Scotland: General Election and Constitutional Future

Debate between Ian Murray and Jim Shannon

Wednesday 17th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) (Lab)]

A very happy St Patrick’s Day to you and everyone in the House, Mr Speaker.

I am sure that you will have been as astonished as I was, Mr Speaker, to hear that the SNP was using one of its irregular Opposition day debates to talk about independence. Indeed, even the hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Tommy Sheppard) said that this was a very rare debate for the SNP. You could have knocked me over with a feather, Mr Speaker, and that is no mean task with my extra 10 lockdown kilos. It is not as though there is not anything for us to debate today. You would not think that we were in the worst health and economic crisis since world war two.

Why does the SNP want to turn the Scottish election in May into a referendum on whether or not we have another referendum? Because it cannot defend its atrocious record in government for the last 14 years. SNP Members have no defence at all and nothing to offer. In 25 minutes of opening speech, there was not one positive policy about how to deal with the problems in Scotland. We have had the sheer arrogance of the SNP making assumptions about the election result without a single cross being put in a single ballot box anywhere in Scotland. However, we no longer hear the cry of “22 polls in a row in favour of separation” when it is now four in a row in favour of staying part of the United Kingdom, the one today being 57% to 43%. They are being found out.

We could have been debating all sorts of major issues today. We could have debated our democratic institutions in Scotland, whether the Scottish Government legislative settlement needs to be improved, and telling MSPs to properly hold the Scottish Government to account. The Minister made those points yesterday.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

The poll today shows that only 46% of the Scottish electorate support independence. A few months ago, it was 58%, so it is down 12%. I say very gently to my brothers and sisters around me, my Gaelic friends: the poll that really matters is the last one. Does the hon. Gentleman feel that the reason this has happened is in part due the covid vaccine roll-out? To everyone, it has expressed across the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that together, we are better. Does he agree?

[Ian Murray]

I am sorry that I did not quite hear the hon. Gentleman—the intervention king—so I apologise, but he is right. I think the reason why the polls have moved is that the SNP has arrogantly assumed that the Scottish people want independence, so people have started to ask the big questions, to which no answers have been forthcoming. People realise, with the vaccine roll-out and the covid support, that we are much better and much stronger as a nation working with our partners and friends as part of the family of four nations of the UK.

United Kingdom’s Withdrawal from the European Union

Debate between Ian Murray and Jim Shannon

Friday 29th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) (Lab)]

I am grateful to be called to speak in this important debate. I say at the start that I will do this afternoon what is in the best interests of the country and my constituents by not supporting this deal. I have to say that I was disappointed by the contribution of the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford). We agree on 95% of everything in this particular EU debate. To attack the Labour party, rather than the Government for the deal in front of us, perhaps shows where SNP Members’ thought processes are at the moment.

Let us not forget that the House voted for this process, against the Government’s wishes. One thing we can all say with great certainty is that, since mid-November last year, nothing has changed, either in the withdrawal agreement or in the political declaration. The only thing that has changed is the Attorney General’s legal advice. If you ask a lawyer for the conclusion that you want, and you pay them, you are likely to get what you are looking for. There is no trust in the Government in this place. We tried to do everything we could as a Parliament, and we had to drag the Government through hedges, to get to a place whereby we could have even this proper debate.

[Jim Shannon]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Ian Murray]

I will not, because it would mean that my Back-Bench colleagues will not get a chance to speak.

Today is 29 March—the day we should have left the European Union—so it is a good day to look at the report cards for the Government and the leave campaign on where we should have been by today. Where is the £350 million Brexit bonanza for our NHS? It is not there. Where is the easiest trade deal in history? Not only is it not the easiest in history, but the Government have had to take it out of this particular debate to get their deal through. Where is taking back control? Indeed, we are ceding control. Where is the promise of no border on the island of Ireland? The solution cannot be found by the Government because of the red lines they set themselves. Where are the 40 bilateral trade deals that we should have just rolled over by midnight tonight? Where is the cap and the reduction in net migration? It cannot be met. Where is more money going into our public services, when £4.2 billion is being spent on no deal? Those are not just broken promises; they also broke the law. There are no sunny uplands in this process. Today we should all say loud and clear that we are slaying the unicorns once and for all.

