Nicola Sturgeon

:00:22. > :00:33.We're putting the leaders of the SNP, the Conservatives,

:00:34. > :00:36.Labour and the Liberal Democrats on the spot this week -

:00:37. > :00:39.all facing questions from a live studio audience here in Glasgow.

:00:40. > :00:41.And I try to press them for the answers.

:00:42. > :00:43.If you'd like to join the debate on social media,

:00:44. > :00:48.We've already heard from Willie Rennie, Kezia Dugdale

:00:49. > :00:53.Tonight, though, it's the turn of First Minister

:00:54. > :00:57.and Scottish National Party leader, Nicola Sturgeon.

:00:58. > :01:01.And the first question for her comes from Sheila Farnsworth.

:01:02. > :01:10.Thank you. Why do you want Scotland to become independent from the UK,

:01:11. > :01:17.with which it is geographically linked only to become defendant on

:01:18. > :01:21.the EU? I believe Scotland should be independent not because surely -- we

:01:22. > :01:24.should be separate from the rest of the United Kingdom but we should be

:01:25. > :01:27.on an equal footing to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we

:01:28. > :01:32.should be in a partnership of equals. Scotland will always be part

:01:33. > :01:34.of the British Isles but I think we should have responsibility for the

:01:35. > :01:43.direction of our country. In terms of the second part of your question,

:01:44. > :01:46.it's a very good question and one I get asked often. Why do you want to

:01:47. > :01:49.be independent and part of the EU? The fact of the matter is, when we

:01:50. > :01:55.think about this we can see this very clearly, the European Union is

:01:56. > :01:58.an organisation made up of independent countries, France,

:01:59. > :02:01.Germany, Spain, Portugal, all independent countries, but they come

:02:02. > :02:07.together to cooperate on issues in the modern world no individual

:02:08. > :02:13.country can tackle on its own. One topical issue is climate change. No

:02:14. > :02:16.country these days, despite what President Trump appears to think,

:02:17. > :02:20.can tackle climate change on its own. On that and the other aspect of

:02:21. > :02:24.the European Union as a single trading market, we have a market in

:02:25. > :02:28.the single market that is eight times the size of our UK market. We

:02:29. > :02:32.have many more customers to sell goods too. I think Scotland and

:02:33. > :02:40.indeed the UK, should be part of that, cooperating on the basis of

:02:41. > :02:43.being an independent country. Let's talk more about your approach to

:02:44. > :02:46.Brexit in a moment. I will come back to Sheila, what is your view? I

:02:47. > :02:51.definitely don't want Scotland to become independent however I do want

:02:52. > :02:57.to stay in the EU. As part of the UK? Riaz. The gentleman in the back

:02:58. > :03:02.row with the yellow tie? I can see why you would want to leave Britain,

:03:03. > :03:09.obviously, but what exactly gives you the mandate for us to have

:03:10. > :03:12.another referendum? We voted on it previously and we voted on Europe

:03:13. > :03:18.last year. The question wasn't do you want Scotland to leave Britain?

:03:19. > :03:22.Again, very good and fair questions to me. This gives me the opportunity

:03:23. > :03:28.to set out the answer, I hope, clearly. We fought, and you will

:03:29. > :03:32.recall this, an election to the Scottish Parliament, that was just

:03:33. > :03:40.before the European referendum. The manifesto that for that election

:03:41. > :03:43.said if we had a scenario, which I hoped didn't arise, where Scotland

:03:44. > :03:49.voted to stay in the EU but the rest of the UK voted to leave on Scotland

:03:50. > :03:51.faced being taken out against our will, I thought in those

:03:52. > :03:57.circumstances Scotland should have a choice about its future. That

:03:58. > :04:00.scenario arose, the SNP won that election. My position on bricks and

:04:01. > :04:05.the choice of Scotland, I don't think we should face that choice

:04:06. > :04:09.now, but at the end of the Brexit process, when we know what that deal

:04:10. > :04:13.looks like, when we know what the implications are. I think Scotland

:04:14. > :04:17.should have a choice about its future. At this election you are

:04:18. > :04:20.proposing or resurrected the idea of some kind of compromise deal,

:04:21. > :04:24.whether UK or Scotland would be allowed to stay in the single

:04:25. > :04:28.market. In those circumstances you say you would accept Brexit, why

