Speeches by Doogan.

“Mr Malcolm, to move on slightly to the policy the Scottish Government have just introduced in terms of public money investment in defence in Scotland, and trying to ensure that Scottish taxpayers’ money is not spent on that which could be connected down the supply chain to genocidal activity in Gaza—a policy that the v…”

“To home in on the horizon planning, which industry really needs, it would be more helpful if orders came in larger numbers rather than smaller tranches. We saw that on Type 26. We see that the Type 31’s successor, which was coming at the back of 31, has now gone into the long grass. We just heard this week that Royal N…”

“The hon. Member is right that the UK Government said that they are not in the business of saving failing businesses, but they have washed their hands of some of the key factors that contribute to those businesses failing. For example, they are signalling about new licences in the North sea, but these refineries use vas…”

“The SNP delivered yet another ambitious budget for Scotland yesterday. It saw almost £1 billion for rates relief, £5 billion for energy and climate change and a 10% uplift for Scotland’s colleges. [Interruption.] The SNP has delivered 10.5% growth since 2007, compared with the UK’s 5.1%. The question is not about what …”

“The hon. Gentleman is being very generous in giving way again. He is setting out a seriously curious sequence of events for a well-intentioned Government relative to a vital industry. Is he concerned, as I am, that this is more about the beliefs of the Secretary of State than the industrial imperatives of these islands…”

“Mr Malcolm, we have very competitive SMEs that are doing a great job in the defence space in Scotland. I take your point that we should not be overly pessimistic about that. Nevertheless, it is one of the lowest SME success rates within defence in all 12—and I use the term advisedly—regions of the UK. It must be a func…”

“The hon. Lady talks about our need to scrutinise what was deemed a credible bid. Will she ask the Minister whether the Government will apply “commercial in confidence” rules in order to cover their tracks when it comes to what was and was not a credible bid?”

“Sorry—I don’t mean for the positive bit. I am in full accord with the positive bit. I was asking about the implication that without defence there would be no engineering opportunities in Scotland.”

“In terms of the broader political rhetoric that I think you are concerned about, can I check whether you have noticed a discernible shift in the Scottish Government’s position and approach to the opportunities of defence manufacturing in Scotland in recent times, such as the £9.2 million Scottish Government investment …”

“You are asking him to predict the election.”

“That is a positive thing for Scotland, but that is concentrated in the central belt. A lot of Scotland’s population exists in the central belt, so that is, nevertheless, a really valuable opportunity for those communities in and around the central belt. There is a definite challenge with SMEs in Scotland. Defence spend…”

“By extension, Mr Kinniburgh, can we focus on the shipbuilding sector, if you are able to speak to that? In big handfuls, complex warship manufacturing in the United Kingdom happens at either end of the M8. That is where the skills are now. Could you help the Committee to understand? If, for example, there was a politic…”

“Mr Kinniburgh, you said earlier—sorry, I am paraphrasing; it has been a while since you said it so I might not get your words quite right—that there is a very buoyant situation with defence manufacturing and its role in providing apprenticeships in Scotland. I fully agree with that. You then followed that up by saying—…”

“How confident is industry in the UK Government’s ambition to get defence expenditure up to 3% by 2030?”

“Is that evidence-based or perception-based?”

“Indeed, and a lot of that is around the economic development and skills development base. Certainly my understanding, speaking to primes in defence in Scotland, is that prior to the situation in Gaza there was a quite positive and productive relationship between defence manufacturing in Scotland and the Scottish Govern…”

“What is your assessment?”

“It is worth acknowledging, Mr Malcolm, that in the list of reserved competences there is very little as reserved as defence. Would that be fair to say?”

“I remember precisely the dynamic that the hon. Member sets out in his local high street. We used to have it in Scotland, too, until we introduced minimum unit pricing, which took the very large volume, high-strength alcohol products off the shelf in Scotland, or at least put them way up in price. He can check with the …”

“The Minister says that she has considered carefully the fairness of the changes in this clause. Has she considered at all the compound effect of this and all the other taxes that are currently killing hospitality businesses?”