Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 01 September 2020
Of course, as Richard Leonard will know, we continue to work hard on an on-going basis to make sure that many of the economic benefits of vast renewables projects, for example, are enjoyed here in Scotland. That is an uphill struggle, and part of the reason for that is that so many of the levers, such as those on contract for difference, are still reserved to Westminster. If Richard Leonard wants to will the ends of something, he must also will the means, and I look forward to having his support in those arguments in the future.
If what Richard Leonard has been saying in recent weeks and months is sincere, as I expect that it will be, I suspect that there is an awful lot in this programme for government that he will welcome and want to get behind, so that collectively, across the Parliament, we can deliver on it.
The implementation plans for the youth guarantee, which is so important in making sure that youth unemployment is not a legacy of this crisis, will, as I said, be published tomorrow. Sandy Begbie, who has my gratitude for the work that he has done on that, has, I believe, had discussions with Opposition leaders to share the thinking on the guarantee. Generally, the Government’s commitment to the living wage is extremely strong. We have taken a number of steps to advance that, and I am sure that an ambition around the living wage will be central to the youth guarantee implementation plan.
We have an opportunity out of crisis to rethink how we do things, but that is not to say that all of this will be easy. My responsibility is to make sure that we are using all the levers and resources at our disposal. The elephant in the room will always be that some of the levers, particularly those for economic interventions, are not in our hands. There will always be a real flaw in Richard Leonard’s argument if he is still in the position of arguing that those levers and powers, and so much of the resources, should be in the hands of a Conservative Government at Westminster rather than in the hands of this Parliament. I hope that I will be able to change his mind on that in the future.