John Swinney
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“Since the report from several years ago was published, the Government has presided over the passage of legislation to rationalise that area of activity. Work is under way to transfer the responsibility for the funding of further education student support from the Scottish Funding Council to the Student Awards Agency Scotland.”
“I appreciate the urgency of the general policy elements of the question, because a number of applications are now being considered by planning authorities. My view is that, given the concerns that have been expressed by planning authorities, the Government has to be responsive to the issue.”
“For as long as we do not have a proper strategy on prison capacity, rehabilitation and clearing the court backlog, early release will be a revolving door, with people going in, coming out and going back into our prisons. Our justice system is in crisis, so we need a strategy.”
“I associate myself unreservedly Mr Cole-Hamilton’s comments about the feelings in the Muslim community. On Monday, I visited the Broomhouse mosque along with Simita Kumar and the Annandale Street mosque in Edinburgh with Ben Macpherson.”
“The development of further guidance will be undertaken in a manner consistent with the ruling by Lady Ross. Malcolm Offord: I thank the First Minister for his answer, which was more comprehensive than I expected.”
“I am a huge supporter of apprenticeship programmes. With foundation apprenticeships and graduate apprenticeships, the Government has brought forward important reforms that create new and successful pathways for young people. I am determined to make sure that every young person has that desirable pathway for their future.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,608 lines we hold for John Swinney, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 23 of 53.
“The procurement process for the replacement of MV Lord of the Isles engages complex legal and subsidy control issues. Any decision must take into account the responsibility that we have to secure the best outcomes for our island communities and businesses. We are currently considering the business case and next steps in relation to MV Lord of the Isles replacement and we will confirm those in due course. Stuart McMillan: The presence of Ferguson Marine and its workforce is important to my constituency. The only way that that presence can continue is by ensuring that the yard has a strong order book. Making the yard efficient and effective and winning new orders is the responsibility of the new interim chair and management team, who are supported by the Scottish Government in those endeavours.”
“Just on Tuesday evening, we saw another serious accident at Ralia, which left one passenger in a critical condition in hospital and closed the road for hours. What guarantee can the First Minister give us that there will be no more delays in delivering this vital project? The First Minister: I was very sorry to hear about the incident on Tuesday evening at Ralia, and I express my good wishes to the individual, who I understand is in a critical condition as a consequence. We hope for their full recovery. As I said in my earlier answer, the Government remains committed to completing the dualling programme by the end of 2035, and the necessary funding will be in place to do that.”
“The Government remains committed to completing the dualling programme by the end of 2035, and the necessary funding will be in place to do so. Murdo Fraser: This week, The Scotsman reported that ministers were expected to reject private funding under the mutual investment model, which had been planned for further sections of the A9 dualling project, even though that has been utilised for two sections that are progressing. That raises real concerns about whether this vital scheme can progress, given the constraints on capital funding in the Scottish Government’s budget. A9 dualling has already been delayed 10 years from the original planned completion date of 2025, and any further delays will cost more lives needlessly.”
“Some £2 million of that, announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, will help families in temporary accommodation to secure homes in the private rented sector. That is part of our mission to eradicate child poverty. On the question of local housing allowances, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice has been calling for an end to the freeze as part of the UK child poverty strategy, which is a move that would help to lift more families out of poverty. A9 Dualling Project (Funding) 5.”
“Meanwhile, the Resolution Foundation predicts that the affordability gap, which is currently bigger than when the Conservative Government increased the local housing allowance in 2020, will rise to 25 per cent by 2029-30, unless the UK Government intervenes. That amounts to £180 a month for hard-pressed families. While Labour continues to make lives harder for the most vulnerable, can the First Minister tell us more about the steps that the Scottish Government is taking across housing to further its ambition of eradicating child poverty? The First Minister: The warnings from the Resolution Foundation are deeply troubling. The Scottish Government is investing more than £100 million in discretionary housing payments this year to offset UK Government welfare cuts.”
“It is disappointing that the UK Government’s budget contained no commitment to end the freeze on local housing allowance. Next year will be the second year of the freeze and it will be three years since the local housing allowance was last uprated. The Resolution Foundation has warned that next year, the gap between real-world rents and housing support will be the biggest on record. Paul McLennan: The chancellor spoke about tackling child poverty, yet she failed to restore local housing allowance rates. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimated that 20,000 private renters, including 10,000 children, will be pushed into poverty in 2025-26 as a direct result of the policy.”
