisis, which is only made clearer by the First Minister taking personal control of it. One in six of our fellow Scots are on NHS waiting lists. The record settlement of £4.9 billion to end austerity in Scotland needs to be spent on the frontline in places such as Drumchapel health centre.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Strengthening the Union · Hansard source

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  I am sure everyone across the House would like to join me in paying tribute to the late, great Denis Law. A hero to many Scots and particularly to football fans, the Lawman scored 30 international goals in 55 appearances for Scotland and is the only Scot to win the Ballon d’Or. We send our sincere condolences to his family, friends and former colleagues. I also want to wish everyone a very happy Burns Day for Saturday. We celebrated with two fantastic events in the Scotland Office this week and I was pleased that so many Members from across the House were able to join us. I also want to register that it is Holocaust Memorial Day next week. On the 80th anniversary, we all reaffirm in this House that we will never, ever forget. An economic plan for change will bring growth and economic opportunity to all parts of the country. I am proud that in the last six months we have brought Great British Energy to Scotland, secured the Commonwealth games in Glasgow, launched “Brand Scotland”, delivered a pay rise for hundreds of thousands of Scottish workers and increased the state pension through our commitment to the triple lock. We promised in our manifesto to end austerity, and with £4.9 billion extra for the Scottish Government, that promise is delivered.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Promoting Scotland Internationally · Hansard source

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  Promoting Scotland internationally is one of my four priorities. Brand Scotland is the Scotland Office’s programme of international trade and investment. Promotion is about selling Scotland to the world. We have been to Norway, Singapore and Malaysia, and we plan to be in the US in April. This is an initiative for the whole of Government, We work closely with Department for Business and Trade and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office colleagues in particular. Additionally, I have met many foreign ambassadors and high commissioners in the past few months. This week, I have hosted members of the diplomatic corps at Dover House to discuss Scotland’s offer to the world.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Promoting Scotland Internationally · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for consistently raising the interests of her constituents in this House, and for the manner in which she does so. Technology was a key theme of my recent visit to Malaysia and Singapore. I had productive meetings with Ministers from both Governments and major companies in the region to discuss how Scotland can share its world-leading technological expertise with both countries. I encourage Calnex to engage with the Scotland Office and the national wealth fund. If my hon. Friend writes to me, we can make the relevant introductions to the company.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Promoting Scotland Internationally · Hansard source

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  The President does have a deep affection for Scotland. I am sure that he also had a deep affection for the right hon. Gentleman, which I hope will appear in his memoirs. I am sure that there will be some rare unsigned copies for people to buy when they are published. The Prime Minister has been clear, along with the Foreign Secretary, who has met President Trump and has been working very closely with the transition team, that Scotland is a key marketplace for the USA. It is not in anybody’s interest, here in the United Kingdom or indeed in America, for tariffs to be put on Scottish goods. We are working very closely with both the Government here and the Government in America to ensure that does not happen.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Great British Energy · Hansard source

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  GB Energy is there, with the national wealth fund, to deliver that just transition in clean power by 2030. Oil and gas in the North sea will be here for decades to come, and I ask the right hon. Gentleman to work with us to deliver that just transition, rather than scaremongering the workers of the north-east.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Great British Energy · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend on being the new mission champion for clean energy. He is absolutely right. While the SNP makes promises it breaks, this Labour Government are determined to deliver for Scotland. Maybe that is why SNP MPs in this House voted against GB Energy. We are delivering for Scotland. We promised GB Energy; that has been delivered. We promised to end austerity; that has been delivered. We promised to make work pay; that has been delivered. While the SNP only delivers managed decline for Scotland, we are getting on with improving the economy.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Great British Energy · Hansard source

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  I am surprised that the shadow Secretary of State is championing the lines of the SNP. GB Energy is headquartered in Scotland. In fact, it is headquartered in the region that he represents in Scotland, it is capitalised with £125 million and it will bring valuable jobs to his constituency. I suspect he might want to go back to his constituents this weekend and explain why he does not want those new jobs and industries of the future in his constituency.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Great British Energy · Hansard source

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  GB Energy is owned by the public and headquartered in Aberdeen, because Scotland will be at the forefront of the UK becoming the clean energy superpower that it wants to be by 2030. GB Energy’s activities will support and enhance the delivery of priority supply chains and infrastructure development, helping to speed up the existing Scottish offshore wind pipeline and other clean energy projects.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Green Energy Sector · Hansard source

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  The closure of the Grangemouth refinery is regrettable. My hon. Friend needs to reflect on the fact that the previous Government and the Scottish Government had 32 years combined to do something about Grangemouth and did not lift a finger. Since we came into government in July, we have got the £100 million Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal over the line and delivered some short-term help for the workers at Grangemouth. We continue to work with the company and the trade unions on the Grangemouth refinery. We look forward to Project Willow coming to fruition this month, and the Government are fully committed to ensuring that we see that through.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Green Energy Sector · Hansard source

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  It is a very good question, because our clean power by 2030 mission will ensure that the Government can deliver that. GB Energy has been set up to look at supply chains and all the other issues around how we do so. I hope that GB Energy will be able to look at some of those issues in the round, but the key thing is to ensure that we have the supply chain infrastructure to be able to deliver that mission.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Green Energy Sector · Hansard source

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  A key question and one of the topic agenda items that we always have with the Scottish Government is how we can deliver clean power by 2030, because obviously it is a joint endeavour. The Chancellor was in China last month, and we will work with China when it is in our national interests to do so. One of the key points is that Great British Energy will be looking in the round at supply chains and at how we can deliver that mission by 2030, but the hon. Member will be as surprised as I am that the SNP voted against GB Energy and, indeed, the record Budget settlement in Scotland.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Green Energy Sector · Hansard source

