Mark Ruskell
Scottish Green Party · Scotland
“I move amendment S7M-00434.3, to insert at end: “; recognises that, despite a media backlash, a majority of the public continues to back strong climate action, especially young people; further recognises that local communities and workers must have a meaningful participatory role in developing and implementing local climate action, with t…”
“I move, That the Parliament recognises that climate change constitutes an emergency; supports the goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius; notes the consequences of climate change that are currently impacting populations and places around the world; condemns any spread of misinformation about and denial of the impacts of clima…”
“Mark Ruskell was right to point out that we need a just transition, as we do not want to replicate the mistakes of the 1980s. However, we need action on electricity prices.”
“We cannot cut ourselves off from the impacts of global climate change, as Reform would want us to do, just as we cannot opt out of global action by pretending that Scotland does not have huge advantages over other countries when it comes to reducing emissions.”
“A study that was commissioned by the Institute for Public Policy Research a couple of months ago showed that 62 per cent of the UK public back strong climate action, and individual policies such as traffic reduction measures, frequent flyer taxes and low- carbon home heating remain popular.”
“We need to accelerate that action, because as we do so, we will build market certainty and create new markets that will provide new jobs and boost businesses. I think that I have made quite a lot of mention of the amount of GVA that it is bringing to Scotland.”
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“To ask the Scottish Government what national assessment it has made of the climate impact associated with hyperscale AI green data centres. (S7O-00110)”
“I move amendment S7M-00434.3, to insert at end: “; recognises that, despite a media backlash, a majority of the public continues to back strong climate action, especially young people; further recognises that local communities and workers must have a meaningful participatory role in developing and implementing local climate action, with the costs spread fairly across society; recognises that the latest Scottish Greenhouse Gas statistics indicate that progress to reduce emissions has flatlined in key sectors including agriculture, buildings and transport; believes that there must be no drilling of new fossil fuels reserves, in line with advice from the International Energy Agency; considers the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan to be undermined by a significant reliance on as-yet unproven technological solutions, including carbon capture and storage, and that the Scottish Government must develop an alternative pathway to meeting its net zero targets.” 16:19”
“It will need every cabinet secretary not just to mention climate change from time to time in speeches but to climate proof every budget and programme, to prioritise long-term thinking and to take risks. If the Government does that, it will have a majority for climate action here in the Parliament, along with the Scottish Greens. If it does not, it will be letting down future generations and they will suffer the consequences.”
“We cannot cut ourselves off from the impacts of global climate change, as Reform would want us to do, just as we cannot opt out of global action by pretending that Scotland does not have huge advantages over other countries when it comes to reducing emissions. In a world where every country will face challenges, it is no advantage at all for Scotland to be in the slow lane, but there is every advantage in being among the first movers. I welcome the cabinet secretary’s focus on delivery in this session, because we have spent too long debating targets without taking action. The climate change plan sets out a pathway, but it does not commit to detailed programmes that can be felt positively by everybody. Success or failure will come down to the political will of the whole Government to lead and to support sectors to deliver.”
“I have said that hitching our hopes to unproven technology such as carbon capture and storage is a huge gamble because, if those technologies do not materialise, sectors such as land use and transport will face more pressure to reduce emissions even faster. I have also said that ignoring simple programmes to make homes cosier and cheaper or to radically improve our public transport represents a real missed opportunity. We have made some progress, but the Government must show that it is ready for the challenges of 2050, rather than for those of 2007. If that does not happen, failure will come at a high cost.”
“They are also hungry for the opportunities and new jobs that can come from engineering a better future and from having a wellbeing economy that reinvests wealth in community, caring and nature. That generation of young people is also the first whose prospects look worse than those of the generation that came before, so it is no wonder that they are angry and disheartened. They have heard so many promises, but they have been let down time and time again. They deserve so much better. I have stood here countless times and reminded the Government of the challenges that we face. I have said that we are behind on delivering climate action and will face a desperate race to catch up in the decades ahead.”
