Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 24 September 2024
24 Sep 2024 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
UK Budget (Scotland’s Priorities)
We are not proposing to take away the allowances in the way that the Labour Party is currently doing. We are not proposing to turn off the tap on North Sea oil and gas as the Labour Party is threatening to do. If members were to ask businesses in Aberdeen and the north-east which party they think can be trusted on oil and gas, they would find that it is certainly not the Labour Party. We will hear more on that from my colleague Douglas Lumsden shortly.
Having spoken about the Labour Party for too long, I turn to some of the choices that the SNP has to make. The budget challenges that the SNP is currently facing are a result of its own choices. That is not my analysis; it is the analysis of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and of the Scottish Fiscal Commission, which has said that it is
“the Scottish Government’s own decisions”
that are to blame for
“much of the pressure”
facing the country’s finances.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-14614, in the name of Shona Robison, on the United Kingdom budget, Scotland’s priorities. I invite member...
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government (Shona Robison)
SNP
Three weeks ago, I set out the challenges facing the Scottish budget and the difficult decisions that this Government was taking to balance the budget and de...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
On the issue of tax, given everything that the cabinet secretary has said about the use of tax levers, does she now regret the decision taken by the Cabinet ...
Shona Robison
SNP
The decision to freeze council tax was a support measure in response to the pressure on household incomes due to the cost of living crisis that has been driv...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
I appreciate what the cabinet secretary is saying about the lack of certainty from the UK Government on the financial settlement, but we do have clarity on t...
Shona Robison
SNP
I confirmed that in our written answer to Alex Cole-Hamilton, which shows that we have utilised only around £96 million of ScotWind revenues for 2023-24. The...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
It is a novel experience for those of us on this side of the chamber that, for the first time in 14 years, we are not in government in Westminster and, there...
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic (Kate Forbes)
SNP
Can the member confirm the deficit of the Scottish Government, which, by law, is required to balance its budget every year?
Murdo Fraser
Con
I think that the Deputy First Minister is very familiar with her own “Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland”—GERS—figures, which set out the nominal de...
Kate Forbes
SNP
Will the member take another intervention?
Murdo Fraser
Con
Of course I will take another intervention.
Kate Forbes
SNP
I did not think that the member needed a lesson on the difference between the Scottish Government’s budget and projected figures, but can he confirm whether ...
Murdo Fraser
Con
Well, what the Deputy First Minister is tempting me to do is congratulate the Scottish Government on not breaking the law, because the law says that it has t...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
The member described the energy profits levy as “a reckless attack”. Would he remind the chamber which party of government introduced that levy?
Murdo Fraser
Con
We are not proposing to take away the allowances in the way that the Labour Party is currently doing. We are not proposing to turn off the tap on North Sea o...
The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice (Shirley-Anne Somerville)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Murdo Fraser
Con
Yes—if I have time.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Briefly, cabinet secretary.
Shirley-Anne Somerville
SNP
I wonder how the member might react to the stage 2 amendments to the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill that were lodged by his Conservative colleag...
Murdo Fraser
Con
The cabinet secretary should listen to what the Scottish Fiscal Commission has said about the need for growth. If we matched UK economic growth, that would, ...
Shona Robison
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Murdo Fraser
Con
I have taken lots of interventions.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The member is bringing his remarks to a close.
Murdo Fraser
Con
The tax gap is actively deterring them from attracting talent to come and work in Scotland. I know that the Deputy First Minister gets that, but I am not sur...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
I have to say that Murdo Fraser standing up and describing things being in free fall is somewhat ironic. I remember that, this time almost exactly two years ...
The Minister for Victims and Community Safety (Siobhian Brown)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Daniel Johnson
Lab
If I could take a moment to finish the point. There is a danger of sending a mixed message—that today’s debate is something of a hasty attempt to cry betray...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I think that Siobhian Brown was seeking to intervene.
Daniel Johnson
Lab
Apologies.
Siobhian Brown
SNP
First, given the importance of the UK budget, and the consequentials to the Scottish Government, to delivering for the people of Scotland, whom we all repres...