Hansard

The Presiding Officer (Kenneth Gibson) NPA

The next item of business is a debate on motion S7M-00105, in the name of John Swinney, on being ambitious for Scotland. I invite members who wish to speak i...

Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab) Lab

I say first that although I welcome much of the content of the First Minister’s opening statement, the reality is that the contrast between that statement an...

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice (Neil Gray) SNP

We have had a test of some of Mr Sarwar’s theories in recent weeks because we have had an election and the people have decided. Would it not be better if Mr ...

Anas Sarwar Lab

Mr Gray will argue his view and I am going to argue mine—that is democracy. The reality is that there is a mix of views across the country, as was clear duri...

The Presiding Officer NPA

Members who take interventions do not have the time taken from them, but it is still up to members to decide whether they take interventions.14:27

Ross Greer (West Scotland) (Green) Green

I see that Mr Sarwar’s constructive and collaborative tone lasted about a week in this place. Clearly, no lessons have been learned from the election.Every G...

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh North Western) (LD) LD

Will the member take an intervention?

Ross Greer Green

Not quite yet.I ask those who use that particular line to reflect on the fact that 800,000 people who were old enough to vote at the election just a few week...

Craig Hoy (Dumfriesshire) (Con) Con

If Ross Greer believes in democracy and giving voters a choice, why did the Scottish Green Party stand in so few constituencies?

Ross Greer Green

Mr Hoy may have missed the fact that the Scottish Greens gave every voter in Scotland the opportunity to vote for us, and far more of them chose to do so tha...

Stephen Kerr (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con

Will Ross Greer give way on that point?

Ross Greer Green

No.The best way to grow support for Scottish self-government is to do self-government well—to maximise the use of the powers that we have. That is the focus ...

The Presiding Officer NPA

Before I call the next speaker, I remind members who wish to speak to press their request-to-speak buttons—not everyone has done that so far.14:34

Russell Findlay (West Scotland) (Con) Con

Here we go again. This is the first debate of the new parliamentary session, but it is not about the NHS, in which patients are stuck waiting for years in mi...

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh North Western) (LD) LD

Members will be delighted to hear that I do not plan to take all of my time this afternoon. I intend to cede some of it to Duncan Dunlop, who will be making ...

Ross Greer Green

I remember that, in the last session of this Parliament, we pointed out that the pro-independence parties had won not just a majority of seats but a majority...

Alex Cole-Hamilton LD

Ross Greer is celebrated as one of the brightest members of this Parliament, yet basic arithmetic seems to be escaping him; 59 per cent of the public is bigg...

The Minister for Business and Fair Work (Tom Arthur) SNP

Will the member give way?

Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con) Con

Will the member give way?

Alex Cole-Hamilton LD

I do not have time—

The Presiding Officer NPA

You do have time.

Alex Cole-Hamilton LD

Okay—I will take an intervention from Tom Arthur.

Tom Arthur SNP

One of the fundamental challenges that we face in social care is the recruitment and retention of workforce, and that challenge is particularly conspicuous i...

Alex Cole-Hamilton LD

I do not disagree with Mr Arthur that Brexit has been a disaster for social care, but it would be a lot easier to fix social care if his Government paid peop...

The Presiding Officer NPA

I call Malcolm Offord.14:45

Malcolm Offord (West Scotland) (Reform) Reform

So, here we go again—welcome back to groundhog day. Doesn’t the SNP just love debating matters that are reserved to Westminster instead of doing the day job?...

Members

We cannot hear—turn the microphone round.

Malcolm Offord Reform

I will start again.Is it any wonder that 2 million Scots did not vote in the election on 7 May?Holyrood controls 60 per cent of the spending in Scotland. Mor...

Neil Gray SNP

What is the democratic mandate?

Malcolm Offord Reform

I will address that in my next point—I will give the exact numbers on that, because it is a key point that we will come to in the discussion.Even in 2016, af...