– in the Scottish Parliament at on 26 October 2023.
Mercedes Villalba
Labour
I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I am a member of Unite, the union.
Today, it was announced that Newman Bonar Ltd, the company that was set up earlier this year to acquire historic Dundee textile manufacturer Bonar Yarns, is closing, risking the livelihoods of 57 workers and their families. I invite the First Minister to take this opportunity to join the provisional liquidators in asking that any party that has an interest in acquiring the business contact them. Will the First Minister join me in fighting to save those important manufacturing jobs in Dundee?
Humza Yousaf
Scottish National Party
I share Mercedes Villalba’s clear disappointment that Newman Bonar has gone into liquidation. My immediate thoughts are with the staff and their families, who are again going through uncertainty. The Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy had met and written to the company in recent months to encourage it to fully engage with Scottish Enterprise so that every available option to save the business could be explored. I know that the business has had a long-standing presence in the community and is an important local employer.
We will certainly do everything that we can in our power to protect jobs and the manufacturing footprint in Dundee. Scottish Enterprise is engaging directly with the liquidator to better understand the situation, given last night’s announcement. As a Government, we stand ready to provide support to any employees who potentially face redundancy through partnership action for continuing employment—PACE. I will keep Mercedes Villalba updated on how conversations are going.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
