Tag: Seamus Logan

  • Seamus Logan – 2026 Speech on Getting Britain Working Again

    Seamus Logan – 2026 Speech on Getting Britain Working Again

    The speech made by Seamus Logan, the SNP MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East in the House of Commons on 14 May 2026.

    I rise to address the issue of getting Britain working again, but also to make some observations on this Government’s chaotic performance since July 2024. The focus of today’s debate is on employment, and I will come to that, but so many Labour Members seem utterly preoccupied with the employment of one person: the Prime Minister. No vacancy exists, apparently, but at least one, maybe two, possibly three candidates may apply for said position. I am happy to provide a reference, but it will not be a good one.

    This shambolic and unstable Government are in stark contrast to the political stability that we have enjoyed in Scotland since 2007. We will continue to enjoy that stability for another five years following our landslide victory in the Scottish parliamentary election on 8 June —a landslide victory bigger than Labour’s in July 2024, with 58 of our successful applicants being sworn in today in Edinburgh.

    Prior to the election and over the last six months in particular, so many Labour MPs from Scotland used their valuable question time in this Chamber to attack the SNP. So many of them told us that the people of Scotland would reject the SNP, but last Thursday, the people of Scotland rejected the Labour party, rejected the Reform party and, indeed, rejected the notion that this is a United Kingdom.

    Peter Swallow

    The hon. Member said that the victory secured by the SNP at the elections earlier this month was bigger than the victory secured by this Government in 2024. Could he clarify whether the SNP won more or less seats at that election than it previously held? Has the SNP’s majority increased or decreased?

    Seamus Logan

    The plain fact of the matter, if we look at the percentages, is that it was a bigger landslide. Labour Members would also do well to take consideration of the now 73 MSPs in favour of independence for Scotland.

    This Union has now been served with its redundancy notice, like so many workers in Scotland these last two years—like the workers in Grangemouth, who should have been treated in the same way as the steelworkers in Scunthorpe, the 1,500 jobs that could have been created at Ardersier, or the derisory coastal growth fund allocation to our precious fishing industry. Now this chaotic Government have turned on their leader, scapegoating him for their collective failures. The wonder of it all is that the branch manager of the Labour party in Scotland has not resigned, for he carries responsibility for this abject failure of the Labour party in Scotland.

    We have not abandoned our pensioners, the vulnerable, the disabled, our young people, our students, our apprentices or our children. Unemployment is lower in Scotland than in the rest of these islands. Most of all, we have not demonised the many thousands of people who come from abroad to work in our essential services, or those who seek sanctuary from war, famine or persecution. They are not taking away our jobs, houses or GP appointments, as some populist politicians would have us believe. Years of austerity managed that and, sadly, Labour is continuing in that vein with its planned assault on the welfare system.

    Is the former Health Secretary now ensuring that the King’s Speech included a relentless focus on the health service, on labour shortages in social care, on an end to the privatisation of our health service, on the availability of lifesaving drugs, and on reassuring this House about the hidden costs of the US-UK pharma deal by publishing his Department’s impact assessment? No. He focuses on his own personal ambitions to enter No. 10 Downing Street. He should not have been allowed to resign; he should have been sacked.

    Finally, I wish to highlight the Palantir contract, which was discussed recently in Westminster Hall. Many Members from across the House spoke about it, and only yesterday I learned that NHS England has allowed staff from the US tech firm and other contractors to access patient data before it has been pseudonymised, despite internal fears of a

    “risk of loss of public confidence”.

    An internal NHS briefing has said that it would allow

    “unlimited access to non-NHS staff”

    to part of the NHS’s federated data platform, which holds identifiable patient information. That should concern everyone in the House, no matter their political persuasion. Indeed, it should concern everybody in the country. Members across the House have called for the Palantir project to be reviewed next year, and I urge whoever replaces the erstwhile Minister for Health Innovation and Safety to act on that misuse of our NHS data.

    In conclusion, the Scottish National party will continue to have a relentless focus on matters relating to health and social care that are reserved to this Parliament during this Session, and on matters that adversely affect our small businesses. But the real solution to these issues is to give the people who live in Scotland the democratic right to bring this Union to an end, and allow Scotland to become an independent nation if it so chooses. The concept of Britain just is not working any more.

