Hansard

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing) SNP

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-20294, in the name of Craig Hoy, on lowering bills for Scotland’s workers. I invite those members who wis...

Craig Hoy (South Scotland) (Con) Con

I wish you a happy new year, Deputy Presiding Officer. This year, 2026, must be the year in which Scotland’s politicians tackle the cost of living crisis. P...

The Minister for Public Finance (Ivan McKee) SNP

Let me begin with a point of consensus. We all want to ease the pressure on household budgets. Across Scotland, people are still feeling the strain of the co...

Craig Hoy Con

If we come forward with fully costed proposals to meet the cost of our tax cuts, will the minister come forward with fully costed proposals to find the £10 b...

Ivan McKee SNP

If the member read the work that we have already published—the fiscal sustainability delivery plan and the medium-term financial strategy—he would find that ...

Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con

Will the minister take an intervention?

Ivan McKee SNP

I will if I have time.

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

There is no extra time available.

Ivan McKee SNP

I am sorry, but I need to make some progress. Our approach is fair. We ask those with the broadest shoulders to contribute a little more so that families an...

Michael Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab) Lab

A happy new year to you, Presiding Officer. People are feeling the burden of higher prices and of wages that barely increased in the 14 years of the Tories....

Liz Smith Con

Will the member give way?

Michael Marra Lab

Not yet, as I am just beginning. Six interest rate cuts have brought the average cost of a mortgage down by £1,500. The average wage is up by £1,800, as the...

Liz Smith Con

I entirely agree with what Michael Marra has just said, but where does Labour stand when it comes to the huge burden of the national insurance tax on employe...

Michael Marra Lab

When it comes to the amount of money that has been invested in public services, the UK Labour Government inherited not just an economy that had flatlined for...

Craig Hoy Con

Will Mr Marra give way?

Michael Marra Lab

No thank you, sir. The public are more likely to accept paying a bit more in tax if they can see improvements in public services. One has to come with the o...

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green) Green

I always welcome the chance to debate the tax system and how to make it fairer, and I am proud of the Green record in achieving that. Our 2016 manifesto prop...

Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (LD) LD

I agree with the notion that our current politics is defined by the cost of living and by people’s perception of whether their Government or Governments are ...

Ivan McKee SNP

Will the member take an intervention?

Jamie Greene LD

I have less than a minute; otherwise I would have done so. Of course, we need to raise earnings across the board, because raised earnings will inevitably le...

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

We move to the open debate, with speeches of up to four minutes. 15:17

Alexander Stewart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con

I am pleased to speak in favour of our motion, which calls for lower bills for workers, who are suffering as a result of the cost of living crisis, and for a...

Ivan McKee SNP

Will the member take an intervention on that point?

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

The member is in his last minute.

Alexander Stewart Con

I am in my last minute. I want Scotland’s tax system to support growth, reward work and deliver lower bills for Scottish workers. As we have already heard, ...

Jamie Hepburn (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP) SNP

I am happy to contribute to today’s debate. The last time that I took part in a Tory debate, Mr Hoy happened to be closing it. He said that my speech was one...

Douglas Ross (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Jamie Hepburn has just said that more than half of taxpayers in Scotland pay less income tax than is paid elsewhere...

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

Mr Ross will be aware that that is not a point of order. It is up to members to determine in what way they seek to contribute—Interruption. I say to members ...

Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con) Con

The Parliament is designed to stand up for working people in Scotland. However, since the SNP took office, working people have been told—not asked, but told—...

Ivan McKee SNP

That is the whole point: tax pays for those free things, which people would not get if we did what the Conservative Party wants us to do and reduced tax rates.