Browse content similar to 13/06/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
parliament here at Holyrood where MSPs have spent the morning working | :00:19. | :00:26. | |
on the fine details of the rose for next year's referendum. There is the | :00:27. | :00:30. | |
continuing controversy over RBS, the issue of healthcare for the elderly | :00:30. | :00:36. | |
and, as ever, a big debate going on over pensions and welfare provision. | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
Any or all of those topics could come up when the leaders of the | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
opposition question the First Minister. Let's cross to the chamber | :00:43. | :00:50. | |
and see how things are going on with my colleague, Michael McNeil. | :00:50. | :00:55. | |
Here they're asking about the impact of the Ministry of Defence rules, | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
changes for procurement of Naval vessels and the impact that will | :00:58. | :01:02. | |
have on jobs in Scotland. We are hearing an answer at the moment from | :01:02. | :01:07. | |
the Deputy First Minister. Let's cross and hear what she has to say. | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
Regardless of the constitutional arrangements. The MoD has recently | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
placed an order in Korea. So anybody who suggests our own shipyards | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
wouldn't succeed in the future I think is, as the member suggests, | :01:20. | :01:29. | |
not being entirely credible in the situation. Before we come to the - | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
members will wish to join me in welcoming to the gallery the Speaker | :01:33. | :01:43. | |
:01:43. | :01:43. | ||
of the Queensland parliament, the honourable Fiona Simpson, MP. | :01:43. | :01:46. | |
APPLAUSE We now move to questions for the | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
First Minister. Question one, Johann Lamont. Thank you very much. To ask | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
the first are Minister what engagements he has planned for the | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
rest of the day. Later today I will be meeting the managing director of | :02:00. | :02:03. | |
the marketing firm Kira who I am delighted to announce are creating | :02:03. | :02:10. | |
up to 200 jobs at a in a silt in Glasgow. -- city in Glasgow. After | :02:10. | :02:13. | |
yesterday's positive employment statistics and last week's sparkling | :02:13. | :02:16. | |
performance and inward investment, despite a number of challenges and | :02:16. | :02:20. | |
number of areas and companies and despite austerity from Westminster, | :02:20. | :02:27. | |
this has been a good news week for the Scottish economy. | :02:27. | :02:30. | |
APPLAUSE Thank you. Could the First Minister | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
tell us, apart from the pound, the Bank of England, the NHS, the armed | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
forces, the monarchy and the welfare state, what has the United Kingdom | :02:39. | :02:48. | |
ever done for us? Well, I think - is that not more of a question for | :02:48. | :02:51. | |
those who advocate the continuing rule from London over the Scottish | :02:51. | :03:01. | |
:03:01. | :03:02. | ||
people? I would think that having rule from London and austerity | :03:02. | :03:06. | |
budget described by a former Chancellor - I am trying to grasp | :03:06. | :03:12. | |
his name, Alistair Darling, as madness, in terms of the economic | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
direction of policy would rather make the case for these economic | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
fiscal decisions over tax and spending being made in Scotland. I | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
also think that many people in Scotland would rather like to stay | :03:24. | :03:30. | |
in one of the 190 countries out of 200 the world free of nuclear | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
weapons as opposed to having the largest concentration of weapons of | :03:33. | :03:41. | |
mass destruction in Europe. It is very odd, then, that the First | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
Minister wants to reassure everybody that everything will stay the same | :03:45. | :03:52. | |
and that nothing will change. The mystery is, if the UK has so much we | :03:52. | :03:56. | |
want to share why would we leave it and then ask them to share the | :03:56. | :04:06. | |
things we have left behind? The truth is - if they're so monstrous | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
you wonder why they would want to share these things with us anyway. | :04:09. | :04:16. | |
The truth is his current plan only weakens Scotland. Now his plan is to | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
enshrine a foreign Government's economic and welfare policies in | :04:20. | :04:28. | |
Scottish policy without Scots having any say whatsoever. So, my question | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
to the first MEP is this, he used to say that the pound and the UK | :04:33. | :04:40. | |
welfare state were bad for Scotland, what's changed? Well, can I correct | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
