Carol Monaghan: There is a problem in this building as well, of course. The hon. Member for Buckingham (Greg Smith) told stories about his children; I think many of us can relate to those. The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Sarah Dyke) is unfortunately still struggling with 3G, never mind 4G. The hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) talked about Jean’s folly. Jean is...
Carol Monaghan: I am just finishing. It would be useful to hear about specific interventions that the Government are taking in tricky rural areas.
Carol Monaghan: Whether he has made a recent assessment of the impact of import and export requirements following the UK’s exit from the EU on Scottish businesses.
Carol Monaghan: According to the Government’s own figures, new Brexit controls will cost the UK £330 million. Businesses in Glasgow are telling me they are already suffering from increased costs and red tape when importing parts and exporting goods. Can the Minister explain to businesses in my Glasgow North West constituency how Brexit is good for them?
Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to (a) support clients of McClure Solicitors and (b) ensure former clients are aware of the firm’s collapse and the potential consequences for their legal arrangements.
Carol Monaghan: To follow on from that, many of us have had a number of people—constituents and otherwise—getting in touch to say that they have fallen foul of IR35. Are there plans to apply the measures retrospectively? If so, how far back are the Government planning to do that?
Carol Monaghan: The proposed sale of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, a critical piece of national infrastructure, will be hugely damaging to innovation in biomedical science. I appreciate that the Science Minister will be meeting me later today to discuss the issue, but can the Minister explain how this sale sits with the UK Government’s plan to be a science superpower?
Carol Monaghan: I thank my hon. Friend for bringing forward this debate. He represents the east end of Glasgow, but many of the issues he is talking about could equally apply to my constituency in the north west of Glasgow. One of the things often thrown at people in poverty is, “They just need to get a job,” but my hon. Friend will know, like me, that 61% of people experiencing poverty are in...
Carol Monaghan: This is an issue I raised many times over the five years that I was the armed forces spokesperson for the SNP, so I very much welcome Lord Etherton’s review, and I pay tribute to Caroline and Craig at Fighting With Pride. We have mentioned the spurious reasons for which many LGBT veterans were dismissed. Of course, the other thing is that the colleagues they served with were encouraged to...
Carol Monaghan: I apologise to the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan), because I meant to mention her point about mobile signals indoors. I think any of us who have tried to have a mobile phone call on the parliamentary estate will know that mobile signals indoors are temperamental at least. Older buildings can be difficult, because of the thickness of the walls. Modern buildings can make it...
Carol Monaghan: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell, and I congratulate the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael). The majority of people probably have no idea about this subject—certainly no idea of the implications for them. For me, this is a debate about resilience, about what we do when things do not work as they should and about back-up plans. When...
Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many publicly-booked Driver CPC part 3b tests were conducted in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Bishopbriggs Test Centre in each quarter since April 2021.
Carol Monaghan: rose—
Carol Monaghan: The hon. Gentleman mentioned Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. My hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Angus Brendan MacNeil) asked whether those 18,000 civilians were defence. I would add, are 6,000 children defence? We now have a situation where 800 experts say that this could possibly be a genocide against the Palestinian people. How can we continue to support...
Carol Monaghan: I thank the hon. Lady for her powerful and important speech. I also want to put on the record the name of Professor Refaat Alareer, who was a colleague of my constituent Professor Alison Phipps. He was her Gazan link in her work with refugees from Gaza. Sadly, he lost his life in an airstrike. The problem is that the UK is continuing to supply weapons to Israel. We have talked about breaches...
Carol Monaghan: Whether officials in his Department have had discussions with their counterparts in Israel on the recent escalation of violence in the West Bank.
Carol Monaghan: The problem is that there are key figures in the Israeli Government who are stoking this violence, with the Finance Minister publicly declaring that there are “2 million Nazis” in the west bank. What representation is the Secretary of State making to Israeli counterparts to demand a far more robust response to this violence?
Carol Monaghan: It is possible to condemn both the brutal rapes and murders carried out by Hamas and Israel’s indiscriminate and illegal killing of women and children, and we now have 800 scholars of genocide stating that this continued bombardment of Gaza is at grave risk of being genocide. With that in mind, at what point will the Government consider supporting a permanent ceasefire?
Carol Monaghan: The workload and stress levels of teachers rise exponentially during an inspection. I am sure that the Minister will join me in offering condolences to the friends and family of Ruth Perry. In the light of the coroner’s verdict that the “rude and intimidating” nature of the Ofsted inspection contributed to Ruth Perry’s tragic suicide, how is the Minister ensuring the welfare of school...
Carol Monaghan: If there is to be hope for a peaceful solution in the Israel-Gaza conflict, the input of Palestinian academics will be crucial, but many have already lost of their lives. Could the Minister make a statement about representations that he has made to Cabinet colleagues about introducing an emergency humanitarian visa for academics in Gaza?