:04:29. > :04:33.have you resurrected that? It comes back to Sheila's point. I am very

:04:34. > :04:41.aware of the fact there are many people in Scotland who don't want

:04:42. > :04:44.independence but who don't want to leave the European Union either. I

:04:45. > :04:47.am also very aware of the fact the UK is made up of four nations, two

:04:48. > :04:49.voted to stay in and two to leave. In the aftermath of the EU

:04:50. > :04:53.referendum I thought it was important to try and find some

:04:54. > :04:57.compromise ground. The Scottish Government published a paper in

:04:58. > :05:01.December last year that said, OK, we accept reluctantly that we are

:05:02. > :05:04.leaving the EU but let's find a way of trying to stay in the single

:05:05. > :05:08.market. Believing the single market for Scotland will put tens of

:05:09. > :05:22.thousands of jobs on the line. That proposal was rejected by

:05:23. > :05:26.the UK Government and at that point you said that was why we had to have

:05:27. > :05:28.another independence referendum. Why resurrect the idea? Theresa May

:05:29. > :05:30.called an election, she refused to countenance those proposals will

:05:31. > :05:33.give them Sirius consideration. -- serious consideration. She called an

:05:34. > :05:36.election, which gives me the opportunity to say to Sheila and

:05:37. > :05:41.others, you don't support the referendum but back the SNP to

:05:42. > :05:46.strengthen our hand, to try and get Scotland's voice heard in these

:05:47. > :05:48.negotiations. If Theresa May was still Prime Minister after this

:05:49. > :05:51.election, let's imagine she has a change of mind it goes down the the

:05:52. > :05:57.route of keeping Scotland in the single market. Would you take

:05:58. > :06:01.independence referendum of table then? I think at the end of this

:06:02. > :06:04.process Scotland should have a choice. My job in trying to persuade

:06:05. > :06:08.people in Scotland to vote for independence I guess would be more

:06:09. > :06:12.difficult if we'd found a compromise that kept Scotland in the single

:06:13. > :06:17.market. Would you take it off the table? You said if she went down

:06:18. > :06:22.this route with you you would park independence? I would say this to

:06:23. > :06:25.people even to those who would vote against independence, at the end of

:06:26. > :06:29.this process, because none of us know what the outcome of the Brexit

:06:30. > :06:34.process will be. We heard Theresa May earlier this week talk about how

:06:35. > :06:38.disastrous it would be for jobs and public finances if it goes wrong. If

:06:39. > :06:43.I was to say... Scotland should get a choice, that would be me deciding

:06:44. > :06:48.single-handedly what Scotland's future should be. If Theresa May

:06:49. > :06:52.agreed to your compromise... She might think if she came up with a

:06:53. > :06:56.compromise that kept Scotland in a single market she would have more on

:06:57. > :06:58.saying to people in Scotland saying, you shouldn't support independence.

:06:59. > :07:03.I think we should have a choice. I've always wanted to try and find

:07:04. > :07:06.that compromise ground. Sheila is a good example of this. There are many

:07:07. > :07:10.people out there who don't agree with me on independence, but do

:07:11. > :07:15.agree with me on the European Union. I'm conscious of the fact although I

:07:16. > :07:21.support independence, I'm First Minister of the country and have a

:07:22. > :07:23.duty to try and find ground that brings as many people together as

:07:24. > :07:26.possible. Let me bring in some voices from the audience, the lady

:07:27. > :07:29.from the front row and then at the back in the striped shirt. You are

:07:30. > :07:35.talking about bringing Scotland together as a country and wanting to

:07:36. > :07:39.have another independence referendum. What I don't understand,

:07:40. > :07:44.for ten years the SNP has been in power but we still have in 2017,

:07:45. > :07:47.poverty and parts of Glasgow. My dad was in Easterhouse when he was

:07:48. > :07:53.younger, there is still poverty there. We have a high deficit rate.

:07:54. > :07:58.We have lack of funding for NHS services, for Charity services, for

:07:59. > :08:01.policing, for the education system. It is an absolute abomination. There

:08:02. > :08:07.are people leaving school now who are illiterate. And you are saying,

:08:08. > :08:11.you come across as if independence will fix all that. Why can't after

:08:12. > :08:17.the ten years you fix this problem now and then look to independence?

