Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2016
I thank Alex Rowley for his question and for the support that he expressed for the Scottish Government’s position. I made it clear in my statement and I make it clear now that I want a deal and that I and the Deputy First Minister are prepared to stay at the table for as long as it takes to get a deal. Of course, it is up to this Parliament to decide how long it would require to scrutinise such a deal before giving legislative consent to the Scotland Bill prior to dissolution. That is a decision not for me, as First Minister, but for the Devolution (Further Powers) Committee and ultimately, of course, for the Parliament as a whole.
It should be said—this is an obvious point that I am about to make—that every day that passes without a deal is a day less that the Scottish Parliament will have to apply that scrutiny. That is a position that I think everybody will understand. I hope that we can get a deal, as I said in my statement; I apologise that the additional proposals were not in the advance copy of my statement but they came in after I circulated it. We have received additional proposals from the Treasury and we will consider them. I very much hope that they will move us closer to that deal.
However, as I said, although I want a deal, I am not prepared to sign up to a deal that is unfair to Scotland and does not deliver on the promises made. If I were to sign up to what has been on the table from the Treasury in recent days, then, frankly, the Scottish people should be seriously displeased. I will not, as First Minister, sign up to a deal that systematically cuts Scotland’s budget.