Angus MacDonald MP: speeches

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Speeches

23 Apr 2025 · Sewage · Hansard source
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Will the right hon. Lady give way?
24 Mar 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source
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I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s decision to introduce powers to create a bill discount scheme to help households closest to new electricity transmission infrastructure. However, to be clear, the scheme is nowhere near enough. It falls short as both a meaningful community benefit and a measure to address local opposition to new infrastructure projects. The proposed £250 annual discount for households within 500 metres of major transmission infrastructure equates to just 6.25% off bills in rural Britain each year. It does not even match the cancellation of the £300 winter fuel allowance. Even that modest £250 concession is limited to a decade. For families living beside towering pylons and substations, it is a poor trade-off for the lasting impact on their environment and quality of life. More fundamentally, why are rural communities, which already pay the highest energy prices in the country, expected to accept such a meagre offer? In our cities and major towns, such as Ashton-under-Lyne, households with access to mains gas pay around 6p per kWh for their energy. In contrast, those in rural areas, who are far more likely to be affected by these infrastructure developments, pay 24p per kWh for their electricity. How is it right that the very communities that live alongside renewable energy generation and face some of the highest rates of fuel poverty are expected to pay four times as much as those on mains gas? Renewable electricity is cheaper to produce, yet rural households are still being charged four times the price of largely imported carbon fuel mains gas. Where is the fairness in that? If the Government are serious about ensuring that communities benefit from new infrastructure, they must do better than the miserable £250 a year. Beyond energy costs, the Minister will know that transmission companies, such as Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, anticipate being required to build temporary housing for their workers. They have offered to build legacy housing, which would remain for the rural communities, but the Bill does not cover that. Affordable housing is one of the greatest challenges facing rural Britain. Including legacy housing in the Bill could make a real difference to affordable housing in those areas. Will the Minister explain why such a provision has been omitted and commit to addressing the matter? If the Government want communities to accept new infrastructure, they must offer something meaningful in return: real, lasting benefits that acknowledge the burden placed on those who live alongside the developments. The energy bill discount scheme in its current form is a long way from that.
12 Mar 2025 · Rural Communities: Government Support · Hansard source
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I wonder whether the Minister can persuade the Chancellor to leave her constituency of Leeds West and Pudsey and explore the reaches of rural Britain. It strikes me that a lot of these issues are due to funding and the fact that rural Britain is substantially underfunded, compared with urban Britain.
12 Mar 2025 · Rural Communities: Government Support · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for securing the debate. My two main calls for Government support for rural communities are as follows. First, rural communities producing a substantial portion of our nation’s electricity should be paid 5% of revenue for all newly consented renewable energy generated onshore and offshore, as a community benefit. That would be transformational for the income of rural areas. Secondly, many homes in my constituency and throughout the country are forced to heat their homes with electricity, as they are not connected to mains gas. Electricity costs four times the price of mains gas per kilowatt. The reason is that environmental taxes, which make up a substantial part of electricity bills, are levied far more heavily on electricity than on gas. They should be equalised, because that is an unfair punishment for people whose homes are not connected to mains gas in Britain.
5 Mar 2025 · Renewables Obligation Certificate Scheme · Hansard source
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In rural Britain, particularly rural Scotland, the cost per kilowatt to heat a house is about 24p, whereas those on mains gas in the city pay about 6p, so those using renewable electricity to heat their houses pay four times as much as those using mains gas. The renewables obligation certificate scheme is an important part of all this. Basically, rural Britain is getting absolutely stuffed on the cost of energy, so anything we can do to help those in rural areas is important. Does the hon. Gentleman agree?
5 Mar 2025 · Renewables Obligation Certificate Scheme · Hansard source
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Does my hon. Friend recognise the fact that we have major issues with environmental tariffs being placed on renewable energy but not on the carbon fuel of mains gas? That is really hitting the renewable energy industry and the cost for consumers.
5 Mar 2025 · Renewables Obligation Certificate Scheme · Hansard source
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I wonder if the Minister could put herself in the position of somebody from the island of Skye who wakes up in the morning, opens his windows, and sees beautiful mountains in the background —it is always sunny there and there are no midges. He sees the wind turbines, but then he goes and looks at his heating and realises he is paying four times as much to get energy from those turbines. Meanwhile, there is negligible community benefit coming to that area. Can she position herself in that person’s or that household’s shoes?