:08:18. > :08:23.APPLAUSE The gentleman in the back row? The

:08:24. > :08:28.negativity that surrounds Brexit is all over the place but somehow, if

:08:29. > :08:33.Brexit ended up with a good outcome for Scotland, would you take it off

:08:34. > :08:37.the table, independence? It is often said to me, we had the independence

:08:38. > :08:41.referendum in 2014, why are you bringing this board so soon? The

:08:42. > :08:44.truth is, without Brexit we wouldn't be sitting here talking about this

:08:45. > :08:50.so soon after the last one. Don't get me wrong, I hope Brexit is not a

:08:51. > :08:55.disaster. I don't want to leave the EU, but now that the UK as a whole

:08:56. > :08:59.has voted for that, I really hope a deal is struck that isn't

:09:00. > :09:02.disastrous. But I can't suspend my critical faculties. I think there is

:09:03. > :09:07.a real risk that the outcome of this will be very difficult for us. And

:09:08. > :09:11.in answer to the other question? I don't sit here and say to you

:09:12. > :09:15.independence is a magic solution to everything. Nor do I say supporting

:09:16. > :09:19.independence lets me and my government of the hook in terms of

:09:20. > :09:23.the issues you raise. We have challenges in Scotland, like every

:09:24. > :09:27.other country. But just to take a couple of the points he made, take

:09:28. > :09:30.policing for example, that's been very topical with the tragic events

:09:31. > :09:36.of the last couple of weeks. In Scotland we've not had reductions in

:09:37. > :09:40.front line police officers. In England we've seen 20,000 police

:09:41. > :09:44.officers... They are looking ahead to the changing nature of crime,

:09:45. > :09:46.with cybercrime, but we've maintained police numbers.

:09:47. > :09:51.Education, I've been very frank we have challenges in education. We

:09:52. > :09:58.will move onto that in a little while. We have spoken about the

:09:59. > :10:08.constitution and Brexit a follow-up question from Ali Selleck. Another

:10:09. > :10:14.referendum, what would happen if the next UK Prime Minister says no,

:10:15. > :10:18.regardless of the outcome of the general election? How would you

:10:19. > :10:24.ensure that the voice of the Scottish Parliament prevails? The

:10:25. > :10:29.timescale, let's remind people, you propose the autumn of next year

:10:30. > :10:32.through to the spring of 2019. The reason for that particular timescale

:10:33. > :10:36.is that is when right now the Prime Minister is saying the Brexit

:10:37. > :10:40.process will end. She says, lots of people are sceptical about this, but

:10:41. > :10:44.she says the deal, not just about the divorce from the EU but the

:10:45. > :10:49.future relationship, will be clear before the UK believes in the spring

:10:50. > :10:53.of 2019. You have been suggesting you might need to be more flexible,

:10:54. > :10:56.be prepared to wait? I can't remember if you are there the day I

:10:57. > :11:01.set out the timescale, I said that then. It's not an arbitrary date in

:11:02. > :11:05.the calida, the point of principle for me is the end of the process.

:11:06. > :11:09.When is that? I cannot answer that just now because I'm not in charge

:11:10. > :11:13.of the Brexit process. The Conservatives might say it is years

:11:14. > :11:17.down the line. Sorry, I misunderstood. When the terms of the

:11:18. > :11:21.deal unknown and people can look at the Brexit Dior and understand what

:11:22. > :11:27.it means that the country. The whole thing needs to play out? Ruth

:11:28. > :11:30.Davidson said something like 35 years' time something. Informed

:11:31. > :11:35.choice is important. I'm not saying now or before people have that

:11:36. > :11:39.choice. When is the absolute latest you are prepared to accept as the

:11:40. > :11:46.timescale? When people know the terms of the deal. Is that any later

:11:47. > :11:50.than the spring of 2019? If that was going to be later than then, as I

:11:51. > :11:54.think I said on the day, we would have two factor that in. That is the

:11:55. > :11:57.point of principle, at the end of the process when people can see the

:11:58. > :12:01.terms of what they would be voting on. What if the UK Government keeps

:12:02. > :12:07.saying no? This is not really up to you, if they say no, that's it? This

:12:08. > :12:11.comes down to a point of democratic principle, as well. I'm very aware

:12:12. > :12:15.that lots of people passionately oppose independence. I respect that,

:12:16. > :12:21.although I disagree with it. Many other people passionately support

:12:22. > :12:25.independence. Surely one point of agreement, again trying to find the

