Speeches by Alexander.

“I was trying to think of a polite way of saying Scotch whisky does not just employ a lot of people in Dunbarton; my recollection of my childhood is that there were quite a lot of geese employed by the whisky industry as well, given the bonds there and the honking geese we heard as we drove past for many years. You are …”

“I don’t want to sound immodest. It is probably for others to make that judgment, and people are never backward in coming forward with their views of any politician. As I look back over the last eight or nine months, the fact that we secured more than £100 million for the ethylene plant at Grangemouth was a matter of ch…”

“First, there is a philosophical difference between us, notwithstanding our long-standing knowledge of and, I hope, respect for each other. Philosophically I believe in devolution as a two-Parliament solution to Scotland’s governance. I recognise rightly and reasonably that the First Minister takes a different view, bec…”

“I will set the context for what was achieved on 30 April, because I think that is worth setting out for the record, and then I will come to both of your supplementary points. Since February 2025, the UK Government were working to secure what turned out to be the economic prosperity deal with the United States. February…”

“Can you remember the timing of the British industrial competitiveness scheme?”

“I will have to check and come back to you.”

“That is the top tier that brings together the Deputy First Minister and the First Minister of Northern Ireland, the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister of Scotland. I think it is reasonable to observe, however, that that is the scaffolding of a series of contacts that is pretty much continual. The vast major…”

“Thank you for the warmth of your welcome to me and colleagues, Chair. My understanding is that under the 2022 review of intergovernmental relations, it was anticipated that the council would meet at least twice yearly. I will contextualise the two meetings that have happened. Under the review in 2022, there was agreeme…”

“Not so far, but hope springs eternal. To be fair to them, I think they will be looking to the incoming Prime Minister to set out his thinking on a whole range of matters as it affects Scotland. There have already been some public statements from Stephen Gethins, as I recollect, but they focused on the UK internal marke…”

“That was the request to which the answer was given and we were mindful of the position that had been taken by the Scottish Parliament. It might be helpful to draw the contrast between the years immediately preceding 2014, where of course we had the independence referendum, and where we find ourselves in 2026. In the ye…”

“The review was undertaken under our predecessors in 2022, but having come into this position after many years out of Government and away from politics, I think the regular cadence of formal meetings is helpful and beneficial to the relationship. We have adhered to those requirements, but at the same time it is right to…”

“Thanks very much. It is nice to see you too.”

“Thank you for that question. That is a truly terrifying start to a question. If you are referring to the memorandum of understanding in relation to the Sewel convention, work on that is ongoing. I would start by saying—I think I made this point earlier—in practice, we have already strengthened the Sewel Convention by d…”

“I do not have a good enough answer for you on that, so let me write to you.”

“I think it is probably for others to make that judgment but certainly my experience, after many years away, is that there is a structured and frequent nature of contact between Ministers that was not as present in the earlier years of devolution. The political dynamics were pretty different after July 2024. As a Labour…”

“If I could add, Chair, building on Kirsty’s point about the matters of substance, the middle east is clearly much in our thoughts today, given the news overnight. I know that the Foreign Secretary is in front of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee as we speak. We have established a particular architecture of meetings …”

“In life, and in professional life, there are always paths not taken. As a conceptual question, could we have done it differently? I suppose that is a theoretical possibility. I stand by the judgments that we made, and let me try to explain why we reached those judgments. First, as Scots, we have huge equity and status …”

“Forgive me, Harriet, I am just looking for the number. Yes, there were 27 of them in the King’s Speech that we expect to apply at least in part to Scotland. The Advocate General has very ably set out the process by which, in relation to the preparation of legislation—she and I both sit on the same Bill Committee and re…”

“Going forward carries a lot of weight in that sentence, given what we are looking at in the coming days. My sense is there is a huge opportunity for us with devolution. I have carried torches on Carlton Hill, I have stood in the rain in The Meadows, I have rallied in George Square arguing for and advocating for a Scott…”

“I spoke at the time to Liz Lloyd, the relevant Minister, because it was a matter of concern, and it is always regrettable when a business moves into administration. My understanding is that Orbex is still in the process of administration. What became clear in that dialogue with the relevant Minister was that, as your o…”