Sam Rushworth
Main Page: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)Department Debates - View all Sam Rushworth's debates with the Scotland Office
(3 days, 10 hours ago)
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Kirsty McNeill
It does, but I am afraid that the SNP seems determined to hoard powers and funding, rather than passing them to communities. There is no better example of that than the Labour-run council in South Lanarkshire proposing £8 million for Hamilton town centre, only for the SNP to vote against that. That is why, tomorrow, voters in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse should back a real local champion, Labour’s Davy Russell.
Sam Rushworth (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)
Emma Foody (Cramlington and Killingworth) (Lab/Co-op)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Kirsty McNeill)
I wish to thank veterans for their service, and their families for the sacrifices that enabled it. As it is Volunteers Week, may I place on record my thanks and those of the whole House to the volunteers who do so much for our military charities? I welcome the announcement of the new programme, Valour, which is giving veterans across the UK easier access to essential care and support. The Minister for Veterans and People is leading work across the UK Government to ensure that veterans and their families have sufficient access to health services, housing, employment and other forms of support.
Sam Rushworth
I regularly speak to veterans in Bishop Auckland and, although they mostly reflect positively on their military service, they often mention the need to improve homes for forces families. Will the Minister welcome this week’s announcement that Labour will improve 3,000 forces family homes in Scotland as part of a £1.5 billion investment, and does the Minister agree that all those who serve our forces in this United Kingdom should have a home fit for a hero?
Kirsty McNeill
I am pleased to join my hon. Friend in welcoming the strategic defence review, which was launched by the Prime Minister in Scotland on Monday and included more than £400 million of investment in military accommodation in Scotland. I am sure that, like me, my hon. Friend will be appalled that the First Minister snubbed a confidential briefing on that strategic defence review to go campaigning, during a by-election campaign, at a charity whose funding he had slashed.