“That is why there is a record number of Green MSPs, why the former First Minister’s constituency is now a Green seat and why, for the first time, there is Green representation in every region of Scotland. That generation is the future of Scotland and of our politics, and it is a generation that cares about what is coming in 2050. If political parties also want to have a future, they need to listen, because the members of that generation see the worsening extremes of weather, the displacement of people around the world and the wars that are coming due to shortages of water, food and oil, and they are anxious about what kind of world they will raise their own children in.”
“Mark Ruskell: That is good to hear, because we must begin this session of the Scottish Parliament with a degree of consensus. The point that I am making is that the fact that the media are effectively driving climate change denial is a real concern, because there is really strong public support for the solutions that work. There is a real risk that political caution will leave us more vulnerable to climate change while failing to secure the benefits of action for people and for the economy. The Holyrood Government really needs to listen to what the electorate told it during the elections, when those who are aged under 30 voted overwhelmingly for the Scottish Green Party—a party that puts climate action first.”
“I was slightly taken aback by Claire Baker’s comment at the beginning of her speech, when she seemed to make the point that the consensus among the public for climate action has gone away. I do not think that it has. It is political caution that will leave us more vulnerable to climate change. Claire Baker: I do not want to be misrepresented. I have evidence that the public strongly support climate action, but the general discourse around climate has become far more divisive since I last had this portfolio. Certain voices are amplified through social media channels in particular, which may overstate their views and make them seem more than they are, but I accept that the public are largely in favour of action in the area.”
“A study that was commissioned by the Institute for Public Policy Research a couple of months ago showed that 62 per cent of the UK public back strong climate action, and individual policies such as traffic reduction measures, frequent flyer taxes and low- carbon home heating remain popular. The same study showed that 54 per cent of people believe that the best way to secure energy security is to expand renewable energy, not to double down on oil and gas production. Despite what some politicians might dream of, we cannot wind the clock back to the 1970s. The trajectory, with or without new fields such as Rosebank, is decline. Transition must accelerate to protect jobs from a cliff edge and to protect our energy security. There is clearly a gulf between what politicians believe is public opinion and what it really is.”
“Transition has often been unplanned, and economic and community benefits have not reached their full potential. The next half of the journey must be better and fairer: workers and communities must be taken on the journey, and we must protect people from cost of living shocks while delivering benefits for our health and our environment that make sense in their own right. There has certainly been a right-wing media tirade against climate action, with 70 per cent of recent articles on climate framed negatively, but it would be wrong to assume that public opinion has turned against climate action.”
“Climate change is the biggest crisis— and the biggest opportunity—that we have now and in the future. To be honest, having listened to the previous speech, I do not want to get drawn into a scientifically illiterate debate about whether climate change is real. We had that debate 25 years ago. The question now is about how we move forward and how we act to protect the economy, people and the environment. Duncan Massey: Will Mark Ruskell take an intervention? Mark Ruskell: No. The first half of our journey to net zero in Scotland has brought big benefits, with a revolution in renewable energy that has stripped fossil fuels out of our electricity supply and brought a strong degree of energy security. However, there have also been challenges.”
“I move, That the Parliament recognises that climate change constitutes an emergency; supports the goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius; notes the consequences of climate change that are currently impacting populations and places around the world; condemns any spread of misinformation about and denial of the impacts of climate change that undermine the evidence base; reaffirms Scotland’s commitment to delivering ambitious climate action and achieving net zero by 2045, in line with its statutory carbon budget targets; agrees on the need to enhance Scotland’s climate resilience and adaptation efforts to safeguard people, communities, public services and ecosystems from the impacts of climate change; welcomes the transformative opportunities presented by climate action, including significant economic, social, environmental and public health benefits, and acknowledges that delivery of the transition must be fair and inclusive for all.”
“I hope to be able to talk some sense into Reform members over the next few years, because, as I hope that I have laid out, there are economic benefits associated with climate action. This is not a cost; it is a cost benefit.”
