Speeches by Crichton.

“Indeed. You mentioned something earlier, Brenda, about people paying 14p per unit for their storage heater, yet the middle-class, upper-class family with a Tesla are paying only 7p. What needs to happen to even up that market?”

“There is no short circuit we can do with the warm home discount?”

“T4. When it comes to the rising cost of living, may I ask the Chancellor to look again at the rural fuel relief scheme? The scheme is meant to give a 5p discount per litre on petrol and diesel in specific island rural communities, but I have checked and found that, in Stornoway in my constituency, petrol is 138.9p toda…”

“I thank the Chancellor for her statement, for her support for the armed forces, and for acknowledging the anxiety of constituents abroad. Closer to home—at home, in fact—half of my constituents in Na h-Eileanan an Iar outside the town of Stornoway rely on heating oil to heat their homes. They face great uncertainty, wi…”

“Sue, these nuclear reactors will involve fewer people in construction and in running, won’t they? We will have fewer nuclear jobs at these sites.”

“Thank you all for coming in. Zion, I am interested in what you said there about the loudest voices are often not from the host community, they are from people who have come in—you seemed to say—and from holiday home owners. In fact you might have been one of these yourself; your story is quite interesting. You went fro…”

“Interesting. There is a long experience of hosting down generations. There are pluses and minuses of that. Can you tell me what these are and tell me what the red lines are, where the needs of the community perhaps have to trump our need for clean energy?”

“You talked about some unfounded fears in communities, but there are risks obviously, not just nuclear ones but social ones and environmental ones for host communities. These have to be balanced against national need, and I am sure that some of you wrestle with this as a council. Where is the line? Is it right to put na…”

“Understood. Mark, when you were responding to Mel earlier, you talked about a financial lull in the sector. What can be done to incentivise private money to come in so that you have a consistent flow all the way through?”

“On some evidence we heard earlier, there is a Monday to Thursday economy. Do you see that in both your areas?”

“Sue, you must see that pattern as well among your members who work in one place but live in another place. Certainly we know Scottish workers who are going south every week and coming back.”

“What effect does that have on the workforce, workers and their families, and on host communities? What can be done about it?”

“That is one of the biggest resentments of host communities, though, isn’t it? The money flies in on Monday and flies out on a Thursday to go and live either internationally or in London or far away from the host community. What can we do to stop that?”

“Are there any international lessons of comparators or does this industry work the same way globally? Is there anything we can learn from existing sites in the UK or abroad?”

“Will the jobs be here in the UK or will they be international jobs?”

“Sue, these nuclear reactors will involve fewer people in construction and in running, won’t they? We will have fewer nuclear jobs at these sites.”

“Understood. Mark, when you were responding to Mel earlier, you talked about a financial lull in the sector. What can be done to incentivise private money to come in so that you have a consistent flow all the way through?”

“Is that something we should look out for here?”

“You talked about some unfounded fears in communities, but there are risks obviously, not just nuclear ones but social ones and environmental ones for host communities. These have to be balanced against national need, and I am sure that some of you wrestle with this as a council. Where is the line? Is it right to put na…”

“On some evidence we heard earlier, there is a Monday to Thursday economy. Do you see that in both your areas?”