:12:26. > :12:28.common ground, is that whatever Scotland's future turns out to be,

:12:29. > :12:33.it should be decided here in Scotland by the Scottish people, not

:12:34. > :12:38.dictated by a Westminster Prime Minister, whoever that Prime

:12:39. > :12:41.Minister happens to be. If the stand-off continues, you are going

:12:42. > :12:43.to tell us your next move in a statement to parliament after the

:12:44. > :12:48.Easter break. What has happened to that? Then Theresa May called an

:12:49. > :12:54.election and I have been rather preoccupied. Isn't it up to you to

:12:55. > :12:58.share to people what you would do? Isn't it important to let people

:12:59. > :13:03.have their say? Theresa May says no. I'm not saying now. When you listen

:13:04. > :13:07.carefully to what Theresa May and I are saying, actually there's not a

:13:08. > :13:11.huge difference. She is saying not now and I'm saying not now but when

:13:12. > :13:16.the processes there. People are entitled to know what you would do?

:13:17. > :13:20.I would reflect on the result of the election. Let people have their say.

:13:21. > :13:25.We have an election in less than a week's time. Mike Jeremy Corbyn do a

:13:26. > :13:29.deal with you? Despite the narrowing of the polls on the polls are

:13:30. > :13:33.narrowing south of the border, I still feel the chances are Theresa

:13:34. > :13:37.May and the Tories will win this election. I don't like that prospect

:13:38. > :13:40.that I think it is the case. What we now have the prospect of in

:13:41. > :13:44.Scotland, I think, is keeping the Tories in check. Whether or not she

:13:45. > :13:48.increases her majority could be down to the outcome in Scotland. If they

:13:49. > :13:53.don't want a bigger majority, we shouldn't vote Tory. That leads me

:13:54. > :13:59.to my next question is omitted from home by Elshan Abraham Fatahiany.

:14:00. > :14:04.Why does the SNP claim it will stand up for Scotland at Westminster but

:14:05. > :14:07.they won't stand up for education in Holyrood with falling literacy and

:14:08. > :14:12.numerous see rates? We will come to the education part of that in a

:14:13. > :14:17.moment. In terms of your role at Westminster, even if you had all 59

:14:18. > :14:22.seats in Scotland, what can you actually achieved? You are not

:14:23. > :14:26.aspiring to be in government? No, but even the SNP's harshest critic

:14:27. > :14:30.would probably concede over the last Edwin Maka years we have not been

:14:31. > :14:35.the official opposition in the House of Commons but the effective

:14:36. > :14:38.opposition. It's been Angus Robertson week after week after week

:14:39. > :14:46.who has hinted that Prime Minister down at PMQs and SNP MPs taking up a

:14:47. > :14:55.whole range of issues from the break clause to child pack credit policy,

:14:56. > :15:00.fighting the case for Waspy women. Picking up on the national insurance

:15:01. > :15:06.increasing Chancellor's budget which forced a U-turn on that policy. I

:15:07. > :15:11.understand Theresa May U-turns on that because... She U-turns on most

:15:12. > :15:16.things as far as I can see. These issues you have raised and I don't

:15:17. > :15:19.deny that, but you stand at this election on an anti-austerity

:15:20. > :15:25.ticket. You said two years ago to try and austerity. How that to? You

:15:26. > :15:30.are getting quite close here, I know you are only putting questions to

:15:31. > :15:32.me, but if we accept Scotland, Kenny difference at Westminster, that

:15:33. > :15:38.raises some pretty fundamental questions. But you don't accept

:15:39. > :15:43.that. I think we can make a difference, I think we have made a

:15:44. > :15:49.difference. If you have Conservative MPs from Scotland, they will be

:15:50. > :15:54.rubber stamps for wants to do. SNP MPs will stand up for Scotland and

:15:55. > :15:57.Fife Scotland's corner. I'm trying to get what you can achieve. Two

:15:58. > :16:01.years ago there was something else you are keen on, let's take a look.

