Liz Smith
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party · Scotland
“For many years, I have come to this debate conflicted, well understanding several of the key points raised by those who support assisted dying, partly based on my own family experience, but also understanding the key points in the case against.”
“As a result, I worry about the implications in relation to coercive situations within families, who may put pressure on vulnerable relatives to end their lives, perhaps for financial reasons in increasingly difficult fiscal situations or for reasons that suit their circumstances rather than those of the patient.”
“I wish to say what I said at the start of my stage 1 speech: “Nobody could possibly doubt the far-reaching implications of the most appalling human tragedy at Grenfell tower in 2017, nor the importance of ensuring that nothing like that can ever happen again.” It is absolutely right that measures are put in place to improve building stand…”
“As the minister knows from stage 2, I have concerns about whether people involved in the conversion of historic buildings will face specific unintended consequences as a result of the imposition of the building safety levy, mainly because projects of that nature are not usually speculative and they tend to be a more expensive way of produ…”
“That must include the medical profession’s commitment to saving lives. I continue to worry about a situation whereby we hand ultimate power to doctors, with the possibility that voluntary action could lead to involuntary action.”
“It is on occasions such as these, when the matter that is under consideration is so challenged by complex ethical, moral, legal and practical questions, that I have come to know the Scottish Parliament at its best. We saw that last week and I believe that we are seeing it again this evening.”
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Every one of 413 lines we hold for Liz Smith, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 9 of 9.
“[Interruption.] It is important. It is not me saying it; it is what all the analysts are saying. That is why we have a problem with the size of the welfare benefit system. My fundamental point is that if we are to make progress, we must be able to judge which policies are working and which are not working so well, and that needs to be based on evidence. At the moment, I do not think that the Scottish Government is providing sufficient evidence that the social contract that it has built with the people of Scotland will deliver all the priorities that it would like to settle on without that fundamental basis for the economy. I think that I have a minute left. I have not said anything that I was going to say, but it is important that I have addressed those points.”
“Therefore, I struggle to understand how the Conservative position can have any logic to it, because the Government is living within its means and is supporting people to overcome the negative effects of child poverty. Liz Smith and I agree that child poverty needs to be tackled, but her leader wants to slash expenditure. Liz Smith: The Scottish Government has a legal responsibility to balance a budget. The Scottish Conservatives’ analysis is based on the position of many economic analysts who point out—quite correctly—that we cannot go on delivering the same size of social welfare budget without extra money. We simply cannot do it. I would have thought that, because of the First Minister’s reputation in the financial sector before he came to Parliament, he would surely understand the basic economics of that.”
“The problem that we have just now, which comes through in all the evidence that we get from the Scottish Fiscal Commission and Audit Scotland—the Auditor General was at the Finance and Public Administration Committee this morning—is that we cannot continue to bear the burden of social security costs unless we are able to bring in far greater revenues and develop our economic growth. The First Minister: I thank Liz Smith for giving way again, but she ignores the fact that, since we have held office, the Government has consistently balanced the budget and lived within the resources that we have had available to us. It is our obligation and our duty to put to Parliament a budget that is perfectly sustainable in the financial year, and we have done so.”
“Our point is that the Scottish Government has put an awful lot of its eggs in one basket in terms of addressing the social contract with the people of Scotland. The key argument that the Scottish Government is making is that the centrepiece of the budget is the Scottish Government’s proposal that the social contract matters more than anything else. Our perspective is that that social contract can be properly paid for only if there is an economic policy behind it that provides sufficient revenues to allow the Scottish Government to deploy the policies.”
“The First Minister: I very much welcome what Liz Smith said about the impact of the Scottish child payment: that point is beyond dispute. However, I have been left a bit bewildered by the attack that her party’s leader levelled at our social security expenditure. At the heart of Mr Findlay’s charge to me were several suggestions about areas in which reductions in expenditure should be undertaken. I just do not follow how it is possible for Liz Smith to tell me that the policy on the Scottish child payment is, according to the evidence, working but for Mr Findlay simultaneously to argue that we should reduce social security expenditure. Liz Smith: If the First Minister had listened to what I was saying, he would have heard that it is about not just the evidence but the costings—it is about the effectiveness of the policy plus the costings.”
