0:00:01 > 0:00:05I taught for over 20 years and loved every minute of it,
0:00:05 > 0:00:06even the tough times.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10When I qualified at first, I came and taught on Bute, and Rothesay Academy.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Teaching is... You're learning about the human condition.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15You're learning about what happens to people,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20but it's also a profession where, although the school is hierarchical, you work as part of a team,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22so some of the funniest things that have ever happened to me in my life,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26and some of the hardest things that have happened in my life, have happened when I was teaching.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36What's happening right now is frightening.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40One in three of all the jobs being lost in the United Kingdom
0:00:40 > 0:00:42are being lost in Scotland.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44And 400 women a day are now losing their jobs.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48That is an absolute scandal.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50I just think the Government needs to focus on creating
0:00:50 > 0:00:54the economic opportunities - where the public purse has been spent,
0:00:54 > 0:00:59using that to create jobs to support businesses to survive. The Scottish Government is not doing that.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02Focusing on funding further education, making the hard choices
0:01:02 > 0:01:07so that the colleges can thrive, that people can get a chance to get the skills they need to work
0:01:07 > 0:01:11and that they can work with local businesses to create opportunities.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14If we had more understanding by those making the decisions
0:01:14 > 0:01:17of what the impact was on individuals and families,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20maybe they would find those decisions a great deal harder to make.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24There needs to be a focus and a determination to explain what we can do,
0:01:24 > 0:01:29rather than what this Scottish Government does, tells us what they can't do,
0:01:29 > 0:01:31because they want to prosecute a separate case,
0:01:31 > 0:01:35which is their view of what Scotland should be constitutionally.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40I would like them to focus on making a difference to families and communities right now.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44What I learned as a teacher informs what I do now, very much informs what I do now.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Some of the things I would debate, particularly in the early days
0:01:47 > 0:01:49when I was in the Parliament,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53I could think of the person, I could think of the child. I can still do that.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58Very often if I'm arguing, whether about a carer or...what's happening, there's a person in my head,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00because one of the really important things to me
0:02:00 > 0:02:06is still to continue to do my own surgeries, and try and...help people.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10You know, that's the basic bread and butter of being an elected member.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14Some people think the economy's a science, you see, they pretend everything's a science.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17"This is inevitable, you HAVE to do this."
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Actually there's always choices, and when you've got choices,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23you then should understand what the impact is on families.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Everybody has the right to achieve their potential,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30and I would love all the energy and capacity and abilities and talents
0:02:30 > 0:02:34of people in Scotland to be focused on solving those great challenges.