Annabelle Ewing
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“Before we turn to the next item of business, I hope that members do not mind if I say a few words. I would like to say specifically what an honour it has been for me to serve in the Scottish Parliament, which, of course, was reconvened by my late mother, Winnie Ewing, in 1999.”
“There is one question to be put as a result of today’s business. The question is, that motion S6M-21180, in the name of John Swinney, on a motion of thanks, be agreed to.”
“I hope that members feel that I have discharged my duty. I thank you for having given me the opportunity to be your Deputy Presiding Officer, along with Mr McArthur, and I wish each of you all the very best.”
“Members! Màiri McAllan: Equally, the prospect of scrapping the land and buildings transaction tax or stamp duty land tax is for the birds, and I am afraid that it demonstrates that the Conservatives realise that their chances of implementing any such policies are, to put it politely, very slim.”
“Motion debated, That the Parliament recognises the importance of sport and activity as a force for good that goes beyond just physical health; considers that they have a significant impact on mental health, as well as contributing to community and national cohesion and wellbeing; believes that sport breaks down barriers of colour, race, r…”
“Motion debated, That the Parliament notes with concern the reported decision by the Lloyds Banking Group to close 11 Bank of Scotland branches between June and July 2026, including the Rutherglen branch; understands that this is the latest in a series of bank closures across the UK; believes that these closures will have a significant imp…”
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“Last week, we discovered that the number of senior civil servants has risen by nearly 500 in just two years. I ask the minister, when he sums up, to say something to the public sector bodies that are saying that they need to address the size of their workforce and are therefore calling for flexibility around the policy of no compulsory redundancies. Ministers must look seriously at that. The greatest risk to Scotland’s public finances lies in the SNP’s welfare policies, and that risk has grown as a result of the SNP’s 11th-hour decision to mitigate the two-child benefit cap. The Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts that social security spending will increase from £6.3 billion in 2024-25 to a staggering £8.8 billion by the end of the decade. I ask the minister, when he speaks, to say how that will be paid for.”
“This year, even with Labour’s national insurance tax on jobs, the budget settlement delivers a real- terms increase in revenue spending and an uplift in the capital budget. However, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned, more money alone will not fix our public services, and it is not alone in saying that. Dr Iain Kennedy, chairman of the British Medical Association Scotland, said that new funding will “never alone be the answer to solving the NHS crisis.” Audit Scotland warns that the Scottish Government’s plans for the future of the public sector workforce are too vague, with the Auditor General for Scotland, Stephen Boyle, questioning the Government’s commitment to “right-size” the workforce. This year, the cost of the public sector workforce will absorb 54 per cent of the Government’s revenue budget.”
“We would offer targeted tax cuts to businesses, including to Scotland’s struggling pub and hospitality sectors. [Interruption.] Mr Swinney is chuntering away. Ministers will, of course, assert that the higher taxes are used to deliver its social contract with the Scottish people. However, let us look at the reality of that social contract. Winter fuel payments were stripped from most pensioners last winter. The number of Scots who are in pain and relying on private healthcare is at a record high, and the number of economically inactive young Scots, too many of whom are now parked on benefits, hit 210,000 last year. Despite all the rhetoric, that is the reality of the SNP’s social contract with Scotland.”
“She said: “I thank those with the broadest shoulders who are paying a little bit more”.—[Official Report, 4 December 2024; c 29.] In reality, however, what did her thank you mean for Scots who earn £30,000? It meant a tax cut of just £1.21 per month. The budget confirms that the thresholds for the basic and intermediate rates will rise by 3.5 per cent in April but that, as the convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee said, the top three bands will remain frozen. That means that the number of higher-rate taxpayers in Scotland is expected to jump from 490,000 to 550,000. In contrast, we proposed a package of bold, forward-looking, growth-generating tax cuts for those on middle incomes to make Scotland more competitive with the rest of the UK.”
“Under the SNP, the Scottish tax base has grown at a slower rate than the tax base in the rest of the UK, and Scottish salaries have failed to keep pace with those south of the border. Devolved income tax decisions mean that Scottish taxpayers are paying £1.7 billion more than they would pay if we had the same rates and thresholds as the rest of the UK, but the net funding for the Scottish budget is only £838 million. The Scottish Fiscal Commission calls that an “economic performance gap”. I call it a lost decade and more dogma under the SNP’s misplaced priorities. When Shona Robison gave her budget speech, it looked for a moment as if she might have learned from the mistakes of the past.”
