Scotland Bill

I welcome you back to the Chair, Mr Crausby.

We have an embarras de richesses in the range ...

The right hon. Gentleman says that the operation of the Crown Estate is unsatisfactory and needs ...

Four years ago, I was very much in favour of devolution to the communities: it was something on w...

I am fascinated by this lack of consensus in the last Government. Was the current Secretary of St...

I shall allow the Secretary of State to speak for himself when he has the opportunity to do so la...

Would it not be a better approach to devolve to the islands? I see the Liberals are now ignoring ...

I seek to build consensus today. It is unfortunate that the hon. Gentleman is not minded to do so...

I rise to speak to my new clause 66, on health and medicines, which reads:

“In Part 2 of Sc...

Does the hon. Gentleman recognise that Northern Ireland already has some of the powers that he as...

Yes, I was going to come to that point, which is important. I have obtained the help of the Libra...

I thought it might help the hon. Gentleman if I gave him a little bit of history. If I remember c...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for describing that bit of history. I understand that t...

I rise to oppose or to provide a different perspective on the amendments tabled by the right hon....

I remind the hon. Gentleman that my amendment provides for agreement between the Scottish Governm...

If the right hon. Gentleman wants the full input of the Scottish Parliament, why is he trying to ...

I remind the hon. Gentleman that the Western Isles Council, the Comhairle themselves, were urging...

Absolutely, and when the right hon. Gentleman was in government and he was urged to do this, what...

If the hon. Gentleman speaks to his colleagues in local government—I know he does not always do s...

I know what they wanted, but it is clear from that answer that the right hon. Gentleman did not t...

Thank you, Mr Crausby—[Interruption.] I did not hear that interruption by the hon. Member for Na ...

rose—

It is an honour to give way to the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond).

I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman is familiar with the phrase “the land belongs to the people”....

I am very grateful for the right hon. Gentleman’s characteristically helpful intervention. What w...

rose—

And it is, of course, an even greater honour to give way to the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an ...

I am also grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who has described giving way to the hon. Member for Na ...

The hon. Gentleman really cannot have it both ways. He teased the right hon. Member for Orkney an...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his consistency, and, similarly, I congratulate myself on mi...

The problem with that view is that it does not respect the rights of property. The Crown is entit...

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way again. I am also grateful to my hon. Frie...

I find the concept of sovereignty coming from the people very attractive. I do not dispute the co...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way again. He is being very generous, as are you, ...

I am well aware of the difference of terminology in relation to Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth...

The Queen of England.

The Queen of England. The two were different, in a sense, and there is a conception of popular so...

I am surprised that such an ardent and professional monarchist as the hon. Gentleman is unaware t...

The hon. Gentleman has been more helpful to me than he may have realised. I think that the symbol...

My hon. Friend is clearly right. The Act of Union created the Crown of the United Kingdom of Grea...

That happened 100 years before.

The Union of the Crowns happened 100 years before, but in my view it is clear that the constituti...

I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend, who I think is absolutely spot on. The indivis...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Of course I give way to the hon. Gentleman.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his incredible generosity. He said that the Crown propert...

My assumption is that they were devolved to the Government of the Republic of Ireland, which is a...

I think that the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. What today’s debate is about is whether the ...

I do not think that the hon. Gentleman —I was about to say “my hon. Friend”—is bold enough. What ...

I am able to help the hon. Gentleman with a precedent. It turns out that in 1923 the Crown Estate...

I am terribly sorry to say that we do not have an exact precedent. We have exactly the wrong prec...

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that his amendment is completely at odds with section 1(2) of th...

No, all my amendment is seeking to do is ensure that at the beginning of a new reign the Crown Es...

The Crown Estate is public land and its commissioners are a statutory corporation, and the Crown ...

No, I do not agree. I enjoyed participated in the Sovereign Grant Act debates, when I thought Her...

Does the hon. Gentleman not agree, however, that, as the Chancellor himself has said, there are o...

The Crown Estate was a brilliant way of settling the issue. It is of course just one way, and we ...

Is it not the case that the reduction in subsidies to onshore wind and other renewable energies i...

