Speeches by Murray.

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the provision of religious crematoria. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I am grateful to have secured this important debate on the provision of religious crematoriums and the access issues faced by faith communities across our country. At its hea…”

“My husband suffered a catastrophic brain haemorrhage, which meant that he could not return to his work, but after he began to recover, he started to work again in another job, helped by a zero-hours contract. It meant that if he was not well enough to work, he could agree with his employer that his hours could be adjus…”

“I think we have a difference in how we look at Lords amendment 1. It does not water down the Bill; it adds more flexibility so that people get the opportunity to have the kind of employment that works for them. That is particularly important in an environment where we are trying to get people off disability benefits an…”

“T3. Just over a week ago, nearly 1,000 peaceful protesters, including priests and pensioners, were arrested in a single day for opposing the ban on Palestine Action, yet over the weekend, at the Unite the Kingdom protest, 26 police officers were injured and 25 arrests were made. Does the Home Secretary agree with my co…”

“I wanted to ask Ms Murray about the steel strategy and the types of steel plants that we have in the UK. It seems that we are relying on the mills, certainly in Dalzell, buying slab from Scunthorpe. Scunthorpe has been saved, which is great, and is now being converted to an electric arc furnace. That, I understand, is …”

“Was that from ore?”

“I suppose that what I was trying to get at is that Dalzell needs the slab in order to progress and survive. Can we produce that slab in the UK just now, or are we still going to be relying on importing?”

“I am going to take it back to the community round about Dalzell. We have heard how the employees, the workers, have that economic power and sense of wellbeing from having the good-quality jobs that contribute. The community have said that the Dalzell mill is of strategic importance to them. Why do you think it is the c…”

“We have sort of touched on this, but do we have an idea of what level of investment would be needed to modernise the mill and meet the demand of the steel-intensive sectors, such as offshore wind?”

“I hardly need to ask this, but I am going to ask you to put it on the record. Do you agree with the community’s assessment of the mill’s strategic importance and the investment needs?”

“Where are the major steel-intensive industries, such as offshore wind, sourcing their steel from at the moment?”

“Are you saying that finished product is being shipped in rather than the plate that is needed?”

“As Scotland sees an increase in oil and gas decommissioning, there is going to be all that scrap steel. How well equipped are we to be able to process that scrap steel?”

“Am I picking up that electric arc furnaces can process scrap steel, but in order to make steel from iron ore you need a blast furnace?”

“The core of my question is whether we have the capacity to take iron ore and turn it into slab. Do we need that capacity and would that be helpful as part of the strategy?”

“With the development of electric arc furnaces and this potential project, how do we stand in the international competition stakes? Are we competitive?”

“It has already been said that the cost of energy in the UK puts us in a position that is not competitive in that area.”

“To go back to the opportunities in Scotland, the 2023 Circular Steel in Scotland report, which WMG co-authored, concluded that establishing an electric arc furnace in Scotland could generate significant GVA, although the business case remains uncertain. That agrees with what you said. Could you walk us through your fin…”

“Does it require decisions at government level? What kind of interventions might be necessary for this?”

“One of my constituents has raised their concerns with me about the SEEMiS software used in the Scottish school system and the ability of staff to alter cases with no record of changes being made. Transparency in our public bodies is vital to the public trusting both our institutions and us. In these times when public t…”