Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

Aberdeen Financial Fairness Trust and Bristol University have tracked the fortunes of UK households since the beginning of the pandemic. They report that one in six UK households is suffering serious financial difficulties, and the situation is getting worse. Many households have reduced the quality of the food they eat, sold possessions or cancelled insurance to help them to cope. Single parents, disabled people and larger families are among the worst affected. What steps does the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster intend to take to tackle the price rises that are driving this inequality and poverty?

[Kit Malthouse]

I am sure that the hon. Lady recognises that we are part of an international global food supply chain and are subject to a global fuel and energy market that is broadly driving up prices for pretty much every developed nation, and indeed across the whole of the globe. She is right, though, that we need to seek to assist those who are struggling most in this challenging time. I was very pleased to see it announced in the media that the first of the cost of living payments will go to 8 million households across the country this month, with a further payment of £320-odd later in the year, on top of the £300 extra to pensioners, the £150 extra to those who have disabilities and, of course, the £400 discount on energy bills later this year. We are putting an enormous amount of money—£37,000,000,000—into the system to assist with what is undoubtedly a very challenging period for families up and down the land.

[Kirsten Oswald]

I hear what the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster says, but I am afraid that in terms of people’s real experience in their day-to-day life, it is not enough. It is not good enough. Families across the UK know that the Tory Government here are not doing enough with the powers that they have. Scotland has the lowest child poverty in the UK, and that has been achieved by policies such as the Scottish child payment that help households where it is needed the most. Here, we have Tory leadership candidates promising major tax cuts, which clearly indicates that they believe that there is financial headroom.

Does the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster agree that the priority should be the people who are being hit hardest by the cost of living crisis, rather than tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations? What assessment has he made of the benefits of policies such as the child payment, which could make a real difference to households in need?

[Kit Malthouse]

I have learned over my years in government, national and local, that one of the key factors that we should have in mind is balance. While the hon. Lady is right that we should always have in mind the ability to assist those who are struggling most in our society, we have to balance that against the health of the economy and our ongoing ability to provide exactly that assistance. North of the border, as far as I can see, the Scottish Government concentrate on one and neglect the other. I am sure that there are many people who drive the wealth creation effort in Scotland who rue the day that the SNP Government took office, because Scotland has undoubtedly performed worse economically than other parts of the United Kingdom over the past 10 years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Wednesday 13th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alan Mak]

There are more people in employment and on payrolls than pre-pandemic levels, and women are driving that growth in our economy. The support programme this Government have introduced is helping women back into work, and I hope that will benefit the hon. Lady’s constituents as well as mine.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

According to the Women’s Budget Group, the UK Government’s erosion of the social security system is a key contributor to the current Tory cost of living crisis. Women—particularly those with disabilities or caring responsibilities and those from ethnic minority backgrounds—are disproportionately impacted by that crisis, which is a crisis unlike anything most of us have ever experienced. Knowing that, what specific steps has the Minister taken to make sure those equalities impacts are properly taken into account in the UK Government’s response to the cost of living crisis?

[Alan Mak]

As part of our cost of living support package, we have introduced a very specific disability cost of living payment, worth £150 per person. I would add that in the spending review, the UK Government gave the Scottish Government £41 billion a year as part of its settlement: the biggest since devolution, and a 26% increase compared with the average across the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Thursday 9th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

I very much recognise the considerable interest in and concern about that issue across the House. A cornerstone of our procurement legislation is much greater transparency about the £300 billion of taxpayer spend consequent on that legislation each year. That transparency will better enable the House to have discussions about exactly the point that my hon. Friend raises.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

T7. As a consequence of smothering Brexit red tape, a third of UK exporters to the EU have simply stopped trading. Contrary to the frankly ridiculous answer that my hon. Friend the Member for Argyll and Bute (Brendan O’Hara) received, that has hammered the economy, cost thousands of jobs and undermined economic recovery from the pandemic. How can the UK Government claim that Brexit is slashing red tape when it is plainly Brexit-derived trade barriers that are driving businesses into the ground?