“The Scottish Fiscal Commission has sounded alarm bells about the affordability, sustainability and desirability of the SNP’s social security policies. Scottish Financial Enterprise has raised concerns about the consequences—most notably, behavioural change—of the SNP’s tax policies. We could opt to have a modern, dynamic and competitive economy in Scotland, and we should not have to justify the case for lower taxation. It should be for the SNP Government to explain why it has made Scotland the highest-taxed part of the United Kingdom. There is an economic and moral case for low taxation, but the SNP cannot see it. All things being equal, lower taxes should deliver increased growth and higher living standards but, sadly, both are absent in the SNP’s big-state Scotland.”
“There is a bit of time in hand if the member wishes to give way to the First Minister. Craig Hoy: If there is a bit of time, I will give way to Mr Swinney. The First Minister: What will Mr Hoy say to his constituents—his elderly constituents—when he explains that he is going to vote today against the restoration of a winter fuel payment? What will he say to his constituents about that betrayal? Craig Hoy: I will be very clear that it was the SNP and Labour who took that away from them and are now only partially restoring it. Those are not just my warnings. The budget ignores deep-seated problems in the structure and sustainability of Scotland’s public finances. Audit Scotland has expressed misgivings about the failure to deliver the radical modernisation that our public services urgently need.”
“The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-16239, in the name of Kenneth Gibson, on behalf of the Finance and Public Administration Committee, on the Scottish budget 2025-26. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak button. I call Kenneth Gibson to speak to and move the motion on behalf of the committee. 14:57”
“The next item of business is a statement by Angus Robertson on Creative Scotland multiyear funding. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. 14:26”
“Good afternoon. The next item of business this afternoon is portfolio question time, and the portfolio today is education and skills. As ever, I would appreciate succinct questions, with responses to match, to get in as many members as possible. Supply Teachers 1.”
“Motion debated, That the Parliament recognises that 27 January 2025 will mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD); understands that the Holocaust was the brutal, barbaric and inhumane murder of six million Jewish men, women and children from 1941 to 1945 in concentration and death camps, mass shootings and ghettos; acknowledges that HMD takes places on 27 January each year as the date represents the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was the largest concentration camp; notes that the official theme for HMD 2025 is “For a better future”; recognises that there are many actions that people can take to make a contribution towards achieving a better future for all, such as confronting prejudice, reinforcing the importance of learning about both the Holocaust and the more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, and challenging Holocaust denial, distortion and trivialisation whenever such narratives arise; acknowledges that 2025 marks both 80 years since Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated and the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia; accepts that the Holocaust is an incredibly dark chapter in human history, and considers that HMD is a crucially important event in the annual calendar, which aims to highlight why its lessons can never be forgotten and why a zero tolerance approach must always be taken against antisemitism and all forms of prejudice.”
“The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-16002, in the name of Jackson Carlaw, on Holocaust memorial day 2025: “For a better future”. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.”
“Patients deserve better, but all that they get from the SNP Government at the moment is deflection, dithering and denial. They need a health service that delivers for them day in, day out. Under the SNP for the past 18 years, it has not done so. It must and needs to get better. 16:00”
“I ask you to resume your seat, Mr Ross. Knowing the procedures of the Parliament very well, as you do, you will be aware that, while challenges to opinions and the accuracy of facts are perfectly in order, the chair will not tolerate an accusation that a fellow member has been deliberately untruthful or has knowingly misled the Parliament. I just put that out there; I hope that you were not intending to do either of those things. Douglas Ross: I genuinely did not intend to do that. If I did so, I apologise. Neil Gray corrected the record, and the point that I was trying to make is that the question is whether he did so as soon as he became aware. He has chosen not to set the record straight in the chamber today. I think that he will have to at some point.”
“Good afternoon. The first item of business is portfolio questions, and the first portfolio is constitution, external affairs and culture and parliamentary business. As ever, in order to get in as many members as possible, I would appreciate succinct questions, and answers to match. Historic Sites (Reopening) 1.”
“The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-16237, in the name of Neil Gray, on investing in public services through the Scottish budget. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons. 15:03”
“I assure the member that I will take that matter to the energy companies, Fife and other local authorities, because we have many park home residential sites across the country that are, by and large, populated by people who are over 55 and who are sometimes quite elderly or in the latter stages of their lives. Those communities are unique, so we must ensure that they are served and protected and that they are appropriately registered with utility companies via the property services register.”
“Some 80, mostly elderly, people living in Fordell Gardens in my Cowdenbeath constituency were left without information or support for more than two days after they lost power on Friday. As park home residents, with a unique contractual status, they were simply abandoned. Will the cabinet secretary agree to take that up with SP Energy Networks and with Fife Council to ensure such a Dickensian approach to people in need does not happen again? Angela Constance: Like other members, I am well aware of the arrangements for the operation of park homes and of some of the particular challenges that park home residents experience.”
