Meeting of the Parliament 09 January 2025
I have probably taken enough interventions.
The Scottish Conservatives believe that, by allowing people to keep more of their hard-earned wages, we can promote the economic growth that Scotland so desperately needs and establish ourselves as a top destination for skilled migrants in the UK and on the world stage. Too often, people come here not to work but to retire and be with family.
Although, as a party, we fundamentally disagree with high taxes, that would be slightly more acceptable if the standard of public services that we received was high. Unfortunately, after almost 18 years of SNP mismanagement, the people of Scotland are not getting anything like value for money. Our NHS is being stretched to breaking point. According to some estimates, more than 2,000 people died last year in Scotland due to a long wait in an accident and emergency department. Waiting lists for surgeries remain far too long, and more and more people are having to pay for private care on top of their taxes. However, once again, the SNP is more interested in spending parliamentary time talking about reserved matters over which it has no jurisdiction, instead of tackling the crisis that we have created in our health service.
The Government motion mentions that we need to increase migration to our rural communities in Scotland, but the Government does not understand that its actions are contributing to the problem. Its failure to follow through on its promises to dual the A9, for instance, has done nothing to make small communities in the north of Scotland more connected. Its failure to provide a high standard of healthcare in rural areas forces residents to travel great distances for routine appointments. Why would anyone want to move to such areas?
A report by the Scottish Human Rights Commission found that, in the Highlands and Islands, the Government is not meeting its minimum core obligations on food and housing, while it is only partially meeting its obligations on health. The Scottish Government should be dealing with those factors rather than debating today’s topic. As the development manager for the Federation of Small Businesses in the Highlands and Islands, David Richardson, has said,
“Reversing population trends will require moving heaven and earth to retain more young people and attract younger people and families to move in by focusing on making rural Highland the best possible place to ... work”.
The Parliament was established to work for the people of Scotland on a number of matters. It was not established to grandstand on issues that we have no jurisdiction over, while failing to provide the basic functions of government. The irony is that, if the SNP focused on competent government and following through on promises, Scotland would be a much more attractive destination for migration. As with all debates of this nature, addressing those issues would be a much better use of parliamentary time. Unfortunately, the SNP does not seem to be interested in that.
I move amendment S6M-16034.4, to leave out from first “notes” to end and insert:
“understands that Scotland receives 6% of net migration to the UK, which is lower than its 8.4% population share; notes that the Scottish Government has made Scotland an unattractive destination to move to through a combination of higher taxes on skilled professionals, a lack of investment in rural economies, a failure to provide adequate transport routes, an inability to provide enough homes in key areas, and a neglect of public services; further notes that the Scottish Government’s failures have led to depopulation from some of Scotland’s more rural parts, and asserts that immigration is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament and not in the jurisdiction of the Scottish Parliament.”
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.