Oral Answers to Questions

Katrina Murray Excerpts

Wednesday 9th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Gregor Poynton (Livingston) (Lab)]

1. What discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the potential impact of the spending review 2025 on Scottish public services.

[Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)]

10. What discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the potential impact of the spending review 2025 on Scottish public services.

[The Secretary of State for Scotland (Ian Murray)]

I am sure Members across the House will have seen the wonderful news this morning and join me in congratulating Ferguson Marine on winning a substantial Ministry of Defence shipbuilding contract through BAE Systems. That is great news for the workforce, who will play a key role in keeping our country and its people safe. Shipbuilding on the Clyde is thriving thanks to the UK Government’s record investment in defence, supporting 4,000 jobs; this is a real defence dividend for Scotland. This is investment that the SNP seeks to block, but Labour will build.

This is the last Scottish oral questions before summer recess, so can I thank you, Mr Speaker, your team and all the House staff for all your work over the last year? This was a historic spending review for Scotland that ended austerity. Along with last year’s Budget, it delivered an extra £14 billion as a UK Labour Government dividend to Scotland. That is more money for our NHS, police, housing and schools. Scots will not accept continued SNP failure on Scottish public services and will rightly ask the SNP: where has all the money gone?

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[Ian Murray]

I absolutely join my hon. Friend in that call, and I pay tribute to his tenacious campaigning to see East Calder’s new medical centre delivered. I am 10,000 GP places short in my own constituency, and the SNP needs to take that seriously. The spending review generated £5.8 billion in health-related Barnett consequentials for Scotland. My hon. Friend is right to stand up for his community in East Calder, and I ask the SNP: where has all the money gone?

[Katrina Murray]

I have previously praised in this Chamber the efforts of the fire and rescue service in responding to more than one major incident in Cumbernauld. Both my constituents and I are therefore concerned that the proposed cuts to Cumbernauld fire station will undermine its ability to respond to incidents and put lives at risk. Will the Secretary of State make representations to the Scottish Government to invest in fire services in one of Scotland’s largest towns?

[Ian Murray]

My hon. Friend quite rightly speaks out against the cuts to Cumbernauld fire station, which sadly is just one example of the SNP’s dangerous mismanagement of Scotland’s fire services, as the Fire Brigades Union in Scotland told me just last month. There are 9.1 billion reasons why the SNP Government should choose to invest in local services, including in Cumbernauld, but after 18 years of failure and neglect my hon. Friend’s constituents will rightly not hold out much hope. Across Scotland, we need a new direction next May, with Anas Sarwar as the First Minister.