Torcuil Crichton MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Jun 2025 · Haemochromatosis Screening · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman’s interventions are always a blessing, never a curse. I have some information of particular interest to his part of the world later in my speech. I have declared my interest, as I have haemochromatosis, but it is not just my experience, but that of my constituents and the make-up of my constituency in Na h-Eileanan an Iar that have spurred me to secure this debate. It is not all about me. A groundbreaking DNA study headed by Professor Jim Flett Wilson of Edinburgh University discovered that the Western Isles are a hotspot for haemochromatosis, this genetic mutation that the body at some stage adopted for survival. People are at risk of developing the condition if both their parents have the faulty gene and they inherit one copy from each of them. They will not get haemochromatosis if only one of their parents carries the gene and they only get one copy, but there is a chance they could pass the gene on to their children. If people inherit two copies—that is, both their parents are carriers—they will not necessarily get haemochromatosis. About half of people with two copies of the faulty gene develop the condition, and it is not known exactly why. What is known is that the Viking genes DNA study by Professor Jim Flett Wilson took DNA samples from islanders in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, and it threw up some amazing discoveries. People wanted to find out if they had Viking heritage, and many sent in swab samples and filled in the questionnaires in sufficient numbers for the scientists to crunch the numbers. I did not do that myself. Feeling Viking by name and by nature, I did not think it necessary. Analysis of the data, and cross-examination with other gene studies, showed that in Orkney and Shetland, participants in the study had rare and unique cancer genes, which led to them being alerted to their condition. The study saved lives and is credited with doing so. The good news for the Western Isles—for Na h-Eileanan an Iar—is that no rare cancer genes were found. While the results are still being finalised, it is clear that the Western Isles are a hotspot for haemochromatosis and inherited high cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease. According to Professor Flett Wilson, the numbers in the Western Isles are sufficiently high to justify population-wide screening. For instance, one in 212 people in the south and east of England carry two copies of the faulty gene, as opposed to one in 62 in the Outer Hebrides.

• 4 Jun 2025 · Higher Education · Hansard source

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  The university sector is important for growing the Scottish economy, but so is tourism. Can the Minister enlighten me about the jet safari trips from Clacton to Scotland that have taken place, allowing former bankers to patronise the locals, miss the big picture and be back in England for a pint of warm beer by lunchtime?

• 15 May 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Pupils at Leverhulme Memorial school in Harris, in the most beautiful constituency in the country, have won the top prize in the Eco-Schools Scotland awards. They are the most environmentally aware pupils on the planet, and when I visited the school they gave me a lesson on the effects of microplastics on the marine environment. Will the Leader of the House join their campaign and that of the hon. Member for South Leicestershire (Alberto Costa), who is not in his place, to lessen the effect of microplastics on the marine environment? I ask this not for cross-party unity, but for the planet and for the pupils of Leverhulme Memorial school.

• 6 Mar 2025 · North Sea Energy · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for her statement, and for the role she played in securing a future for the Methil and Arnish yards in my constituency under the new ownership of Navantia, with new and secure jobs for the future. I am glad she is taking no lessons from the shadow Minister, given that under his Government’s watch, 70,000 jobs were lost from the North sea. What we have today is an industrial strategy that looks after jobs, secures a future for the North sea and ensures that we will be there for another two generations. Can she explain how things such as a skills passport, our investment in GB Energy and our investment in the Cromarty firth—and, I hope, in ports such as Stornoway—will ensure that future?

• 5 Nov 2024 · Scotland’s Architectural Heritage · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for the point that Glasgow is a cultural lighthouse and a beacon, although much decayed in present days, as he has noted. Its buildings do speak to the world, and hopefully will again when the Mack is restored. Winston Churchill said: “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.” —[ Official Report , 28 October 1943; Vol. 393, c. 403.] The Mack and Glasgow School of Art has certainly done that. It is a 20th century dynamo that has produced some of the most talented British artistic practitioners we have seen. Doctor Who went to Glasgow School of Art in the shape of Peter Capaldi, who is my favourite Doctor. Coincidentally, my good friend Annie Grace, a piper who was also at Glasgow School of Art, is sharing the stage with another Doctor, David Tennant, in the west end production of “Macbeth”. It is not just the previous students we have to think about.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Scotland’s Architectural Heritage · Hansard source

