Meeting of the Parliament 19 February 2025
I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate on protecting the powers of the Scottish Parliament. Given that this is the second debate in two consecutive days brought forward by the Scottish Government on UK Government policy, I would be more grateful to speak in a debate on using the Scottish Parliament’s powers.
For far too long, the people of Scotland were badly let down by the previous Tory Government, not just with its disrespect for devolution but with the performative constitutional fights between itself and the SNP Government. Those constitutional fights may have been politically convenient for the parties involved, but they did nothing to improve the lives of the people we represent.
The election in July of a new UK Labour Government that is committed to resetting the relationship between the UK Government and the devolved Governments was and is a significant moment that provides us with an important opportunity to end the performative politics and to usher in a period of co-operation rather than conflict between Scotland’s Governments.
I will try to concentrate on areas where we can agree, but I have to say that much of the rhetoric from the Deputy First Minister today appears to be very performative, particularly when we consider the claims about NHS privatisation and the number of my constituents who are having to pay for private treatment on the NHS right now under the SNP Government.