“Mark Ruskell was right to point out that we need a just transition, as we do not want to replicate the mistakes of the 1980s. However, we need action on electricity prices. There is not much of a silver bullet available to people in policy, but if there is one thing that I would ask for that would unlock so much more, particularly in the just transition space and in relation to some emissions reduction measures so that more people could adopt them in their own homes, it would be for action on the cost of electricity. We must see that cost come down and decoupled from gas. Interventions such as that would see us not just meet our targets but potentially exceed them. Although I will accept the Labour amendment, it is deeply disappointing that the amendment from Reform reiterates its denial of climate change as a real and pressing issue.”
“We need to accelerate that action, because as we do so, we will build market certainty and create new markets that will provide new jobs and boost businesses. I think that I have made quite a lot of mention of the amount of GVA that it is bringing to Scotland. We have also committed £350 million to more than 3,400 businesses through the agri- environment climate scheme, which will help farmers and crofters to embed climate adaptation and resilience into their land management, helping to maintain the long-term capacity of our land to produce the food that we need and to sustain the businesses that produce it. I have more to say, but I believe that I am running out of time, so I will end on this note. We will not allow continued deindustrialisation to create new scars in our community.”
“Can she say more about what the Government is doing to lead on the just transition, rather than leaving it to markets and corporates to determine the future, which often means that they just leave Scotland? Gillian Martin: I do not believe that we are leaving it to corporates. We are using our funding to leverage an investment from companies to make that money work harder. The just transition fund in the north-east is one example; Stephen Gethins now has responsibility for that fund. I will not mention specific incidents in that space, but I have mentioned the just transition in making the broader point that we have to seize the opportunities that are there with climate action, which will create jobs.”
“Will the minister take an intervention? Gillian Martin: I will in a second. Those projects also help to reduce future spending on issues such as flooding and wildfires, and to build long-term resilience to climate change and its impacts. I will say that again: more than £7 million has been leveraged as a result of the funding of the nature restoration fund. Mark Ruskell: I am enjoying much of what the cabinet secretary is laying out in her speech. However, she has not mentioned the industrial decline in Scotland and the need to get a just transition for workers in Mossmorran and at other sites, such as Dunbar and Grangemouth, where we need to see an industrial future but also to take investors and workers with us.”
“We are developing those proposals, including assessing the feasibility of matching or exceeding the new European Union targets that were introduced in 2024, and we are making progress towards meeting the remaining WHO guidelines. Winchburgh Train Station 3.”
“The science shows that even modest improvements in air quality result in significant improvements in health, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Will the Scottish Government be revising the current out-of-date air quality standards that we have in Scotland to reflect the better, more up-to-date, more science- based World Health Organization standards, which will start to put some ambition back into our air quality strategy? I know that the cabinet secretary will be revising that strategy, but will the standards reflect the better, more up-to-date WHO standards? Gillian Martin: Mark Ruskell is absolutely right, and 2026 is a key year in that regard. Proposals for a long-term air quality policy framework will succeed the cleaner air for Scotland 2 strategy when it expires at the end of this year.”
“To ask the Scottish Government whether planning authorities have adequate guidance on how to assess proposed hyperscale artificial intelligence data centres. (S7O-00034)”
“We will also ensure that we act when we see disappointing results: a 1 per cent emissions reduction for 2024, for example, is not what it should be. We should accelerate more quickly. I extend the same words to Mark Ruskell that I did to Claire Baker: I want to work with him and his colleagues to ensure that the climate change plan is delivered and that it is enhanced as we progress, so that we get to net zero by 2045.”
