Patricia Ferguson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 11 Jun 2026 · Clean Power by 2030 · Hansard source

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  I thank my Committee colleague for the way in which he presented the Committee’s findings and recommendations. It was a very interesting piece of work. One issue that came up time and again was curtailment costs—the payments made to electricity producers when turbines are not operational. Does he agree that the changes being made to the grid must happen as quickly as possible? One benefit would be a reduction in the curtailment costs, which would help bill payers across the country.

• 5 Mar 2026 · World Book Day · Hansard source

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  I draw the hon. Member’s attention to a scheme that has been running in Scotland since about 2000. It used to be called “Bookstart” and is now called “Bookbug”. New-born babies through to children at the beginning of primary school go along to the library with their parent or carer and take part in communal reading, singing and action. It is an amazing experience to see, and a wonderful way of getting those children hooked on reading and communicating about it with other children.

• 5 Mar 2026 · World Book Day · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for securing the debate, and for her excellent contribution that set the scene for our discussion. I am sure we all remember what triggered our own love of reading—a particular book or story, or perhaps a movie or play that inspired us to read the book upon which it was based. For me, it was the birthday gift of two books from my grandfather when I was six. They were “Heidi” by Johanna Spyri and a follow-up called “Heidi’s Children” by Charles Tritten. I admit that it was the illustrations in “Heidi’s Children” that first attracted me, because they were so beautiful, but I was soon drawn into the story of the orphaned Heidi as she made her home in the Alps with her elderly grandfather. Reading has been important to me ever since. It is something I do every day—and I am not talking about emails. This year I decided to organise a competition among the primary schools in my constituency of Glasgow West to mark World Book Day. I thank Liam, the librarian at Drumchapel library who judged the competition. On World Book Day, I thank him and all the librarians across Glasgow West for the work they do throughout the year. I also thank all the schools that took part in the competition and, of course, the winners: Mac Wallace of Scotstoun primary, Yahia of Hyndland primary and Robert Kwiatkowski of Knightswood primary, and the overall winner, Martha Cavanagh of Notre Dame primary school. All entrants were asked to write about their favourite book, and Martha chose “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery. Martha explained that she enjoyed that book, and highlighted its “heartwarming touch of funniness” as one of the reasons for her choice. As Martha rightly says, books can be funny and make us laugh, they can be thought-provoking and they can help us learn. They can also take us to places we might never visit and open our minds to new ideas. We owe the National Literacy Trust a debt of gratitude for consistently promoting World Book Day on an annual basis over the years. I want to mention another initiative that I had the pleasure of being a very small part of last year. That is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which operated, among other places, from Drumchapel library, which I mentioned earlier. That initiative provides young people with one free, high-quality, age-appropriate book per month, from birth until the age of five. So far, it has distributed more than 7 million books in the UK. When researching for this debate, I noticed an interesting poll from More in Common—maybe I pay too much attention to polls in my reading. That poll suggested that Conservatives and Reform have more in common than just the revolving doors of Tories defecting to Reform. It would seem that supporters of both parties identified “Paddington” as their favourite children’s book. “Paddington” is a terrific book, as we all know, but I think it is a wee bit ironic that it tells the story of a displaced bear who comes to the UK from his home in Peru due to a change in family circumstances. To be more serious for a moment, we know how unstable the world currently is and how vulnerable children are in so many countries. Their opportunity to learn and to benefit from education is greatly diminished, and their access to books, which could make such a difference to their lives, is often non-existent. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has long called for education to be safeguarded in times of conflict; perhaps we could agree to add access to books to his call.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend is a very serious individual and his statement was very serious. It helpfully enumerated that the majority of pensioners on lower incomes are women and that women make up the majority of those depending on pension credit. The anger that WASPI women feel about the steep increase in age is very understandable. Many of those women paid what my mother used to call “the small stamp”, which makes their situation even more vulnerable. I accept that the Secretary of State’s statement is largely about the ombudsman’s decision. Will he indicate what conversations he has had with the ombudsman, specifically about why he made that recommendation? Will he also tell the Chamber what communication he has had with the WASPI women about his decision?

• 14 Jan 2026 · Cost of Living · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State is aware that the Scottish Affairs Committee recently conducted an inquiry into the Thistle safer drug consumption room in Glasgow. I hope that this innovative facility will help to cut drug death numbers in Scotland, but does he agree that the Thistle on its own cannot end the drug crisis? Does he therefore agree that a real-terms cut of £1.3 million to alcohol and drug services was entirely the wrong move in yesterday’s Scottish budget?

• 11 Dec 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Earlier this year, I held a child poverty taskforce event in my constituency. All the organisations that took part identified inconsistent funding as a barrier to their work. I warmly welcome the child poverty strategy, but it is ironic that almost at the same time as it was announced, the SNP-controlled city council announced funding cuts to a number of organisations across Glasgow West. Given the record settlement from this Government to the SNP Government at Holyrood, does the Leader of the House agree that vital community organisations such as The Annexe, Drumchapel LIFE and Kingsway Community Connections—to mention just a small percentage—deserve stable funding to allow them to continue their good work, and that local authorities in Scotland have been underfunded for far too long?

• 22 Oct 2025 · Devolution in Scotland · Hansard source

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  It is undoubtedly true that we have to learn from one another, and from international examples too. If I can give one example that I would like colleagues to learn from, it is that electronic voting has a place, and a place from which I think this House could benefit greatly.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for taking a further intervention. As a signatory to his amendment, I wonder whether his discussions with the Minister have included someone with a condition such as relapsing-remitting MS who can spend long periods appearing to be perfectly healthy, but then have other periods when a crisis occurs and they are debilitated by their condition. Will the provisions that the Minister describes be sympathetic to those sorts of situations?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman will understand that it is for me to decide what my intervention will be. I was going to say that I am very pleased to hear him sticking up for people who really need help. What part of new clause 9 actually makes things better for people who need help?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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• 9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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