Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has undertaken a recent review of the calculation of personal independence payment entitlement.
Patrick Grady: I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. The turnout shows the significance of this issue to all our constituents. Her point about GET is important. It seems perverse that people should be forced to take a course of treatment that patently makes their condition worse. Does she agree that that must be reviewed?
Patrick Grady: My hon. Friend the Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) is at the royal highland show, a large gathering full of braying animal noises and dubious atmospheric conditions—he is missing the House of Commons already. I should say that SNP Members fully support the voyeurism Bill, but upskirting and, indeed, upkilting has already been outlawed by the Scottish Parliament, so I...
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2018 to Question 14886, on participation of Chagossians in scientific and conservation work in the British Indian Ocean Territory, whether this was before or after the 2015 FCO consultation; and in which years the visits took place.
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment the Government has made of the potential explosive risk from the US store of ammunition and other explosives on (a) the island of Diego Garcia and (b) in ships in the lagoon.
Patrick Grady: I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. I work with him on the all-party parliamentary group on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Is he aware that in Scotland, Scottish Enterprise has established the Scottish Investment Bank to provide the kind of domestic support that he describes? Perhaps that could be expanded in a co-operative manner. Will he say a little...
Patrick Grady: Does my hon. Friend agree that if the MOD is trying to meet the NATO target, it should not be trying to make it up by double counting money that is also being counted towards international development aid? The Government should be making every effort to meet the 0.7% target and the 2% target separately, with separate funds.
Patrick Grady: I think we all welcome the progress that is being made, but there are questions about people who need help now. My constituents Laura Murray and John Ahern have a one-year-old daughter, Bláthnaid, who has been diagnosed with Aicardi syndrome. She suffers very severe seizures throughout the day and her parents believe that these medicines could help. I will write to the Home Secretary with...
Patrick Grady: The sense of devastation is felt so keenly in Glasgow because Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s work has touched our lives in many different ways—for example, I have been to the weddings of my sister and some of my best friends at the House for an Art Lover. The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society is based in another of his masterpieces, the Queen’s Cross church, which is just around the corner...
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will respond to Early Day Motion 1258, on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba.
Patrick Grady: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much UK-wide expenditure outwith the Barnett formula has been spent in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Northern Ireland, (d) Wales and (e) London.
Patrick Grady: I want to start on a consensual note by echoing the tributes that have been paid to the heroic work of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland in responding to the tragedy at the Glasgow School of Art. I send my sympathies and condolences to Professor Tom Inns and the whole community. I had the privilege of seeing some of the restoration work last year. I share the sense of...
Patrick Grady: The hon. Gentleman has a far more rural constituency than I do. Perhaps the farmers in his constituency are happy with the idea that this Parliament will simply legislate on those issues and ride roughshod, without the elected Members of the Scottish Parliament having a say, but I am not sure that the farmers in my constituency of Glasgow North would share that view. The saddest thing is that...
Patrick Grady: Of course, in the early days the Scottish National party had an interest in the process of the constitutional convention, but the constitutional convention decided that it would not consider independence. There was a founding document of the constitutional convention—I am very happy to discuss it, because this is of fundamental importance to the Conservatives. I defy any of the Scottish...
Patrick Grady: The Secretary of State says that the situation is not normal, but he is establishing a new normal. He is establishing that this place can and will override the Scottish Parliament whenever, or if ever, the Scottish Parliament chooses to disagree. That is the opposite of the Sewel convention. The way he could demonstrate that he is not in defiance of the Sewel convention is by standing at the...
Patrick Grady: I join the congratulations to the Clerk of the House and thank him and his team for his professionalism and advice over the last few days, and particularly the Division Clerks, because they have been working three-hour shifts in a row. I want to echo the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East (Tommy Sheppard). The voting system in this place is not just archaic; it is...
Patrick Grady: My constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Glasgow North East (Mr Sweeney), is absolutely right about how crucial the satellite manufacturing and space industry is to Glasgow, as is the world-class space research that takes place in the University of Glasgow and other institutions in the city. As well as discussions with industry, what discussions has the Minister been having with the...
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many Chagossians have been invited to participate in scientific expeditions to the Chagos Archipelago in 2018 to date.
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Chagossians have participated in any conservation, enforcement, or science work in the Chagos Islands area as envisaged by his Department's 2015 consultation paper.
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that scientific organisations granted permission to work in the British Indian Ocean Territory include Chagossian participants.