Speeches by Stone.

“Just to make it clear at the start, the Committee see our Monday slot as sacrosanct—we are strongly of that opinion. I am aware that sometimes the Government do use Thursdays for legislation and so on. Perhaps one could build in a certain amount of flexibility by working through clerking teams with the Government. I wo…”

“We would have to put some real thought into that. At the moment, we are already having to make a judgment, as I outlined in my letter, about whether there should be a 90-minute or three-hour debate. You are trying to say what the likelihood is, and that is learning process. Depending on what you good people decide or r…”

“My plea is very similar to that of my good friend sitting beside me. I think we are very united as a Committee, and I think we have all been quite drawn into the idea of the petition and what it means out there. That is cross-party, which is an interesting dynamic. Secondly, I have—and Irene Campbell has—met visiting d…”

“The whole Petitions Committee, including me, is grateful to the hon. Lady, who is making a very good speech. Although we all care about this matter hugely, I have found from the emails I have received that the younger generation is increasingly unwilling to tolerate this testing at all. I welcome that and find it fasci…”

“It is great to hear a qualified doctor talking about this matter. Health is devolved in Scotland—I must put that on the record—but in my constituency one finds that an awful lot of social care workers are calling it a day and walking away, with all sorts of unfortunate ramifications such as delayed discharge. Crucially…”

“No!”

“There are two points that could reinforce the right hon. Member’s argument. First, I served in the Territorial Army, and it taught me to read a map; the reserves can teach people skills that will be useful in their lives. Secondly, many peoples’ lives are disorganised, but being in the reserves, the Territorial Army or…”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way a second time; he is being more than generous. I should declare an interest: my son-in-law is a serving officer in the Royal Air Force and my daughter was, until recently, the same. One of the things that hits morale in all three services is being below strength—when they…”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I am delighted that the Minister has made this statement, because I have raised this issue a number of times in this place. My constituency looks directly at the High North, and it is off the coast of my constituency that this Russian activity took place—let us make no mistake about it. My constituents find it deeply w…”

“The Treasury Bench would be particularly disappointed if I did not once again showcase what we have at Dounreay: a licensed site, a skilled workforce and a population who would greatly support playing a role in the development of fusion for the future. May I suggest that the Scottish Enterprise network might put its ha…”

“One thing that we need to get right, and which we got wrong in the past, is this. When I was first elected in 2017, there were not Russian spy ships off the coast of my constituency, but now there are, and we detected a submarine before Christmas. I raised this issue with the Leader of the House last week and have been…”

“The hon. Member is making a powerful speech. Whatever side one takes in the argument that he presents to us, does he agree that in the hopefully unlikely event of Scottish independence being achieved, two things would happen? First, Scotland, on forming its own navy, would have the greatest difficulty defending the str…”

“I trust that this evening’s debate has given a flavour of what life on the Petitions Committee is like—it brings its challenges and informative debate. I want to thank all those who have spoken; they have done so with sincerity. Opinions differ, but there is no doubt that hon. Members feel very strongly about the issue…”

“I thank the hon. Member for her intervention, but she will understand that it is my job as Chairman of the Petitions Committee to present a fair description of both sides of the discussion, which is what I hope to do. James Esses, who started the petition, is a psychotherapist, and he impressed on me the benefit that g…”

“Good afternoon, Prime Minister. Apropos of what you have just been talking about, out in the North sea, we have the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields, which are huge resources of oil and gas. They are massive and hugely important to this country. Can I suggest to you that we can achieve net zero simultaneously with utilising…”

“What I am about to say relates to the right hon. Member’s intervention. It is not unusual in medicine for children to participate in clinical trials, provided that there are robust safeguards, clear parental consent and proper oversight. But can a distressed teenager and a family desperate to help truly grasp these lon…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention, which was, I believe, made with as much sincerity as the previous intervention.”

“Finally, you have been talking about the nuclear industry. Surely, strategically, a network of small modular reactors all over the UK makes sense, including Scotland. It seems to me an utter nonsense that the Scottish Government can stop this. Can you reassure me that every tool at your disposal—at the Government’s dis…”

“But Prime Minister, Rosebank remains an enormous strategic resource. I started my working life in the oil and gas sector. There are thousands of people out there who have made their livelihoods through this. What would be your message to be those people? Are we with them?”