Hon. Members may have got the impression that I am a monarchist; I think there are few things mor...

rose—

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman is more of a monarchist than I am.

I certainly am, it would seem, and I can hear the timbers in Buckingham palace quivering as we sp...

One has to be careful of onshore wind turbines if one is at risk of losing one’s head; I believe ...

Everybody subsidises the Government through their taxes, and we in Scotland particularly subsidis...

I wish Doris Day many happy returns, albeit somewhat belatedly, but the hon. Gentleman is not rig...

My hon. Friend is giving a very fine Tory speech, not one from the Whiggish camp as we have been ...

I think that that is a terrible Jacobean, rather than Jacobite suggestion. Although this is not i...

It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Downton Abbey. I want to speak on employmen...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his work in that period in Scotland; we have spoken about it priva...

Two unions saved Rosyth. The first was the campaign led by the TGWU that united the whole of Scot...

I do not fully recognise the rosy picture that the hon. Gentleman is painting of that unity. If w...

I used a not dissimilar argument when it came to the lobbying on where the aircraft carriers woul...

I respect the hon. Gentleman’s trade union activity. On pay bargaining, though, I fear that he is...

Some Scottish national agreements exist alongside agreements covering the rest of the UK, but is ...

When I, as First Minister, negotiated a no compulsory redundancy agreement with the civil service...

In my trade union life, I frequently negotiated no compulsory redundancy agreements in a whole nu...

The hon. Gentleman seems to be very concerned about pay discrepancies. What is his view of the Sc...

I shall come to exactly that point. New clause 63 in essence says, “Look before you leap.” I do n...

The hon. Gentleman is right that in some cases collective pay bargaining can bring benefits. We r...

That is exactly right. When the national framework, particularly for the national health service,...

The hon. Gentleman has been very kind in giving way. A few moments ago, he asked rhetorically whe...

I am sorry, but the lesson for me from my whole history in the trade union movement has been that...

The Scottish Government are recognised as a living wage employer. Does the hon. Gentleman not fee...

We have been acting on the living wage north and south of the border. I was a founder member of t...

I have listened intently to the hon. Gentleman’s résumé of the actions he has taken, but for how ...

Down south, together with workers from up north, we are working to drive the living wage. We are ...

The hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford) mentioned the Scottish Government’s reputation...

Let me give an example of what really matters on the living wage. In Birmingham, it affected not ...

I had not intended to speak in the debate, but the rather pejorative comments of the hon. Member ...

The right hon. and learned Gentleman referred to the proposal as a “novelty”. He might have misse...

I disagree with the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), because the creation of the Iris...

The right hon. and learned Gentleman talks about the possibility of two Crown Estates, but there ...

I certainly do not think that the Crown Estate is the glue that holds the United Kingdom together...

My right hon. and learned Friend said that the Crown Estate was not the glue that held the United...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments, but I do not want to be out of order, so I shal...

What my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil) provides is the Castlebay an...

The truth is that that did lead to a wonderful outpouring of monarchical fervour from Scotland. T...

I was objecting not to the outpouring, but to the suggestion from the hon. Gentleman that he had ...

I rise to support new clause 57. The transfer of the Crown Estate in Scotland and its assets was ...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir David. I was incredibly surprised to hear ...

That is indeed a mighty number of amendments. I am looking at the lack of support that the hon. G...

Given the time limits that we have on this debate, I feel that we have just wasted 30 seconds thr...

It says here.

It does say here, because it is a speech, and that tends to be what happens. The right hon. Gentl...

rose—

I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman, but first I say this: he is wasting the time of the ...

I was reading from the iPad because I was quoting from the Scottish Government document, “Empower...

The right hon. Gentleman asks me to withdraw my remark, but he asked to intervene before I made i...

That is remarkable, because those matters are linked to countries’ constitutions. The limits are ...

The next part of my speech offers an explanation of our opposition to devolving that particular i...

What about Northern Ireland?

The hon. Gentleman is chuntering again. I will come on to the Northern Ireland issue. This is an ...

Does the hon. Gentleman seriously think that the Scottish Parliament would disregard those sentim...