3 Mar 2025 · Finance Bill · Hansard source
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May I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests? Let me voice my support for my hon. Friend’s new clause, which would require the Government to review the impact of alcohol duty increases on key sectors. Scotch whisky is one of Britain’s greatest industries, accounting for 22% of the whole of Britain’s food and drink exports and supporting tens of thousands of jobs. Yet despite repeated assurances from the Government, the industry continues to face sharply rising duty costs. Since the duty on Scotch and other spirits was—
25 Feb 2025 · Affordable Rural Housing · Hansard source
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Will the Minister say a few words about the massive change in our lifetimes? Doctors, policemen and teachers had houses owned by their local authority body, and they have now been sold. That pressure is continuing. Does he think we should go back to that to ensure that people can work in those sectors?
25 Feb 2025 · Maternity Services · Hansard source
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I am proud to represent Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire. My colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone), could not be here, but, on the subject of centralisation, our nearest maternity hospital is in Inverness, which is four hours each way from parts of Sutherland, Argyll, and the Isle of Eigg—around Muck, which I am sure the hon. Member is, or should be, familiar with. I wonder whether the hon. Member could support our case that centralisation is becoming a real problem for expectant mothers, who suffer enormous complications because of distance, given that smaller regional hospitals are no longer providing maternity care?
12 Feb 2025 · Support for the Scotch Whisky Industry · Hansard source
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The share price of Diageo is down by two thirds, that of Pernod Ricard has halved—the whisky industry is in a difficult place. In the Budget, the duty added to a normal bottle was 32p, taking the total duty on a bottle of spirits up to £9.18. Does the Minister not think that we are plucking the golden goose once too often?
11 Feb 2025 · Cost of Energy · Hansard source
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I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) on securing this important debate. Much of what I was going to say has been mentioned, but I want to reiterate a few things. How can it be that households on renewable electricity pay four times as much as those who get fossil fuel gas? That is inappropriate, not least because the cost of electricity generation from onshore wind was one third of the cost of generating electricity from fossil fuels, yet electricity bills remain nearly four times the price of mains gas. To put that into perspective, my parliamentary flat in London, which runs on mains gas, costs 5.8p per kilowatt-hour to heat, while my home in the highlands costs 23.7p. That premium is paid not just in the highlands, but across the countryside and in rural Britain, and in high-rise properties throughout cities across Great Britain. It is an enormous and painful gap. We all believe that net zero is the way ahead—we all support that—but we do not think that the current pricing is just. In England, the level of fuel poverty is 13%, and as the hon. Member for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey (Graham Leadbitter) said, it is much higher in the highlands at 47%. We have a dramatic problem with fuel poverty in the north of Scotland. In 2021, an estimated 16% of households that used gas for heating were classified as being in fuel poverty, and 41% of those who required electricity. There is a clear link between fuel poverty and lack of access to mains gas. That damages business as well: a hotel in rural Britain is paying £80,000 if it is using gas, but it would cost only £25,000 at most in a city for the same amount of heat. If the hotel was in the United States, the same amount of heat would cost only £10,000. We have touched on the coupling of renewable energy and gas, and I do not think anybody would disagree that they need to be decoupled. I am sure that the Minister will talk about that. We have also touched on the environmental surcharges that are put on the electricity price, so 20% or more of an electricity bill, but just a fraction of a gas bill, is an environmental tariff. Ironically, it is people using renewable energy who are shouldering those environmental charges, not those using fossil fuels—mains gas. I am glad that we have had this debate. I hope that the Minister will give an idea of how the enormous injustice of environmental charges, the standing charges and all the excess charges on renewables can be removed to balance things out with people who are relying on gas.
11 Feb 2025 · Cost of Energy · Hansard source
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Would the Minister spare a minute to talk about community benefits?
11 Feb 2025 · Cost of Energy · Hansard source
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Thank you very much.
5 Feb 2025 · Closure of High Street Services: Rural Areas · Hansard source
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Will the Minister allow me to intervene?
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source
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LPG is not the issue; electricity, along with kerosene, is largely the issue. Very few people use LPG to heat their properties or businesses. It is electricity where the taxes are. I would be delighted to share information; I am doing a big thing about it shortly, so I have done a lot of research.
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source
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I support what the shadow Minister said, almost word for word. My career has been in business, and in my two days sitting in the Committee, I have been appalled by what seems to be tax increase upon tax increase. Small and medium-sized businesses across the UK are on their knees and we have done a catastrophic job since the Budget in ruining things for businesses.
