the snp leader, ian blackford. i would like to - ian blackford. we must all stand up intimidate him, we must all stand up in this house for the rights of journalists to go about theirjobs safely. good wishes to both scotland and then with the head of the football match on friday evening, but if i may say so, i do hope that we do not see see scotland being dragged out of the euros against our wishes. mr speaker, as we enter the chamber, we see what is reported to be a whatsapp communication between the premise and dominic cummings, is perhaps the prime minister will clarify whether or not these are genuine, and whether the derogatory comments he expressed about his health secretary are valid or not. mr speaker, this morning, the details of the disastrous trade deal with australia are slowly seeping out. it tells us everything we need to know that these details are being celebrated in canberra, but they are busy being concealed in london. for all the spin, it is clear that this tory government hasjust all the spin, it is clear that this tory governm

that's a view echoed by the westminster leader of the snp as well, ian blackford, he made a similar pointof comments and reaction coming through all the time. and quite a common thread there, a lot of people saying in essence matt hancock has now done the right thing. he had no choice but to resign. i paraphrased but there are a lot of reactions in that vein as you might appreciate. let'sjust hear again that we statement that matt hancock himself put on twitter in the last little while. i have been to see the prime minister to resign as secretary of state for health and. i understand the enormous sacrifices that everybody in this country has made, that you have made, and those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them and that's why i have got to resign. i want to thank people for their incredible sacrifices and what they have done. everybody working in the nhs, across social care, everyone involved in the vaccine programme and frankly, everybody in this country. who has risen to the challenges that we have seen over this past 18 months. i'm very proud of what we have done to p

we havejust had something through from the snp�*s westminster leader, a tweet from ian blackford in facteadership by borisjohnson. matt hancock should have been sacked. in scotland, of course, we will face a choice on our future. we can say goodbye to the chaos and failure of uk leadership. in terms of the key element, this is a failure of leadership by borisjohnson, saying that matt hancock should not have been a question of him resigning, the prime minister should have been choosing to sack him. in response, to remind you, we have quite a lengthy letter that matt hancock has written to the prime minister as is standard when there is a resignation of this nature. the prime minister in response, worth reminding you what his response is. borisjohnson saying, he is sorry to receive his resignation as health secretary. he said, "matt hancock should leave office very proud of what you have achieved, notjust in tackling the pandemic, but even before covid—19 struck us. i'm gratefulfor your support and i believe that your contribution to public service is far from over." that last line contrib

both the labour leader, sir keir starmer and the snp�*s ian blackford pointed out that borisjohnson wasonly leader in the g7 cutting development aid. this is a government on the run from their own moral and legal responsibilities. and on the run, mr speaker, from their own backbenchers. hear, hear. but the prime minister can't hide from this issue any longer. and he can't run from democracy in this house. will he stand up today and committed to a straight vote in this house on his inhumane cuts as demanded by the speaker? prime minister, it is a very simple question: yes or no? we are in very, very difficult financial times. but you should not believe that the leftist propaganda that you hear from people over there. we are spending £10 billion overseas, we have actually increased... all they want to do is run this country down, mr speaker. run this country down. interjections when we have increased spending on girls education alone to £500 million. almost half a billion. that's a fantastic sum of money to be spending in difficult times, we should be proud. i have to say i don't think i'

we now come to ian blackford. thank i now come to ian blackford.'m afraid i'm not afraid of the _ union? mr speaker, i'm afraid i'm not afraid of the context. - union? mr speaker, i'm afraid i'm not afraid of the context. what i l not afraid of the context. what i can tell him is that the union and the benefits of the union have been incalculable throughout the covid pandemic. and the vaccine roll—out which i havejust mentioned to pandemic. and the vaccine roll—out which i have just mentioned to the right honourable gentleman at opposite, vaccines have been pioneered in scotland, brewed in oxford. rolled out throughout the uk. i think it is a tribute to the union he seeks to undermine. he has 'ust union he seeks to undermine. he has just demonstrated _ union he seeks to undermine. he has just demonstrated for _ union he seeks to undermine. he has just demonstrated for the _ union he seeks to undermine. he has just demonstrated for the first - union he seeks to undermine. he has just demonstrated for the first time l just demonstrated for the first