Meeting of the Parliament 03 October 2023
I am sorry, but I have taken quite a few interventions and I want to make some progress.
However, we do not need change only at a UK level; we need it here, in Scotland, too. Yes, we have a Conservative UK Government that has no respect for this Parliament, having so casually undermined and disregarded the significance and value of it, but we also have an SNP-Green Scottish Government that too often hides behind the recklessness of the Tories to avoid criticism and accountability. That Scottish Government too often has its own lack of respect for the powers of this Parliament, which is demonstrated by ministers bypassing statements that should be made in this chamber and by the Government ignoring votes in this chamber.
This debate is certainly not the big event of Scottish politics this week; that will be the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election on Thursday. I have been in the constituency a lot, listening to the priorities of local residents and speaking to the people in that constituency, as well as those in my region. It is fair to say that, despite the merits of this debate, the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 is not the issue that everyone is talking about. In fact, to the extent that the issue of the powers of this Parliament is coming up, people are not protesting about what Scotland cannot do; they are asking what the Scottish Government is doing with the extensive powers of this Parliament.
Powers should not be sought for their own sake. Scotland today, after 16 years of SNP rule, is stagnating, our ambition is chained and our people are held back. On almost all measures of success, this Government is failing, betraying the powers that it has to achieve better ends. We have children who are missing out on education as school staff take strike action. We have councils that are forced to make impossible decisions because of underfunding, and the Government is showing them disrespect. More and more of the one in seven Scots on the NHS waiting list is having to go private, and islanders are just looking for some ferries. In addition, as has already been mentioned, the Government has hung the creative sector out to dry by breaking its promises on funding.
The Labour Party, which legislated for and delivered devolution, will defend, protect and enhance it if we have the opportunity to serve, but we also want to use the powers of this place to help to deliver the changes that people in Scotland need.
I move amendment S6M-10703.3, to insert at end:
“; agrees that the people of Scotland are best served by both the UK and Scottish governments working together cooperatively, and calls on the UK Government to develop a more consensual means of preserving common standards and safeguards across the UK that does not undermine devolution in any part of the UK.”
15:28Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.