Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 09 October 2024
09 Oct 2024 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Bus Travel (Asylum Seekers)
The link is that the current Scottish Government would like to do all those things if it had more money from Westminster. I will give way if Gillian Mackay is trying to come in.
My question to SNP and Green members, or any member, is this: what is the current budget of the Scottish Government? How much money does the Scottish Government have to spend?
No member has tried to come in on that. It is £60 billion. That is the size of the budget that is set by the Scottish Government. It then comes down to choices. There are choices to be made by this Government about what it will spend that money on. It is a choice of the Scottish Government not to spend money on the proposal, just as it is a choice of the Scottish Government not to help pensioners this winter.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-14823, in the name of Maggie Chapman, on free bus travel for asylum seekers. I invite members who wish to...
Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green)
Green
Imagine a bus stop where a line of people is waiting. They are accustomed to waiting. They have all been waiting for more than a year for a decision on their...
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport (Fiona Hyslop)
SNP
I take the opportunity to welcome Sue Webber and Claire Baker to their new positions. I hope that everyone in the chamber would support the idea that people...
Maggie Chapman
Green
I am sure that the cabinet secretary will be aware that, last year, prior to the agreed money, a pilot in Glasgow and work in Aberdeen had been delivering fr...
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
The experiences helped with my decision and position when I set out the Government’s position a year ago in the debate to which Maggie Chapman referred. I ha...
Paul Sweeney (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
I need to move on, please. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government remains firmly committed to supporting people seeking asylum, refugees and communities through...
Sue Webber (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Last November, the then First Minister, Humza Yousaf, confirmed the free bus travel for asylum seekers scheme and said that £2 million had been set aside to ...
Maggie Chapman
Green
Does the member agree that we should be funding winter fuel payments and free bus travel for asylum seekers? She was in the chamber for the previous debate, ...
Sue Webber
Con
I do not recognise the description that it is being hoarded by a few. The only tax that the Green Party seems to like is tax that other people are paying. Th...
Gillian Mackay (Central Scotland) (Green)
Green
Does Sue Webber recognise that it is extremely dangerous to pit vulnerable groups against each other and that there is no suggestion that money should be tak...
Sue Webber
Con
I remind Ms Mackay that our pensioners are some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland. I am standing up for them. This plan shows what is wrong with Scot...
Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
I am pleased to open the debate, and I look forward to working with colleagues across the chamber. I recognise the contribution of Alex Rowley, who was previ...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
Unlike Sue Webber, I think that this is a very apposite motion to bring to Parliament, and I congratulate the Greens and Maggie Chapman for so doing. First ...
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green)
Green
Would Mr Cole-Hamilton like to reflect on Sue Webber’s comments, which were inherently divisive and pitted the needs of pensioners in this country against pe...
Alex Cole-Hamilton
LD
Of course I am willing to condemn those comments. It is wholly wrong to pit one vulnerable group against another, because they are not mutually exclusive, an...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Mr Cole-Hamilton, you are over your time. You need to conclude, please.
Alex Cole-Hamilton
LD
I will draw my speech to a conclusion. I absolutely support the Greens’ motion and thank the party for securing it for debate.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We now move to the open debate. 16:27
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
It is a pleasure to follow that speech and I congratulate Alex Cole-Hamilton for many of the points that he made. I begin by putting on record my thanks to ...
Bob Doris (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (SNP)
SNP
When the topic was debated in the Scottish Parliament last October, I said that we must find a way to deliver free bus travel to all asylum seekers. I also s...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
On a procedural point, Mr Doris, you will need to bring your remarks to a close, please.
Bob Doris
SNP
The point is that we come together as a Parliament, and we agree on the matter. 16:36
Douglas Ross (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I, too, welcome Sue Webber to her new role. We have heard contrasting views in the debate today, but all of us want to see support for people locally who ar...
Gillian Mackay
Green
Made a request to intervene.
Douglas Ross
Con
The link is that the current Scottish Government would like to do all those things if it had more money from Westminster. I will give way if Gillian Mackay i...
Gillian Mackay
Green
Will Mr Ross acknowledge that the economic choices of his party are partly what has got us in the mess that we are in now? It is also considerably disinge...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Thank you. The intervention was a bit long.
Douglas Ross
Con
I am sorry if Gillian Mackay did not hear me. I was actually saying the exact opposite of what she is saying. I support what Sue Webber said, because the Go...
Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I begin with the words of the great poet Tom Leonard, who wrote: “I am a human being and I exist a human being and a citizen of the world responsible to...