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  I am in regular contact with ministerial colleagues from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on a range of issues relevant to clean energy production in Scotland. Scotland is key to the UK Government’s clean power by 2030 mission, which will deliver cheaper bills, energy security and future jobs, and drive growth in the Scottish economy.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Living Standards · Hansard source

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  I think what the hon. Gentleman is tending to forget is that the winter fuel payment in Scotland is devolved. It was the SNP Scottish Government who decided to means-test it as well. If it was not for the £4.9 billion extra delivered by our Labour Chancellor at this Dispatch Box to end austerity, which the Scottish Government will spend today, they would not be able to make any decisions whatsoever.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Living Standards · Hansard source

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  Our economic growth mission will raise living standards in Scotland. Our new deal for working people will disproportionately benefit Scots. New protections such as guaranteed hours will help shift workers with up to £600 a year. We are also delivering an annual pay rise of £1,400 for hundreds of thousands of full-time workers in Scotland, and we have committed to the triple lock, which means an extra £470 for pensioners next year. Last week, we paid the first instalment to 7,000 former Scottish miners with their full pension. We will improve living standards through better public services and pay driven by economic growth.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Living Standards · Hansard source

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  Mr Speaker, I am sorry for such a short response to the hon. Gentleman, but there are 4.9 billion reasons why that question is rubbish.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Living Standards · Hansard source

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  Mr Speaker, you will not be surprised to hear that I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. [ Interruption. ] Absolutely shocked! The Government inherited not just a fiscal crisis from the previous Government, but an industrial one too. We need more high-quality jobs in Scotland. Between our industrial strategy, our plan to get Scotland working and the employment rights legislation, we will help to deliver that. Do not forget that the SNP Government said that zero-hours contracts were a “positive destination” for work. Our plans to make work pay will have a bigger positive benefit in Scotland than in the rest of the UK. That is the difference in having Scottish Labour MPs on the Government Benches.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Living Standards · Hansard source

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  I congratulate not only the nine community councils in my hon. Friend’s area on their initiative, but community councils up and down the country that do so much work on our behalf to ensure that the community benefit fund, derived from local wind farms, makes a tangible difference to local people. I congratulate her on standing up consistently for her community. Our mission is to become a clean energy superpower by 2030, and our communities will be at the heart of that. Communities must benefit from hosting national infrastructure for clean power. That is why right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero is developing guidance on community benefits, which will be published in due course.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  Economic growth is the No. 1 mission of this Government, as the hon. Gentleman knows. When the Chancellor came to the Dispatch Box to deliver her Budget, she started on minus £22 billion—that black hole left for us by the previous Government. We chose investment over decline and we chose to end austerity, so tough decisions had to be made.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend not only for that question but for the tenacity with which she has backed Kilmarnock to get more funding for her local area in the Budget. It is an absolute disgrace that the previous Government made promises to communities such as Kilmarnock about funding that they never had an intention of keeping. This Government stepped in and funded those projects, chose investment over decline and will deliver growth and higher living standards. The irony is that the Scottish National party voted against the largest funding settlement in the history of devolution yesterday, but will spend it today.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  I will be corrected if I am wrong, but I think the hon. Gentleman backed former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who, when she was Prime Minister, crashed the economy and left a £22 billion black hole— [ Interruption. ] The hon. Gentleman shakes his head and says that he did not, but he walked through the Lobby with her when she did those things in her Budget. He did back former Prime Minister Liz Truss. We will take no lectures from the Opposition on how to run the economy or back business. Of course, his party left the highest tax burden on working people in 70 years—another inheritance that this Government will have to try to resolve.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  The Scotland Office is supporting the White Ribbon Scotland campaign, which asks people to sign a pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women. I have signed it, as has the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Midlothian (Kirsty McNeill), and I encourage Scottish Members from across the House to come to Dover House foyer and sign the pledge themselves. This Government have a mission to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. I am sure that the whole House supports that. Economic growth is our No. 1 mission in this Government. We announced a historic Budget for Scotland that chose investment over decline and an end to austerity. On top of a record settlement, the UK Government are investing nearly £1.4 billion into local growth projects in Scotland, creating the national wealth fund to support our new industrial strategy and driving the transition to clean energy via Great British Energy, which is headquartered in Aberdeen.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  I join the right hon. Gentleman in his tribute to Peter MacMahon as he steps down as the political editor of ITV in the Borders region. He and I share something closely: we both have good faces for radio, but it is always nice to appear with Peter MacMahon on television. This Government are committed to clean power by 2030, and of course, nuclear is part of that mix.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  I wish Vector Photonics well. Supporting start-ups and spin-out tech companies and the world-leading Scottish universities that often incubate them is an important part of this Government’s steadfast commitment to economic growth. It was privilege to see at first hand the importance of these spin-outs during my recent visit to Malaysia and Singapore, when I discussed this with the Scottish universities present in those countries and representatives from the Government and business. Scottish universities punch well above their weight internationally—something we should nurture and be very proud of.

• 4 Dec 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  I have a lot of respect for the hon. Lady, but this is another instance where the Opposition parties in this Chamber want all the benefits of the Budget, but they do not want to be able to pay for it. We have announced the largest settlement for Scotland in devolution’s history: £47.7 billion, which is £4.9 billion extra. The Chancellor delivered £4.9 billion extra in Barnett consequentials alone from this Dispatch Box during the Budget—the SNP voted against it, but will spend it today.