Speeches by Lamont.

“The Minister is being exceptionally generous with her time. The reality is that we will be back here again this time next year, because there will be another petition calling for the same things. What guarantees can the Minister give about the progress that will be made between now and this time next year on the petiti…”

“I pay tribute to my constituent Julie McMillan, who has emailed me with her concerns about fireworks every year for the 19 years that I have been a Member of this place or of the Scottish Parliament. Many other people have raised the same concern. I urge caution about what has happened in Scotland. The Scottish Governm…”

“The hon. Member is making an excellent speech about the importance of new towns. I was brought up just outside Kilwinning, which is part of the Irvine new town in Ayrshire. She and I are probably of a similar age, so does she remember the campaign—the iconic campaign—in the 1980s: “What’s it called? Cumbernauld”? In he…”

“Oh! Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. We do not want digital ID. It will cost billions of pounds and it should be scrapped completely. Despite what the Minister said, I am concerned that digital ID will not be technically compulsory, but people will be blocked from accessing services if they do not have it. In…”

“The Scottish Borders are being inundated with new energy infrastructure projects. SNP Ministers in Edinburgh blame the Labour Government here, and the Labour Government here blame the SNP Government in Scotland—frankly, it has become ridiculous. Ultimately, responsibility rests with the Scottish Government’s planning f…”

“Frankly, a cost of £62 million for the New Palace Yard project is eye-watering. Most of our constituents will find that outrageous, particularly given that it is not fit for purpose—staff are having to queue for long times when leaving Parliament at the end of the day. What was the original budget for the project, who …”

“7. What assessment the Commission has made of whether the New Palace Yard project will be completed within its budget.”

“During this debate, much discussion has been about food banks. It is important that we also recognise food larders—I have a number in my constituency —where large shops and supermarkets donate their food at the end of the day or before the sell-by date. They minimise food waste and enable people to access low-cost or f…”

“I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate. She is right to highlight the issue of inflation, especially food inflation, but does she also recognise that although the price of food is going up, the food producers, predominantly farmers, are not seeing a similar rise in the income they get for produc…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“As the hon. Member will know, the Scottish Government announced their Budget today. I am sure he is aware of the comments from UKHospitality Scotland’s executive director, who said that the Scottish Government Budget had “not sufficiently addressed the challenges that hospitality businesses in Scotland face”, and that …”

“I am grateful to the hon. Member for making that point, but by any measure the Scottish economy is not doing well. Scotland is, by any definition, the most highly taxed part of the United Kingdom. While paying all this extra tax, none of my constituents—I am sure his constituents would agree—feel that they are getting …”

“It is a privilege to speak in this debate. I want to speak about the pub and hospitality sector in my constituency in the Scottish Borders, but also more broadly about the impact of these changes on an important industry that is the lifeblood of the Scottish economy. We are debating the hike in alcohol duty, which the …”

“The intention of my intervention was to be helpful. The unemployment rate among young people in Dartford has gone up 11% in the past year as a direct consequence of decisions that the hon. Gentleman’s Government are making. What does he say to young people who are having job opportunities taken away from them?”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“As the hon. Member will know, there is wide speculation in the Scottish press about a plot among Scottish Labour MPs to bring down the Prime Minister. Labour MPs are quoted as describing the Prime Minister as “terrible”, “incompetent”, “mind-blowingly stupid”, and saying they are going to get “slaughtered” in the Scott…”

“The hon. Lady is giving a list of her Government’s achievements in Portsmouth North. In her constituency, youth unemployment is up. Will she add that to the list as well?”

“The Minister is in danger of falling into the same trap that the Government did in their formal response to the petition, in that she is telling people that they should be grateful—“We’re doing all these things. You should be grateful.” People in my constituency do not feel grateful; they feel betrayed by a catalogue o…”

“My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. One of my recollections from the last general election was the then Conservative leader, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak), saying in the leaders debate, “Mark my words: if you think Labour is going to win this election, start saving no…”

“He promised not to raise taxes—Labour Members are not “Hear, hear!” now, are they? The Prime Minister promised accountability and transparency. The question that many of us are now asking is: service to whom? To his hard-left Back Benchers? To his trade union paymasters? This Labour Government have now been in power fo…”