Speeches by Crichton.

“I have a quick question on the data. Shaun, you said the data is from 2015.”

“As you know, Mr Speaker, I am alarmed by news that the Press Association, which assiduously covers our exchanges here, may cut back its dawn-to-dusk coverage through redundancies. Hansard faithfully records our words, but it is reporters in the Press Gallery who bear witness to the human drama here, and no amount of AI…”

“As other Scottish MPs have mentioned, this deal is good news for the whisky industry. It means, “Uisge beatha gu leòr”—whisky galore. It is also good for food producers, such as crofters in the Western Isles, whose exports of lamb products now face zero tariffs, and the salmon farming industry, which supports 420 jobs …”

“Sue, you have anticipated my question about what role trade unions could play in pathways into work. Earlier on, you mentioned that it was also a question of resource. I presume that that is resource in the FE sector—that is, in the college sector?”

“That works at scale, but, as you said, a lot of the construction industry consists of small and medium-sized enterprises. Can they be expected to take the risk of taking somebody on and training them up?”

“Thank you both for coming in. Tom, I was fascinated to hear what you said about on-site skills hubs, and I wondered whether they are run by the industry or by colleges of further education. What kind of collaboration do you see between the two, and is it sufficient?”

“Name them and praise them.”

“That works at scale, but, as you said, a lot of the construction industry consists of small and medium-sized enterprises. Can they be expected to take the risk of taking somebody on and training them up?”

“That was going to be my question as well. Is there a way round this? Are there examples?”

“A quick point that we might not have teased out in other evidence is that the skills gap goes deeper than FE colleges and industry—it goes back to the education curriculum. Any thoughts on that?”

“Encouragingly, I saw that approach at Harland and Wolff in Belfast just the other week, with welders teaching apprentices full time. That is their job, basically. I have also seen it at Arnish. Hinkley Point is always cited as the example of how to do it, but we have heard evidence from other people that there is no cl…”

“Sue, you have anticipated my question about what role trade unions could play in pathways into work. Earlier on, you mentioned that it was also a question of resource. I presume that that is resource in the FE sector—that is, in the college sector?”

“Name them and praise them.”

“Encouragingly, I saw that approach at Harland and Wolff in Belfast just the other week, with welders teaching apprentices full time. That is their job, basically. I have also seen it at Arnish. Hinkley Point is always cited as the example of how to do it, but we have heard evidence from other people that there is no cl…”

“Thank you both for coming in. Tom, I was fascinated to hear what you said about on-site skills hubs, and I wondered whether they are run by the industry or by colleges of further education. What kind of collaboration do you see between the two, and is it sufficient?”

“A quick point that we might not have teased out in other evidence is that the skills gap goes deeper than FE colleges and industry—it goes back to the education curriculum. Any thoughts on that?”

“That was going to be my question as well. Is there a way round this? Are there examples?”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate, to which I am largely sympathetic, even as a member of the British Museum. He speaks of a win-win, for which the Lewis chessmen are a template. One of the most iconic parts of the British Museum’s collection, they were found in Uig in Lewis, in my constituency, in 18…”

“My local authority, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar/Western Isles council is fast approaching its 50th anniversary. Formed in 1975, it brought together the many islands that make up Na h-Eileanan an Iar and gave the Outer Hebrides a unified identity. My father served as a councillor, and my brother currently serves; they are…”

“The evidence to this Committee from Unite and others was that sustainable aviation fuel, SAF, is where Grangemouth should be heading. They say, “Just go for it”. I know that there is a sequence to go through but do you think that we should accelerate and push harder on it? What is your message to Government on that?”