Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsty McNeill Excerpts

Wednesday 9th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kenneth Stevenson (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab)]

2. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the future of artificial intelligence in Scotland.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Kirsty McNeill)]

Artificial intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. It will turbocharge growth and boost living standards. Scotland, as we know well, has been the UK’s home of AI since 1963, and it will become the home of the most powerful supercomputer in the UK, with this Labour Government investing £750 million in its development at the University of Edinburgh’s advanced computing facility in Midlothian. We are currently assessing applications for AI growth zones from across the UK, including several from Scotland, which is at the cutting edge of computing power globally.

[Kenneth Stevenson]

It is refreshing to have a UK Government so committed to investing in and developing AI, in comparison with John Swinney and the Scottish Government, who are stuck in an analogue age, unable even to provide patients and staff with a functioning NHS app. Does the Minister agree that the towns of Airdrie and Shotts and the former industrial heartland of North Lanarkshire are incredibly well placed to serve as an AI growth zone and capture the Government’s clear ambition?

[Kirsty McNeill]

Much like my hon. Friend, who is a truly passionate advocate for his community, I am proud to represent one of Scotland’s industrial heartlands. He is right to highlight the role that they can play in Scotland’s AI future. As for his comments regarding the First Minister, my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary was particularly astute in his assessment. I am afraid that the First Minister is from the age of “Taggart”, when what is upon us is the age of “Dept. Q”.

[Mr Angus MacDonald (Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire) (LD)]

The transmission line from Skye to Fort Augustus has been approved. Due to a technicality, the people along the route will be deprived of £22 million. Will the Minister take this up with Ofgem?

[Kirsty McNeill]

I am led to believe that the hon. Member has already picked this matter up with the Secretary of State, who will be taking it forward, but I would be delighted to talk to the hon. Member about it.

[Torcuil Crichton (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (Lab)]

3. What recent discussions he has had with representatives of the broadcasting sector in Scotland.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Kirsty McNeill)]

The Secretary of State and I are committed to supporting a flourishing broadcasting sector in Scotland and regularly meet its representatives. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar was part of a recent engagement that the Scotland Office was delighted to co-host with MG Alba, where he spoke passionately about the importance of Gaelic broadcasting, and we share his commitment to it.

[Torcuil Crichton]

We islanders have always been international ambassadors, and I am delighted that some of the Lewis chess pieces are going to France—a little bit of Gaelic Scotland in President Macron’s pocket. Gaelic broadcasting also has a global reach: 1.8 million viewers watched “An t-Eilean”, MG Alba’s detective series. Gaelic is a big part of Brand Scotland. Requesting more money for broadcasting is a straightforward ask, but may I ask Ministers to think more imaginatively about growth deals? Can we see a Scotland-wide growth deal for Gaelic, for cultural heritage items such as the Lewis chess pieces and for childcare, so that we can grow the social infrastructure of Scotland as well as its physical infrastructure?

[Kirsty McNeill]

That is an interesting point. My hon. Friend has been advancing this case, and he is right: the whole objective of the growth deals is to enable people to live well in the places that they love. As he knows, the UK Government have delivered a historic spending review for Scotland, which includes ambitious plans for local growth to become the foundation of national renewal. The Scotland Office will continue to engage with him and with other Members on both sides of the House, and with Scottish local government, to ensure that local growth investment supports the change that Labour promised and the change that our communities want to see.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

There have been a number of co-productions by BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Does the Minister agree that we should develop and promote co-productions throughout the nations and regions of the United Kingdom, so that we can see excellence and best practice everywhere in the UK?

[Kirsty McNeill]

I do agree that we should be co-operating as far as possible. Steps have already been taken to preserve the future of home-grown content and talent through initiatives such as the UK Government’s independent film tax credit and high-end tax relief, providing a real opportunity for the industry to grow, but I should certainly like to talk to the hon. Gentleman about how the industries in Scotland and Northern Ireland could co-operate more effectively.

[John Grady (Glasgow East) (Lab)]

4. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the industrial strategy on Scotland.