“Gillian Martin: I will not turn my back on one of Scotland’s major innovation opportunities, in CCUS. We have arguably the largest capacity for CCUS under the seabed in the North Sea. We also have a mature project that, frankly, should have been delivered 10 or 12 years ago but has continually had the rug pulled from under it. I thank Mark Ruskell for his warm wishes. I absolutely want to continue working with him, and I hope that, at the end of today’s ballot, he will be successful in becoming the convener of the committee that, if I have this correct, will scrutinise me. The climate change plan is an evolving document and we will not rule anything out. We will ensure that it is not a static document that sits on a shelf unchanged. We will have to change it depending on the situation and as we find innovations.”
“I welcome the cabinet secretary to her role. Members on our benches look forward to working with her. However, today is not a day for celebration. Overall, our carbon footprint in Scotland is going up, not down, and it should be going down, faster. The Greens have continually pointed out the huge reliance in the climate change plan on technologies that do not yet exist, such as in Acorn with CCUS. I heard what Alan Brown suggested, but we could spend £200 million on carbon capture and storage and still not have a viable technology that delivers carbon reduction. When will the cabinet secretary come up with a plan B—if CCUS does not happen—that will lead to steeper reductions in emissions in transport, home heating and agriculture but also benefit jobs, the economy and the people of Scotland?”
“The legacy of the Commonwealth games, the world cup and—let us not forget—the Tour de France next year needs to be one in which grass- roots participation is grown through better facilities and more confident volunteers. As the minister mentioned, we need partnerships to deliver long-term growth. We need to throw open the doors, so that everyone is invited to join the party and get involved in whatever way they feel inspired to. We also need women’s sport to be visible, inspiring and supported, not an afterthought. Jackie Baillie raised an important point about the past 100 years, in which women have been largely denied access to pitches and SFA facilities.”
“I wish that I had been in Orkney in 2025—I can imagine the excitement and the community building that come from such an event. It would be as exciting as the Olympics. For my part, I have just spent another slightly terrifying weekend living in a field with my son, supporting him race in the SDA Scottish downhill mountain bike series. The camaraderie and support for people of all ages and abilities at these events make them a wonderful experience to be part of. For some, there is a part to play, whether that is on a bigger stage or as a future career, in their sport. Across sports, we are seeing an elite pathway alongside inclusion at the grass-roots level.”
“Clubs, at their best, are all about community— where no one is left behind, regardless of who they are and what they can afford. Jack Middleton made a very moving speech about his personal experience and the importance of that accessibility. I pay tribute to the volunteers who power grass- roots sport. They are the people who turn up week in, week out—setting up pitches and tracks, providing taster sessions for four-year-olds through to performance pathways for promising teams, and fundraising for better facilities. They are always there, in all weathers—offering friendly advice, marshalling, providing first aid, and washing the kit. It is the grass-roots scenes, across so many sports, that nurture talent and build that sense of community. I really enjoyed listening to Liam McArthur talk about the island games.”
“These are important collective national memories, whether someone watches them on TV or they are in the stadium or by the track side. They should be accessible—fans should not be priced out by exorbitant ticket prices or pay per view. I am really pleased that my colleague Gillian Mackay helped to secure the commitment for free- to-view matches for our national football teams and that she is, today, taking the campaign to the next stage, calling for a price cap on stadium tickets. It is good to see, stateside, the mayor of New York following Gillian Mackay’s lead. I am sure that more conversations will take place about exactly how a cap could be introduced. I welcome what I think will be Government support for the Green amendment today—with backing even from our colleagues in the Conservative Party, too.”
“It is 28 years since John Collins thumped that goal into the back of the Brazilian net, and 40 years since a teenaged—I think—Liam McArthur sweated his way around Mexico with the tartan army. [Laughter.] Liam McArthur: [Made a request to intervene.] Mark Ruskell: He is exasperated. I give way to Mr McArthur. Liam McArthur: For the record, while I was in the Nezahualcóyotl stadium, I was exasperated, but I do not think that I was sweating overly. Mark Ruskell: That is a feat in itself, to be honest. I return to my speech. The national holiday on 15 June is welcome, but I note that only one council in Scotland is giving staff the day off, and I really pity the teachers and students who will be forced into class having been up the entire night before.”
