Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 23 September 2020
I associate myself with Mr Greene’s remarks on the contribution of the teaching profession during the lockdown period, in which, in his words, its members delivered on the learning that was required by young people in extreme circumstances. Hearing that from Mr Greene is welcome, because that has not always been the line of argument that we have heard from the Conservatives on that point.
I welcome the opportunity to reaffirm the Scottish Government’s commitment to closing the attainment gap and raising standards for all children and young people across Scotland. The irony—which will not be lost on anyone—is that the Conservatives have linked the debate to the question of independence. That is ironic first and foremost because they are forever claiming that we are the ones who always raise the issue of independence. [Interruption.]
However, that is not the only irony. We know that the root cause of the attainment gap is poverty. Schools do not create poverty—far from it; they are one of the best tools that we have to overcome it. Therefore, it is ironic that the Scottish Conservatives—the party of welfare cuts, the bedroom tax and devil-take-the-hindmost economics—should decide to bring a debate on the attainment gap.
Conservative members sit here and support policies that lead to children being fed from food banks, mothers being sanctioned on their benefits, and our most vulnerable people being abandoned by a UK Government as uncaring as it is unelected by the people of Scotland. That is not just ironic; it is downright astonishing that they have decided to pair the attainment gap with the issue of independence. They sit in a Parliament that would willingly pass laws tomorrow to end welfare cuts, that would legislate in a heartbeat to end benefit sanctions and that would pass a budget to feed the poorest and lift the most vulnerable out of destitution. The Scottish Parliament would do all that and more—so much more—to tackle the root causes of inequality in education and across society if we had the powers of an independent nation.