[Steve Barclay]

That is a very straightforward question to answer. It is the freedoms that we have from our exit from the European Union, on things like the £300 billion of procurement that we have just heard about, that allow us to put clauses in our legislation about social value, targeting procurement to better benefit small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly where that reduces food miles or allows social value around disability employment, an issue that was raised earlier. Those are the social value provisions in the procurement legislation that we are able to have as a consequence of our exit from the EU.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call SNP spokesperson Kirsten Oswald.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

The Women’s Budget Group has pointed out that women are being hit the hardest by this Tory cost of living crisis, and research from the Resolution Foundation has highlighted that the UK Government’s welfare reforms will push 500,000 children into poverty. The reality is that the UK Government are pushing communities down, not levelling them up. Will the Minister ask the Chancellor to follow the example of the Scottish Government and provide families with the support they need to get through the Tory cost of living crisis?

[Elizabeth Truss]

What we are doing is helping more women to get into higher-paid jobs and set up enterprises. We have just set up the taskforce on women-led high-growth enterprises, led by Anne Boden, the chief executive of Starling Bank. We want to help women by giving them opportunities, including to set up new businesses.

Address to Her Majesty: Platinum Jubilee

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to be here on behalf of my party in place of my right hon. Friend the Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) for this Humble Address on the occasion of the platinum jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen. It is an extraordinary thing to consider that Her Majesty has reigned for 70 years. That is an incredible number and an historic achievement. No other monarch has reigned for such an extraordinary period of time.

The social changes that have occurred during that 70-year period have been profound. The world is a very different place now from June 1953, when Her Majesty took the throne. It is difficult to compute how much has happened in a timeframe that has included 14 UK Prime Ministers, the first radio broadcast, which the Queen made in 1940, during the second world war, and the first time the Queen published an Instagram post, which was in 2019. In fact, that is the same for me—the Instagram post, rather than the radio broadcast, of course.

Generations of us have known Her Majesty the Queen as a constant, as she has gone about her duties. I remember—I am afraid that this was not yesterday, Madam Deputy Speaker—the occasion of the silver jubilee, when I was a very small girl in primary one or two. I recall receiving a commemorative coin to mark the occasion and the coins being very carefully taken home by all the children in the class.

It is remarkable that Her Majesty, at the age of 96, continues to deal with affairs of state, undertake official engagements, and support charities and good causes. Clearly, she also continues to take an ongoing and active interest in the things that she is interested in. It is well known that she has a lifelong love of the outdoors and enjoys being out and about. Her enjoyment at spending time in beautiful locations in Scotland, such as her homes in Balmoral and Holyrood, has been well reported over many years. And of course, she has attended the opening of the Scottish Parliament and been there a number of times. It is also well known that she has a love of animals. I understand that she has owned more than 30 corgis. That obvious fondness for pets is much appreciated by other dog lovers.

Beyond interests and hobbies for all of us is family. Like all Members, I was very sorry when Her Majesty the Queen lost her lifelong companion, her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. I cannot imagine how difficult it was to carry on, having lost someone who was at your side for so many years, and deal with that during the covid pandemic while continuing to undertake the duties required. It will have been very hard and those of us who have lost loved ones will appreciate that to some extent.

One perhaps unexpected piece of information for hon. Members is that since I was a very small child, I have always known the Queen’s birthday—21 April. I know that because it was also my gran’s birthday. My gran was a great admirer of Her Majesty and she must have told us about that coincidence a number of times for it to have stuck with me. Since being a young woman, she had followed the progress of the Queen. I think they had the same attitude to carrying on and helping others. I know the notion of public service was very important to my gran. For her part, she was very interested in seeing what the Queen was involved in, which charities she was supporting, where she was travelling to and so on. She also attended royal visits with some enthusiasm. I think she was interested in that because the late Queen Mother was an Angus girl. Having grown up in Angus myself, it is perhaps the case that people living in that area took a particular interest in what the Queen was doing.