“I congratulate all members who have been returned to the Parliament. I thank a number of members who have given their first speeches in the debate. I say to Adam Harley that that suit fits him very well, and I congratulate him. Alyn Smith is right. We have just been through a really hard election, particularly in Stirling, and we all look forward to some downtime this summer. A summer of sport sounds pretty good to me. For hard-pressed families, the free activities will help to fill those long summer holidays. For some young people, a new sporting dream and ambition will be ignited, or maybe they will learn how to dance the Orcadian strip the willow. Lots of opportunities will be available to get active and to be part of communities. First, however, we have 15 June. Clearly, all eyes will be on our men’s team.”
“I am confident that the local authority is doing all that it can to provide such support. The greatest uncertainty that residents and Clackmannanshire Council face is the Mining Remediation Authority’s future decision making, which will be critical for insurers, residents, the council and this Government. Responsibility for the MRA rests with the UK Government, which is why I am pursuing an urgent meeting with the MRA and asking the UK Government to ensure that the fastest possible decision making is undertaken in this case, so that residents are able to get a clearer picture of the situation. Market Economy 4.”
“This is not the first time that Clackmannanshire residents have been evacuated at short notice. The reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete evacuations were handled badly by the council; houses were boarded up and personal possessions were left to rot for months on end. I hope that lessons were learned from that incident about the need to address the evacuees’ trauma while, at the same time, protecting their personal safety. What reassurances has the cabinet secretary had that the evacuation will be handled more sensitively than the previous one? Neil Gray: I welcome Mr Ruskell back to his place and congratulate him on his re-election. I hear his point. That is part of what was discussed with the leader of Clackmannanshire Council and Keith Brown on Friday.”
“John F Kennedy once said to a White House correspondents’ dinner: “Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed—and no republic can survive.” We will offer that when it is merited. It will sometimes be fierce, but it will always be liberal. However, we will never be too big to reach for the consensus that improves the lives of the people who gave us our instructions and sent us to this chamber. I congratulate John Swinney and his party today, and I offer that commitment to reach for consensus where we can find it. The Presiding Officer: I call Scotland’s new First Minister, John Swinney, for up to 10 minutes. 15:37”
“We sweat the small stuff, such as who takes out the bins or sorts the potholes, but we will also always reach for policy that deals with the big issues of our time, such as the crisis in our social care service, in our health service and in our educational institutions, higher, primary and secondary. We will also reach for policy that helps people half a world away, whom we may never meet, because that is what Liberal Democrats fundamentally believe. We are communitarians, both in the local communities that we are elected to serve and in the global community in which we find ourselves. This is a proud day for John Swinney, and I am sure that I take him at his word when he says that he will look for consensus. I will offer that where we can find it. However, we are also not afraid to say no, as we have done many times in the past.”
“However, although the question of who governs us is now settled and I recognise that the SNP will control the Parliament for the next five years, I make an undertaking that, where we can, Liberal Democrat MSPs will strive to get things done, because that is what we got elected to do. This is where I lean into the words of an unlikely supporter of the Liberal Democrats: Kemi Badenoch, who said that a Liberal Democrat is somebody who turns up and fixes your church roof. Guilty as charged, Presiding Officer—that is exactly what we stand for in our communities.”
“They look to the Parliament for answers about why they cannot get their operation, why their child’s classroom is not as good as it used to be, why education standards are falling down the international league tables and why they cannot get access to care at the first time of asking, and yet they have seen the division and rancour in the chamber that holds back so much. We owe it to them to lay as much of that aside as possible. I said throughout the campaign that the change that Scotland really needs is a change of Government, and I still believe that to my fingertips.”
“More than a quarter of a century ago, the architects of the Parliament—of the precepts and all the rules that we follow in this place—agreed that the building was to be forged around consensus and the pursuit of respectful compromise, where that could be found. All too often, we have fallen short of that ideal. As I said in the closing hours of the previous session, the promise of the new session is that we should reach for that compromise, where we can find it. Right now, trust in politics is at an all-time low. People are tired and frustrated, and they are right to be.”