“Indeed, in the past two weeks, there has been an increase of 70 per cent in flu admissions to hospital as a consequence of the gravity of the condition, despite the high performance of flu vaccinations that are currently under way. The Government is taking forward a range of interventions to ensure that we are working to reduce demand in A and E services, so that individuals such as Isabel and Martin Knights can be supported in the way that I would expect them to be. Local Housing Allowance (Impact of Freeze on Poverty Levels) 4.”
“We work with local authority partners to ensure that we further reduce delayed discharge in order to support accident and emergency, and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is actively pursuing that on my behalf this week. The second issue is the case load that presents at A and E. In that respect, we have taken forward work to put in place frailty units that will enable us to support frail patients more actively and in a more supportive environment than the mainstream of A and E, where there can be some acute and challenging circumstances. The third factor is the prevalence of individual health conditions. As members of the Parliament will know, we are seeing an early and significant upsurge in the prevalence of flu, which is resulting in significant presentations at our hospitals.”
“Let us put it into perspective: when the Scottish National Party first came into power, in a single month, only a handful of people ever waited more than 12 hours in accident and emergency—it hardly ever happened. Despite the best efforts of staff, the figure has increased by 63,000 per cent. Does the experience of Isobel and Martyn not show how mistakes can be made and patients can be put in danger because accident and emergency is overwhelmed on the SNP’s watch? The First Minister: A range of different factors will affect the circumstances in any accident and emergency department at any given time. Some of them will be about whole-system challenges, such as delayed discharge, where hospitals are so congested that it is difficult to ensure that patients can be transferred from A and E into routine wards in a timely manner.”
“First, I am very sorry to hear of the details of the experience of Isobel and Martyn Knights. I am happy to explore the exact circumstances of the case that Mr Cole-Hamilton has put to me. The purpose and focus of accident and emergency is to provide immediate intervention for those who are in the gravest of conditions, and it is my expectation that that should happen in all circumstances. Alex Cole-Hamilton: Martyn and Isobel are absolutely clear: they are not having a go at the hard-working staff who looked exhausted that day in A and E. Emergency departments are backed up because hospitals are rammed and because there are so many people who are stuck there who should be in care homes or being looked after at home. That is what the Auditor General told us this morning.”
“Why is John Swinney doing what even Margaret Thatcher failed to do, which is to privatise healthcare in Scotland? The First Minister: It is interesting that Mr Sarwar has shifted the ground of his argument on private treatment. Some months ago, Mr Sarwar put to me a figure that was a much more significant accusation on the amount of private treatment that was under way. I cannot remember the exact proportion, but it was of the order of something like one in six of the population, which was absolutely a ludicrously nonsensical figure. Mr Sarwar has changed his ground. Let me give Mr Sarwar some reassurance about what is happening about long waits. Between April and October this year—[Interruption.]”
“Anas Sarwar: The NHS needs to recover from John Swinney and the Scottish National Party. That is the problem that we have across the country. His predecessor promised to end waits of more than a year by September 2024—he failed. John Swinney has promised to end waits of more than a year by March 2026, but, right now, more than 11,000 patients have been waiting for more than two years. What is the result? Figures published this week show that a record number of patients are being forced to go private, with 13,455 private admissions between April and June this year. People in pain are being forced to remortgage their homes and spend life savings to get the treatment that they need. The founding principles of our NHS—that it is free and available at the point of need—are being destroyed by the SNP.”
“Anybody who observes these exchanges at First Minister’s question time will understand that I am the first to accept that there are challenges in ensuring that the NHS recovers from the disruption of the two years of the Covid pandemic. I accept that that challenge exists, but significant progress is being made. For example, the number of planned and performed operations in Scotland represents the highest level since January 2020, before the pandemic. In the 12 months to October 2025, 297,014 operations were planned, which is a 4.5 per cent increase from the previous 12 months, and 271,328 operations were performed, which is an increase of 4.6 per cent. That demonstrates that, although there are challenges, progress has been made, and the plans that I have put in place to focus on long waits are beginning to take effect.”
“That gives me confidence that we are going about the process in a serious and detailed fashion, to ensure that the perspective of victims is properly addressed as we consider this significant and serious issue. “NHS in Scotland 2025: Finance and performance” 2.”