:16:02. > :16:06.We will seek agreement that the Scottish parliament should move to

:16:07. > :16:10.full financial responsibility, and as part of a phase transition we

:16:11. > :16:16.will prioritise early devolution of powers over employment policy,

:16:17. > :16:20.including the minimum wage, welfare, business taxes, national insurance

:16:21. > :16:24.and equality policy. The powers we need here in Scotland to create

:16:25. > :16:30.jobs, grow revenues and lift our people out of poverty. You haven't

:16:31. > :16:33.mentioned any of that? We are currently in the process of setting

:16:34. > :16:42.up the Scottish Stosur security. Those were powers promised after the

:16:43. > :16:46.election in 2014. What have you done? To seek that package of

:16:47. > :16:54.powers? We regularly press for powers. The compromised proposals

:16:55. > :16:56.around Brexit put forward a whole range of powers, including

:16:57. > :17:01.immigration and many things we think should be devolved. Further

:17:02. > :17:04.devolution would make it more possible for Scotland to protect its

:17:05. > :17:07.interests in the Brexit scenario. We would take a couple of points are

:17:08. > :17:12.members of the audience. The lady at the back? First Minister, you talk

:17:13. > :17:22.about the devolution of benefits, so some of the benefits include DVLA

:17:23. > :17:25.and PIP. My husband and I went through a horrific process last year

:17:26. > :17:29.transferring to that benefit, we didn't lose out, we were lucky but

:17:30. > :17:32.other families are losing out. The longer you delay taking on the

:17:33. > :17:39.competence of these powers, the more families are moving out. People are

:17:40. > :17:43.you losing finances and income and Motability cars. My question to you

:17:44. > :17:46.is how long are you going to delay this, and how do we make sure the

:17:47. > :17:50.families who have lost out are supported better than they are just

:17:51. > :17:56.now? Firstly, we are not delaying delivering this. We are going to

:17:57. > :18:01.take on responsibility for making more payments to individuals in

:18:02. > :18:03.Scotland in one week than the Scottish Government is currently

:18:04. > :18:07.responsible for making in an entire year. Payments to about 4 million

:18:08. > :18:11.people, when you take all the different benefits involved. We have

:18:12. > :18:14.to be sure we can make those payments reliably so people who rely

:18:15. > :18:19.on these benefits get the money they are entitled to. We are creating

:18:20. > :18:23.right now what will become the biggest public sector agency that's

:18:24. > :18:26.ever been created in Scotland since the Scottish parliament was

:18:27. > :18:37.established. I would love to say we can do

:18:38. > :18:41.that overnight but we can't. We have to make sure it is done properly. It

:18:42. > :18:44.won't be like the foreign payments IT system? The reason we need to

:18:45. > :18:47.take time to do it properly so that we can make sure there is no

:18:48. > :18:49.question at all people get the payments they are entitled to. Can I

:18:50. > :18:51.finish my point? The Cabinet Secretary responsible made a

:18:52. > :18:54.statement in Parliament this week about this. She started to lay out

:18:55. > :18:58.the first benefits that will be paid through the new agency. Carers

:18:59. > :19:01.allowance, increasing in the rate of job seekers allowance is the first

:19:02. > :19:08.thing we will do. The new early years benefit to help tackle child

:19:09. > :19:12.poverty. The end of this Parliamentary period? It would

:19:13. > :19:17.always be an implementation over the course of this Parliament. Two

:19:18. > :19:22.further things. As you know, we are building into this agency and this

:19:23. > :19:26.whole approach to benefits a humane system, because one of the things I

:19:27. > :19:31.loathe about the current system, and you have direct experience of it, is

:19:32. > :19:33.how it stigmatises people who rely on benefits and almost reads like

:19:34. > :19:36.criminals. We want dignity at the heart of the system. Another

:19:37. > :19:46.question. I understand how complex it is. And

:19:47. > :19:50.who is part of the system. For me, whilst this is happening and we

:19:51. > :19:55.still have the infrastructure, families are becoming destitute.

:19:56. > :19:58.They will lose Carer's Allowance because they are losing PIP foot of

:19:59. > :20:03.ultimately, what transfers to Scotland could be a lot less because

:20:04. > :20:11.people have lost out. Families are struggling. I know that. I do need

:20:12. > :20:16.to move on. The second part of the question we raised a short time ago

:20:17. > :20:22.was about education and falling literacy and numerous the standards.

