Kenneth Stevenson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 27 Jan 2026 · UK Bus Manufacturing · Hansard source

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  Yes, of course I would. There is a major move towards making sure that cars in the future, such as Beetles etc, move to electric power. There is a move towards that in America, and we should make that move in the UK towards taking cars and buses that can be improved and moving them to batteries or even hydrogen—to non-fossil fuels. In Scotland, the Scottish Government’s procurement is so deeply flawed that contracts are handed to Chinese bus manufacturers when the skills exist in our central belt. Investing in British bus manufacturing by supporting companies such as Alexander Dennis will not only get state-of-the-art buses on the road, but bolster national security, given the serious and widely held concerns surrounding where Chinese manufactured buses are controlled from and whether an action taken in China could bring electric buses here to a halt. Too many fossil fuel-powered buses—more than 36,000—remain on our roads. Bus manufacturers here in the United Kingdom are prepared to meet the demand to replace them. Manufacturers are calling for certainty and security, and they are asking for Government buy-in. To think that a company such as Alexander Dennis was at risk of going under, and that the jobs of people in my constituency were threatened, when such potential exists to invest in and grow the sector is deeply worrying. Words must quickly turn into action in every part of the United Kingdom to get this industry back on its feet and contributing to our economy in the way we know that it can. That is why net zero emission bus funds, whether in Scotland or across the United Kingdom, must be accessible to British businesses. The potential to grow our economy through investing in British bus manufacturing is clear to see, and I hope to hear from the Minister how we will embrace that potential, deliver for UK industry, and protect and create jobs for years to come.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Devolution opened the door for the delivery of good legislation. It was an opportunity for devolved Assemblies and Parliaments, whose politicians were closer to home, to deliver positive change for the people they represented. However, for almost two decades, Scotland has been held back. Eye-watering amounts of public money have been wasted, our once-great education system has seen standards plummet, and the poverty-related attainment gap remains stubbornly wide, with the gap between pupils achieving an A to C grade at higher level sitting at 17.1 percentage points this year. Like my Labour colleagues, I want devolution to succeed. I want the Scottish Parliament to deliver for Scottish people. I want the people of Scotland to look at their Parliament and recognise it as a place where good things get done in the interests of working people. However, under nationalist leadership, it has increasingly become a talking shop, where blame gets passed and responsibility and accountability are avoided. It saddens me to say it, but through no fault of our public sector workforce—it is a consequence of SNP incompetence—those who live in Scotland have a one in six chance of being on an NHS waiting list. GP appointments in towns such as Shotts in my constituency are hard to come by. Rail fares are exorbitant. Those who are educators, as I was, are working with diminishing resources, and pupils from poorer backgrounds still face greater barriers to educational and vocational success. Indeed, with the opportunities now afforded to young people as a result of this Government embracing the potential of artificial intelligence, the SNP’s political choice to neglect our further education and vocational sector becomes increasingly inexcusable. This is not the Scotland we envisaged when we held the devolution referendum and the first set of Scottish parliamentary elections. This is a Scotland that has been stopped in its tracks, due to the lack of ambition shown by its SNP Government, and their unwillingness to do anything about growing the economy, increasing investment or showcasing Scotland as a proud part of the United Kingdom.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  The whole further education system across Scotland needs to be looked at rather rapidly. Things are moving quickly, and we are now becoming a skills economy, with skills not just in AI, but in other things. A lot of companies want to move into Scotland, and they want a good, well-funded further education college close to the place they locate to. I am immensely proud of the investment that this Labour Government have put into Scotland. The largest financial settlement in the history of devolution is being delivered to improve the lives of working Scots in Airdrie and Shotts and beyond. This reaffirms Labour’s commitment to devolution, and its pride and passion for Scotland’s potential. This debate has reflected on the past and the progress of devolution, but this historic settlement could define its future. The people of Scotland will have the opportunity to elect a Scottish Labour Government next year, to invest in our NHS and to grow our economy, so that it works once again for working men and women.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for securing this debate. As a Labour politician, I am immensely proud of my party’s commitment to devolution and our delivery of the Scottish Parliament, and I will always be grateful to those who have gone before us, such as my constituency predecessor John Smith, who fought tirelessly to bring the decision-making process closer to home. In the formative years of the Scottish Parliament, it was the Labour-Liberal coalition that delivered the smoking ban—an innovative policy that considerably improved the public health of the Scottish population and reduced the number of primary-aged children inhaling second-hand smoke by 39% within a year. The same coalition oversaw an education system that was recognised as being one of Europe’s best. Indeed, in those formative years, £3 million of initial funding was set aside for international development, particularly in Malawi. That developed an already strong relationship between the people of Scotland and that country, and committed the Labour-Liberal coalition to tackling global health and wealth inequality, reducing infant mortality rates in Malawi and improving educational standards. The delivery of free personal care for the elderly was a transformative domestic policy that set Scotland on a path to being a more compassionate society, and it secured dignity for our elderly population. It was us putting the principles of devolution into action. That was always the change that devolution was intended to make, and it is pretty telling that even though significant time has since passed, the policies I mention remain to this day some of the most significant achievements of the Scottish Parliament. The reality is that the SNP, Conservatives and now Reform UK thrive when Scotland is divided. Their record of poor delivery, incompetent governance, money wasted and vanity projects is clear to see, yet they are all as comfortable as one other in hiding behind the constitutional question.

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

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I thank the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) for securing this debate and giving Members the opportunity to highlight the continuing impact and importance of terrestrial television in the modern day. While there is undoubtedly a growing reliance on digital television and streaming services, a significant number of people across the United Kingdom remain reliant on terrestrial television. I look forward to the Minister’s response on how the Government plan to keep those people in mind when decisions are made in the coming months and years. Earlier in the year, I had the opportunity, at the invitation of Arqiva, to visit the Black Hill transmitter station at Kirk o’ Shotts, near Salsburgh, a great industrial village in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency. To say I was impressed with the transmitter’s range of coverage, the number of people reliant on it and the skills on show by those who operate it would be an understatement. The Black Hill transmitter provides DTT coverage to approximately 940,000 households across the central Scotland region, serving Glasgow and Edinburgh and everything in between. It is an excellent resource that delivers a vital public service. Indeed, according to Ofcom data from 2025, more than a quarter of Scots rely solely on terrestrial television, with no other means available to them. The figure goes as high as almost 50% in Northern Ireland. It is thought that across the United Kingdom there remains a socioeconomic aspect to this that Ministers will need to consider, with the percentage of those without access to the internet being over seven times as high in our most deprived areas than in our most affluent. Reliance on the internet in a world without terrestrial television would be hugely significant. We know that there are still gaps in progress, that almost one in five people uses the internet solely via a smartphone and that our elderly population, particularly in rural areas, feels digitally excluded. In the town of Shotts, the villages of Salsburgh and Harthill, and the villages that surround Airdrie, the elderly population in those villages still relies on terrestrial television for the news, weather and entertainment. Although I share the Government’s ambition for a modern, vibrant and digital society, I question whether a service with such significant reach and reliability needs to be taken away before the 2040s. I thank the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale for securing this debate and look forward to the Minister’s response. Terrestrial television has great value and impressive reach, and provides a safety net where there is a risk of gaps in internet provision. We can be a modern society that embraces technological advancement and change, while also protecting the sort of provision that has served and continues to serve us well.