“They are the Care Inspectorate, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. It is really important that I, as First Minister, make it clear, openly to the public in Scotland, that I have absolute confidence in the independent decision making and scrutiny of those organisations, because that is vital for public confidence. In recent weeks, we have seen reports from Healthcare Improvement Scotland that have challenged and been very critical of health boards in this country. That is because HIS is exercising independent and fearless scrutiny, as will Professor Alexis Jay as the independent chair of the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group.”
“They deserve answers and justice, and that can be achieved only by a free, fearless and independent inquiry. Why on earth cannot John Swinney see that? The First Minister: I recognise the significance and seriousness of the issue. It has been treated as such by my Government, which is why we have taken careful steps to do all the explanatory and investigative work and come to the right conclusion about whether an inquiry of the nature that Mr Findlay put to Parliament yesterday is appropriate and necessary. Mr Findlay said that a collection of different organisations are marking their own homework. The organisations that I referred to were set up by statute and have to operate independently of Government. That is what the law requires of them.”
“Russell Findlay: It sounds as though the justice secretary will not have responsibility for a review into mass organised criminality, but the First Minister suggests that there is nothing unusual about that. The Scottish National Party has been shamed into launching a grooming gangs review, but it is a review that victims believe will mean public bodies marking their own homework and the Government controlling the findings. We still do not know whether the justice secretary, who did not want the review to happen and who dishonestly twisted the words of an academic and misled victims and the Parliament, will be in charge of the review. All of that is why a review simply is not good enough and an independent inquiry is necessary. Victims do not trust Angela Constance, the SNP or the authorities that have already failed them.”
“Has John Swinney, too, realised that she cannot possibly oversee that review—and does that not show that he, too, has lost confidence in his own justice secretary? The First Minister: No—that is not the case. The reason why the education secretary made that announcement yesterday is that she carries Cabinet responsibility for child protection issues, of which all that material is comprised. On Tuesday, the education secretary led the discussion at Cabinet, which involved all Cabinet colleagues, including the justice secretary, about the steps that the Government is taking, which I set out to Parliament last week in response to a question from Pam Gosal. All of that is the responsibility of the Government, and it is led by the education secretary. I have set out to Parliament the steps that we are taking.”
“Russell Findlay: John Swinney says that he is satisfied, but victims have no faith in this Government and no faith in this justice secretary. The mother of Taylor, who was gang raped as a child in care, told me that there is “no substance to anything that Angela Constance says” and that “she cannot oversee anything.” I wonder whether the First Minister has concluded the same thing in private. Yesterday’s announcement of a grooming gangs review was made not by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs but by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. It looks as if the responsibility for that inquiry and for the decisions made on its findings will not be held by Angela Constance.”
“John Swinney: I am satisfied with the way in which these matters have been conducted. I am also satisfied with the steps that the Government set out yesterday to the Parliament, which are that there will be an independent national review of the response to group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation in Scotland, led by the Care Inspectorate, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. I welcome the fact that Professor Alexis Jay has been appointed as the independent chair for the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group. All of that work will be drawn together and assessed independently, further advice will come to ministers and the Parliament will be updated.”
“The justice secretary misrepresented Professor Jay, she misled the Parliament and she misled the public—and then she went absent without leave. On 19 November, she was not here to answer urgent questions about her misrepresentation. On 25 November, she put up a junior minister to answer urgent questions on the lack of knowledge about grooming gangs in Scotland. On 26 November, again, she sat here in silence when we challenged her failure to answer questions. Yesterday, the justice secretary finally broke her silence, but she made no apology and did not accept any wrongdoing whatsoever. The misleading of Parliament must be investigated by the independent advisers on the ministerial code. Will John Swinney support an investigation, and, if it finds against the justice secretary, will he sack her?”
“Yes, I do. It was a reflection of the general comment that was being made about the issues at the time. As Mr Findlay knows, the Government was looking at a range of different issues in relation to the examination of the issue of childhood sexual abuse—which is building on the work that we have already undertaken in establishing the inquiry into those issues that is chaired by Lady Smith. In the debate on the issue yesterday, the Government set out further steps that we are taking. I welcome the participation of Professor Alexis Jay in the work that the Government is taking forward. Russell Findlay: Absolutely incredible. At no point did Professor Jay say that there should be no further inquiries into grooming gangs in Scotland.”
