Speeches by Lamont.

“T4. Cruel cuts to the winter fuel allowance by both this Labour Government and the SNP Government in Edinburgh left thousands of pensioners cold in their homes last winter. When will the Secretary of State apologise for the misery her Government have caused for vulnerable pensioners in the Scottish Borders and across t…”

“4. What estimate she has made of the level of spending on health and disability benefits by 2030.”

“Just two months ago, the Secretary of State was left humiliated after being forced to significantly water down her botched welfare Bill. If the Government had pressed ahead with the Bill as originally drafted, how much less would taxpayers be spending on benefits by 2030?”

“I am pleased to speak in the Sir David Amess Adjournment debate. One of the highlights of my year is my annual summer surgery tour; I hold over 75 surgeries in towns and villages across my constituency over 10 days. This is in addition to my usual monthly surgeries. The summer recess gives me the opportunity to get to …”

“Between 2018 and 2022, untreated sewage was released just over 58,000 times from Scottish sewer overflows, and more than half of wild swimming spots in Scotland contain unsafe levels of sewage, so whatever model the Government decide to adopt for the regulation of the water industry in England, will the Secretary of St…”

“I fully support the work of the UK Government in providing military assistance to Ukraine. Like so many voluntary groups across the United Kingdom, the Rotary club of Duns has been actively involved in supporting Ukraine during the war. It has delivered several pick-up trucks loaded with medical equipment and other ess…”

“The hon. Gentleman is making a very good speech, much of which I agree with. I am sure that he, like me, visits many schools. Does he agree that when he visits them and speaks to young people, they are very, very concerned about the environment, and in particular plastic pollution? In many ways, our great hope is that …”

“The Minister is right to highlight the leading role that the UK has played in this matter, under both the current Government and, in particular, the previous Government. The last negotiations and progress towards the treaty came to a halt because Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia basically imposed a time limit, which meant…”

“The hon. Member is making a very good speech. I agree with him about the need to take the public and business with us. In Scotland we had a real challenge with the deposit return scheme that the Scottish Government tried to impose, because business was up in arms about it, and it was going to impact on the internal mar…”

“The SNP Government’s fire and rescue service is consulting on plans to downgrade Hawick fire station from 24/7 cover to weekday daytime hours only. Thousands of people locally have signed a petition, with residents concerned that these proposals could put lives at risk. Will the Leader of the House join me in paying tr…”

“No, but is it effectively the Prime Minister’s office?”

“Let us focus a bit more on the statements process. There is obviously a grid that is run by No. 10 in terms of how the announcements are going to be made over a week or a month. Who in No. 10 runs that grid?”

“Is there a meeting between you and the Speaker to discuss them? Are you involved in that?”

“It would be helpful to understand the process a bit more clearly. Back-Bench MPs put in urgent question requests.”

“It is entirely the Government?”

“Do you think the Ministerial Code is the right place for the rules on this to be set out, or should it be put in a different forum?”

“I accept that, but I am thinking more of the scenarios that the Chair gave, where the House felt that it should have been told about something and the Government had not scheduled a statement at that particular point. It did maybe come the next day, but—”

“We know that, ultimately, it is the Speaker’s decision as to which UQs are granted and which statements are allowed—”

“Good morning, Leader of the House. It is very good to see you. Thank you very much for the exceptionally good and helpful responses I get to business questions each Thursday. You referred to paragraph 9.1 and said that some of the words are a bit subjective. Do you think that paragraph is sufficiently clear and underst…”

“In terms of a Monday scenario, where you might get a story developing at 6 pm or 7 pm, and the Government have decided, for whatever reason, not to put forward a statement, if I put in an urgent question application at 6 pm on a Monday, the House is still sitting until 10. As the rules stand, that urgent question appli…”