Hansard

The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott) Con

The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-14405, in the name of Jackie Baillie, on employment. 14:40

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab) Lab

Our vision for Scotland is based on an idea that is embedded in our values and written in our history as a party and a trade union movement, that is, that Sc...

John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP) SNP

Will the member confirm that there was rising inequality in the United Kingdom between 1997 and 2010, when Labour was in power?

Jackie Baillie Lab

Rising inequality is nothing new; the challenge for the Parliament is how we work together to tackle it. I would rather look ahead than look back, as the mem...

The Minister for Youth and Women’s Employment (Annabelle Ewing) SNP

Will the member give way?

Jackie Baillie Lab

In a second. Since the current First Minister came to power, our economy has lost jobs. I will be grateful if the minister explains how that has happened.

Annabelle Ewing SNP

Is the member aware that the most recent labour market statistics show that, compared with the UK as a whole, Scotland has a higher employment rate, a lower ...

Jackie Baillie Lab

The minister failed to answer the question that I put to her. I share with her that unemployment in Scotland today, at 5.9 per cent, is higher than the UK av...

The Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training (Roseanna Cunningham) SNP

I see that Corbyn’s new, cuddly, kinder version of Labour has not quite reached Scotland yet. Jackie Baillie gave us an interesting tour of cross-portfolio i...

The Deputy Presiding Officer Con

There is a little time for interventions. 15:04

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con

I thank the Labour Party for bringing this important subject to be debated. After the events of this week, it is encouraging to learn that the Labour Party i...

Jackie Baillie Lab

Although what the member says is, in passing, quite amusing, when will he get to the subject of the debate, which is employment?

Murdo Fraser Con

I am sure that Mr Findlay will reflect on Jackie Baillie’s desire to move the debate on from Jeremy Corbyn as quickly as possible. I do not think that that w...

Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Lab) Lab

Murdo Fraser proclaims how proud he is of the Tories’ moves on the living wage, but does he recognise that, at the same time, David Cameron is taking more th...

Murdo Fraser Con

Many families will benefit on a net basis from the living wage. Following George Osborne’s announcement, the director of the Living Wage Foundation, Rhys Moo...

Roseanna Cunningham SNP

Will the member take an intervention?

Murdo Fraser Con

No. I have taken two interventions, and I need to make some progress. I also agree with the Labour Party that education is vital if we are to see a growing ...

The Deputy Presiding Officer Con

We move to the open debate. Gordon MacDonald will be followed by Lewis Macdonald. You have a generous six minutes. 15:11

Gordon MacDonald (Edinburgh Pentlands) (SNP) SNP

The Labour motion states that the “Scottish Government must be more ambitious to improve employment and economic performance”. What is the position in Scot...

Jackie Baillie Lab

Will the member take an intervention?

Gordon MacDonald SNP

No, thanks. I want to get through all this. The levels of positive school-leaver destinations, both initial and sustained, are at an all-time high, with the...

Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Lab) Lab

Improving the lives of working people and reducing inequalities are—rightly—at the centre of the debate. They are key to transforming the Scottish economy’s ...

Roseanna Cunningham SNP

As a minister, my instinct is to wait until the end of the consultation and consider the responses.

Lewis Macdonald Lab

I am always in favour of an evidence-based approach, but I have never yet met a politician whose political instincts were confined to listening to what other...

Christina McKelvie (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) (SNP) SNP

Employment is fundamentally about empowerment and about people having the right opportunities to fulfil their ambitions, make a decent income and contribute ...

Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD) LD

Christina McKelvie said that she was surprised that she agreed with Jackie Baillie on one thing; I am surprised that I agree with Christina McKelvie on three...

Annabelle Ewing SNP

Is the member aware that the number of full-time students over 25 years of age at colleges has increased by 25 per cent since 2006-07?

Willie Rennie LD

The minister again completely ignores the fact that 140,000 places have been cut in Scottish colleges. Ministers continue to deny the problem. They cannot ke...

Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP) SNP

We would never catch you doing that, Willie.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith) Lab

Order, please.