John Lamont MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 15 Oct 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023: Replacement · Hansard source

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  5. What steps he is taking to replace the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.

• 15 Oct 2025 · Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023: Replacement · Hansard source

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  Yesterday the Secretary of State announced this Labour Government’s new Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. Despite all the justifications for the Bill, it still means one thing: veterans, many of whom are elderly, being dragged back through the courts. Does the Secretary of State think that is an acceptable way to treat those people who bravely served and defended our country?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Private Rented Sector: People Granted Asylum · Hansard source

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  It is extraordinary that the Minister does not have that answer. Too many asylum seekers are arriving in our communities far too quickly because the Government have failed on their promise to smash their gangs. People have had enough, and this Labour Government do not seem to have any answers. What actions will the Minister take to support local communities and public services to deal with the growing number of asylum seekers in our communities?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Private Rented Sector: People Granted Asylum · Hansard source

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  2. What information his Department holds on the proportion of people granted asylum status living in the private rented sector.

• 11 Sept 2025 · UK Ambassador to the US: Appointment Process · Hansard source

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  The Minister claims that new information has come to light, which has resulted in the ambassador being sacked. Can he confirm that this is the only new information, and that all the other information was in the Prime Minister’s knowledge?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Passenger Rail Performance · Hansard source

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  Last week, London North Eastern Railway announced huge cuts to rail services from Berwick-upon-Tweed station, which serves not only the town of Berwick but my constituents in the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland. The Government promised more trains, but this is the opposite. LNER is now owned by the Government, so will the Secretary of State meet me and local residents, so that we can explain the impact that the cuts will have on local communities?

• 4 Sept 2025 · Future of Terrestrial Television · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. I know he is acutely aware that many communities that he and I represent in the Scottish borders rely on that television service. At the same time, they do not have access to a high-speed, high quality broadband connection unless they pay significantly for it. Does he agree that we need a commitment from the Government to extend the Freeview service to reassure residents in those communities?

• 4 Sept 2025 · Water Company Executives: Accountability · Hansard source

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  State-owned Scottish Water is responsible for the water supply across Scotland. Last week, thousands of residents in the Scottish Borders were left without water for days, and terrible communication by Scottish Water made matters worse. We were facing a public health crisis, as well as an animal welfare crisis. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Scottish Government should undertake a full investigation into what happened and ensure that Scottish Water executives are held to account for their failure to act?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  Is the hon. Lady aware of the comments in the Scottish Parliament yesterday by the chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance? He said that “the first half of this year was brutal”, and that the increase in employer’s national insurance contributions has resulted in a “loss of jobs”. Is he wrong?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  Tourism tax!

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and demonstrating why he is such a great champion for Teesside. Does he agree that many businesses are not just facing the prospect of closing, but of possibly laying off more and more jobs? In my constituency, Mainstreet Trading, a fantastic award-winning bookshop, deli and café, wrote to all its customers earlier this year to say that opening hours were going to be reduced because of Labour’s tax on jobs. Is he experiencing the same in his constituency?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  Tourism tax!

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech about the importance of these businesses to her constituency. Does she agree that those businesses are often the very heart of local communities, and that if residents lose them, they lose a vital part of their community?

• 2 Sept 2025 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  In Scotland, we have so-called devolution, but the reality on the ground is that the Scottish Government are centralising more and more power. Does my hon. Friend share my concern that the Bill creates the potential risk of that?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse · Hansard source

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  I recently met Dr Joanna Kerr, an extremely brave survivor of child sexual exploitation and abuse in Scotland. As it stands, the national inquiry will not cover Scotland, and the Scottish National party Government will not launch their own. I ask the Minister again: will she commit herself to extending the national inquiry to cover all parts of the United Kingdom including Scotland, or do victims like Joanna not deserve justice?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T4. Cruel cuts to the winter fuel allowance by both this Labour Government and the SNP Government in Edinburgh left thousands of pensioners cold in their homes last winter. When will the Secretary of State apologise for the misery her Government have caused for vulnerable pensioners in the Scottish Borders and across the United Kingdom?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Health and Disability Benefits: Spending Estimate · Hansard source

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  Just two months ago, the Secretary of State was left humiliated after being forced to significantly water down her botched welfare Bill. If the Government had pressed ahead with the Bill as originally drafted, how much less would taxpayers be spending on benefits by 2030?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Health and Disability Benefits: Spending Estimate · Hansard source

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  4. What estimate she has made of the level of spending on health and disability benefits by 2030.