“My party will continue to stand up for hard- working Scots who are struggling to pay the bills. We will be honest about the hard choices that lie ahead and we will work tirelessly to hold the Government to account. 15:33 Alex Cole-Hamilton: Each of us—the 129 MSPs who were sworn into the Parliament last week and all the former MSPs whom I see scattered around the public gallery—knows what it feels like to be elected to serve your community. It is a pretty awesome and wonderful experience. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be elected to serve and lead your country. I therefore congratulate John Swinney. This is a moment of immense personal pride for him, as it will be for his family and friends in the gallery. I congratulate all of them.”
“Mr Swinney might not choose to listen to me, but he should listen to Scotland’s business leaders, who repeatedly warn that we cannot tax our way to economic growth. John Swinney knows that to be true but, even though he knows about the perilous state of the public finances, my fear is that he will remain distracted. He has already said that he will make the first vote of the Parliament a demand for another referendum—even without a majority. That is his intent. He knows that the people of Scotland do not want that, yet we heard it again from him today. For the sake of Scotland, drop it, Mr Swinney. Put country before party. End the politics of grievance. Stop blaming others for the many problems that have been made by the SNP over two decades. Govern for all of Scotland.”
“To plug the gap between the revenues raised and Government spending commitments, John Swinney is likely to do one of two things—and, possibly, both. One is to cut funding for public services; the other is to raise taxes. Both would be a mistake. Do not cut front-line services. Cut the waste and the quangos, treat taxpayers’ money with respect and cut a benefits bill that is unaffordable and unsustainable. On taxes, I say this: no more. Scots already pay almost £2 billion more a year in income tax than they would for doing the same jobs elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Businesses have been hit with sky-high rates bills that will force some to cut jobs or cease trading altogether.”
“John Swinney is not short of people offering him advice, but I ask him to hear me out about what I believe should be our collective focus. People desperately need some respite from endless SNP and Labour tax rises. Growth and prosperity flow from educating our young people, creating opportunity, nurturing aspiration, rewarding success and giving businesses the space and support to thrive. Economic growth will be absolutely critical, because there is a looming £5 billion black hole in Scotland’s public finances. Throughout the election campaign, I repeatedly warned about the potential impact of that vast and impending deficit. Others did not want to talk about it but, with the election now behind us, there is no escaping from that hard reality.”
“Ultimately, in the first 100 days of this Government, we need to see tangible work to deliver on the cost of living crisis and make people’s lives cheaper for the long term, to support the climate, and to make Scotland more welcoming and outward looking. The Scottish Greens will not shy away from holding the new Government to account, but we look forward to working with the First Minister to deliver for the people of Scotland. 15:29 Russell Findlay: My party and I sincerely congratulate John Swinney on his re-election as First Minister. I commit to working constructively with him and his ministers when offers to do so are made in good faith. John Swinney and I fundamentally disagree on the future direction of Scotland. In my opening remarks, I set out a vision for a more prosperous Scotland at the heart of the United Kingdom.”
“In the first 100 days, this Government could fix some of the issues with childcare that we raised before dissolution. Ensuring that childcare is truly free at three would put hundreds of pounds back into families’ pockets before we move to expand free hours to include two-year-olds on what we would like to be a universal basis. The 1,140-hour entitlement is a national policy, but some families have had to move their children twice due to changes made by local authorities. Working with councils to ensure that cross-boundary placements can happen would support families’ choices. We need to work together to put the NHS on a sustainable footing, we need to talk about how we support councils to deliver the services that they want to deliver, and we have to—finally—scrap and replace the council tax.”