Johann Lamont. One of the reasons we want to have independence is so we | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
can have social justice for the Scottish people. I notice that only | :04:49. | :04:54. | |
a few weeks ago Johann Lamont said if she could be persuaded of that | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
point then she would support independence. Let's have a go about | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
persuading her of that point. One thing independence will guarantee | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
for the people, that they won't have differentential rates of benefits | :05:08. | :05:15. | |
across the United Kingdom. I quote from the Daily Record of 4th June, a | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
reliable source indeed, Scots could get welfare benefits at lower rates | :05:19. | :05:24. | |
than people in wealthy parts of England under plans being worked on | :05:24. | :05:29. | |
by Labour. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls yesterday raised the idea of a | :05:29. | :05:34. | |
regional cap on welfare opening the door to carations in a range of | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
social security benefits. Not just will independence free us from the | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
bedroom tax imposed by a Tory Party, it will free us from Ed Balls plans | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
to pay people in Scotland less benefits than wealthy parts of | :05:47. | :05:57. | |
:05:57. | :06:01. | ||
England. First of all, that's not what Ed Balls said. He knows it | :06:01. | :06:07. | |
well. We have all learned that just because the First Minister says it, | :06:08. | :06:16. | |
doesn't mean that it is true. The idea that it's possible for this | :06:17. | :06:21. | |
Government to argue that it will have a greater commitment to social | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
justice under independence when it's already said it will be tied to UK | :06:25. | :06:33. | |
policies on welfare until 2020, is completely ridiculous. An | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
independent experts have said it is impossible to get rid of the bedroom | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
tax day one of independence if you are going to continue with the | :06:40. | :06:46. | |
welfare position as advocated by the UK. It's nonsense on stilts and | :06:46. | :06:53. | |
everyone but this lot know it. However, Presiding Officers, many of | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
us, maybe all too many of us, remember that young nationalist | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
rogue in Westminster who when the Tory Chancellor Nigel Lawson | :07:02. | :07:07. | |
announced a cut in corporation tax was expelled from the chamber for | :07:07. | :07:14. | |
calling the Budget an obscenity. And now the all too rich irony is that | :07:14. | :07:18. | |
the one thing the First Minister wants control of, the one thing he | :07:18. | :07:24. | |
holds firm to, the one thing he won't shift on is corporation tax. | :07:24. | :07:30. | |
In an independent Scotland corporation tax would be 3p lower | :07:30. | :07:37. | |
than whatever the Tories set it at and the benefits he reckons, a | :07:37. | :07:46. | |
massive 0. 07% growth per year, and that is worth 3% margin of error. I | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
ask again, what happened to that young man who believed in | :07:51. | :08:00. | |
independence and now advocates independence? Johann Lamont forgot | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
to mention the thousands of jobs to be created as well. I know the | :08:03. | :08:10. | |
Labour Party these days doesn't care about jobs and I knew Johann Lamont | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
wasn't going to ask about it today given the splendid jobs figures | :08:14. | :08:17. | |
yesterday. I think they're still important to some people in this | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
country and that's why having a competitive rate of corporation tax | :08:21. | :08:27. | |
and then collecting it seems like a good idea. Ea: I have been first to | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
criticise George Osborne for his lack of direction in collecting | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
corporation tax in this country. However, it has been pointed out to | :08:35. | :08:41. | |
me that non-payment of corporation tax and other taxes peaked under | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
Gordon Brown's ten years at the Treasury. I really do think Labour | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
and of course we know the Labour Party are actively advising people | :08:49. | :08:53. | |
on tax avoidance for their own donors at the present moment. I | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
think they're in a poor position to lecture people on tax avoidance. | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
Let's get to the guts of the welfare report. What Johann Lamont | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
misunderstands is the administration of a system doesn't mean an ie | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
departmentical policy within the system. -- identical policy within | :09:09. | :09:13. | |