“The next item of business is a members’ business debate in the name of Jackson Carlaw. There will be a short suspension to allow those who are leaving the chamber and the public gallery to do so. 12:46 Meeting suspended. 12:48 On resuming— Congestion Charging and Clyde Tunnel Toll (Glasgow)”
“I warmly recommit the Government to achieving that objective by 2030. As Mr Greene states fairly, the operational plans that are being delivered to achieve that are on track and good progress is being made. However, we have to sustain that focus to make sure that we can achieve that objective. It is part of a global effort and we will succeed in that effort only if we start by addressing the issues here. The other point that I would add is that we must also tackle stigma. There is still too much stigma around HIV and, as a tolerant, respectful and courteous society, we should do all that we can to eliminate that as we work together to achieve the objectives that Mr Greene has put to me. The Presiding Officer: That concludes First Minister’s question time.”
“Jackie Baillie knows that my public position—this is a personal position and not the Government’s—is that I am opposed to assisted dying legislation, and I do not think that it is appropriate for the issues of palliative care and assisted dying to be in any way connected. They are separate issues. The right to palliative care for individuals in our society is absolute, and we should do all that we can to support the sector. The Government will certainly do all that it can in that respect.”
“I am very sympathetic to the point about hospice costs. In July this year, £5 million of funding was distributed to support independent hospices to deliver pay parity for clinical staff with their NHS counterparts—that is the Government intervening to do exactly that. What is difficult for hospices is when they get surprises, such as employer national insurance contribution increases, because those put up the costs of employment. Jackie Baillie raised with me the financial pressures, and, bluntly, that is where some of the financial pressures are coming from. I very much want to do all that we can to support the hospice movement, for which I have enormous respect. The issues in relation to hospice care and palliative care are central to the human rights of individuals in our society.”
“The purpose of the review reports that have been undertaken for every maternity service in the country is to ensure that practices are actively challenged so that they can be improved. That is what is under way, and that is why the Forth Valley service has been inspected. It is, I think, the third inspection that has been undertaken. If we consider the example of Tayside, which was the first investigation, we can see that many of the recommendations that were made in relation to the services there have now been implemented, and that will be the position in Forth Valley. Hospice”
“As I have already indicated, I am deeply disappointed that the energy profits levy remains in place. It is deeply damaging to the prospects for employment and opportunity in the north-east of Scotland. The Scottish Government is putting in place support to the tune of more than £120 million through our just transition and energy transition funds, which has been invested in the north-east to support the region’s transition. We will continue to be steadfast supporters of the transition in the north-east, supporting the communities as they face a very challenging situation that has been made worse by the preservation of the energy profits levy. Maternity Services (Forth Valley)”
“I have not seen that correspondence yet, but I will ask my office to put it to me when I return after First Minister’s question time. I will look at the case and see what I can do. Rhoda Grant makes a completely reasonable and understandable point. Given ophthalmology waiting lists, more optometrists might be quite handy, so I will have a look at the issue and do what I can to help. Energy Profits Levy (Impact in North-east Scotland)”
“I do not know what they will do this year, but I encourage the Parliament to come to considered conclusions about the priorities in the budget, and the Government will be willing to engage with members on that question. University”
“I have received correspondence from a number of sports organisations on that important question. I acknowledge the centrality of Mr Whittle’s points and the necessity of investment. The Government is investing £46.43 million in the sport and active living budget. We are operating in constrained financial circumstances, but we will do all that we can to boost the funding that is available for sport. I do not want to sour these exchanges, but I point out to Mr Whittle that his party leader has just demanded that I use £150 million for a tax cut. Brian Whittle: Spend to save. The First Minister: Mr Whittle is shouting “spend to save” at me, but the money has to be available to spend in the first place. That comes about through constructive engagement on the budget. The Conservatives voted against the budget last year.”
“I recognise that the industry is operating in a challenging environment, and the Scottish Government will support it in any way that it can.”
“The issues that Mr MacDonald raises are very important and significant. Calls for the disparity in alcohol duty to be addressed in the budget went unheard. There will now be a rise in duty rates amounting to 18 per cent over three years. The Scotch whisky industry is an important sector to the Scottish economy. As Mr MacDonald will be aware, I worked assiduously over the summer to try to resolve another issue that is presenting challenges to the Scotch whisky industry—the tariffs applied by the United States. I await the outcome of the United Kingdom Government’s approach to that issue. I am becoming increasingly concerned that no solution has been offered, despite the hard work that has been done on the issue.”