• 22 Jul 2025 · Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to speak in the Sir David Amess Adjournment debate. One of the highlights of my year is my annual summer surgery tour; I hold over 75 surgeries in towns and villages across my constituency over 10 days. This is in addition to my usual monthly surgeries. The summer recess gives me the opportunity to get to the more remote and isolated parts of my constituency with my Scottish Parliament colleague Rachael Hamilton MSP. There are still a few appointments available, so I encourage anyone out there who would like one to get in touch and book one. It has been another busy year. I want to focus on some of the campaigns in the Scottish Borders over the last year, and the incredible work of those in the Borders who make our community such an amazing place to live. Access to cash is a huge issue there. Residents in Eyemouth and Selkirk have been left without adequate banking facilities for far too long. I was delighted to present a petition in the House of Commons, signed by over 1,400 local people, calling for new banking hubs to be created. The Scottish Borders need more banking hubs, so that local people have access to the essential services they need. The hub in Jedburgh in my constituency is a very good example. It serves local businesses and residents, and is supported by local staff from the post office. The Scottish Borders are under attack: there are far too many windfarms, solar farms, battery energy storage units and pylons. The Borders is a beautiful place to live and visit, but that beautiful landscape is being blighted by new energy infrastructure. I have been leading a campaign against these developments, and we formed a group called Action Against Pylons Scottish Borders to lead the campaign in our local communities. I particularly pay tribute to the outgoing chair of the group, Rosi Lister, for all her work in getting it up and running, and for her support in leading this campaign. I also thank the dozens of other residents who have supported this cause. One of the big, controversial stories in the Scottish Borders in recent months has been the Scottish Borders council’s attempts to shut or mothball several nurseries. Local residents were quite rightly furious about the council’s initial proposals. The decision was wrong and needed to be reversed. I met so many parents who were concerned that their young children would be forced to travel long distances to go to nursery. Many other parents were going to be forced to give up work, simply to look after their kids. It was a disgrace that the council was ignoring the views of so many parents and families across the Borders, but I am pleased that the council rightly saw sense and is reviewing the decision. To make matters worse, the council is now considering a consultant’s report on closing further public services, such as libraries, swimming pools and leisure centres. I am completely against most of those proposals, and will continue to campaign against them. I pay tribute to volunteers across the Scottish Borders. I started my “volunteer of the year” awards to celebrate the many dedicated and selfless people in the Borders who do whatever they can to help others. I received hundreds of entries, and it is hard to choose who to award, but I will mention a few. Kyle McKinlay, who coaches young teams at Tweedbank Thistle football club, is making a big difference in his community. David Shepherd is involved in organisations including Presenting Coldstream, Coldstream football club and Coldstream bowling club. There are also all the volunteers at Lavender Touch in Galashiels, who provide incredible support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. Their work and support make incredibly difficult times for people a little bit easier. Finally, I pay tribute to Kelso cyclist Oscar Onley, who at the age of 22 is competing in the Tour de France as we speak. He is truly an inspiration to many young cyclists, not only in the Borders but across Scotland and all parts of the United Kingdom. I have fond memories of Oscar, because when I was training to do my ironman back in 2014, he, at the age of 11, showed me how to cycle up some of the very steep hills in the Scottish Borders. Even at that young age, he demonstrated mastery, and what a great cycling talent he was going to be. I am sure he has a fantastic cycling career ahead of him. I wish him well in the Tour de France over the coming days, and with his future cycling career.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source

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  Between 2018 and 2022, untreated sewage was released just over 58,000 times from Scottish sewer overflows, and more than half of wild swimming spots in Scotland contain unsafe levels of sewage, so whatever model the Government decide to adopt for the regulation of the water industry in England, will the Secretary of State assure me that they will not follow the Scottish Government’s failed model?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Global Plastics Treaty · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is making a very good speech. I agree with him about the need to take the public and business with us. In Scotland we had a real challenge with the deposit return scheme that the Scottish Government tried to impose, because business was up in arms about it, and it was going to impact on the internal market. Does he agree that that is an example of where it can go very badly wrong if we do not take the public and business with us?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Global Plastics Treaty · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is making a very good speech, much of which I agree with. I am sure that he, like me, visits many schools. Does he agree that when he visits them and speaks to young people, they are very, very concerned about the environment, and in particular plastic pollution? In many ways, our great hope is that their laser focus on this issue will be reflected in the policy of future generations and that plastic production is reduced.

• 17 Jul 2025 · Global Plastics Treaty · Hansard source

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  The Minister is right to highlight the leading role that the UK has played in this matter, under both the current Government and, in particular, the previous Government. The last negotiations and progress towards the treaty came to a halt because Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia basically imposed a time limit, which meant that the treaty could not be agreed. What discussions are taking place behind the scenes to ensure that countries like those three will not do the same and stall our agreement on the treaty this time?