UK Modern Industrial Strategy

Scott Arthur Excerpts

Monday 23rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call Jacob Collier. [Interruption.] I call Scott Arthur.

[Dr Scott Arthur (Edinburgh South West) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The hon. Member and I must look alike.

I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Not that long ago, we had a Scottish Government in which some Cabinet members did not even believe in economic growth, so the contrast with what we have heard today could not be starker. There are 16 mentions of Scotland’s capital city in the industrial strategy, and a key one for Edinburgh South West is Heriot-Watt University’s national robotarium—the birthplace of robotics, as far as I am concerned—but it would be interesting to understand where the Secretary of State thinks universities fit into the industrial strategy, given the pressures that they face in England and the many universities in crisis in Scotland.

[Jonathan Reynolds]

My hon. Friend raises some very important and serious questions. Universities play a huge role in innovation and are a vital part of the clusters we are creating, but in themselves, they are something of which we should be incredibly proud. We have a world-class university sector, and every parliamentarian should be prouder of that. I do not have time to go into the detail that I would like, but universities are at the heart of our approach to innovation and economic success across the UK.