Hansard

John Swinney has squandered countless millions, if not billions, of pounds through his absolute incompetence. That is why my party believes that a different way is not only possible but necessary for Scotland. We believe that the way to tackle poverty is with a hand up, not a hand out. The safety net of social security is essential, but it should help people back on to their feet and not keep them trapped in benefits.

We believe that the fundamental starting point in tackling poverty is through provision of a good education. Education opens the door to opportunity and is the gateway to well-paid employment and a better life of prosperity. Under this Government, Scotland’s once world-leading education system is failing.

In Scotland today, too little value is placed on aspiration, ambition and success. Those who create jobs and wealth are treated with disdain and sometimes even with hostility. We must create the right environment: one of universal good education, opportunity for all and the championing of aspiration. We believe in giving people the tools and platform to succeed by their own efforts. I believe that the smart, creative and industrious people of Scotland are capable of that, if given the opportunity.

John Swinney, Anas Sarwar and the left-wing parties at Holyrood do not seem to share my faith. Too often, their answer is to throw yet more money at the problem in the hope that it will all go away. They seek to take control of people’s lives and to take ever more of people’s hard-earned wages to squander on ineffective governance. The SNP and Labour hold the mistaken belief that Holyrood knows best. They do not seem to realise how little difference the Scottish Parliament has made to people’s lives and do not appear to grasp that their ideology has held back—not helped—the people of Scotland.

Take the criminal justice system. Under-25s are told that they are unlikely to be sent to prison. According to Police Scotland, that results in some young people, especially in areas of deprivation, being lured into a life of crime. Detective Superintendent Andy Patrick said:

“Organised crime groups are exploiting this policy. They are coercing young and vulnerable people to carry out some of these crimes because they’re under reduced risk of imprisonment.”

It is no wonder that so many people across the country have concluded that Scotland’s political establishment just does not get it. People have lost faith in politicians and lost trust in politics. They feel that no one represents them any more and that nothing will change, because those inside Holyrood rarely deliver what they promise.

Today, John Swinney tells us yet again that he wants to eradicate child poverty. That is a bold and ambitious goal, but he has been making such promises for almost two decades. He was the education secretary who promised to close the poverty-related attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils, but he did not keep that promise and the attainment gap is as wide as ever. Today, he vows to eradicate child poverty, but that is also a promise that he will not keep. Just as he did not close the attainment gap, he will not eradicate child poverty.

Yesterday, John Swinney spoke of his Government’s budget being “a turning point”. He has been in power for 18 years but is only now at a turning point. Is he turning away from all his years of failure or is he trying to turn away from the SNP’s pitiful record on education, opportunity and the economy? The 18 years of SNP rule have got Scotland into this state and driven people to lose faith in Parliament’s ability to get things done.

Anas Sarwar is not much better. He spoke yesterday of setting a new direction, but his party already promised to change and then broke its promises not to raise taxes. Raising national insurance is not a new direction—it is crippling businesses, many of which are struggling to survive. When those businesses go under, people will lose their jobs. That is more of the same old approach that has failed Scotland for decades. Labour’s supposedly new direction looks exactly the same as the past 18 years of SNP rule. Labour members mostly nod along with everything that the SNP does with social security, just as they backed Nicola Sturgeon’s dangerous gender self-identification law and Humza Yousaf’s hate crime act. They are really only offering more of the same.

Holyrood must do things differently. Instead of focusing on inputs, we must focus on outcomes. Rather than throwing money at problems, we must better spend what this Parliament takes from taxpayers and we must take less of it so that people can decide what is best for themselves, their families and their communities.

People in the real world want politicians to show some common sense for a change—common sense on education, by making our schools safe and giving pupils the space to thrive; common sense on the economy, so that we can encourage business growth to create more jobs; and common sense on social security, so that the safety net is there while we ensure that work always pays.

That is what my party represents—a different approach and a bolder one than is taken by the SNP or Labour. We will not make promises that we cannot keep, unlike John Swinney, and we will not offer change and then do more of the same, unlike Anas Sarwar. We will tell it straight, keep our word, say what we mean and deliver on what we promise. We will proudly champion the values of mainstream Scotland: decency, aspiration, fairness and opportunity. We will offer a Scottish Conservative way to reduce poverty by reducing regulations and bureaucracy in business, so that it can create more jobs; by taking less in tax, so that people have more control over their lives and have the means to get ahead; and by strengthening our education system, with a strict focus on higher standards. That is the change that my party stands for and it is the different way that Scotland so desperately needs.

I move amendment S6M-16003.4, to leave out from “the investments” to end and insert:

“that the Scottish Government has failed to reduce child poverty during 17 years of Scottish National Party administration; recognises that the poverty-related attainment gap between the most and least deprived pupils has grown according to the most recent statistics and that the Scottish Government will fail to meet its previously stated target of closing that attainment gap by 2026; acknowledges that Scottish Government policies, which seek to take a more lenient approach to young offenders, have contributed to vulnerable young people in deprived communities being targeted by organised gangs to carry out criminality; believes that the draft Scottish Budget 2025-26 will continue to harm Scotland’s economic growth, which is desperately needed if the country is to tackle child poverty, and calls on the Scottish Government to rethink the draft 2025-26 Scottish Budget by providing workers and businesses across Scotland with a tax cut that will help induce the economic growth that Scotland needs.”