Speeches by Doogan.

“Thank you, Mr Speaker. When the Secretary of State first took up his job in government, his first priority should have been advancing the economic interests of Scotland across the world, but we now know what he was really up to instead. His first external meeting as Scotland Secretary and as a Minister was to meet Glob…”

“On the case of Peter Mandelson, the Secretary of State expects—[Interruption.]—”

“On the case of Peter Mandelson, the Secretary of State says, “I’m in the clear because the Prime Minister says so.” The Prime Minister is also up to his neck in the Peter Mandelson scandal, so that is no clean bill of health at all. We saw just this week a stream of gushing—nauseating, actually—messages between Peter M…”

“Lord Robertson, I just wanted to get your take on this. You are, of course, right that it is an ancient historical practice that regimes will borrow to fund wars. That is not new, but your lenders will take a look at your fundamentals before they make that decision to lend. We have a difficult situation just now, as a …”

“That was Francis Fukuyama.”

“The Government take credit for the largest increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war, and perhaps with some objective merit. It is a fact, but in terms of the threat horizon, there is a reason budgets were falling at the end of the cold war. A much more cogent comparison would be before the end of the …”

“We will take it up.”

“We might take a different view on that, but I totally accept the thrust of what you are saying. I am glad that you acknowledge that that was a former position.”

“Those are the fiscal considerations, but what about the strategic considerations? This difficulty that the UK is having funding its defence ambitions will of course not be lost on those who would seek to do us harm.”

“I am sure that, in all reality, that is not lost on officials within the MOD. I know for a fact that it is not lost on Ministers in the Department as well. The Government are trying very hard to close the £28 billion gap. What would your assessment be of how they are going about that? Do you think that they are going a…”

“Lord Robertson, you said that defence spending increases are urgent. You have said that in crystal clear terms. You have said that delivery of those increases in expenditure for defence have been too slow. How does that affect primes and their subcontractors in Scotland? This money is going into orders for further equi…”

“Thank you. Councillor Robinson?”

“Councillors, where fixed links—and I mean transport, causeways, bridges—already exist in your communities, what have been the immediate tangible benefits of those, and are those offset to any extent by some detrimental effect from the introduction of fixed transport links? Can I start with you, Councillor Woodbridge?”

“Thank you very much, Councillor Steele.”

“I do not want to take up too much time, so just stick to the Western Isles as an example. Anecdotally, if you go to the pub and talk about fixed links, what would the pub view be of fixed links? Is it generally positive, generally wary, or what?”

“Thank you, Mr Speaker, for calling me for my first Prime Minister’s question since becoming SNP Westminster leader, following the SNP’s stunning victory in Scotland. I am enjoying the sense of challenge and opportunity a new job can provide—a sense of renewal I am certain the Prime Minister will be enjoying in the week…”

“I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. Could she give my constituents some comfort that after the review—I am certain it will find that the current criteria set out for Link by the FCA are deeply flawed and exist in a random, abstract form that bears no resemblance to local people’s circumstances—places such as …”

“There is a really unfortunate supply and demand dichotomy here—and I have to remind the Minister that he is bound by collective responsibility, because while it might be a different Department, it is still his Government. On the one hand, the Government are artificially accelerating the decline in production in the Nor…”

“On that point, will the Minister give way? [Laughter.]”

“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way. He is accused of being messianic in his approach to proscribing new oil and gas licences in the North sea. If it can be demonstrated that UK consumption of oil and gas is not falling at a rate that is equal to, or faster than, the rate of production in the United …”