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source
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As always, I speak on behalf of the highland industries. In rural areas, only electricity and kerosene are available; mains gas is not. Electricity users pay four times more for their energy than mains gas users, so a hotel on the island of Skye may pay £80,000, whereas one in a city may pay £20,000. That causes enormous issues for people in the windiest, coldest, darkest part of Great Britain. The reason for the big disparity is that the tariffs and taxes are largely on electricity, rather than gas, and of course electricity is largely renewable. In my constituency, people can see wind farms out of their window, yet we still pay four times more for our energy than people in cities. Will the Minister elaborate on what could be done to make us more competitive?
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source
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Yes. Question put, That the amendment be made.
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source
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I have finished my remarks.
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source
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The amendment would mean the relevant rate of duty would be unchanged from last year. I am one of the few MPs from Scotland on the Committee, but I am sure I am not alone in understanding the vital importance of the Scotch whisky industry not just to Scotland but to the UK economy. However, it bears repeating just how significant the industry is, and I would like to highlight a few key statistics. Scotland is home to the production of 70% of UK spirits—whisky, gin and vodka. In 2023, Scotch whisky accounted for 74% of Scotland’s food and drink exports, and the industry employed 41,000 people in Scotland and an additional 25,000 throughout the UK. The Prime Minister himself recognised the importance of the industry. He went to the InchDairnie distillery in November 2023, and afterwards tweeted: “Labour will put growth at the heart of our government and back Scotch producers to the hilt.” The hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister) echoed this sentiment when he co-signed a letter to the Chancellor prior to the Budget, urging her to: “Back one of our great industries, undo the damage of last year’s duty increase, and allow Scotch Whisky to deliver for the economy.” Despite those commitments, the 2024 autumn Budget fails to deliver the support that the Scotch whisky industry so urgently needs. A new survey reveals that 43% of 18 to 34-year-olds have given up drinking alcohol entirely. The share prices of the biggest two spirit companies halved over the past year. The Bill proposes 1p off a pint of beer, which I think we can all agree is a bit of a stunt, while increasing the tax on spirits by 32p, with a related VAT increase of 6p. That means that the duty is £9.18 on a standard bottle of vodka, gin or Scotch whisky. Over the past 16 years, the duty on spirits has doubled. I am concerned, and so are many others, that we are plucking the golden goose one time too many. UK alcohol duty is the highest in the G7. A double measure of spirits is taxed four times more than the average-strength pint of cider in pubs, even when the cider contains more alcohol. Effectively, we are taxing whisky, gin and vodka four times as much. What is worse, this punitive duty does not even deliver more revenue for the Treasury. This is an important point. Last year, the previous Government increased the duty on spirits by 10.1%, but according to HMRC the revenue from the duty fell by £237 million in the following 17 months. That clearly demonstrates that higher taxes on Scotch and spirits do not lead to higher revenue. The increase was forecast to bring in £800 million. Revenue from the duty has therefore fallen dramatically. I understand that in recent years alcohol duty has risen in line with inflation under the new system. However, freezing it in this Budget would send a clear message that the Government stand behind one of our greatest industries. The troubled hospitality industry and the Scotch whisky industry do not need hollow words of support: they need meaningful action. I urge the Government to freeze alcohol duty on Scotch whisky and other spirits, and keep their promise. The Prime Minister said that we need to “back Scotch producers to the hilt.” Let us give this industry the angels’ share that it deserves.
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source
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Will the Minister comment on whether, when the Government fix all these additional taxes, they take into account what happens in Scotland, where many in the hospitality industry do not get business rate relief? We are getting it twice on exactly the same issue.
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source
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I do not have a great deal to add. I did miss out, when we declared our interests earlier, the fact that I own a pub, which hon. Members are very welcome to visit when they are next in Fort William—do not all rush at once. It never rains there. I want to come back, briefly, to the 1p a pint reduction that we were promised. The whole hospitality industry and beer industry have come together to agree that that is a stunt, and that that 1p will not be passed on to the customer. It is just not relative at all, because the reduction in business property relief and the national insurance and minimum wage increases effectively mean that the cost to the hospitality industry is going through the roof. The Minister knows that perfectly well, but he still continues to trot out his line. On the whisky industry, I am not sure that account has been taken of the potential tariffs. We talk about exports being very strong, but they are not actually very strong at the moment. Lastly, on tax overall, when I make a submission to Scottish Government Ministers about the tax on hospitality, the whisky industry and so on, they all blame Westminster, but when I speak to Westminster Ministers about it, they all blame Scotland. The net result is that industries such as hospitality in Scotland are suffering from both sides, and that is simply not fair.
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source
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In that case, I will not, Ms Vaz.
30 Jan 2025 · Finance Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source
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I beg to move amendment 66, in clause 63, page 68, line 10, leave out “£32.79” and insert “£31.64”.

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