A Week in Parliament

The Deal

Well, Johnson lost another vote – effectively he has lost every vote to date. This time his intended “meaningful vote” on his so called deal was amended to give Parliament the final say on legislation and prevent a No Deal crash out. It was incredible that following this and his previous submission to the Scottish Courts that he would obey the law and ask the EU for an extension, he stood up in Parliament and said he will do no such thing. This is further confirmation he is a charlatan and it is little wonder the courts have to be used to hold him to account.

Climate Change Debate

There was a climate change debate as part of the Queen’s Speech series of debates. Amazingly, apart from the words “climate change” there was nothing in the Queen’s speech legislation wise. There needs to be a greater investment in onshore wind and other renewables. I have called for a sector deal for marine and tidal energy. There is a nuclear sector deal even although this industry is struggling so why not one for where Scotland is leading the way in technology development. Interestingly, onshore wind was developed in Scotland but without backing from the UK Government who were happy to rely on North Sea gas, it was Germany and Denmark who took over the developments. With a bit of vision from Westminster Scotland could have had a renewable energy jobs boost as well as the oil and gas sector. We cannot lose the opportunities related to marine and tidal.

In the debate there was an amazing contribution from a Tory who argued that Margaret Thatcher shut the coal mines because she recognised climate change issues, and hence the switch to gas. Incredible!

Extinction Rebellion

The Extinction Rebellion protestors have also made this subject headline news. For a few days they disrupted my access to Westminster. No big deal, as they were all friendly peaceful protestors. However, I do not understand why some of them upped the ante by disrupting tube services by climbing on the roofs of the trains. Really annoying people doesn’t help your cause. But the worst aspect of this is they are disrupting those taking the most environmentally friendly form of mechanised transport to their work. Imagine their impact was to make more people take cars or taxis instead?

Farming No Deal

At an EFRA Committee enquiry I had representatives from the beef farming and processing industry confirm that the UK Government’s tariff schedule for operating in a no deal scenario will completely collapse the entire industry. That is the level of reckless gambling the Tory Government is willing to do. They also confirmed that under WTO trading, cheap Argentinian beef will also find its way to our shelves. The issue here being the rainforests being cleared to make way for cattle ranches. It is hard to keep up with all the possible negative consequences of leaving the EU. It is these scenarios that has had parliamentarians voting to prevent a No Deal crash out.