Meeting of the Parliament 07 June 2016
I declare an interest as an Aberdeen City Council councillor and I direct members to my entry in the register of interests.
It is truly a great privilege to be standing in the chamber today. I am incredibly grateful to the people of the north-east for sending me here and I cannot begin to describe just how honoured I feel to serve them. That said, I know that I am here because many people across my region voted Scottish Conservative for the first time. Having spoken to hundreds of voters during the campaign, I know that, for many, that was a real leap of faith. To quote one voter, their head was “scrambled” even contemplating it. I reassure those voters that I do not take that support for granted. They have given me a job to do—to hold the SNP to account, to oppose higher taxes and, crucially, to oppose any attempt at a second independence referendum—and that is exactly what I am going to do.
I also recognise that many people did not vote for me and my party. To them, I give my sincerest commitment to give our communities a strong voice in Parliament, to stand up for our region, to fight for a better deal for our residents and always to work hard on their behalf whenever they need my assistance, regardless of how they voted.
The north-east is a diverse and dynamic region. In Dundee, the city of discovery, we have a centre of excellence in gaming innovation and technology that is recognised across the globe. Angus, Scotland’s birthplace, lies steeped in history and is home to the Arbroath smokie, one of my personal favourites. In Aberdeenshire, one is taken on a journey from the snow-peaked mountains to the sea. It is a stunningly beautiful and, in my view, unrivalled landscape that produces some of the finest-quality food and drink available anywhere. And then there is Aberdeen, the city that I am proud to call home. It is the silver city with the golden sands—a beauty to behold—and it is Europe’s energy capital, the very centre of our crucial oil and gas industry. Beyond that, it is a city that is more than oil and gas and granite; it is a city with a vibrant and flourishing cultural scene, with venues alive with music and dance.
I am definitely not one to give fashion advice, but today I am wearing my “Aberdeen Forever” tartan tie, which was a gift from the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, George Adam. The black represents oil and there is blue for the sea, white for the famous silver granite and red and gold for the city’s coat of arms. As there is wi-fi in the chamber, members can order their tie online right now.
I am proud of my home city and its people and I always will be. However, Aberdeen and the wider north-east face many challenges. Aberdeen City Council is the lowest funded in Scotland—it is ranked 32 out of 32 authorities—despite having some of the most deprived communities in all of Scotland. That has been compounded by an energy industry crisis that is affecting every part of our city, from our schools to our shops and our hotels to our taxi drivers. The council is fighting to retain businesses and to secure new business investment for the future, yet it is getting a raw financial deal. You can bet your bottom dollar that I will fight for a fairer deal for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
On health, it is clear that the Arbuthnott formula again disadvantages Grampian, as we lose funding to the central belt that could have been invested in our local health services. That means hard choices. Only last week, NHS Grampian decided that it needs to cut £18.5 million to sustain itself. That means cuts to agency nurses, locums and the use of independent treatment to meet treatment time targets.
That is extremely worrying for people across the north-east, who are concerned about the effect that it will have on the most vulnerable and people in rural communities. To compound that, the health board has identified that the service faces a huge £100 million cost to address the impending impact of a growing population and the demand for primary and community care from new housing developments.
On top of all that, the SNP’s tentacles of centralisation have grabbed local services and pulled them to the central belt. Vital services such as renal transplants, paediatric intensive care and paediatric cleft lip and palate surgery—to name only a few—have all gone. Those moves fundamentally undermine health provision in the north-east.
In that context, the First Minister’s belated announcement confirming a trauma centre for Aberdeen is to be given a cautious welcome. Residents across the region are, sadly, well used to the SNP making big promises with great fanfare but completely failing to deliver. However, the centre is a resource that Aberdeen needs to rehabilitate patients and to support them in returning to a normal life. The First Minister’s words need to be backed up by action, and I will hold the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport to account to ensure that she follows through on that pledge and that there is no slippage in its delivery.
It is also extraordinary that the NHS in Scotland is in such poor shape after nine years of an SNP Government that is led by a former health secretary. It is even more astonishing that the same SNP that urged us to vote yes in the independence referendum to save our NHS has in fact cut the total NHS budget. The Government has failed to pass on £1.5 billion of Barnett consequentials to the NHS since 2011, at a time when significant investment is needed to meet the costs of ageing infrastructure and medical equipment.
I will quote William Arthur Ward to sum up my attempts to serve in the Parliament:
“Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.”
[Applause.]
16:12