“Scottish Enterprise has a lot to contribute to the process, with many projects emerging from the work that has been undertaken on a preparatory basis in Grangemouth. That full intelligence will be available to the group at Mossmorran. I recognise that there will be resource implications, given all that is involved, and the Government will consider those as part of our budget process. The Presiding Officer: We move to constituency and general supplementary questions. Concise questions and responses give more members a chance to take part. Scotch”
“Does the First Minister accept that, in order to address the impact of the closure, we must see substantial investment from both the UK and Scottish Governments? The First Minister: Presiding Officer, let me correct what I said. I referred to Monday when, in fact, the meeting was on Tuesday. Regardless, I welcomed Mr Rowley’s participation in that discussion. I confirm to Mr Rowley that the Scottish Government will be an active and critical player in the response at Mossmorran. Mr Rowley and I have worked together for long enough to remember our engagement on issues relating to previous industrial closures in the Fife communities that he has championed. We will have that again in this case, and we will work collaboratively with Fife Council.”
“I welcome Mr Rowley’s participation in the discussions on Monday. Alex Rowley: I acknowledge the hard work and professionalism shown by the Deputy First Minister in mobilising the key stakeholders that will be required to begin dealing with the impact of the announcement. On Tuesday, at Fife College, I attended a meeting at which ExxonMobil was very clear that the feed to the site will be shut off in February and that the closure will go ahead as announced. Although Fife Council will chair the task force that is being set up, does the First Minister acknowledge that, if we are to achieve a new industrial future at Mossmorran that will create significant opportunities in skills and employment, the Scottish Government will have to play a major role in co-ordinating that response?”
“I reiterate my deep disappointment and concern at that decision, and I assure the workforce at the Fife ethylene plant that the Scottish Government is committed to doing whatever it can to safeguard jobs there and to secure an industrial future for the site. The Deputy First Minister has engaged extensively with all who have an interest in supporting the workforce and the local economy at Mossmorran, including the trade unions, workforce representatives, Fife Council and the United Kingdom Government, which holds the levers for industrial intervention at the scale that we have seen in England and Wales. We have also joined partners, including Fife Council, in calling for a pause to the closure, to ensure that all options to secure the industrial future of the site have been exhausted.”
“The national group met to review those issues yesterday, and I have personally conducted a discussion on them with Professor Alexis Jay. I hope that putting all those details on the record today will give Pam Gosal and colleagues in Parliament the confidence and assurance that the Government is looking in detail at all those questions. Nobody is putting their head in the sand. These matters are being looked at in detail. There are complexities around the interaction of the call that has been made for us on the issue with the child abuse inquiry that we have already statutorily established, so there are no straightforward ways through the issue. However, I assure Parliament that the Government is giving every serious consideration to this important issue.”
“We have already legislated on the issue through different measures—the Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Act 2025 is an example, as is the previous domestic abuse legislation—to strengthen the legislative position so that there is absolutely no tolerance of domestic violence in our society. The issue of grooming gangs is a very complex one, to which the Government is giving detailed consideration. On Monday, along with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and the Minister for Children, Young People and the Promise, I was briefed by Police Scotland and the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group on the prevalence of those issues in Scotland.”
“Will he do the right thing and also agree to a grooming gangs inquiry, so that we can uncover the true scale of the abuse of women and girls that is occurring in Scotland? The First Minister: Presiding Officer, Pam Gosal raises many serious issues, to which I would like to give substantial answers. First, I welcome the groups that are here. I commend them for their courage and for commemorating the 46 women who have been killed by men. Every single time a woman is killed by a man in our society, it is a totally unacceptable crime and it appals all of us, regardless of our politics. My second point is on the bill that Pam Gosal has introduced. The Government will engage constructively on the bill.”
“Behind every statistic is a real-life story of a woman whose future has been erased and whose family has been shattered. Shockingly, the statistics continue to rise. The latest figures show that almost 64,000 incidents of domestic abuse have been recorded by Police Scotland, while there has been an 11 per cent increase in the number of reported rape cases. Let us also not forget that there are grooming gangs operating in Scotland, although the Scottish National Party Government wants to believe that they are not a problem, so it sticks its head in the sand. Will the First Minister finally commit to backing my Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill, which will better monitor perpetrators and prevent potential victims from becoming victims in the first place?”
