Meeting of the Parliament 18 September 2024
I am sorry, but I have given way twice to members on the SNP front bench.
In his motion, John Swinney claims that independence is “normal”, but a democracy in which the Government ignores the democratic vote of the people is not normal. Scotland continues to be shackled by a separatist political ideology that we did not vote for.
The Scottish people want us to move on. If that was not crystal clear to the SNP Government before the general election, it should be now. It said that it wanted to use the election as a de facto referendum. Well, the people of Scotland, once again, said no. Now is the time for us all to really move on and use the powers of the Parliament to create a better Scotland instead of blaming others and promising unicorns in an imaginary future.
Right across our country, people want change. They can see that the services that they use every day are getting worse. Hospitals are overcrowded, schools are underperforming and our police are stretched to breaking point. They are being asked to pay more for that while getting less. People look to the Parliament for answers, but they see a chamber trapped in a time warp discussing an issue that will address none of the challenges that they face. If any members of the public are actually watching, they would be forgiven for thinking that this was a repeat and that the year was 2014, not 2024.
The SNP Government has utterly failed to move on, to commit to the new challenges and missions that need to be dealt with and to prove that it has a purpose and a reason for staying in government. Nicola Sturgeon promised that education would be her “number one priority” and that closing the attainment gap would be her Government’s “defining mission”, but Scottish school performance is at record lows and the attainment gap is as wide as it has ever been. Humza Yousaf promised to eradicate child poverty, but the rate has increased since 2010. John Swinney is making the same hollow promise now, with no credible proposition to deliver it.