:20:23. > :20:27.The question is, why? We have introduced a new curriculum, the

:20:28. > :20:30.curriculum for excellence. The International Organisation that

:20:31. > :20:35.looks at these things has said it is the right thing to do. We have

:20:36. > :20:38.recognised that part of that curriculum needs a greater focus and

:20:39. > :20:43.literacy are numeracy is one of those. You have been in power for

:20:44. > :20:47.ten months. We have been in power for ten years. There is a lot of

:20:48. > :20:54.improvement to the Scottish education system. There are more

:20:55. > :20:58.young people who leave school these days with qualifications. The gap

:20:59. > :21:04.between the richest and poorest young people has almost halved in

:21:05. > :21:08.the ten years... In ten years, some young people have had their entire

:21:09. > :21:13.school career under the S and P and at the end of that standards are

:21:14. > :21:20.going backwards in numeracy and literacy. -- SNP. If you take an

:21:21. > :21:27.international study, there are challenges in that. If you take

:21:28. > :21:29.second-year pupils, it tests and assesses those pupils against the

:21:30. > :21:33.standards they are meant to meet were not in second-year back in

:21:34. > :21:36.third year. Other data shows by the time people are in third year more

:21:37. > :21:42.than 80% of them are meeting the standards. We are making progress

:21:43. > :21:46.and there are improvements. If you got were really good at this,

:21:47. > :21:51.standards would be increasing year on year. In many areas of the

:21:52. > :21:54.education that is the case. More young people leave school with good

:21:55. > :22:01.qualifications. Why are you now embarking on a programme of what

:22:02. > :22:03.your Education Secretary says is radical reform? We have introduced a

:22:04. > :22:09.new curriculum which took a number of years to do. I do believe in

:22:10. > :22:12.politics. Sometimes this is not the standard approach where you have

:22:13. > :22:18.challenges, be honest about those challenges. We have got a programme

:22:19. > :22:21.through our national improvement framework. Headteachers have

:22:22. > :22:27.additional resources in their own hands to try to do more to tackle

:22:28. > :22:32.this. Lots of hands up. Lady in the orange jacket and then Lady on the

:22:33. > :22:39.other side. I am a teacher. I recently retired after 37 years in

:22:40. > :22:42.teaching, teaching maths. Over the last ten years, I will tell you why

:22:43. > :22:50.it has gone down. First of all there was a system at the beginning of

:22:51. > :22:55.2000-2006 were class sizes for maths and English S1 and S2 were 20. It

:22:56. > :22:59.was great. We saw an increase in results at that point. We were able

:23:00. > :23:06.to deal with children who had individualised needs. A couple of

:23:07. > :23:11.years later, the SNP came into power and the authority I worked with

:23:12. > :23:18.became SNP as well. The first thing was an increase in class sizes will

:23:19. > :23:21.be went from 20 average S1 and S2 233. The neighbouring authority

:23:22. > :23:25.remained at 20 and they were up near the top. That is in Renfrewshire.

:23:26. > :23:41.Next door was S share. -- S Shire. The SNP council in Renfrewshire

:23:42. > :23:47.decreased the number of teachers. They took away our support in

:23:48. > :23:54.classrooms, classroom assistants. We were decimated. Marks out of ten?

:23:55. > :24:01.Two out of ten. APPLAUSE

:24:02. > :24:05.Another point and then I will bring in Nicola Sturgeon. Over the last

:24:06. > :24:10.ten years since you came into power, every year there has been a cut in

:24:11. > :24:15.budgets, cuts in staffing, cuts in every service to support us in

:24:16. > :24:20.education. Austerity has been part of that. I accept that. You cannot

:24:21. > :24:25.expect the children to make the same level of attainment if you do not

:24:26. > :24:28.find them. Class size is the main thing is that teachers and head

:24:29. > :24:35.teachers are not consulted directly in was up most what has happened,

:24:36. > :24:40.with the national improvement framework, things are happening now.

:24:41. > :24:43.We have had ten years of this. In those ten years children have lost

:24:44. > :24:54.opportunities. That has been a really sad business with the loss of

:24:55. > :24:57.attainment for young people. I am sitting here listening to a former

:24:58. > :25:01.teacher and a current head teacher. I will not sit here and argue with

:25:02. > :25:08.your experience will I need to listen to that experience. My job is

:25:09. > :25:12.to respond to that. You mention the equity fund. That is a very

:25:13. > :25:17.deliberate, targeted initiative to get the resources into the hands,

:25:18. > :25:20.not of councils, but head teachers directly. I spoke to the head

:25:21. > :25:24.teacher in East Dunbartonshire at the weekend to Tommy he thought that