This is not meaningful vote 3, it is meaningful vote 2 and a half. The Government are not complying with their own legislation, and they know it. My right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) was absolutely right: there is nothing wrong with somebody selling their house, but they have to know where they will go next. The Government are asking us to sell the house without knowing where we go next. It is not only that we do not know where we will go next with the political declaration, but that we do not even know who will do that negotiation. This is a blind Brexit with a blind Prime Minister and a blind Government. My hon. Friend the hon. Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) made a wonderful speech from the Front Bench, and he was absolutely correct: the entire debate on our future relationship with the European Union will be conducted after a Conservative leadership election that could provide a Prime Minister who will rip up the political declaration and take us into territory that we do not want to be taken into.

What happens if the motion passes today but the political declaration—or, indeed, the implementation Bill—does not pass? My right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central was absolutely correct that, come 22 May, we will again end up in the situation in which it is the Prime Minister’s deal or no deal, with no opportunity to extend the process.

In this process, the Prime Minister is the shopkeeper in the “Monty Python” sketch involving the dead Norwegian parrot, and Parliament is Mr Praline. It is quite clear that her deal is no more. It has ceased to exist. It is bereft of life. It rests in peace. It is a deal that has been nailed to its perch. It is an ex-parrot; it is an ex-deal. Interestingly, at the end of that sketch, the shopkeeper says, “this is getting silly”, and the sketch gives up. Prime Minister and Government: this is getting silly. Give up and listen to the House.

We might end up having to revoke article 50 come 22 May if we pass this motion but have no opportunity to do anything else. I suggest that the Government now listen to the indicative vote process that happened on Wednesday, act with dignity and respect this House as that process continues next week. They should also listen to what the public are saying. It is completely unfair that the Prime Minister can keep flogging the dead horse of her deal as many times as she likes in this House yet the public got one chance three years ago, with all the sunny uplands and broken promises they were given in 2016. Let us give the British people a confirmatory vote and let them back into the process to break the impasse in Parliament. If they still wish to leave the European Union, and if the Prime Minister is so confident about her deal, she will go to them and get them to back it. If they do not, we can maintain the best deal we have at the moment, which is to be a fully-fledged member of the European Union.

European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Debate between Ian Murray and Jim Shannon

Committee: 4th sitting: House of Commons
Monday 4th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Ian Murray]

It is against the spirit of the devolution settlement, but it is also against the spirit of the referendum that we heard about earlier. The Scottish people, the Welsh people and the Northern Irish people voted for devolution.

There is no doubt that clause 11 is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. There are many other ways of legislating that would allow a transition on day one that would respect the devolution settlement. The Law Society has put forward such options. As the leader of the SNP said, the way in which the Government are using clause 11 is clear. There is no sunset provision and no timetable is attached. There is no list of powers, and there is no indication of when certain powers should be given priority. There is no commitment to intergovernmental working and there is no real commitment to devolution. We were diverted to today’s discussions in Brussels because that is part of the disrespect for the devolution settlement in this country, which is why the process has become so difficult.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Does the hon. Gentleman also acknowledge the disrespect that the Taoiseach has shown for the people of Northern Ireland? He has said that he now speaks for them, but the Democratic Unionist party and other elected parties do not. Is it not time that he knew that when it comes to Northern Ireland, democracy and the political process, the power lies here in the Chamber? It certainly does not lie with Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland.

[Ian Murray]

We may be being diverted from the point again, but I think that the Committee, the country and anyone who happens to be watching our proceedings will see that the three members of the Democratic Unionist party who are sitting in the Chamber are the real Government. They are dictating the terms of Brexit—and the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) is doubtless the de facto Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union—in terms of the power that they have over the Prime Minister.

As I said earlier, it is clear that between courses this afternoon the Prime Minister has gone from a negotiated agreement to a set of texts to throwing it all in the bin alongside any leftovers from lunch. It is clear that the DUP—10 Members of Parliament from Northern Ireland —are holding the Government to account and holding them by the neck, because it is much more important for the Prime Minister to hold on to power than it is to do what is the best interests of all our nations.

Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma

Debate between Ian Murray and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 14th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) (Lab)]

I thank Mr Speaker for granting me this important Adjournment debate on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare form of childhood brain tumour.

I applied for this debate to raise awareness of DIPG, to highlight the need for more research and development, to try to get better treatments and to bring to this Parliament the heroic story of seven-year-old Luke Stewart, his mum, Jennifer Ure Stewart, his dad, Mark and his grandfather, Robert Ure. DIPG is an aggressive form of tumour on the brain stem. Fewer than 40 children a year in the UK develop them, but they account for 10% to 15% of all brain tumours in children. In October 2017, it has been reported officially that 38 children died of DIPG, and there is no cure.

