Meeting of the Parliament 14 November 2023
No. I have already taken several.
The reasons for that are many. It might be because Scotland is the highest-taxed part of the UK, with anyone who earns more than £27,850 in Scotland paying more in income tax than someone earning the same elsewhere in the UK. It might be because the Scottish Government has failed to deliver its infrastructure pledges, such as its dismal failure to deliver the roll-out of superfast broadband to all homes and business on time. It might be because the Scottish Government is failing to build homes, especially in rural parts of Scotland, which is driving rural depopulation.
Instead of debating the reasons behind those existing challenges, we are here debating a hypothetical scenario. Rather than focusing on the immediate priorities of the people of Scotland, we find ourselves spending time debating a paper that has no grounding in reality. It is a wish list of ifs and maybes, and it fails to address any of the existing reasons that prevent people from choosing Scotland as their destination to call home.
We should be focusing on the real challenges of today rather than on the Scottish Government’s obsession with independence. Members on the Conservative benches will continue to use our time in the Parliament to debate those pressing issues and to stand up for Scotland’s real priorities.
I move amendment S6M-11237.1, to leave out from “notes” to end and insert:
“regrets that Scotland has consistently taken below its population share of migrants, compared to the rest of the UK; acknowledges that Scotland is the highest taxed nation in the UK; agrees that a decline in the working population would harm Scotland’s public services and economy, and recognises that the Scottish Government must work with the UK Government to address these long-term population challenges.”
15:10Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.