Torcuil Crichton MP: speeches

Speeches

• 2 Jul 2026 · Distillers · Hansard source

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  3. What steps he plans to take to support distillers.

• 10 Jun 2026 · Promoting Scottish Interests Abroad · Hansard source

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  2. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to promote Scottish interests abroad.

• 15 Apr 2026 · Cost of Heating Oil · Hansard source

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  If officials from Advice Direct Scotland can tell me, as a constituency MP, the number of applicants they have, and the estimated number they will have—16,000, with 5,000 applications already last week—surely they can provide that information to the UK Government as well.

• 15 Apr 2026 · Cost of Heating Oil · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve with you as Chair, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) for securing this timely debate, and I thank the Minister for visiting the Western Isles last month to hear directly from my constituents in Na h-Eileanan an Iar how the spike in prices has affected them. As he heard from consumers, prices have doubled since the conflict broke out. There is huge demand, limited competition and, of course, an island premium on deliveries. People appreciate the emergency heating oil fund announced by the Government, which will send £4.6 million of support to Scotland for consumers in need. This being Scotland, of course the SNP wants to do things differently. The Scottish Government have doubled the sum to £10 million, which is welcome, but announced that instead of funds being distributed through local authorities, which know their area and their constituents, the fund is operated through Advice Direct Scotland, a Scottish charity that gives free, impartial advice to people across Scotland. As soon as the scheme was announced, my constituents reported a glitch in the system. People applying from the Western Isles found their online applications bouncing back. When they called the helpline, they heard a recorded message instructing them to apply without supporting evidence, informing them that they would then receive an email to which they could attach receipts of eligibility and evidence of supply. This kind of ping-pong shambles benefits no one, and I fear it will lead to a lack of uptake of support. In talks with Advice Direct Scotland, officials assured me that the scheme is operating, that nearly 5,000 people have applied and that 16,000 applicants are expected across the six months the scheme is open. By rough calculation, 16,000 times £300 is £4.8 million, which is only half the amount the SNP Government claim to have allocated to the scheme. I do not want heating oil support by stunt, whereby only half the fund is distributed. I urge my constituents to apply early for support as soon as they have receipt of their oil delivery, and I call on the Scottish Government, the UK Government and Advice Direct Scotland to be fully transparent about the distribution of funding both during and after the scheme, and in terms of amounts and geographical distribution.

• 15 Apr 2026 · Cost of Heating Oil · Hansard source

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  Like the hon. Member’s constituency, many businesses in my constituency, including distilleries, rely on kerosene heating oil for manufacturing processes. Would he urge the UK Government and the Scottish Government to devise a loan scheme to help these businesses to get over this Trump spike?

• 26 Mar 2026 · European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service · Hansard source

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  Some 40% of flight diversions from Stornoway, Benbecula and Barra airports in my constituency could have been avoided if we were part of EGNOS, which was shamefully abandoned during Brexit by the Conservatives. As the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) pointed out, this has huge social and financial implications —schedules are cut, and people are considering not just their travel arrangements but their living arrangements, because without 21st-century connectivity we cannot live 21st-century lives. I urge the Minister to consider the costs and benefits of rejoining EGNOS, and by all means to meet me and the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland, as well as some Cornish MPs who have raised this issue.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil: Rural Homes · Hansard source

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  I welcome the UK Government’s support for heating oil customers in my constituency and the follow-up support from the Scottish Government, but I am slightly baffled that the Scottish Government have chosen to centralise support through Advice Direct Scotland, instead of entrusting local authorities. Will the Minister urge the Scottish Government to use local expertise, such as Tighean Innse Gall, which he met last week, and Point and Sandwick Trust, which have that local knowledge to find hard-to-reach customers, because we know that in rural areas people are reluctant to come forward for support?

