Speeches by Grady.

“I welcome the steps that the Government are taking to strengthen co-operation with the Scottish Government, to cut waste and inefficiency and to ensure that Ministers take responsibility for public services. This is an important area for potential co-operation and dialogue, because, in Scotland, we currently have more …”

“Until the general election I, too, was a solicitor and I had a practice for many years in the energy sector.”

“Q Charlotte, some of the projects you are doing rely on Scottish infrastructure. Is it the same in England: more jobs, more activity? Charlotte Mitchell: Yes, more jobs and more activity. Picking up on the point about consenting, we have similar yet different challenges in England and Wales. As you note, the Bill looks…”

“Q I want to ask about coastal Scotland, and I declare an interest: my granddad and several of my cousins were trawlermen in Scotland. Offshore wind represents a big opportunity in Scotland for coastal communities and harbours, which have suffered economic decline over the years. Have I got that right? Beatrice Filkin: …”

“Yes. Beatrice Filkin: Absolutely. We see this in terms of not only the build process, but the operations of these pieces of infrastructure.”

“Q So this Bill, which speeds up planning and consent for transmission and generation infrastructure, is really important for Scotland’s coastal communities. That must follow, mustn’t it? Beatrice Filkin: Yes. Christianna Logan: Investment in things like ports infrastructure comes directly as a result of the investment …”

“Q It is great to have three very experienced councillors before the Committee. We have heard evidence today, including from two former special advisers to No. 10 under the last Government, that the Bill will help with energy security and energy costs, driving forward housing and getting jobs and significant investment.…”

“Q I have a quick final question. We need huge investment in infrastructure in the United Kingdom. The capital for that is international, so we need to attract international investors to fund this investment. In your professional view, does the Bill make us more attractive or less attractive to international investors? …”

“Will the HMRC study address specifically whether people are making appropriate investment choices? As the Minister has explained correctly, the best way to invest over the long term is in equities and not in cash. Will it cover that point specifically?”

“One of the things you are emphasising, Minister, is the fact that long-term saving in equities is better for people and gives them more comfortable retirements and later lives. That is backed up by evidence from people such as Dimson, Marsh and Staunton. If I was a new retail investor, I would turn on the news and I wo…”

“I hope we are not going to have to disclose all our birthdays in this Committee. This question may be for Ms Webster. Will that HMRC study cover the following points? First of all, are people using the LISA appropriately from a tax point of view? You get a 20% bonus. In Scotland, if you are earning over £27,492 a year,…”

“Will it be able to make the leap to whether people are using it in the most tax-efficient way?”

“I also have a quick question for the Minister. We have heard evidence that the withdrawal charge is causing hardship. We have also heard evidence that the property price cap should potentially be increased. If the withdrawal charge was changed or the property price cap was increased, that would have a public finance im…”

“On the other side of this, of course, are the providers. The evidence we have had is that the major banks and a lot of the big ISA providers do not provide LISAs. Neither do some of the big building societies, so it is a pretty small pool of providers that provide this product. Why do you think that is? Is it because t…”

“This is a follow-up question for the Minister. This is quite an important point, because only about 6% of eligible people have opened up a LISA. It is really important that people save more for their retirement. That is what the data shows. We have a real problem coming down the train tracks. It is really important tha…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. At Prime Minister’s questions earlier, the Leader of the Opposition said that Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader “was whipping his MSPs to get male rapists into women’s prisons”. That is categorically and utterly untrue. Scottish Labour MSPs repeatedly called for the Scot…”

“Another suggestion that people make, Chancellor, is that we should increase borrowing. In your view, would a material increase in borrowing and the change in your fiscal rules that would have to take place lead to a significant increase in the cost of Government borrowing?”

“Well, I’m afraid we can’t. We inherited a fairly small headroom. If you moved rapidly to increase the headroom, as opposed to taking the trade-offs that you have taken, what would that mean for tax rises in our already stretched public services? I am mindful that there is a vote, so I suspect Dame Meg would like us bot…”

“Good afternoon, Chancellor. If you look at chart 7.2 on page 144 of the OBR’s report, obviously there is a missing Chancellor of the Exchequer there, in the form of Kwasi Kwarteng—”

“So if we were out in Bramley or in Broomhouse in my seat, what you would say is that higher mortgage rates for people, the higher cost of finance for big investments in energy infrastructure and so on, and lower economic growth are what would eventuate from greater borrowing.”