“Members will be aware that the Presiding Officer is required, under standing orders, to decide whether, in her view, any provision of a bill relates to a protected subject matter—that is, whether it modifies the electoral system and franchise for Scottish parliamentary elections. In the Presiding Officer’s view, no provision of the Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill relates to a protected subject matter; therefore, the bill does not require a supermajority to be passed at stage 3. The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-16120, in the name of Christine Grahame, on the Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill at stage 3. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak button. I call Christine Grahame to speak to and move the motion. 17:23”
“The question is, that amendment 5 be agreed to. Are we agreed? Members: No. The Deputy Presiding Officer: There will be a division. The vote is closed.”
“The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-16171, in the name of Douglas Lumsden, on ensuring that communities are at the heart of the electricity consenting process. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons, and I advise them that there is no time in hand. 16:01”
“Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions, and the first portfolio is rural affairs, land reform and islands. As ever, I would appreciate succinct questions and answers to match, in order to get as many members in as possible. Cattle Levels (Impact on Beef Supply) 1.”
“Motion debated, That the Parliament welcomes the European Showmen’s Union (ESU) to Edinburgh for its 43rd national congress from 21 to 23 January 2025; understands the event will bring together delegates from 17 countries to celebrate the ties between The Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain and its European counterparts to discuss current topics, such as safeguarding the industry and the preservation and promotion of European fairgrounds, and to promote friendly cooperation and international understanding; notes that the international industry meeting, which takes place every two years, is being held in Britain for the first time; further notes that the ESU was founded to promote cooperation between the member countries and to create a common voice for the fairground industry and the future of the fairgrounds as a cultural asset; understands that it is one of the oldest European professional organisations, with over 70,000 members; believes that hosting the Congress in Edinburgh will provide an excellent opportunity to showcase Scotland’s rich heritage and the history of Scotland’s showpeople communities, highlighting their contributions to European and international cultural exchanges, and commends the ESU for what it sees as its continued commitment to supporting the livelihoods of showmen and showwomen and ensuring that their voices are represented in policy discussions at all levels.”
“The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-16016, in the name of David Torrance, on the European Showmen’s Union congress 2025. The debate will be concluded without any question being put. I ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons.”
“In my home area of Moray, 6,240 are affected. That situation is replicated in every local authority across Scotland and in every one of our constituencies and regions. That is why the issue is important and why we have determined campaigners in our public gallery today who are continuing to take the fight to the UK Government so that it will deliver. Another point that I took from the Age Scotland briefing was that it suggests that the PHSO report offered a glimmer of hope that a resolution would finally be delivered. Sadly, the UK Labour Government has, so far, extinguished that glimmer of hope. We can reignite that hope tonight if Parliament unites behind the motion to send the strongest possible message to UK Labour Government ministers in Westminster that they need to reconsider and offer compensation—and quickly. 15:10”
“Thank you, Mr O’Kane. I think that you have made your point. Douglas Ross: It is a statement of fact that Labour wants to be congratulated for apologising and accepting that there was maladministration. It might be congratulated if it did what the PHSO said it should do and paid that compensation. In my final moments, I will mention the excellent Age Scotland briefing for Kenneth Gibson’s debate. As the cabinet secretary did in her opening remarks, the briefing says that 336,000 women in Scotland are affected by the issue. I looked at the local council areas in my Highlands and Islands region. In the Western Isles, 1,890 women are affected; in Orkney, 1,520 are affected; in Shetland, 1,380 are affected; in Argyll and Bute, 6,670 are affected. Across the Highland Council region, 16,430 are affected.”
“The next item of business is a statement by Kate Forbes on the Scottish Government’s response to the United Kingdom Covid-19 inquiry module 1 report. The Deputy First Minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. 14:28”
“The next item of business is portfolio question time and the portfolio is net zero and energy, and transport. Rail Services (Trains Between Fife and Edinburgh) 1.”
“The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-15947, in the name of Kenneth Gibson, on compensation for the WASPI women. The debate will be concluded without any question being put. Motion debated, That the Parliament notes the belief that women born in the 1950s, also known as the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI), who were not properly informed of the rise in their state pension age, thousands of whom are in the Cunninghame North constituency, should be compensated by the UK Government. 17:55”
“Section 2—Code of ethics The Deputy Presiding Officer: Group 1 is on the code of ethics. Amendment 10, in the name of Katy Clark, is grouped with amendments 11 and 4.”