The range of duties and the spectrum of groups, organisations and charities the Queen has supported over 70 years is undoubtedly extraordinary. In Scotland alone, she is patron of numerous charities, ranging from well-known names such as the YMCA to more local initiatives, including the Aberdeen Association of Social Service. She has supported many other charities over many years, including some based overseas. The royal family website makes that very clear, stating that the Queen sees public and voluntary service as one of the most important elements of her work.

I am sure I can speak for those involved in groups like those, as well as for my colleagues on the SNP Benches, when I say that this is indeed a notable occasion. I congratulate Her Majesty the Queen on the extraordinary occasion of her platinum jubilee and send all best wishes.

Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Thursday 21st April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

Much has been said about the Prime Minister’s character, but I shall not go there today, other than perhaps to reflect on the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) and suggest that he is less like Simba and more like Scar, if we are making comparisons with that film. However, we are where we are. Having reached out to people across Midlothian and sought their views, it has been interesting to see some of the words they have suggested for this situation. One person simply said, “I have no words”. Another said, “The word I would use, you would be thrown out of Parliament for trying to use—and it’s not the ‘l’ word.”

The Prime Minister has broken the law. He was dragged kicking and screaming to make an apology of sorts. While that has happened, he has continued to go about his business, undermining every single one of us in this place. His actions have an impact on every one of us. The public look at what happens in this place and every one of us is tarred with the same brush. It is critical that we have the opportunity to hold those in the highest offices to account.

All the lawbreaking, criminality and evasiveness have been able to go unpunished, not because of a glitch in the system, but because the system is inherently unfit for purpose. If a Prime Minister were to lie, they would be untouchable for as long as they had their party on their side and a healthy majority—although, given the lack of movement on the amendment today, perhaps “a healthy majority” could be called into question by some.

If a Prime Minister breaks the law, the people are powerless to remove them and we on the Opposition Benches are largely powerless to do anything about it. It is absurd that a tiny minority of Members in this place have all the say over who holds that position. Our system—the whole way in which this place works—needs to change. The situation illustrates that the system of governance is broken to its core.

At the end of the day, it does not matter who the Prime Minister is. Whoever is in charge has unfettered power. If they do not have integrity, honesty and the ability to follow the laws that they set, Parliament cannot do a thing about it. If the Government have a majority and they continue to support that Prime Minister, that is all that matters to them. Some would use another word to describe that, but perhaps that is for another day.

Conservative Members absolutely have to find a backbone and remove the current Prime Minister. Many names have been suggested for him, but we need to recognise that there is nothing stopping whoever comes next from doing exactly the same, unless we do something about it.

I do not want future generations of Scottish politicians to be sitting here—[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] I do not want Scottish politicians to be here at all, full stop, but I do not want them to be sitting here in a few decades’ time, having the same arguments over and over again about yet another scandal in the British system. That is what a future in the UK holds—scandal after scandal, and never any justice.

The chaos has been non-stop for a decade under the Tory Government. For as long as Scotland is tied to this system, the chaos will continue. My constituents deserve much better than that. While other democracies have matured and moved forward, this whole saga simply shows that in many ways we have done nothing but move backwards.

At times today, the Chamber has been furious. My constituents in Midlothian are absolutely furious.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

I think that everyone in the Chamber has heard from so many constituents who feel that way. I have had emails from innumerable constituents. One that I received overnight pointed out the unbearable sacrifices that people have made. That constituent had lost her mother to covid and, because there is a big family, and only one of them was able to be with the mother, they cannot get beyond this. That is what we need to focus on when we look at the situation.

[Owen Thompson]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. So many people in so many constituencies across our countries have made huge sacrifices to help and support those around them to look after loved ones and do what they can, because they all wanted to follow the rules, which were in place to help all of us to get through the pandemic. While so many followed the rules, we had a Prime Minister who simply laughed in our faces.

I have yet to meet a single person who thinks the Prime Minister’s actions were in any way justifiable. There is one word that persistently comes from their lips. Thirty-four constituents have gone so far as to email me about the matter, some in anger and some in despair. For every one who has written to me, thousands are discussing it with their families, friends and neighbours. One email simply says:

“I fear for democracy and our futures if this Prime Minister is not held to account”.

