Speeches by Doogan.

“You say you have laid the foundations, and that might be true in policy and, to a certain extent, budgetary terms. How disappointed are you that the budget for GB Energy was slashed from £28 billion a year to £8.5 billion over five years, and what impact will that have on job creation in the green sector?”

“How would you say that is going, the transition to green jobs? Bearing in mind you were quite keen to say that certain things did not begin a year ago, when Labour came to power, the transition to green jobs did not begin a year ago, as it was well under way. What has changed in the last year? Has it improved or slowed…”

“By that logic, when you are using the age of the basin as a determinant, your manifesto commitment to not issuing further licences, which you have made a point of saying you are going to stand behind, will have no bearing, because you are saying that this is because of the age and maturity of the basin and its ability …”

“In answer to the Chair, you also said that you did not think the tension between importing and domestic production made a material difference. You even touched on the receipts to the Exchequer, but over and above that there is the employment that domestic production creates and the taxes and economic outturn of those s…”

“Minister, two very quick questions. First, the drawdown in oil and gas is not contingent on the standing up of renewables. We do not need oil and gas to stand down before we can stand up renewables. Would that be your view?”

“Where will that national hub be, Emma?”

“This question surrounds access to primary care services for veterans and service leavers. It is to try to help the Committee understand the barriers that present to veterans and service leavers in accessing those services compared with the barriers that somebody else moving in a civilian setting from one location to an…”

“Of course, energy is reserved to Westminster, not devolved to Holyrood. A final point about Ineos and its behaviour: are you confident that we, and the workers at Grangemouth, can rely on Ineos as an honest broker when it comes to Project Willow? Hopefully, multiple things will come from Project Willow, but it is requi…”

“Angus’s point about collapsing school rolls and the challenges in recruiting service sector employers in rural and urban settings in Scotland is a demographic one, isn’t it? There are not enough people to fill those roles, and the problem that we have in Scotland is we can either breed our way to a higher population, o…”

“Why is it not track 1?”

“In the UK context, what regions of the United Kingdom could Scotland learn anything from in terms of branding?”

“In terms of global reach and prominence. Where in the UK is showing Scotland how it is done?”

“The Scotland Office is driving Brand Scotland. That will be true for the Department for Business and Trade and the FCDO, subsidiary to that. What other areas of the United Kingdom are outperforming Scotland in branding terms?”

“That is not what I did.”

“So is Brand Scotland the UK’s principal brand?”

“The concern many will have around Grangemouth and Project Willow is pace and the gap between the ending of refining operations and something coming to back-fill it. That is not a controversial observation. What is your assessment of that threat? What is your Department in the UK Government, working with the Scottish Go…”

“Can you give the Committee an example of what the Scotland Office is doing to accelerate this?”

“It is £25 million from the Scottish Government and £200 million from the National Wealth Fund. That £200 million allocation from the National Wealth Fund is interesting. It is supposed to be operationally independent, yet the Prime Minister announced it unilaterally. How does the Government square that circle? The Nati…”

“Really?”

“I listened to your analysis of Acorn and its position within the two tracks. There will be people in Scotland, not least the investors, who will look at the readiness of Acorn to deliver on the carbon capture, usage and storage prospectus being demoted. Whatever you want to call it—track 1 plus—it is track 2. Also, thi…”