Patricia Ferguson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 12 Feb 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for taking my intervention, and for securing today’s debate, which is indeed on a very important subject. I recently attended a talk by Professor Mamode, who demonstrated, with images and with his own testimony, the kinds of injuries that are being sustained by some people in Palestine. Notably, there was a seven-year-old boy whose injuries were so symmetrical that they could not have been done by human hand; they had clearly been done by a drone. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to also be thinking about the export of items that are not militaristic in and of themselves, but that can be weaponised, as drones have been in Palestine, and that we have to consider export bans on those items, too?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Yesterday’s meeting of the Scottish Affairs Committee took some interesting and informative evidence from representatives of the space industry in the UK. The launch of the first commercial space rocket from SaxaVord spaceport in Shetland is likely to take place before the end of the year. The industry has potentially great commercial benefits for the UK and is very important to our integrity as a sovereign nation. One of the key asks of the representative we spoke to was that there should be a Minister for space, who could help them to navigate the various jurisdictions they have to speak to, cut through the number of local authorities and other authorities they have to deal with, and simply be a champion for their industry. Will my right hon. Friend raise those matters in Government?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald) for securing this important urgent question. Over the last 16 months or so, we have seen Palestinian people displaced from their homes and communities—on many occasions not just once, but perhaps twice or three times—so for the President of the United States to suggest a further forced displacement seems to me to be not just illegal, but incredibly cruel. In diplomacy, we believe that timing is everything, so in order to give the Palestinian people some protection from outside actors who seem to wish to dictate what should happen to them, is it not now time for the international community and our Government to recognise Palestine as a state and give it all the international support and strength that that would provide?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q11. The announcement of a third runway at Heathrow is obviously a massive boost to growth in the economy. Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that it is important that the economic boost is spread around the UK, and will he therefore agree to ask the relevant Minister to meet me and other Glasgow MPs with the chamber of commerce to discuss the possibility of a new supply chain hub being created in the city, where the materials for Heathrow’s expansion could be reassembled?

• 22 Jan 2025 · Strengthening the Union · Hansard source

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  May I thank my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for helping to secure £14 million of levelling up funds for the area of Drumchapel in my constituency of Glasgow West? Does he agree that given the record settlement that the Scottish Government have received from the UK Government, it is about time that they went ahead and sorted out the problems of under-provision and overcrowding in Drumchapel health centre?

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

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  I agree that this will make it simpler. I think back to a number of conversations I heard or had on the doorstep on the issue. I thought I had begun to get my head around the situation, but I then heard colleagues who were knocking doors with me trying to explain it to citizens on the doorstep, and it became clear to me that perhaps I had not explained it properly to them. We all have a role to play, and anything we can do to make this process more obvious, more accessible and simpler will be very helpful. I know from last year’s general election, Deputy Presiding Officer—sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker; old habits die hard—how important postal and proxy votes are to voters in my communities of Glasgow West, which had the largest number of registered postal voters in the city of Glasgow. As I said earlier, that perhaps reflects the ageing demographic in parts of my constituency. Voters should never be hindered in casting their vote by an overly complicated system, and this Bill is a major step forward in reducing that complexity. It is vital that every eligible voter has easy access to the democratic process, and this Bill will help to achieve that. I was first elected in 1999 to another Parliament, and over the years I have worked with many returning officers and seen for myself the work that they and their staff do, year in, year out. Even when there are not elections on, they are preparing, and ensuring that electoral registers are up to date and the processes for postal and proxy votes are in place. I thank all the returning officers I have worked with over the years and their staff for everything they do to make the process as efficient as possible. Hopefully, today, with the help of my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith and her Bill, we will help them to make that process even better.

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

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  It was said earlier that the fact that last year’s general election occurred during the Scottish school holidays meant that, in the chaos and confusion that happens in most households preparing to go on holiday, voting fell off the agenda for a lot of people who had perhaps thought about applying for a postal vote but not got around to doing it. Does my hon. Friend agree that, were another election like that to be called, the opportunity to do that chore by post might make a difference to a lot of people?

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. That is something I am particularly aware of in my constituency, which—as I will talk more about later on—has an ageing demographic. The online service is vital. The option to apply by post is available for UK parliamentary elections and for police and fire commissioner elections in England and Wales. Voters in England can also use the service to apply for postal or proxy votes in local elections, but voters in Scotland and Wales currently have more limited options, as a paper form is still required for absent voting applications for a devolved Parliament or local election. The Bill will remove that restriction for voters in Scotland and Wales, and will also make the conduct of elections possibly cheaper and certainly more manageable for electoral administrators. In Scotland, we use three different voting systems, which in and of itself can be complicating for voters. We ask them to vote by first past the post for elections to this place; we ask them to vote using the additional member system for elections to the Scottish Parliament; and we ask them to vote by single transferable vote for local authority elections. In spite of the fact that some of those methods have been in place since 1999, I have encountered voters over the piece who still find that confusing, so anything we can do to take away any complexity or complication from the process of voting must be very welcome. The Bill is also respectful of the devolution settlement —something that is very important to me as a former Minister for Parliament in the Scottish Government. This Bill seeks to give the power to enact those parts of the system that are devolved to the Scottish and Welsh Governments, but importantly, it also allows enough time for the process to be introduced in time for the next round of Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections in 2026.

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention—I was rather spoilt for choice. I absolutely agree: young people will think that. Young people are particularly used to signing up online and think that once they have done something online, it is probably there in perpetuity. In most cases, they are correct; in this, they are not. The Bill will help to resolve that issue. I mentioned that we are going to have Scottish Parliament and Welsh parliamentary elections in 2026, but in Scotland, those elections will be quickly followed by local authority elections in 2027, so it is very important that the Bill is enacted in time for those elections to use this new system. This is a crucial step towards ensuring a consistent and straightforward voting process for people in Scotland and Wales.

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

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  I give way.

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Tracy Gilbert) for bringing forward this important piece of Member’s legislation. Having taken a Members’ Bill through the Scottish Parliament a number of years ago, I know how daunting and time-consuming the process is, so I am very grateful to all colleagues who have tabled Bills, allowing us to debate so many important subjects. With turnout at elections dropping across the country, it is important that we as legislators do everything we can to encourage and facilitate voters. We all have a role to play, whether that is speaking to young people in our constituencies about the importance of their vote and their democratic rights being respected, or bringing forward legislation that makes the process easier for all. We have to take those responsibilities seriously—in fact, to grasp them with both hands. Postal and proxy votes are a vital component of our elections, as they make voting possible for voters who are perhaps ill or on holiday, or whose working hours make it difficult to get to a polling station. As we have heard, since October 2023, the online absent voter application service has been available to voters who wish to vote by post and wish to apply online. The option to apply using a paper form is, of course, still available to anyone who wishes to use it.

• 17 Jan 2025 · Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill · Hansard source

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  On that point, is my hon. Friend as saddened and surprised as I am to see not a single SNP Member here? It strikes me that if they claim to be Scotland’s party, they need to be here to talk about legislation that affects Scotland.

• 17 Jan 2025 · New Homes (Solar Generation) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to see the Bill in the House today, but am not quite so entranced by the hon. Member’s puns, or by his making me feel completely and utterly ancient. Setting aside that niggle, on a serious point, does he agree that it is important for us to have a secure supply chain for solar panels, and that we eliminate the use of solar panels built by Uyghur people subject to forced labour in China?

• 16 Jan 2025 · Church of England: Racial Injustice · Hansard source

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  9. What steps the Church is taking to tackle racial injustice.

• 16 Jan 2025 · Church of England: Racial Injustice · Hansard source

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  The Church’s work to recognise the importance of diversity and on proactive anti-racism is very welcome, but what steps is it taking to address its historical links to the slave trade?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  This year marks the 850th anniversary of my home city of Glasgow. One of the key aims of the celebration is to speed up ambitions around the city council’s grand challenge of tackling poverty and inequality and increasing prosperity and opportunity—themes that chime clearly with this Government’s agenda. Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating Glasgow on this milestone, and does he agree that people make Glasgow?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the young women across the country who took part in the CyberFirst girls competition, and especially the winners in the Scotland section, Charlotte, Jess, Sania and Aoife of Hyndland secondary school in my constituency? Does she agree that it is increasingly important that girls are encouraged to pursue an interest and, perhaps, a career in cyber security?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Impact of Conflict on Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  I apologise in advance, Sir Jeremy; I am slightly under the weather today and have got a bit of a sore throat, so this might not come out quite as I intended. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald) for securing this important debate. Although we often focus on issues around conflict and violence, and what can be done to resolve them, we can sometimes miss the fact that conflict disproportionately affects women and girls. During times of conflict, existing inequalities are magnified and exaggerated, leading to further insecurity, homelessness and particularly violence and sexual violence against women and girls. We have already heard from my hon. Friend about the current situation in Gaza, which, as we know, is unconscionable. It is estimated that almost 50 mothers and their children are killed every day. According to World Health Organisation estimates, 183 women give birth every day and, as we have heard, many are enduring C-sections without anaesthesia or other medicines. Ironically, many of the supplies that could resolve that problem are probably sitting at the borders, in the convoys that we know have been sent by international agencies and Governments, including our own, and could be put to use. So desperate is the need that it is just outrageous that those supplies are not being allowed to reach the people who need them so badly. In Myanmar, women have borne the brunt of the military oppression in that country and have been subjected to a rise in intimate partner violence and sexual violence, too. Some 3 million people have been displaced, which in turn puts women at further risk of violence and abuse, because they are separated from those who would normally, one would hope, help to defend them—their fathers and brothers, and their husbands and partners. At the same time in Myanmar, women are shut out of any discussion or high-level debate about making peace—I will return to that point a little later. I was pleased to read about the Minister’s and the Government’s ongoing commitment and work, through the preventing sexual violence and conflict initiative, which I understand remains a real priority for our Government. I hope the Minister will say a little about that at the end of the debate. When it comes to peacebuilding—hopefully we will move to peacebuilding efforts eventually in some of these conflicts—women are often excluded from the efforts and discussions, which leads to further entrenched disenfranchisement. Women are often the people who hold together communities, and often have a deeper understanding of the whole-community needs in humanitarian emergencies in particular. As we know, in many traditions they still hold the major caring responsibilities and are very much integrated into their communities, but they are not well resourced or respected as international humanitarian actors. Our Government’s commitment to take forward resolutions to these conflicts is very welcome, and it is what we would expect, but I hope the Minister can give us some sense of how women will be involved in that work as we go forward. Women being affected by conflict is not a new phenomenon—it has probably been with us for the whole history of humankind—but now we know how wrong and unacceptable it is. Because of social media, television and all the other media channels that we have, we know for ourselves exactly what is going on. We cannot turn a blind eye to it. If we do not involve women in resolving conflict and in peacebuilding initiatives, we are destined to repeat the mistakes of the past—something I suspect none of us would wish to do.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Northern Gaza · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) for securing this urgent question; it is indeed urgent. At the UN, the UK called for Israel to abide by UNSC resolution 2286 on the protection of civilians and healthcare. It is clear that Israel is not abiding by that resolution, so with the words having been uttered and ignored, what will the Government now do to ensure that Israel is held to account for its actions?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Israel and Palestine · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Israel and Palestine · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Israel and Palestine · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for taking an intervention. Does he share my fear that the statements of Israeli officials suggest that they intend to have a long-term presence in Gaza? Will he join me in condemning the de facto annexation of parts of Gaza that is going on at the moment?

