Torcuil Crichton MP: speeches

Speeches

• 10 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T4. When it comes to the rising cost of living, may I ask the Chancellor to look again at the rural fuel relief scheme? The scheme is meant to give a 5p discount per litre on petrol and diesel in specific island rural communities, but I have checked and found that, in Stornoway in my constituency, petrol is 138.9p today, yet in the middle of Glasgow it is 129.9p—9p cheaper. The scheme works in reverse, with urban drivers having all the advantages of competition and choice. The scheme costs little, but inflation has reduced it by 35%. I ask the Minister to press the accelerator and go an extra mile.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Consumer Energy Prices: Scotland · Hansard source

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  It was good to see you walking in today, Mr Speaker. I welcome the publication of the local power plan, which will be keenly read in my constituency—the heart of the Atlantic—where communities are taking their share in the wealth of wind. To renew and expand community energy, we need to get connected to the grid. I welcome what the local power plan has to say about setting up tailored support for communities, but there must be priority support from Ofgem, the grid operators and this Government to ensure that communities benefit from the wealth of wind.

• 11 Dec 2025 · St Andrew’s Day and Scottish Affairs · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for that intervention, which allows me to highlight that some 95,000 children in Scotland are to be lifted out of poverty by our Chancellor’s Budget, which got rid of the two-child benefit cap. It is not just in terms of education and health that St Andrew’s children are being failed. St Andrew was a fisherman and was used to boats, as are many of my constituents in the islands, but these modern-day St Andrews are being let down. They see thousands of pounds of shellfish exports rotting in the harbour, or having to be deep-frozen at extra cost, because of the failing SNP’s ferry fiasco. For that situation, Madam Deputy Speaker, I need no notes, because the ferry fiasco is writ large in the experience of all my constituents, who have suffered for years because this SNP Government did not manage to procure enough ferries and took their eye off the ball. This crisis, which they thought would affect a few hundred islanders, has become an international symbol of the failure of nationalism in Scotland. This week I welcomed the extra £820 million that the Chancellor found to give to the Scottish Government this year. In my book—in anyone’s book—£820 million is eight CalMac ferries, but the SNP Scottish Government can only manage 2.5 ferries for £500 million. It is a shame and a scandal. People in the Western Isles know that the S in SNP stands for “stunt”—the portholes had to be painted on to the ship so that Nicola Sturgeon could have a pretendy launch. That £500 million means that the S in SNP stands for “squander”, with millions wasted, affecting the ability and confidence of my constituents to stay in their homes and be connected to the rest of the islands. I hope that S will also stand for “swept away”, because in May that is what Scotland needs.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Electricity Infrastructure: Rural Communities · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to the hon. Member for securing the debate. I gently remind him that there is an alternative to opposition: participation. In the Western Isles we have the highest level of community-owned wind farms in Britain: 22 MW, alleviating fuel poverty and powering community economics. Our council is ready to take a 20% stake in two big wind farms, leaving the local authority—one of the smallest local authorities in Britain—in charge of 89 MW of power on an island chain with a daily demand of 39 MW. Do the maths: the communities benefit. GB Energy has been set up with substantial sums for community involvement and I ask the hon. Member to consider what my island community and communities across the highlands and rural areas have done: buy in, participate and have a share. People might object to the pylons going past them, but they really object to the profits going past them. By having community participation, and a community share, we can make sure that communities benefit.