:25:25. > :25:29.was the most trans formation of thing he thought had happened in his

:25:30. > :25:33.time as head teacher. We should and must consult with those in the

:25:34. > :25:38.teaching profession because you are at the front line. Absolutely, there

:25:39. > :25:47.is nothing we will talk about tonight that I am more determined to

:25:48. > :25:50.make tackle some of the challenges we have. On behalf of pupils and

:25:51. > :25:52.teachers all over the country, I don't think we should say that

:25:53. > :26:00.everything in Scottish education is dreadful because evidence does not

:26:01. > :26:03.bear that out. Schools cannot use if found to get more teachers because

:26:04. > :26:07.there are no teachers out there. Next you there will be 700 left

:26:08. > :26:13.teachers. I cannot understand that because you have already accepted I

:26:14. > :26:16.not enough teachers. We are increasing the number of students

:26:17. > :26:19.going into teaching. There are additional places at teacher

:26:20. > :26:23.training was that we have increased the places at teacher training

:26:24. > :26:29.courses every year for the last six years and will continue to do that.

:26:30. > :26:35.Teacher recruitment challenges are not unique to Scotland. They are

:26:36. > :26:39.almost a global challenge. We are looking at other routes into

:26:40. > :26:45.teaching so we might be able to attract perhaps retired teachers

:26:46. > :26:50.back into the industry. I do not think you are up to that challenge.

:26:51. > :26:55.In the Times educational supplement it was said the Government in

:26:56. > :27:00.Scotland is prepared to let organisations like Teach First to

:27:01. > :27:06.fast track people into the system by bypassing other routes. People would

:27:07. > :27:12.need a teaching qualification but we are about to go out to tender for a

:27:13. > :27:17.different route into teaching. Teach First would be able to apply for

:27:18. > :27:21.that. Sorry for those who wanted to come in on education. The last one

:27:22. > :27:27.from our contributor, Steven Young. With a small -- would a small tax

:27:28. > :27:33.rise be something you would consider if the money was ring fenced and put

:27:34. > :27:38.into the NHS? We would always consider these things. You seem

:27:39. > :27:42.reluctant to use your tax powers. I am not reluctant to use tax powers

:27:43. > :27:52.but you need to consider the impact. We decided not to raise the basic

:27:53. > :27:55.rate of income tax because that hits low and middle income people. We are

:27:56. > :28:01.going into a period where inflation is rising and there is real pressure

:28:02. > :28:04.on the cost of living. We have put ?3 billion more into the health

:28:05. > :28:09.service in the last few years and have plans to put in another 2

:28:10. > :28:10.billion. We took the decision not to give a tax cut on people on the

:28:11. > :28:15.higher rate of income tax which has happened south of the border. That

:28:16. > :28:19.creates extra revenue because of the way the finances work. We are

:28:20. > :28:23.investing in pub lick services. Of course we will continue to look at

:28:24. > :28:28.these things. One of the big issues is going to be the pressure on

:28:29. > :28:33.household incomes as inflation, partly because of the low value of

:28:34. > :28:38.the pound which goes up. The public sector pay caps become a real issue.

:28:39. > :28:44.We have said we will lift that cap because of that. A couple of

:28:45. > :28:49.follow-ups on the NHS. Why are one in for GP surgeries short of a

:28:50. > :28:54.doctor? We are increasing the number of doctors coming into medical

:28:55. > :28:59.training and getting more into general practice. Like teaching in

:29:00. > :29:04.Scotland is not unique in trying to get people into certain areas. We

:29:05. > :29:08.have 12,000 more people working in the health service. That includes

:29:09. > :29:13.all doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. We have

:29:14. > :29:16.challenges. Some of those are not unique to Scotland but we are

:29:17. > :29:21.determined to get on top of them. I need to draw this to a close. I

:29:22. > :29:28.guess you need to get home and watched Theresa May and Jeremy

:29:29. > :29:31.being here for your contributions. being here for your contributions.

:29:32. > :29:32.it makes no difference whether you watch my show or not.

:29:33. > :29:35.In two years' time, you will have all memory of it beaten out of you

:29:36. > :29:39.it makes no difference whether you watch my show or not.

:29:40. > :29:42.In two years' time, you will have all memory of it beaten out of you

:29:43. > :29:45.by a robot foreman in an ash factory.