• 19 Nov 2024 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a very valid point that I was just about to come to, so it is very timely. I think our Government have to work very hard with the international community to try to find a way—and hard it will be—to bypass the Israeli Government and ensure that we manage to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. We already know that some of the aid convoys have been disrupted in recent times since the Knesset decision, and we have to find ways of getting that aid in. The aid is there, but it is being stopped, it is being looted and it is being prevented from getting to those who need it.

• 19 Nov 2024 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  This has been a wide-ranging debate and it is fair to say that Members have covered all the issues pertinent to the situation in Gaza at the moment. I am sure the Minister was alive to the great deal of concern about the ongoing tragedy that is Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. Of course we all want to see the hostages released. I personally do not think that Israel’s leaders are helping the situation with regard to the hostages, but that is a matter that they have to justify to their own people. As we approach winter, the situation is becoming dire. We are seeing outbreaks of diseases not previously experienced to any great extent in Gaza; the case of the 10-month-old child who recently contracted polio is one example. It is good to see that inoculation programmes have begun in the region so that, hopefully, we can prevent a further outbreak. That is about just one disease, however —so many more can be caused by malnutrition, by cold, by damp and by lack of shelter. We really must make sure that the aid that has been promised, bought and sent to the region finds a way through and that we find a way through for it. Otherwise, the catastrophe that is already unfolding will be that much greater. None of us wants that. I am grateful that Members around the room and across the political spectrum feel so strongly about this situation. We need unequivocal support for UNRWA at this time and to make sure that it can fulfil its mission by getting humanitarian aid into Gaza. It is the organisation that most other charitable and aid organisations rely upon to assist with that, so we really have to defend it. There is a wider debate to be had—although this is perhaps not the occasion to have it—about the political situation that has pertained in the middle east for so many years. Any student of history will be able to tell that particular story. I have to say, the Conservative party’s position that Israel should halve the number of illegal settlements in the area is a surprise to me, and I find that very concerning. Any illegal settlement is illegal by definition and therefore should not be there. It contributes to the overall distress, chaos and conflict in the area. I do not want to say much more other than to thank you, Sir Roger, the Clerks and particularly the Minister, who responded in so much detail to matters raised by hon. Members. She did so with precision and compassion, and that is very much to be welcomed. I sincerely hope that we see progress and that our Government continue to spearhead the arguments at the UN and elsewhere to make sure that the situation in Gaza results in a permanent ceasefire, the establishment of two states that can live together in the area, and the flooding of the area in the short term with humanitarian aid, with a view to rebuilding Palestine. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

• 19 Nov 2024 · Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation · Hansard source

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  I think the hon. Member will accept that I have said that there should be sanctions, particularly against Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, but I also think that we have at this point—perhaps we should have done it sooner—to formally accept Palestinian statehood and argue for that. The city of Glasgow, my home city, has for many years been twinned with Bethlehem. As we approach the season of advent, I recall the image of the Christmas crib created last year by the Evangelical Lutheran church in Bethlehem: instead of the traditional stable, images of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus were placed among the rubble. That was the reality for most Palestinians then, and of course the situation is so much worse now. In fact, Professor Mamode, whom I mentioned earlier, described the scenes in Gaza as he travelled down from Israel as looking like descriptions he had read of Hiroshima after the explosion of the atomic bomb. We have to hope, pray, work hard and use everything in our power to try to end this seemingly endless cycle of violence, horror and despair, but it will end only if Governments stand together and advocate for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. A two-state solution, rooted in peace and respect, must follow, and we must also commit to assisting with the rebuilding of Palestine. I thank you, Sir Roger, and all those who are going to speak in the debate. I hope that we see a resolution before too long.