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  I heartily agree: the links across the Irish sea between Scotland and Northern Ireland are well known, and the influence of Scottish architecture, as I will go on to demonstrate, is worldwide. Hon. Members have talked about other stories, but above Sauchiehall Street, wrapped in a white plastic shroud, is the burnt-out shell of the Mack. The site is sealed, like a sarcophagus, against the elements. The art school board, the engineers, the architects and the firefighters have all done their utmost and the walls are still standing, but there is no sign of a phoenix rising from these ashes. The architectural value of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece is recognised all over the world. It was built in two phases, from 1897 to 1899 and again from 1907 to 1909. There has never been a building like it, whether in Scotland, the UK or the world. It is the inspired design of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He was only 29 when he started work on it, which is quite humbling. Of course he did not do it on his own and he did not spring from nowhere. Not far from here, in west Kensington, the inspiration for a young Mackintosh can be found in the work of another Scottish architect, James M MacLaren. His towers and delicate spires find an echo in the masterpiece on Garnethill, which contains strands of Japanese design, modernism, art nouveau and sheer genius. It was by combining three elements—imagination, engineering and art; as good a definition of good architecture as one can get—that the Mack was created. Unlike many of our other monumental buildings, it actually worked. For over a century, the Mackintosh building performed the purpose for which it was designed, combining exquisite craftmanship and design while producing an incredible production line of talent. I never attended art school, but I was a citizen of Glasgow for many years and I did live next door to the Mack for a time. The second city was my second home, and I have many lifelong friends who are graduates of Glasgow School of Art. As the song goes, “the art school dance goes on forever”. The Mack runs through our personal lives as much as it does through the life of the nation. In my constituency, I have many friends who are alumni of the Mack, such as my good friend Calum Angus Mackay, a photographer, painter and TV producer, who only recently produced a retrospective of 40 years of work since he left the Mack; Roddy Murray, the director of An Lanntair art gallery, ex-Dreamboy, local hero, actor and writer; his cousin, Ishbel Murray, and her brother Kenneth, who are both teachers and fine artists; Maggie Smith, a Harris tweed designer; Kenneth Burns, a landscape painter who has chronicled Glasgow and his native islands; Christine Davidson; and many others. Outwith the islands, there is Andy Scott, the internationally renowned figurative sculpture of the Kelpies, and my friend David Pratt, a photojournalist and war correspondent, who turned his unflinching lens on the flames of the art school as it was consumed a second time. The impact and influence of the art school has been profound on all our lives—not just on those who were lucky enough to pass through its doors. Its structure is integral to Scotland’s identity and central to the image of brand Scotland we want to portray, and an asset to the UK on the world stage.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Scotland’s Architectural Heritage · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered Government support for Scotland’s architectural heritage. It is a pleasure to serve again under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. Given my constituency, Mr Efford, you and the Minister might expect me to use this debate to make an appeal for the continued restoration of Kisimul castle, which is the jewel of Castlebay on the isle of Barra, or to talk about the lottery funded virtues of the restored Lews castle on Stornoway. Worthy as both those projects are, time is short, so I will move directly to my main subject, which is the role that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the UK Government could play in responding to what is not a local or Scottish issue but a national and international tragedy: the restoration of Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building. I make a direct appeal to the Minister and to the Government to reach out and help with the complete restoration of the Mack. It is a full 10 years since fire first broke out at the Mackintosh building, as students prepared for their final degree show. Scotland wept—we all wept—as the news broke and the fire spread through the building, destroying the Mack’s library, which was one of the most famous examples of art nouveau design in the world. The situation was grave, but a £35-million restoration was nearly complete in June 2018 when a second fire ripped through the building, engulfed the whole site and left a burnt-out shell of what should be a grade I listed building—the crowning achievement of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Scotland is still grieving and Glasgow is still in trauma over the loss of the Mack. The pall of it still hangs over the city and the tang of burnt timbers could still be smelt on Garnethill when I walked up to the art school last week. I think that is mostly because of the demolition of the neighbouring ABC building, which continues apace. The fire that damaged that building also took with it Charles McNair’s art deco entrance, so that portico has also been lost to the city. Indeed, much of Glasgow’s incredible built heritage is in danger of falling, either to the elements, to neglect, to lack of funding or to simple malicious demolition.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Scotland’s Architectural Heritage · Hansard source

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  I think my hon. Friend was referring to Charles McNair’s portico in the ABC cinema, which has sadly been demolished. She spoke of generations of art students, past and present. It is for the educational experience of future students and those currently undergoing their studies at Glasgow School of Art that we should take cognisance of what is happening. They should not be overlooked. In the years following the fire and in the absence of the Mack—the beating heart of the school—students were dispersed across the campus estate to workshops and exhibition spaces. That removed them from the concentrated network of experience that makes art education so enriching. It is essential that the building is restored so that generations more artists and students can feel the vibrancy and alchemy of Mackintosh’s masterpiece. Despite a global outpouring of support and donations after the first fire, the restoration project following the second fire suffered a series of setbacks, and those setbacks only fuel the anger, pain and frustration of all those who love the Mack. A report by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service published two years ago concluded that the 2018 blaze was so fierce and all-consuming that the cause might never be known. Earlier this year, the art school, which is frustrated, as is everyone who loves the Mack, initiated an arbitration process with the insurers over what the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) might describe as an act of God. It is a complex case and a complex claim. It does not take in the whole insurable cost of the building, but it has been slow and has brought the restoration to a halt until the case is resolved. In 2023, the art school management also had to abandon its search for an architect to lead the restoration. The meter, of course, is running on that restoration because of a flaw in the procurement process, but thankfully, the GSA board is working on a fresh business case, which will consider the economic and cultural impact of the art school not just on Glasgow but on the rest of Britain and on the world. It will also take into account the pressures of the modern era—the rising cost of living, the pandemic and wars—and the effects they have on the cost of construction and particularly the cost of heritage reconstruction. I am told that revised costs and completion dates will not be available until early 2025. Leading architects, politicians—such as my good friend Paul Sweeney MSP, formerly of this House—and heritage experts have expressed dismay at the lack of progress. They fear, as do many others who have the best interests of the art school at heart, that the project is faltering. The Mack is a landmark of national importance, and we are all collectively the custodians of it.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Good morning, gentlemen. Dan, you have argued in the past that GB Energy should have a very focused mission. What is your view of the objects for GB Energy set out in clause 3? Dan McGrail: I firmly stand by the idea that GB Energy, at least in its initial phase, should do three or four things excellently, with some fundamental underpinning. It should champion the UK supply chain; it should act to promote skills; it should enable innovation. The market segments in which it operates should be focused on and defined early. Its budget of £8.3 billion is a lot of money, but to get value from that in the context of the energy sector, GB Energy needs to focus on two or three areas in which it can really deliver additionality. I think the place for that is in the business plan, rather than in the legislation. As the legislation is currently framed, it allows the team the space, when they begin the work of the company, to define those two or three areas; it does not narrow them down. My view is that the legislation as drafted gives it that space.