Another says:

“I ask you to do everything in your power to challenge this and convey my disgust at the actions of his office at a time of huge sacrifice for everyone, not least the nurses and the teachers who have been dragged through the muck.”

That is before we even start to consider the countless other workers in jobs across our countries who had to keep working and get on with it while the Prime Minister partied.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Wednesday 30th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We now come to the SNP spokesperson.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

I would like to add my best wishes to the hon. Member for Bridgend (Dr Wallis). The Scottish Government are clear about the need to act to end conversion practices in Scotland. They have established an expert advisory group to inform their approach to banning this abhorrent practice. The group will include people with personal experience of conversion practice, representatives from LGBTI organisations, faith communities, mental health professionals and academics; it will meet for the first time tomorrow and complete its work by the summer, reflecting the Scottish Government’s recognition of the urgency of the issue. Given that the UK Government’s consultation on their proposed ban ended on 4 February, can the Minister confirm that the UK Government’s approach will be taken forward on a similarly inclusive and urgent basis?

[Mike Freer]

I can certainly confirm that we are taking it forward on an urgent basis. Since I took up the role with responsibility for LGBT+ issues, I have engaged with a wide variety of stakeholders, including those who have been victims of conversion therapy. I have engaged with all the stakeholders, listed by the hon. Lady, from whom the Scottish Government took evidence, from an England and Wales point of view.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

Maternity Action has recently highlighted that

“over the past decade the value of the basic rate of maternity, paternity and parental pay has also declined relative to women’s median weekly earnings, from 42% in 2012, to just 37% from April this year.”

Of course, new parents now also face a Tory cost of living crisis. There is overwhelming evidence for the value of supporting the youngest members of our society and the families who care for them, so will the Minister urge her colleagues to match reality to the rhetoric, introduce the long-awaited employment Bill and take the steps necessary to support parental leave and pay to better support new parents?

[Kemi Badenoch]

The Government take the issue very seriously; I know that my colleagues in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are working very hard on it. I expect that we will hear very much more on the matter shortly.

Sue Gray Report

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, my hon. Friend is completely right; we need to address not only consumer energy costs, but business and industrial energy costs, and I know that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will be bringing forward a package of measures as soon as he can.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

During his statement, the Prime Minister kept referring to “we” when he talked about the sorry saga that Sue Gray has reported, but it is his rules, his rule-breaking and his inability to tell the truth about it that is the issue. He is the Prime Minister. Does he not take any personal responsibility at all for this disgraceful fiasco?

[The Prime Minister]

I have taken full responsibility throughout the pandemic.

Covid-19 Update

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We continue to support people throughout the pandemic, and we can be very proud of the speed with which we not only did the vaccine roll-out, but secured 17 billion items of personal protective equipment for the use of people across this country.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

It is good to see some positive signs on covid, but throughout the pandemic it has been clear that we need to remain cautious and accept that covid may well have some surprises up its sleeve for us, and that is not really the approach set out in this conveniently timed statement today. The Prime Minister’s changeable and increasingly distant relationship with the rules that he himself set undermines public health messaging and future compliance. Does he really not recognise how damaging that is?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is right in what she says about the risks we still run. I think they are diminishing but we still need to be cautious. She is also right to say that even if this is the final reel, there can be a twist in the final reel and we will have to deal with it then. The Government have been able, to quite an amazing extent, working with healthcare professionals up and down the country, to deliver—

[Kirsten Oswald]

That is not what I asked.

[The Prime Minister]

It is directly on her point. We have been able to deliver a vaccine roll-out that has commanded the confidence of the British people in a way that I have never seen—I have never seen anything like it, and there are countries around the world that have never seen anything like it. As I said, it was done not by compulsion. We have got the numbers up to their stratospheric levels—more than 90% of people over 60 have done this. Huge, huge numbers of people are still coming forward to be vaccinated entirely voluntarily, because, despite all the noise, hubbub and politicking, they are listening to the messages and understanding them, and I owe them my deepest thanks.