Although rare, DIPG is actually the second most common type of primary, high-grade brain tumour in children. It originates in the area of the brain stem called the pons, the area of the brain that is responsible for a number of critical bodily functions, such as breathing, sleeping and blood pressure. Not all cases of DIPG are identical, and it can affect each child differently, including through pressure on the cranial nerve, long tract or cerebellum. Childhood brain tumours are classified according to the type of cells—whether they are diffuse or focal—and the grade of aggressiveness. These particular tumours are high-grade, aggressive and relentless, growing extremely quickly, often spreading throughout the brain stem and into the spinal cord. Sadly, this means that they are very dangerous, difficult to treat and have a poor prognosis. Although it is not yet known what causes DIPG tumours, there is currently ongoing research aimed at discovering their genetic causes, which could help early detection and the development of future treatments.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on bringing this important issue to the House at such a late hour. DIPG is one of those diseases for which there is no treatment, no cure and no survival rate, but if we are to find a way forward, we need research and development. I hope that the Minister will respond positively to the hon. Gentleman’s request. Does he feel now is the time for that research and development to take place?

[Ian Murray]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I shall come on to the subject of research and development. I have been in the House for seven years, and I live in hope of receiving a positive response from the Treasury Bench. Perhaps tonight we will get that far; indeed, I am sure that we will.

I welcome the research that is being done, but the current lack of sufficient research, available information, awareness of the condition and effective treatments can make DIPG all the more distressing for those diagnosed with it, as well as their extended families.

When it comes to treating the tumours, patients are usually offered courses of radiotherapy over three to six weeks. Because of the dangers of operating on such a critical area of the brain, surgery for some is simply not an option. In the UK, various studies show that chemotherapy is ineffective in treating childhood DIPG, although it is used in innovative ways in other countries, such as Mexico. I shall say more about that shortly.

Because the treatment options are extremely limited, the prognosis for children diagnosed with DIPG is poor. Although each child’s condition is unique, 70% of children with DIPG are not likely to survive for more than a year after diagnosis, and 90% do not survive for two years. The lack of knowledge of the condition means that children and their families are living from day to day. Greater investment in research on the condition might bring us one step closer to finding out more about the specific genes and molecules involved in DIPG tumour formation. That vital research could go on to create innovative new treatments, meaning that 40 more children each year—those who are struck down by the disease—could go on to become the doctors, scientists and even politicians of the future. It is important that we give those children the opportunities that they deserve, and give their families the hope that they need.

The famous astronaut Neil Armstrong’s daughter Karen died of DIPG 40 years ago at the age of just two, yet to date there have been very few advances in the treatment offered, which is devastating for parents. One such story is that of Luke Stewart. Luke is a seven-year-old boy who is happy, healthy, active, kind and caring. He comes from a loving family—mum, dad and two little brothers: Lewis, who is five, and Lochlin, who is just one. In January this year, their world was blown apart when Luke was diagnosed with DIPG. Doctors advised Luke’s mum and dad that he could survive for six to nine months if he received radiation treatment, the only option offered by the NHS in the UK. I cannot imagine what that kind of news does to a parent.

The family were informed that radiation treatment would prolong Luke’s life by only a few months, and that, although it would make him more comfortable, he would not survive. They were advised by the NHS that there were no other treatments available worldwide, or any clinical trials, that could help their son, and that on completion of the radiation treatment he would receive only palliative care. They were broken by that news, but they knew that they had to keep fighting for Luke, so they began to search for hope elsewhere. That was the start of their incredible journey to Mexico to save their son’s life. The journey to Monterrey began when, during a visit to the Chelsea football club training ground, they met a family from London whose daughter had the same condition. They had known of each other from Facebook conversations, but were totally unaware that both families would be at the venue at the same time. The London family were leaving for Mexico within days so that their daughter could receive a new, ground-breaking treatment.

That gave the Stewart family renewed hope. They researched the entire programme, which is called intra-arterial chemotherapy. Catheters are placed in the basilar and femolar arteries, and systematically deliver drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration into the brain stem. The treatment has also been combined with intrinsic and T-cell immunotherapy. The Stewart family left for Mexico at the beginning of May, when they witnessed Luke’s condition deteriorating rapidly. This was the only hope that they had to offer him at that time: it was their last hope. Not only were they in emotional turmoil, having to deal with such a devastating situation, but they had to fundraise continually to secure money for the treatment.