“Last Friday, I launched the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence in Perth city, in my constituency. Ministers will take part in a national leadership event, a vigil and a parliamentary debate and will visit local projects. Tackling gender-based violence is not a commitment for only 16 days, however; it is a commitment for 365 days a year. That is why we will continue to implement our equally safe strategy, which focuses on prevention and is backed by £21.6 million of expenditure for the current financial year. Pam Gosal: I welcome to the public gallery representatives from Women’s Rights Network Scotland and Beira’s Place, along with survivors of domestic abuse. Today, we held a vigil outside the Parliament, remembering the 46 women who have been killed by men in Scotland in the past five years.”
“Indeed, that good economic performance in Scotland was recognised by both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s in their assessments of Scotland’s credit rating. In addition, the decision not to abolish the energy profits levy will have disastrous consequences in the north-east of Scotland, and the Labour Party will have to own those consequences—we will make sure that it does. In relation to energy prices, individuals were promised a cut of £300 to their energy bills, but that is not happening under the”
“Does the First Minister agree with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce that the budget’s net effect will be to further dial up pressure on businesses, risking our reputation as a magnet for global investment? Does he share my concern that, while thousands of Scottish oil and gas jobs are at risk from Labour’s tax policy after this budget, energy bills next April will still cost £340 a year more per household than the Prime Minister promised a year ago, while UK unemployment has risen by 282,000 on Labour’s watch? The First Minister: On Mr Gibson’s last point about unemployment, that is now significantly lower in Scotland than it is in the rest of the United Kingdom. I welcome that indication of good performance in the Scottish economy.”
“As I indicated a moment ago, yesterday’s budget will have financial consequences for the Scottish Government’s budget. I welcome the decision to remove the two-child limit, which the Scottish Government was already planning to mitigate in March next year. There will, of course, be consequences for the public. Their energy bills will not be cut by the £300 that was proposed by the Labour Party. Energy bills will still be, on average, £340 a year higher than the Prime Minister promised that they would be. Kenneth Gibson: Yesterday’s United Kingdom Government budget came after weeks of chaos, dithering and U-turns by the chancellor, amid an on-going cost of living crisis, the downgrading of UK economic growth every year until 2029 and public finances being in a worse state now than when Labour came to power.”
“That just goes to demonstrate that, when it comes to industrial closures under a Labour Government in London, there is one rule for the rest of the United Kingdom and one rule for Scotland. Autumn Statement 4.”
“The agreement that was reached with Unite the Union was announced by me a few weeks ago, and I very much applaud the collaboration that Unite has engaged in. It has been a partner of the Government in dealing with the situation at Grangemouth and a partner of the Government in dealing with the situation at Mossmorran. I think that I picked up Mr Greer correctly as making the point that prior notice was given of the decision about Mossmorran, but I point out that it was not given to the Scottish Government—we had about a week’s notice. The United Kingdom Government knew about the situation for months, but it never sorted it, never fixed it, never addressed it and never intervened in the way that it did in Scunthorpe or any other situation in which it decided to intervene.”
“The Mossmorran workers have been abandoned by ExxonMobil and, despite knowing about the company’s plans to cut and run, yesterday’s Labour budget contained absolutely nothing for Mossmorran. Those workers have also been let down by a Scottish Government that, when push comes to shove, has no new ideas. The Scottish Greens have an idea that we want to put to the First Minister today. Grangemouth rightly has a just transition fund, and Unite the Union has ensured that, as a condition of getting any money from that fund, organisations must offer job interviews to anyone who was made redundant by Ineos. Will the Scottish Government now do the same for Mossmorran workers? The First Minister: Yes, I am happy to confirm that.”
“What the Government is doing is taking what we learned from the issues that we addressed in Grangemouth, where the just transition plan has resulted in a range of business development opportunities emerging, and applying that, in dialogue with the trade unions, interested parties, Fife Council, the United Kingdom Government and the company, to the future of Mossmorran. I very much regret the circumstances that the workers at Mossmorran face. The Deputy First Minister and the Scottish Government are working assiduously with all interested parties to deliver a future for those who are affected by the decision that has been taken about Mossmorran. Ross Greer: Would it not have been great if the Deputy First Minister had been able to attend the summits with the plan for jobs that her Government committed to write 18 months ago?”
“I will invest people’s money wisely in boosting public services and strengthening the economy, and I will leave Anas Sarwar to dream about what he might be able to do if he convinces the people of Scotland, whereas this Government is delivering for the people of Scotland. The Presiding Officer: Before we move to question 3, I remind members that people in the gallery would like to be able to follow proceedings. Just Transition Plan (Mossmorran) 3.”