• 16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister and the Government for their swift response; £4.6 million to Scotland will be very welcome in my constituency, where up to 50% of homes outside the town of Stornoway rely on heating oil. What discussions has the Minister had with the Scottish Government to ensure that the £4.6 million is distributed through local authorities through the crisis grant fund; that local authorities have maximum discretion in how they distribute that fund; that we have maximum accountability on how the money is spent; and that we have maximally swift delivery of this much needed support?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Banking Hubs: Rural and Post-Industrial Communities · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Banking Hubs: Rural and Post-Industrial Communities · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies) for securing this important debate. To echo the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack), I have come to Westminster Hall today following discussions with Lloyds Bank, which has decided to close the Benbecula branch of the Bank of Scotland in my constituency; there have now been two bank closures in my constituency in a few short years. That closure decision appears to be as irreversible as it is regrettable, but the danger now is that we will have no banking hub, because the banking population of Uist is too small to fit within the parameters of one. Will the Minister ensure that the banks, Link and associated authorities expand and adjust their parameters, so that sparsely populated areas and island populations continue to have access to banking services?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Banking Hubs: Rural and Post-Industrial Communities · Hansard source

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  rose —

• 24 Feb 2026 · Banking Hubs: Rural and Post-Industrial Communities · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 24 Feb 2026 · EU Membership Referendum: Impact on the UK · Hansard source

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  Who’s he?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Project Gigabit: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  The figures are impressive, but 10% of constituents in the Western Isles cannot get more than 10 megabits a second. While I welcome Project Gigabit, the islanders tell me that the areas first being considered for connection already have good fibre connection. They are getting a fibre upgrade, while people perhaps just a few hundred yards off the main fibre cable running the length of the island are left hanging on a copper line. Will the Minister press Openreach to ensure that it makes these hard-to-reach connections and does not just rely on easy connections and big figures to convince Ministers that it is doing its job?

• 4 Feb 2026 · Project Gigabit: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  4. What steps she is taking to ensure the Project Gigabit roll-out prioritises rural areas with poor levels of broadband connectivity.

• 6 Jan 2026 · BBC Charter Renewal · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member watch or listen to the BBC because, if he does, he is obliged to pay his licence fee?

• 5 Jan 2026 · Venezuela · Hansard source

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  I thank the Foreign Secretary for her statement and her stamina. Over the past hour and 40 minutes, no one has regretted the downfall of Nicolás Maduro, but notwithstanding what the Foreign Secretary has said about the tension between practical, progressive realism and political principle, few of us can condone his kidnapping to stand trial in the domestic courts of another country. This has all the hallmarks of a treacherous deal between the remnants of the Maduro regime and the United States. Does the Foreign Secretary accept that it signals the end of the rules-based international order, and that the fraying of that order benefits not our friends in the west, but our foes in the east?

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

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  The hon. Member mentions a national sovereign wealth fund, which the SNP called for, to be funded from oil revenues, in the ’70s and ’80s—

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

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  Does the hon. Gentleman regret that the Scottish Conservatives propped up the SNP for four of those 18 years?

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

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  And the ’90s, and maybe until today. The SNP Government had the opportunity to put one in place when they auctioned the ScotWind licenses for offshore wind for £700 million—they would have done it for £70 million, but were given guidance on that. They had the opportunity to either invest that £700 million in a sovereign wealth fund, or to give it back to the coastal communities from which those revenues flow, but they did none of that. They have used half of that £700 million in day-to-day expenditure, have they not?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. Western Isles Women’s Aid in my constituency helped 180 women last year. The refuge is working at capacity, yet its funding is uncertain. That is why my fundraiser on Friday will seek to raise funds for the organisations. More than 1,800 women reported domestic abuse in the highlands 10 years ago; last year the figure was closer to 2,800. Does the Secretary of State agree that in rural and island communities it takes a lot of courage for women to report domestic abuse, yet we can see from the figures that domestic abuse is no less prevalent?

• 30 Oct 2025 · Trading Relationships · Hansard source

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  12. What steps his Department is taking to improve the UK's trading relationships with other countries.

• 10 Sept 2025 · Digital Exclusion: Na h-Eileanan an Iar · Hansard source

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  1. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reduce digital exclusion in Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency.