Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland
@amcarmichaelmp.bsky.social @amcarmichaelMP Facebook UK Parliament Profile
I do not know if the Education Minister from Ontario that you welcomed is still here, Madam Deputy Speaker, but if not, that is unfortunate. Many of my family emigrated to that province in the early 19th century, so it is nice to see some of them coming back now. I place on record our appreciation for the engagement from various fishing organisations, in the run-up to today and throughout the...
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Well, what on earth did they expect? They asked for devolution. With devolution comes Barnettisation. Is the hon. Member going to stand there and tell us that the SNP Government did ask for the rebasing that we have seen previously? I have certainly never heard that suggested, and we have taken evidence on this in the Select Committee.
I beg to move, That this House has considered Government support for the fishing industry. I place on record my appreciation of the Backbench Business Committee for making time available for this debate and for bringing it back to its rightful place here in the main Chamber of the House. The Prime Minister and his colleagues often tell us, rightly, that food security is national security. The...
It is critically important. I heard that for myself from my hon. Friend’s constituents when I visited Brixham not once but twice in the run-up to Christmas. It remains to be seen whether the invasion of octopus will be permanent because of changing water temperature, or whether it is just another of those blips that I think last happened in the 1950s. Whatever the truth of the matter,...
That would have been perfect sense. It was certainly also regrettable that it was said that the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation had asked for this, when they obviously had not. A good, mature working relationship between the two Governments is required, and unfortunately we are just not there at the moment. That may change after May—who knows? The irony of the fuss created by SNP...
My hon. Friend makes a relevant point, which goes to the heart of how decisions are made. It is critical that Government are able to take on the infinite nuance and complexity in fisheries management, and that is done by being in the ports and on the quayside, talking to fishermen, processors, auction houses, transporters and all the rest of it. The signs remain, however, that the same...
I am sure that message that will indeed be heard with some interest in the Northern Isles. We island communities need to learn from the experience of each other. There are lessons to be learned from the management of fisheries in different parts of the country. Before Christmas, I visited Brixham with the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee as part of our ongoing inquiry into...
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish the (a) full results and (b) evaluation reports from all Environment Land Management and Trials; and whether these will be made publicly available.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department will consider setting a £40m tidal stream ringfence in Allocation Round 7 of the Contracts for Difference mechanism.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department will consider setting a £7m wave energy ringfence in Allocation Round 7 of the Contracts for Difference mechanism.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of the security provisions for energy and telecommunications infrastructure in the UK's exclusive economic zone.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate the Office for Budget Responsibility made of revenues for spirits excise duty in the 2024-25 financial year; and what those revenues are to date.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the impact of the increase in alcohol duty for spirits introduced in 2023 on the Scotch whisky industry.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the treatment that people with similar names to other individuals on watchlists receive during border checks at airports.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accuracy of individual identification carried out by the technical infrastructure which performs border checks.