“However, as my colleague Stephen Kerr rightly said, as did Willie Rennie, in relation to jobs and education respectively, it is not the panacea that will solve the current problem. We really must tackle the root causes of child poverty, because that is what the issue is all about. It is interesting that, although groups including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Poverty Alliance and Save the Children are keen on the policy that underlies the Scottish child payment, they point to the fact that it will never be able to solve the current problem. I make that point because I believe that, fundamentally, the Scottish Government must judge policies on their effectiveness. It must ask what is working and where the evidence is to show that.”
“I begin by recognising the consensus that has been expressed by members across the chamber—that tackling child poverty absolutely must be a priority. The Scottish child payment has been a good policy, and there is sufficient evidence to prove that it is working. However, it is by no means a panacea that will solve all the ills that affect us. Nonetheless, it has been an effective policy—as has been shown by good evidence to the Finance and Public Administration Committee and the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, that it is reaching those who are most in need. The take-up rate for the Scottish child payment is good and is rising, and it is quicker and easier to administer than several other social security benefits. Scottish Conservatives had no problem at all supporting it in January 2022 and February 2024.”
“We are providing a further £14.3 million to support the school clothing grant, increasing that vital support for eligible families to at least £120 for primary school pupils and £150 for secondary school pupils. All that I have mentioned so far is key to combating child poverty. It is needed, and it is making a tremendous difference every day to children all across”
“The budget includes additional measures to support attainment and to address the poverty-related attainment gap, with additional investment of £41 million for local authorities to protect teacher numbers and to bring the number of teachers in Scotland back to 2023 levels. We must equip children to be successful once they are in school, so we are investing more to enable the expansion of breakfast clubs across Scotland through our bright start breakfasts fund. That will enable us to deliver thousands of new places for primary school children. We are also expanding free school meals through an investment of £37 million. We will grow the programme to cover those in receipt of the Scottish child payment in primary 6 and 7, helping to provide healthy and nutritious meals to around 25,000 more children.”
“In the long term, we will realise the greater return on that investment. We will see it in a robust and resilient wellbeing economy that promotes economic and social equality and that decarbonises our communities. We must make those investments today, however, if we hope to benefit from them tomorrow. That will work only if all children are supported to have the best start in life. That is why we are prioritising areas such as early years, childcare and education. With this budget, we are continuing our investment of around £1 billion each year to deliver 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare to all eligible children. We are also providing £9.7 million in additional funding to local authorities to increase to at least the real living wage the pay of early learning and childcare workers delivering funded childcare.”
“In total, our investment in social security is expected to support around 2 million people in 2025-26. I want to underscore—this is my response to Liz Smith— that those payments are an investment and not a cost to be borne. They are an investment in Scotland’s people and communities and in its future. I cannot be alone in expressing my concern about the abrupt new direction that is being set by the Labour leader in Scotland, who suggested yesterday that Labour is now committed to lowering rather than increasing that vital investment in our society. That will consign more children to living in poverty, and it is not the agenda of the Scottish Government. I said at the start that the Government’s budget is one of delivery and hope. With it, we are setting a firm foundation for the success of our society and future generations.”
“Our five family payments can be worth more than £10,000 by the time that an eligible child turns six and around £25,000 by the time that an eligible child turns 16. That compares to less than £2,000 for families in England and Wales, where support ends when an eligible child turns four. Last November, Social Security Scotland announced that we have reached the milestone of paying £1 billion to support families through our five family payments. We know from speaking to those families how important that support has been to them. From April, we will enhance that support by increasing all Scottish social security assistance by 1.7 per cent, which is in line with inflation. Our Scottish child payment will increase to £27.15 per child per week. This coming year, it is forecast to support the families of 333,000 children.”
“Given the high cost of the benefits bill, how will that be paid for if the Scottish Government cannot produce the economic growth that we so desperately need? The First Minister: The Government has a fully costed budget, which is available for Parliament to scrutinise and to support in February and which provides for the cost that I am talking about. The benefit of what the Scottish Government is doing with that investment is that we are helping to keep hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty as a consequence. That is an investment in economic growth and the future of our country. I mentioned the £644 million in benefits and payments that are available only here in Scotland.”