  • Seamus Logan – 2024 Speech on the Loyal Address and Maiden Speech

    Seamus Logan – 2024 Speech on the Loyal Address and Maiden Speech

    The maiden speech made by Seamus Logan, the SNP MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, in the House of Commons on 17 July 2024.

    Thank you for calling me to speak, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech during this important debate. Like others, I wish to congratulate all those who have spoken before me, particularly those who made their maiden speeches, not least the hon. Member for York Outer (Mr Charters) whose contribution was very substantial.

    I am originally from the village of Dunloy in the north-east of Ireland. I represent the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency in the north-east of Scotland. I paid close attention when the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) was advising new Members on our ambitions for the future, particularly because I want to share my ambition. I am the first MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East and I hope to be the last MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.

    This is a coastal area that stretches from the River Spey in the west to Cruden Bay in the south. It is an area noted not only for its industry, but for the industriousness of its people and its communities. Its long-standing economic strengths are in farming, fishing and their associated sectors, including food and drink production, and, in more recent times, in the oil and gas industries and their supply chain. The area makes a substantial and significant contribution to the nation’s energy security and food security.

    We are now undergoing a new industrial revolution associated with the renewables sector. As the world adapts to new challenges, I believe that it is our duty in this Parliament to capitalise on the opportunities that now present themselves in the north-east of Scotland. It is also a most beautiful area—something of an undiscovered gem—with a developing tourism industry. Members will remember that the next time they enjoy a single malt, an Aberdeen Angus steak, a prawn cocktail or perhaps a fish supper, because the chances are that they came from the industries based in my constituency.

    There is also significant poverty—in particular child poverty—in this otherwise prosperous area. Although this is mainly concentrated in larger towns, it is also a challenge in villages and rural areas where it is often less visible. Recent figures suggest that around 5,500 children in this constituency are living in serious poverty—some of them in absolute poverty. To be clear that means that they do not have enough money to meet basic needs for shelter, clothing and food. That is something that we should all remember in our position of privilege, and it is something that we should all work together on to change.

    I want to pay tribute to the outgoing MP, David Duguid, who represented the previous Banff and Buchan constituency, which disappeared in the recent boundary changes. Some Members will know that David experienced sudden and significant ill-health before the general election was called. I wish him a speedy and full recovery. David was an excellent MP who did his best to represent everybody in the constituency, but most notably the interests of the energy, fishing and farming industries. His efforts were in stark contrast to the way that he was treated in the end when he was effectively deselected by his colleagues. I wish David and his family well in whatever their future plans may involve. I also wish to acknowledge the work of the last SNP MP in this area, Eilidh Whiteford, who was an outstanding political representative.

    Today in the King’s Speech, the Government had an opportunity to immediately abolish the harmful two-child cap on child benefit and the notorious rape clause, which my former colleague, the outgoing MP for Glasgow Central, Alison Thewliss, worked so hard to end. The failure to do this is an early indictment of the Government’s policy position. I was encouraged when I heard contributions from the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier) and the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell). But what about the contribution from the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) when he said, “No ifs, no buts, just do it.”?

    It is simply not good enough for the people of Scotland, an energy rich nation, to pay so much to heat their homes while so many of their bairns are living in absolute poverty. I will be focusing on this issue over the course of this Parliament. I will seek to defend the interests of our farming and fishing industries, to protect our public services and to help realise the potential of renewable energy and carbon capture to deliver jobs and economic growth. But, above all, I shall be a voice for the weak and the disadvantaged. After 14 years of austerity, we need a change of direction, not more of the same. I wish to make special mention of the WASPI women who have been so unfairly treated by successive Governments, and who deserve compensation.

    To conclude, I thank the people of my constituency for their support at the ballot box, my colleagues in the SNP and in other parties, and the various members of House staff on the Westminster estate, who have been so welcoming and helpful on my arrival and during my induction.

    Finally—and Members would not expect me to say anything less—I will be working hard in this place and elsewhere to press the case for the people of Scotland to be afforded their democratic rights to determine their own future.