the system. We have a joint administration of the student loans | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
system. But there's two radically different policies in Scotland and | :09:18. | :09:25. | |
England. In Scotland we have - thanks to the SNP. In England, they | :09:25. | :09:29. | |
have tuition fees thanks to the Tories and the Labour Party. And to | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
have more Tuesday in Scotland -- tuition feeses, if in the unlikely | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
event of the Labour Party getting back to power. Johann Lamont said I | :09:39. | :09:48. | |
am misrepresenting Labour policy. I am quoting the Daily Record. Now, | :09:48. | :09:54. | |
Johann la month has got to the stage she thinks the Daily Record is | :09:54. | :09:58. | |
vehicle letly trying to -- secretly trying to undermain the Labour | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
Party, I think that would indicate a sense of difficulty within her party | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
which goes even beyond my expectations. The fact is that Ed | :10:07. | :10:11. | |
Balls has accepted the Tory spending plans. He has accepted the Tory cap | :10:11. | :10:18. | |
on welfare. Labour refuse, refuse to say they'll repeal the bedroom tax | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
and here we have it in the Daily Record, they want to pay poor people | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
in Scotland less than poor people elsewhere in these Islands. What | :10:27. | :10:37. | |
:10:37. | :10:42. | ||
sort of United Kingdom is that? That's simply not true. It's only | :10:42. | :10:45. | |
the First Minister who wants a welfare system which is better and | :10:45. | :10:54. | |
it's going to be funded by cutting corporation tax by 3p more, it's | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
complete completely ludicrous. In fact, if it wasn't that this was | :10:58. | :11:03. | |
about pensions, people's pages - wages, the future of our children we | :11:03. | :11:08. | |
could laugh at that loud krous -- ludicrous response from the First | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
Minister. Well prepared as it was, it did not respond to the challenge | :11:11. | :11:17. | |
at the very heart of his proposals for an independence Scotland, which | :11:17. | :11:21. | |
is to rely on the goodwill of a state that said oppresses us and we | :11:21. | :11:28. | |
have to free ourselves from. Of course you see the question we face | :11:28. | :11:33. | |
is this, and I suspect his own backbenchers and party members may | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
reflect on this too. Has the First Minister lost his mojo on | :11:37. | :11:42. | |
independence or does he simply think, and this might be more | :11:42. | :11:49. | |
accurate, does he simply think that the people of Scotland are mugs? His | :11:49. | :11:55. | |
plans for the currency, for pensions, for benefits, and for jobs | :11:55. | :12:00. | |
and mortgages now all hinge on the goodwill of a country we would just | :12:00. | :12:06. | |
have made a foreign one by voting to leave it. I don't know why you are | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
saying it's rubbish. The First Minister and Deputy First Minister | :12:12. | :12:17. | |
have reassured us that's what would happen after independented pence. -- | :12:17. | :12:24. | |
independence. Perhaps SNP backbenchers might want to set up a | :12:24. | :12:32. | |
breakaway group, SNP for Independence. I think there's one or | :12:32. | :12:40. | |
two... Can we have a little bit of calm to allow Johann Lamont to | :12:40. | :12:46. | |
complete her question. As we know, the more noisier it is, the probably | :12:47. | :12:50. | |
truer the accusation is. The truth is and the First Minister has | :12:50. | :12:54. | |
acknowledged this and celebrates it, that the UK would control our | :12:54. | :13:01. | |
currency, our economy, and now our pensions. But perhaps he does have | :13:01. | :13:06. | |
another plan he isn't telling us, because it's all too evident that | :13:06. | :13:16. | |
:13:16. | :13:20. | ||
the current plan - it's too evident that the current plan is neither | :13:20. | :13:30. | |
:13:30. | :13:31. | ||
independence... Order. Mr Swinney. Indeed. Because the fact of the | :13:31. | :13:36. | |
matter is he must have another plan he isn't telling us because the | :13:36. | :13:41. | |
current plan is neither independented pence nor credible. -- | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
independence nor credible. First Minister. I was waiting for the big | :13:45. | :13:51. | |
punchline and it never came. It was interesting it got to the 4th | :13:51. | :13:58. | |
question before Johann Lamont - a spontaneous reception from the | :13:58. | :14:01. | |
Conservative Scottish party. Alistair Darling managed a standing | :14:01. | :14:08. | |
ovation. Can I point out that the - she said it would take goodwill for | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
the Government in Westminster to accept the shared administration of | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
the welfare system. The point is that Scotland administers a large | :14:17. | :14:21. | |
part of the welfare system of England and Wales. I don't think | :14:21. | :14:26. | |
