Meeting of the Parliament 09 June 2026 [Draft]
The point that Mr Rennie rightly makes is incredibly important, and it is no surprise that he chose to make it. I tried to reference in my remarks the importance of working across institutions and with business to bring people together to make sure that, from the youngest to the oldest, people have the skills that they require to get back into the workplace. I do not think that anyone could put their hand up and say that there is an easy answer in that regard, but we are—and we will be—willing to engage across the chamber and across civic society and business in Scotland to ensure that that happens. I am looking forward to working with Willie Rennie in that regard.
I return to the industries of the future. Our vision must go beyond simply adopting new technologies to, instead, helping to create and commercialise them. Areas such as life sciences, digital and artificial intelligence, critical technologies such as quantum and photonics, advanced manufacturing and—of course—the energy transition offer major opportunities for high-productivity and high-value jobs.
We must be able to build on our existing strengths in energy, engineering and innovation while opening up new opportunities in sectors such as hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and offshore wind. That is how growth is felt across generations; it is not just announced from a podium. We must wrap an arm around the supply chains in those sectors, to ensure that they grow, innovate, export and stay anchored right here, in Scotland, for Scotland. Our high growth unit will help to make that scale-up possible. It will sit directly adjacent to the office of the First Minister, so there will be nowhere to hide.
Fourthly, we will continue to expand Scotland’s global reach. Given that we are a small, open economy, our long-term growth depends on selling more goods and services to the world and harnessing our export potential. That outward-looking tradition runs deep, and there is a golden opportunity in the coming weeks to harness the export potential of our biggest single-nation export market, as Scotland heads to America for the world cup. We all know that success abroad will help to bring success at home, and our task is to help more Scottish firms to succeed in such global markets.
Fifthly—I am sure that there will be agreement across the parties on this—we must reform the system so that it supports growth rather than holding it back. When done well, the planning system is an effective tool in delivering economic growth, but businesses and investors need a system that is quicker and gives more certainty; regulation that is more predictable and less complicated; and support that is less fragmented. Certainty breeds confidence, but risk and delay do the opposite. Reform matters because delivery matters and because growth will be felt only if Government acts with urgency, clarity and purpose.