Meeting of the Parliament 30 January 2024
I thank Jamie Hepburn for that very important intervention.
Here we are, yet again, debating a hypothetical wrapped in speculation inside a misconception, to misquote Winston Churchill. As the Covid inquiry takes evidence at this very moment about the conduct of the SNP Government, its ministers and its civil servants, and tries to get to the bottom of what went on during the pandemic, what does the SNP Government come to this chamber to debate? It comes to debate the hypothetical question of an independent Scotland joining the EU.
It is very tempting to take the bait. I must confess that I always enjoy debating with Angus Robertson and Jamie Hepburn. They give as good as they get, and they manage to do so with grace and humour.
It is tempting to point out that about a third of SNP voters supported Brexit and voted that way. More than a million Scots voted to leave the European Union, including SNP luminaries such as Alex Neil, no less.
It is tempting to point out that great minds such as Alex Neil and many other nationalists see that it is simply illogical for those in the independence movement to, on the one hand, complain about the shackles of Westminster and, on the other, support being chained to Brussels.
It is tempting to point out that there are those in the independence movement, such as the former First Minister, Alex Salmond, and his Alba Party, who recognise that one viable path for an independent Scotland would be membership of the European Free Trade Association instead of the EU.
Those are all rabbit holes that I am very tempted to go down, but I will not, because, rather like Alice in Wonderland, who went down the original rabbit hole, to do so would be to enter the realms of fiction and fantasy.
Willie Rennie was right when he said that the cabinet secretary might be getting bored with his own speech, because he has made it so many times before—we have all made these speeches many times before.
Back in the real world, there are many more pressing problems that the people of Scotland want to see addressed, such as the fact that there are nearly 830,000 patients across Scotland waiting for national health service treatment. There are problems such as the fact that rural schools are twice as likely to be in poor condition as urban schools. The Highland Council area has the poorest school estate in Scotland, and it also happens to be bottom of the league table for literacy and numeracy. There are problems such as the fact that more than 71,000 violent crimes were recorded last year, which is the highest total since 2011-12. Those are the issues that people really care about, and they are getting worse, not better, because of this Government’s narrow focus on the constitution.