Hansard

The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh) NPA

The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-20615, in the name of Nicola Sturgeon, on Scotland’s future. 14:41

The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon) SNP

Today, I ask Parliament to endorse a basic but fundamental principle: that Scotland’s future should be decided not by politicians at Westminster who have not...

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab

I do not support independence—that will be no surprise to the First Minister. However, had the motion been more realistic and rational, I might have voted fo...

The First Minister SNP

Neil Findlay has a more respectable position on the issue than many of his colleagues, but he either accepts Scotland’s right to choose our own future or he ...

Jackson Carlaw (Eastwood) (Con) Con

Will the First Minister give way?

The First Minister SNP

I hope that Jackson Carlaw will back our migration proposals.

Jackson Carlaw Con

If the First Minister was trying to build a genuine consensus in this Parliament on the proposals, she might have circulated them or offered them to the lead...

The First Minister SNP

I assure Jackson Carlaw that the proposals are available on the internet. I am sure that he is able to use a computer. However, in the interests of consensus...

Mike Rumbles (North East Scotland) (LD) LD

Will the First Minister give way?

The First Minister SNP

In a moment. I accept that many people in this chamber—including the member who is trying to intervene—and across the country take a different view on indep...

Mike Rumbles LD

It is appropriate that the First Minister gives way on that point, because she has just cited an opinion poll that puts the figure at 60 per cent. However, w...

The Presiding Officer NPA

Order. Can we hear the question, please?

Mike Rumbles LD

Some members might not like that, but it is a fact. How about recognising a democratic mandate?

The First Minister SNP

I know of at least one Liberal Democrat candidate who stood in that election in Scotland and backed Scottish independence, so Mike Rumbles’s argument is some...

Jackson Carlaw (Eastwood) (Con) Con

I thank the First Minister for fulfilling—for the first time, in my experience—a promise that she made here, in the Parliament. I have just received a copy o...

The First Minister SNP

Will Jackson Carlaw address the fact that Scotland, against its will, will be taken out of the EU in two days? He used to oppose that but is now a born-again...

Jackson Carlaw Con

I am speaking to the amendment in my name, which concentrates on the priorities that the people of Scotland want to see addressed. Most people will see the ...

Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Lab) Lab

I completely understand that the thought of five more years of a Boris Johnson Government is driving some people to despair and others to anger, and that dis...

Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP) SNP

Will the member give way?

Richard Leonard Lab

I am in my final minute. Our vision is a realistic vision of not just a redistribution of power between Parliaments, but a redistribution of power and wealt...

The Presiding Officer NPA

Order, please.

Richard Leonard Lab

—giving hope to our young people and dignity to our pensioners in retirement, meeting the challenges of climate change and technological change, creating the...

The Presiding Officer NPA

Before I call Willie Rennie to speak on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, I ask members to stop the on-going heckling. That applies to members across the cham...

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD) LD

When I saw the wording of the motion and realised that we would have not just one but two speeches on independence this week, I wondered whether the debate w...

The First Minister SNP

Will Willie Rennie give way?

Willie Rennie LD

Not just now. Members: Aw!

Willie Rennie LD

I will come to the First Minister in a second, when I am ready. The First Minister softened the message during the general election. She appealed to Labour ...

The First Minister SNP

Will the member give way?

Willie Rennie LD

Not just now. There was hardly any mention of independence at that stage, then talk of it was ramped right up after the general election. The First Minister...

The First Minister SNP

Willie Rennie has set out what, in his view, does not constitute a mandate for an independence referendum. Perhaps he could use some of his time to tell us w...