Speeches by Ferguson.

“At a time when the Government are promoting a duty of candour to ensure that all public servants, including Ministers, have a legal duty to act with transparency and frankness, and when the Scottish Government have indicated that they hope that that legislation will apply in Scotland too, does the Deputy Prime Minister…”

“I thank my hon. Friend. I was just saying that as well as its complexity, which I understand, another reason for not introducing licensing in the way that the Scottish Government originally wanted to was the cost, which seems particularly ironic given that they have had a record devolution settlement for the second yea…”

“It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for the way in which he laid out the debate, and the petitioners for taking the time to give us their views. As we have heard, fireworks can be a source of entertainment and play a very i…”

“A constituent of mine requires to renew his driving licence annually because of his age. He applied for a renewal in September 2025 and has now been told that his hospital consultant was asked for verification of his ability to drive in January 2026. Unfortunately, his consultant has not yet received such a request. Me…”

“The Secretary of State is aware that the Scottish Affairs Committee recently conducted an inquiry into the Thistle safer drug consumption room in Glasgow. I hope that this innovative facility will help to cut drug death numbers in Scotland, but does he agree that the Thistle on its own cannot end the drug crisis? Does …”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for her strong words. Like many hon. Members, I have been contacted by constituents who are very concerned about not being able to contact friends and family who are still in Iran. I join my right hon. Friend in applauding and congratulating the female activists in Iran, who have been relen…”

“My constituency is rather a long way away from Cornwall and the Scilly Isles, but I do live in a part of the country that is not immune to major storms. The Scottish Affairs Committee, which I chair, has undertaken an inquiry into connectivity, particularly in the islands and in rural areas. It has been reported to us …”

“Will the Leader of the House join me in welcoming today’s announcement by the Secretary of State for Scotland of £140 million of local growth funding for Scotland, including £60.9 million for the Glasgow city region? Does he agree that this funding, together with the record Budget settlement for the Scottish Government…”

“I do not know whether the hon. Member is aware that naloxone is widely used in Scotland by paramedics and the police. As a councillor on Glasgow city council, I had the opportunity to be trained in its use, and I have a vial of it that I can carry around—fortunately, I have never had to use it. However, I wanted to mak…”

“One of the things that is advantageous about the Thistle is that it does not exist in a vacuum. It can refer people on to other services such as housing— many of the people being dealt with are homeless, unfortunately—and it can also address mental health issues and send people forward to the requisite services that th…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for that response. It is clear that, across this room, we all share the goal of tackling the harms caused by problem drug use. However, in the face of the crisis that we have talked about today, I do not think we can afford to dismiss any potential remedy, so I take this opportunity …”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the Third Report of the Scottish Affairs Committee, Problem drug use in Scotland follow-up: Glasgow’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility, HC 630, and the Government response, HC 1485. It is a privilege, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I am very gratefu…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement, and I thank him and the Prime Minister for their leadership on this issue. He rightly referred in his statement to the actions of the Finns last week in intercepting a rogue ship that was cutting, or suspected of cutting, cables. He also mentioned the operation of the Yan…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his statement. I entirely agree with him that, at a time when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains so desperately urgent, the decision by the Israeli Government to withdraw accreditation from 37 extremely credible aid agencies, such as Caritas Internationalis, ActionAid and the Internation…”

“I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement. I agree with her that Maduro was a corrupt dictator, who frankly cared nothing for the lives of his own people. I welcome her comments about the importance of upholding international law, so does she agree that if we believe in a world order with clear rules about sovereignt…”

“I thank the Minister for his statement, I thank him and the teams across Government who have worked so hard to secure the deal to protect jobs at Grangemouth. I also want to commend all those in Government who have worked so hard to ensure that Babcock flourishes, Methil stays open, and BAE Systems secures contracts wi…”

“We were worried on the Committee that Grangemouth might, in effect, be the canary in the room, and that it might be the precursor to other such losses. Of course, within a month of our report being produced, we saw the proposed closure of Mossmorran, putting another 400 jobs at risk. Exxon has also said that the UK pol…”

“A recent report by the Scottish Affairs Committee found that the creation of clean energy jobs is not keeping scale or pace with the loss of jobs in the oil and gas industry. Harbour Energy, the UK’s largest oil and gas producer, has indicated that one of the reasons it has cut 350 jobs this year is the UK’s tax regime…”

“Do you think we will see new jobs being created in Grangemouth soon?”

“Our Committee was very concerned, however, that the scale and pace of the creation of the new jobs and the new industry was not anywhere near close to the number of jobs that we are losing in the oil and gas sector. However, if we look at some specific jobs that we lost at Grangemouth earlier this year, Prime Minister,…”