North Sea Oil and Gas (Employment)

That is the sole point that I planned to make in this speech. [Interruption.] No, the right hon. ...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing today’s debate, which is on an issue of deep concer...

I think there is a case for what the hon. Lady says, but I disagree with her. We will have a Budg...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. On safety, is he as alarmed as I...

I think my hon. Friend is talking about the sort of work on offshore that I mentioned at the begi...

Colleagues, the wind-up speeches will begin at 3.40 pm. Six colleagues are seeking to catch my ey...

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take part in this debate, Mr Streeter.

I congrat...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Sir Robert Smit...

I fully accept that many jobs throughout the UK depend on the oil and gas sector. The difference ...

The hon. Lady is absolutely right, but a small company in my constituency that makes goods that a...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter.

I am grateful to the hon. M...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Mr Doran) on securing this timely debate.

We need to realise that we face quite a large challenge. There is an undercurrent of jobs going, ...

I accept that. This is going on throughout the industry—in direct employment and among subcontrac...

I have a genuine question on a point of interest. Is Scottish Enterprise putting together a taskf...

I have already referred to that; the hon. Gentleman should listen a bit more carefully. I did men...

Has the hon. Gentleman taken into consideration the fact that the Saudi Arabians and the Russians...

In a way, I am surprised by that comment from the hon. Gentleman, because it seems to be a counse...

I congratulate my neighbour, the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Mr Doran), on securing this deba...

Like the right hon. Gentleman and, I think, everyone else present for the debate, I received an O...

That is a fair point; I would say only that I have never yet met an oil economist who was any goo...

One of the lessons of history is that if downsizing in the current crisis is inevitable, the way ...

I completely agree.

Finally, I want to set out what things the Government must consider—for...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship once more, Mr Streeter. I draw Members’ attenti...

Specifically on that point, which has been made by others, that is also the case for places such ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the diversification of interests in this importan...

I was in Belfast yesterday, right beside where Harland and Wolff used to be. There are some oil r...

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. That is why I was genuinely asking the hon. Member fo...

Mr Streeter, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship—I do not know whether I am perm...

In the past half an hour or so, while we have been having this debate, a further 300 job losses h...

I will indeed emphasise that very point when I come to it later. I will begin by addressing the h...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter. I pay tribute to the hon. Member ...

The Minister is apologising for the absence of his right hon. Friend; I should have noted the abs...

I echo the comments of all contributors, who pointed out the importance and timeliness of the deb...

I apologise to the Minister and the House for not being at the earlier part of the debate; I was ...

I certainly take that point on board; it reinforces the fact that this issue is resonant not only...

The Minister is making an important point about the value of decommissioning, but we really want ...

I think I had set out in my initial remarks that the issue is a combination of ensuring that what...