that's goodwill. That's common sense for the Government at Westminster | :14:26. | :14:30. | |
and therefore the proposals put forward by the welfare committee. | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
Let's turn to the very specific policy. One which I think is as more | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
public currency than any other to talk about the differences between | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
governing in this place and governing from Westminster. That is | :14:42. | :14:48. | |
the bedroom tax. We know not just from the Daily Record, which Johann | :14:48. | :14:55. | |
Lamont wants to disassociate herself from now, but also from Helen | :14:55. | :14:58. | |
Goodman, shadow cabinet member for Labour under responsibility of the | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
bedroom tax and she made it quite clear on the daily Politics Show | :15:02. | :15:07. | |
11th March that Labour has no plans to abolish or reverse the bedroom | :15:07. | :15:15. | |
tax. Ed Balls said he would accept the Tories entire spending plans | :15:15. | :15:21. | |
only this week. In contrast this Government will abolish the bedroom | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
tax if we are elected as the first Government of an independent | :15:25. | :15:32. | |
Scotland. And not only will we abolish it, we will do it in the | :15:32. | :15:42. | |
:15:42. | :15:47. | ||
first year of that independent Scotland. Ask the First Minister | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
when he will next meet the Secretary of State for Scotland? No plans in | :15:50. | :15:56. | |
the near future. Rooud Davidson morning the Health Secretary | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
promised people who had been forced to pay thousands of pounds in care | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
cost for relatives with complex care needs that should have been covered | :16:02. | :16:06. | |
by the NHS would be appropriately reimbursed. In three years we have | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
seen the number of people having these costs supported fall by 27% | :16:10. | :16:14. | |
across country. Can I ask the First Minister why have relatives of some | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
of the mo vulnerable and desperately ill people in this country been | :16:18. | :16:23. | |
denied the support to which they were entitled? Well, the guidelines | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
in terms of continuing care in Scotland have been consistent for | :16:28. | :16:33. | |
sometime, the goodance was issued in 2008. It took the good practice | :16:33. | :16:37. | |
recommendations which were put forward by the Scottish public | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
service ombudsman and what the Health Secretary said and what I | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
will repeat is if any case in which these guide lines haven't been | :16:44. | :16:47. | |
followed then of course that situation will be rectified. | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
Luckily, because of the passage of the patient rights act, the advice | :16:52. | :16:55. | |
and support services which is operated by the Scottish citizens | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
advice bureau, care information Scotland, line founded by the | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
Scottish Government with confidential phoneline and access to | :17:03. | :17:06. | |
board means there are many routes for patients to look and to | :17:06. | :17:11. | |
challenge a position that they think is unjust. Can I just say to Ruth | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
Davidson, yes of course if any individual has not had their rights | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
according to the regulations in Scotland then that case will be | :17:18. | :17:25. | |
looked at and rectified. I would much rather live in a country where | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
77,000 people at the present moment have access to free personal and | :17:29. | :17:33. | |
nursing care and are cared for as part of the fab brick of the health | :17:34. | :17:36. | |
service -- fabric of a health service than in a country that does | :17:37. | :17:42. | |
not have that advantage for its elderly people. Rooud Davidson. | :17:42. | :17:47. | |
Ruth Davidson. I am sure the First Minister isn't conflating continuing | :17:47. | :17:50. | |
healthcare entitlement with free perm care on purpose knowing they're | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
separate and we are not talking about free personal care here. We | :17:54. | :17:59. | |
are talking about the continuous healthcare entitlement. I am pleased | :17:59. | :18:01. | |
that the First Minister has acknowledged that the health | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
Minister held his hands up to the problem today. I believe that's a | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
start and I thank Alec Neil for that. At up with point in his BBC | :18:09. | :18:13. | |
interview he said that he thought it was only a small number of people | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