• 11 Sept 2024 · Rural Depopulation · Hansard source

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  I agree entirely with the right hon. Member. The language requirement is just one aspect of the present visa system that is unsuitable for our fishing industry, the islands, and rural economies, and which we have until now been unable to navigate around. Hopefully it will undergo a fresh review under a new Home Office team. The new Home Office team and immigration policy are rightly the reserve of the UK Government. I do not seek to break up control of the system. I stood on a platform of a properly managed, points-based immigration system that links up the needs of the workforce, the economy and the country. But I counter the narrative, which this summer was in danger of becoming the prevailing one, that the country is somehow “full up”. There are parts of the UK and Scotland where we are crying out for skilled workers to come and be part of our workforce, and to then stay and become part of our communities. Scotland has specific needs for our skills base, and the islands and rural areas of Scotland and the UK have some very specific asks of their own. The lesson of policy in almost every area—not just immigration—be it administered from here or Holyrood, is that one size does not fit all. What works at a UK level may need more flexibility at a Scottish level, and again at a rural and island level. In the past, the UK Government in other guises have worked with the Scottish Government to show flexibility. The former First Minister Jack McConnell, now Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, promoted the fresh talent initiative for post-study work visas for overseas students at Scottish universities, enabling them to stay on for a period. There is, and should be, interest in reviving that plan, and the idea of rural visa projects, which was advanced by the Scottish Government with the Migration Advisory Committee before the previous UK Government stamped on the idea. There are many levers of Government that are not at the hand of the Minister, but that bear mentioning because they are part of local and Scottish solutions to rural depopulation. In the islands, we are lucky to have a system of crofting tenure, a uniquely Scottish system which has kept generations in their home community, but crofting has been hollowed out by political forces that neither understand nor value its work. Crofting tenure, properly regulated, should be a defence against the property market, but instead it has become an enabler. The sale of croft tenancies at inflated rates has become a critical factor in the housing shortage. Crofting needs urgent reform. I commend the Shucksmith report, “The Future of Crofting”, now more than a decade old but an excellent piece of work, which sought to rebalance—or restore the balance—between crofters’ right to security of tenure and their responsibilities to keep the market at bay. It should be dusted down and re-enacted, but that is probably a subject for another debate and another place. The lack of affordable housing, however, is an issue that many other Members here and elsewhere will recognise. I hope that it will be taken up by other speakers in the debate. In many of our areas, it is impossible for anyone with modest means to secure a house, which is a pretty basic precondition for retaining a working-age population and keeping the economy spinning. We therefore need action on housing and on crofting regulation; we need access to land; and we need access and action on depopulation. As I said, the dashboard lights are flashing. More than anything we need focus. We need economic focus on the peripheries of the north and west of Scotland, those areas of continued depopulation. We need economic incentives, state aid, perhaps a reduction in VAT on construction, and enhanced capital allowances. I do not want the Minister to worry too much about those issues, because they are for the Treasury and other Departments, and I will take them up with them. My time is running out, and I do not want to end on a note of despondency. There is hope. There is hope in community ownership of the many crofting estates in the Western Isles, a quiet revolution that has injected not just a new wave of development, but a growing sense of confidence and assurance that, given the tools, we can tackle the issues for ourselves. There is the vast opportunity of community ownership of, and a community share in, the wealth of wind in onshore and offshore developments, which are due offers. That change is so tantalisingly close and could be so transformative in terms of finance and confidence that it cannot be ignored as part of the UK Government’s GB Energy strategy. There is also hope in individuals, families and communities and their resilience, which make the islands not just a great place to visit, but a precious place to stay. There are examples of local initiatives like the Uist repopulation zone, which has provided training opportunities and much-hallowed childcare provision to parents. It is led by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and has received £60,000 from the Scottish Government. I commend the work of that project and of many other individuals and communities who focus themselves on the issue of depopulation at a local level. As I said, we have a sense of urgency about this in the islands: we are experiencing a depopulation crisis. I hope now that that can find an echo not just in the contributions to this debate, but in the UK Government’s awareness and response to the issue.