Speeches by Lamont.

“Sorry; I am not clear. You earlier said that funding was part of the problem. I have now asked, did you request more funding? You were then given more funding, so did that resolve the questions?”

“Correct. So funding then wasn’t an issue.”

“So you were able to get extra money in response to your call for help.”

“Before I ask about the integrated data service, I want to come back to the previous point about funding. You said that funding had been an issue previously. In the discussions you had with the board and your ministerial masters in the Cabinet Office, were you raising concerns about funding?”

“So it was within your funding.”

“Was the funding for his post part of the additional resource that came from the Cabinet Office?”

“It would help us greatly if you told us which Departments were not complying, but anyway. Was Nigel Green appointed as director general to try to resolve some of these challenges?”

“How can we make this project in the UK—or here in Westminster—better if you are not prepared to identify the blocks in the process, in terms of the people who are not sharing data in the way that we want them to?”

“But you are not going to tell us who has blocked it?”

“State-owned Scottish Water is responsible for the water supply across Scotland. Last week, thousands of residents in the Scottish Borders were left without water for days, and terrible communication by Scottish Water made matters worse. We were facing a public health crisis, as well as an animal welfare crisis. Does th…”

“My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. I know he is acutely aware that many communities that he and I represent in the Scottish borders rely on that television service. At the same time, they do not have access to a high-speed, high quality broadband connection unless they pay significantly for it. Does he…”

“Tourism tax!”

“Is the hon. Lady aware of the comments in the Scottish Parliament yesterday by the chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance? He said that “the first half of this year was brutal”, and that the increase in employer’s national insurance contributions has resulted in a “loss of jobs”. Is he wrong?”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech about the importance of these businesses to her constituency. Does she agree that those businesses are often the very heart of local communities, and that if residents lose them, they lose a vital part of their community?”

“Tourism tax!”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and demonstrating why he is such a great champion for Teesside. Does he agree that many businesses are not just facing the prospect of closing, but of possibly laying off more and more jobs? In my constituency, Mainstreet Trading, a fantastic award-winning bookshop, deli and…”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“I recently met Dr Joanna Kerr, an extremely brave survivor of child sexual exploitation and abuse in Scotland. As it stands, the national inquiry will not cover Scotland, and the Scottish National party Government will not launch their own. I ask the Minister again: will she commit herself to extending the national inq…”

“In Scotland, we have so-called devolution, but the reality on the ground is that the Scottish Government are centralising more and more power. Does my hon. Friend share my concern that the Bill creates the potential risk of that?”