Meeting of the Parliament 18 February 2026 [Draft]
I was astonished but maybe not surprised to see the Scottish Green Party’s motion. It is like being back at a student union debate, with ranting about issues that are well outwith the remit of this Parliament.
I enjoyed my time in student union debates many, many decades ago, but this Parliament should be focusing on issues within its remit. We should be looking at, for example, the pitiful level of economic growth that we have in Scotland and across the United Kingdom and at what that means for living standards; the high cost of renewable energy driving up consumers’ bills; waiting times in the national health service; falling standards in education; or a soft-touch justice system.
We could have been debating any one of those topics this afternoon. Instead, the Greens come to us with a rant against the United States of America, our longest-standing and most reliable ally as a country, and a fundamental part of the NATO alliance.
If the Greens want to debate international affairs, why do they not attack the real rogue states? Where is the mention of China, with its myriad human rights abuses against ethnic and religious minorities, its attacks on free speech and its imprisonment of those who dare to speak out against the regime?