“The Opposition parties that took that constructive approach in the previous session of Parliament have grown in their numbers, and it is clear that that is what the public expect us to do. To put it simply, our constituents expect us to co-operate where we genuinely share values, even if we do not agree on every detail of policy. That does not mean that this Government will have an easy time of it from the Greens. We will hold the Government to account and ask difficult questions. We need to see work quickly on childcare and free bus travel in particular, but other public services need support and reform, too. We will push for this Government to go further and faster, especially when it comes to tackling child poverty and the climate crisis.”
“However, Parliament should make no mistake about the role of Reform UK. Our 17 newly-minted MSPs have come in with one aim only, which is to drive forward an agenda that will make Scotland more successful and more prosperous. We will support any Government that delivers that. 15:26 Gillian Mackay: On behalf of the Scottish Greens, I congratulate John Swinney on his election as First Minister. It is a remarkable achievement to win a fifth term in office for the SNP. I think that it is safe to say that this is probably not the role that the First Minister anticipated this time last session and, on behalf of my party, I acknowledge the sacrifices that both he and his family have made to allow him to serve Scotland. The Scottish Greens will work with his Government to deliver on our priorities and deliver for the people of Scotland.”
“We urge the SNP to restore the local connection and only give priority need to local people so that we have cohesion in our local communities. Some 93 per cent of Scots say that the NHS needs reform. We need greater access to general practitioners and we need to deal with delayed discharge. We will support action in those areas where the SNP comes forward with that agenda. On value for money, it is interesting to note that all the parties agreed that quangos are out of control. There are too many of them and they cost too much. There is also a demographic deficit. We will support measures on value for money. The idea here is that we all conducted the election campaign in a spirited manner and we found in a number of the debates that we agree on some of those issues. Let us therefore work together on them.”
“We have 750,000 Scots of working age who are not in work, and we need to help them back to work. That number is heading towards 1 million, and we cannot allow that to happen. Young people need to be supported into good jobs. We need to challenge whether we should be sending 50 per cent of young people to university. Maybe we should be thinking more about college training and apprenticeships. We need good jobs that will not be taken away by artificial intelligence and in which young people can make a start in life. We need real, serious jobs such as welders, gas technicians, lab technicians, care workers and so on, and we will support any policies that are brought forward to support that. Immigration needs to be fair and controlled.”
“That needs to be looked at, and if the SNP comes forward with solutions on that, we will be supportive, because we believe that we will raise more tax revenue if we reward the people of Scotland and incentivise them. Similarly, our energy prices are too high. We have policy at the moment that is driven by ideology. We will oppose that, and we will scrutinise carefully the £5 billion in the budget that is spent on net zero policies. I think that we would all agree that energy prices are a major component of the cost of living. Where we can find consensus in that area, we will, again, support the Government. We need to get the right balance between work and welfare. The best form of welfare that anyone can have is a good job. We need to help our fellow citizens back into good jobs. We need to create pathways to work.”
“We in Opposition will always seek to find consensus where we can agree on one single issue, which is to make Scotland more successful and more prosperous. We will always seek to support policies that do that, but where we find policies that do not deliver that, we will scrutinise and challenge them. That is the role that we will take upon ourselves in this chamber. The agenda to make Scotland more successful has to deal with a number of core issues, which we debated at length during the election campaign. There is no question but that tax is too high and too complicated in Scotland—for example, we know that in the NHS right now there are care workers who are managing their workflow to try to avoid being dragged into higher tax bands. That is unnecessary and needless.”
“The purpose of this Parliament is not to perform for itself but to serve the people of this great country. I again congratulate John Swinney on his election today. I wish him well, and I look forward to working with him, where we agree, to deliver for Scotland. More importantly, I say this to him: the real test begins now; of course, this will be a moment to celebrate victory, but it must be more than just a celebration of victory—now must be the moment when we focus on delivering for the people of Scotland. We wish him well in that endeavour. 15:23 Malcolm Offord: On behalf of Reform UK, I wish to offer my congratulations to John Swinney on being appointed as First Minister of Scotland. It is a historic moment for him, and it is a great responsibility to hold that office. Indeed, heavy is the head that wears the crown.”