I do not think that the Scottish Parliament would disregard them, but it is worth giving proper c...

May I have the hon. Gentleman’s view on the logic of allowing the Scottish Parliament to deal wit...

That is the framework of the Scotland Act 1998.

Is it logical?

Well, devolution in a lot of instances is not logical, because—[Interruption.] I am answering the...

Does not the hon. Gentleman think that this could be the start of that process? If there is an ag...

There is a point of difference between us on how we interpret this issue. The 13 organisations th...

The hon. Gentleman has quoted the TUC, but in various debates on the Bill he has quoted the STUC....

I do not disagree with the hon. Gentleman: that is the STUC’s view. The TUC takes a slightly diff...

We want a race to the top.

We all want a race to the top, but we need to make sure that we are doing all these things proper...

There is agreement across the Opposition Benches on making employment tribunals fairer and elimin...

This amendment is about people paying a fee to enter the employment tribunal system. It would giv...

I am anxious to know why Labour want control over the minimum wage in Scotland to be in the hands...

The minimum wage in Scotland is not in the hands of the Tories; it is in the hands of the Low Pay...

It is in the hands of the Tories.

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman realises this, but it is the Low Pay Commission that rec...

Low pay is one of the key problems of our age, as has been said. The minimum wage is in need of b...

That is exactly what we want to see. We want the issue of poor wages across the United Kingdom to...

As one of the first people to give evidence to the Low Pay Commission in 1998, I think I have som...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is no bigger champion of workers’ rights, the national ...

It is terrible that Labour sees the national minimum wage only as something to be undermined; it ...

In fact, what the hon. Gentleman has just said is exactly what it says in new clause 63, which te...

Has the hon. Gentleman completely forgotten that some of the biggest advances in progressive soci...

It is clear that the Scottish National party’s strategy is not to have a proper debate and discus...

The hon. Gentleman has mentioned the views of the TUC and the BFAWU. Can he confirm that the two ...

They have argued that, but the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers and the GMB have ar...

rose—

Order. I was about to say that five hon. Members were seeking to catch my eye, but now it seems t...

I shall be brief, Sir David.

I wish to speak to new clause 56, which Members who survey it ...

Scottish Members of Parliament have been sent a joint statement by the trade union community in S...

It is worth noting early in the debate that so far we have had 100% participation of male speaker...

Does my hon. Friend share my dismay at Scottish Labour’s record in local government on equal pay,...

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention—South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Glasgow cou...

I declare my membership of Unison and my trade union activity over the past 20 years. It was disa...

If the hon. Gentleman was concerned about workers throughout the United Kingdom, he would certain...

I care about workers across the world, and I will be quoting from the Scottish Trades Union Congr...

The hon. Gentleman’s amendments would devolve the pneumoconiosis legislation to Scotland. What is...

I will come back to that point.

Our approach is evidence based. The 30 detailed recommendat...

My hon. Friend will be familiar with the Scottish Government’s action to reverse the House of Lor...

I agree with my right hon. Friend, and he signed two memorandums of understanding with the STUC o...

Two years ago this August, I sat in an emergency room when a helicopter went down off the coast o...

My hon. Friend gives a first-hand account of why our health and safety laws should be devolved to...

I was pleased that in the Committee stage, we had an acknowledgement that we have had four full d...

Yes, we have debated the Bill, but no amendments have been accepted by the Government even though...

I am sure that sounded good when the hon. Gentleman wrote it down. It should not come as a surpri...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I just want to make this point.

This is the stage where the Bill should be held up for furt...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

If I could just finish my point.

I was interested to hear the rationale for the points made...

rose—

A number of proposed technical changes could clearly improve the Bill.

On a point of order, Mr Amess. The Secretary of State has named me and my constituency. Do I not ...

That is not a point of order; that is a point of debate.

There has been considerable discussion on the Bill. I want to concentrate on a few of the very im...

We keep hearing from the right hon. Gentleman and the Government about the respect that they have...

I think I did hear that contribution on at least one other day during the debate, so I understand...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I will not, because I have very little time to comment on all the issues raised in this debate.