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[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

14. What discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on supporting Scottish agriculture.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Kirsty McNeill)]

Scotland cultivates the very best produce in the world, and we are absolutely committed to supporting Scotland’s agricultural sector and, indeed, all those who live and work in our rural communities. I was very pleased that the Scottish Government’s Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity joined me for a food and farming roundtable that I hosted in Edinburgh in April. We heard directly from the sector about how Scotland’s two Governments can best collaborate and continue to support those who put food on our table.

[Aphra Brandreth]

Like farmers in my constituency of Chester South and Eddisbury, farmers in Scotland feel let down by this Government’s disregard for agriculture and the countryside. We have seen Labour look the other way as the Scottish Government have delivered real-terms cuts to the agriculture budget. The Scottish Conservatives have set out a clear, multi-year plan to give farmers the certainty they need. Will the Secretary of State urge the First Minister to back that plan, which has strong support from the farming community, and help reverse the damage done to Scottish agriculture and our food security?

[Kirsty McNeill]

The Scottish Government have been given a record settlement in the devolution era, and it is for the devolved Governments to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit. They are accountable to their own legislatures and, indeed, the Scottish public. That is a key principle of devolution, and this Labour Government will respect it.

[John Cooper]

We Conservatives were vilified when we pointed out that the vindictive changes to farming reliefs were going to damage jobs in rural Scotland. The Scotland Office conducted its own roundtable with agriculture figures. Will the Minister share the results of that with the House, the Scottish Government and, crucially, whoever the Deputy Prime Minister decides will be the next Chancellor of the Exchequer?

[Kirsty McNeill]

I would be delighted to report back to the House and Scotland’s rural communities, including my own in Midlothian, about the outcomes of the farming roundtable. We heard directly from stakeholders that they want support and, crucially, for the two Governments to work together, which is exactly why we had the Scottish Government around the table.

[Alan Gemmell (Central Ayrshire) (Lab)]

Does the Minister agree that Scottish agriculture, salmon and distilleries like Lochlea in my constituency will benefit from our three trade deals? Can she work out why the SNP failed to support them?

[Kirsty McNeill]

Those three trade deals are some of the proudest achievements of this Labour Government, and they will disproportionately benefit Scotland. As I have already said, it is home to some of the finest produce on the face of the Earth, and we are delighted to be promoting it as part of the Scotland Office’s Brand Scotland efforts.

[Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Chancellor’s excellent spending review for Scotland, which sets out record funding for the Scottish Government, means that SNP Ministers are ideally placed to offer the agricultural sector in Scotland a multi-year funding settlement, and that that is exactly what they should now do?

[Kirsty McNeill]

I agree with my hon. Friend that the Scottish Government have been blessed with a record settlement in the devolution era. The difficulty for those of us on the Labour Benches who have championed that settlement is that we are all too well aware, I am afraid, that the Scottish Government are absolutely addicted to wasting money. That is why the only way for Scotland to take a new direction is to replace the failing Scottish Government with a Labour one in May.

[Andrew Bowie (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (Con)]

This weekend, I was at the Fettercairn show in my constituency, and I note that the Secretary of State was at the royal highland show in Edinburgh two weeks ago. With new research showing that more than 16,000 jobs are expected to be lost as a direct result of Labour’s family farm tax, what message did the Secretary of State and the Minister have for the farmers they met at the royal highland show about the Government’s plans to kill family farms in Scotland? Judging by the comments made to me this weekend, the fear, anger and disgust at how this Government have treated the agricultural sector and rural Scotland very much remain.

[Kirsty McNeill]

Our message to the farming community, including the National Farmers Union of Scotland—I meet its representatives regularly and, indeed, spoke at its annual conference—is that there has to be fairness in the Government’s approach to the public finances. The latest figures from 2021-22 show that 40% of the value of agricultural property relief went to just 7% of claimants, which is neither fair nor sustainable.

[Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) (Con)]

6. What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the Supreme Court judgment in the case of For Women Scotland v. The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025 on women in Scotland.