“The next item of business is stage 3 proceedings on the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill. In dealing with the amendments, members should have the bill as amended at stage 2—that is, SP bill 29A—the marshalled list and the groupings of amendments. The division bell will sound and proceedings will be suspended for around five minutes for the first division at stage 3. The period of voting for the first division will be 45 seconds. Thereafter, I will allow a voting period of one minute for the first division after a debate. Members who wish to speak in the debate on any group of amendments should press their request-to-speak button or enter the letters RTS in the chat function as soon as possible after I call the group. Members should now refer to the marshalled list of amendments.”
“Motion moved, That the Parliament agrees that, during stage 3 of the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill, debate on groups of amendments shall, subject to Rule 9.8.4A, be brought to a conclusion by the time limits indicated, those time limits being calculated from when the stage begins and excluding any periods when other business is under consideration or when a meeting of the Parliament is suspended (other than a suspension following the first division in the stage being called) or otherwise not in progress: Groups 1 to 3: 1 hour 15 minutes Groups 4 to 6: 1 hour 40 minutes Groups 7 and 8: 1 hour 50 minutes.—[Jamie Hepburn] Motion agreed to. Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 14:52”
“The next item of business is consideration of business motion S6M-16102, in the name of Jamie Hepburn, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, on a stage 3 timetable for the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill.”
“To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the performance of enterprise agencies in supporting business growth and inward investment. (S6O-04186)”
“Ms Gosal, you need to conclude. Pam Gosal: In closing— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Ms Gosal, you are already over your time. Please bring your remarks to a close. Pam Gosal: The culture sector plays a key role in making Scotland a vibrant place. I look forward to hearing the cabinet secretary’s response to the concerns that I have raised. The Deputy Presiding Officer: Thank you, Ms Gosal. We have no time in hand, as I have already made quite clear. 15:54”
“The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-16034, in the name of Kaukab Stewart, on building a migration system that supports Scotland’s economy, public services and communities. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons. I call Tom Arthur to speak to and move the motion, for up to 12 minutes. 15:00”
“Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio question time. As ever, I would appreciate succinct questions and answers, in order to get in as many members as possible. Higher History 2024 1.”
“Motion debated, That the Parliament recognises what it sees as the importance of enhancing connectivity for communities, economic empowerment and Scotland’s global competitiveness; welcomes the reported ambition of Edinburgh Airport in seeking US preclearance status to streamline international travel and support economic growth; notes the view that there is a pressing need to address reported current access congestion by creating a second entry via Gogar, to ensure that the airport remains accessible and fit for purpose; further notes the view that it is urgent to ensure that Glasgow, as a major city, is not left behind due to a lack of an integrated and efficient transport system; notes the calls for strategic investment in developing port infrastructure in Dundee, Aberdeen, Gourock and Leith to enhance maritime connectivity and economic opportunities; further notes the view that there is a need to upgrade major road routes, including addressing critical safety and capacity issues on the A9 in the Highlands, and notes the calls for the Scottish Government to prioritise sustainable and inclusive infrastructure development that connects Scotland internally and to the world, supporting growth and opportunity for all.”
“I ask members who are leaving the chamber and our visitors who are leaving the gallery to please do so quickly and quietly as we move on to the next item of business. Thank you for your co-operation. The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-15883, in the name of Ash Regan, on expanding Scotland’s connectivity from Edinburgh and beyond. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.”
“Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions. The first portfolio is constitution, external affairs and culture, and parliamentary business. Music Venues 1.”
“The final item of business this evening is a members’ business debate on motion S6M- 13791, in the name of Foysol Choudhury, on the importance of medical technology for patients with diabetes. Motion debated, That the Parliament recognises what it sees as the vital importance of medical technology, especially real-time continuous glucose monitoring (rt-CGM), for patients with diabetes; notes the Stanford University study that highlighted that type 1 diabetics, and those who use insulin to manage their condition, make about 180 more decisions each day about their health than those without diabetes, and that access to diabetes technology helps to reduce this burden; welcomes the recent SIGN guidance to improve the accessibility of such technology to patients via NHS Scotland; understands that many patients are not able to access rt-CGM or are being forced to switch to a product less suitable for their needs; is concerned about the impact that changes to product use and a lack of access to medical technology is having on patients and the potential impact on diabetes complications; recognises what it sees as the value of sustainable multi-year funding and lifecycle cost benefit analysis in diabetes care, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government to consider what action can be taken to protect patients, including those in the Lothian region, and maximise the availability of cost-saving medical technology.”
“The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-16003, in the name of John Swinney, on tackling child poverty and inequality through the Scottish budget. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to- speak buttons, and I call the First Minister to speak to and move the motion. 15:01”