affected and at another he said he thought we were talking about, I | :18:17. | :18:22. | |
quote, a few,000 in total. The truth is surely nobody knows how many | :18:22. | :18:26. | |
people have been affected by this. When the health Minister and the | :18:26. | :18:29. | |
First Minister asked for those affected to come to them, I say that | :18:29. | :18:33. | |
the Government needs to be a bit more proactive than that. This First | :18:33. | :18:38. | |
Minister has a responsibility to find out how many people in Scotland | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
caring for critically ill relatives have been handing over thousands of | :18:42. | :18:48. | |
pounds when they shouldn't have been. We need a full audit of every | :18:48. | :18:52. | |
person in every health board who may be affected either currently or | :18:52. | :18:57. | |
historically in order to ensure that proper reparations are paid. Will | :18:57. | :19:03. | |
the First Minister order one? just, because it's a serious subject | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
for people. Can I take through what actually happens at the present | :19:06. | :19:11. | |
moment. The guidance as I mentioned in the first answer was updated in | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
2008. That took account of the recommendations of good practice | :19:15. | :19:21. | |
from the ombudsman. What happens to people is the - general practitioner | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
in consultation with team will decide whether an individual is | :19:24. | :19:28. | |
eligible for NHS continuing healthcare. That guidance states | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
that the person that takes the lead is down to the complexity and nature | :19:31. | :19:35. | |
and intensity of somebody's health needs. People are assessed within | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
the system at the present moment. Secondly, thank goodness for this, | :19:39. | :19:42. | |
under the patient rights act far from sitting back and not doing | :19:42. | :19:47. | |
anything about the rights of patients, we passed the patients | :19:47. | :19:52. | |
right act of 2012 and instituted two additional means of people making | :19:52. | :19:56. | |
sure that the health service is treating them properly and according | :19:56. | :20:00. | |
to the guidance. The patient advice and support service for the Citizens | :20:00. | :20:03. | |
Advice Bureau and also the care information Scotland which is funded | :20:03. | :20:06. | |
by the Scottish Government which provides that confidential care | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
line. These are avenues by which people can get the rights ap | :20:11. | :20:15. | |
entitlement under the nast. But Ruth Davidson's sweeping away of the | :20:15. | :20:22. | |
importance of the 77,000 people who get free personal nursing care is | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
not - is exactly on this subject. What happens to people who are | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
entitled to continuing care within the health service is that the | :20:30. | :20:34. | |
people and three-quarters of people almost are in hospital in this | :20:34. | :20:37. | |
position and therefore have no accommodation charges in that sense, | :20:37. | :20:42. | |
but get help with accommodation charges in nursing homes in a way | :20:42. | :20:45. | |
that free personal and nursing care doesn't, that is the aspect of the | :20:45. | :20:50. | |
system. The system is a continuous one. Therefore, what needs to be | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
done and will be done and certainly will be done is that we will ensure | :20:54. | :20:59. | |
that the regulations are properly followed, that the opportunities for | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
patients and individuals and elderly patients and relatives to come | :21:02. | :21:06. | |
forward on these means if there's anything that's been done contrary | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
to these regulations then it will be rectified. Not to understand the | :21:11. | :21:17. | |
system of free personal and nursing care in a society is fundamentally - | :21:17. | :21:21. | |
to where it doesn't exist, I think is not to understand the importance | :21:21. | :21:27. | |
of defending that system for the Scottish people. Constituency | :21:27. | :21:33. | |
question from Neil Finley. It's not been a good or sparkling week for | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
employment in my area. Can I ask the First Minister what help can be | :21:36. | :21:42. | |
given to the people in my region now there is consultation over job | :21:42. | :21:47. | |
losses at a depot. This in April area already reeling from the loss | :21:47. | :21:54. | |
of 1700 job losses? The sparkling performance was in relation to | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
inward investment and the Labour Party should accept that the | :21:57. | :22:01. | |
employment figures particularly for young people in Scotland were very, | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
very good news indeed. Putting forward a constitution constitution | :22:04. | :22:09. | |
issue which is a very important one, then what the member should know is | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
that the Scottish enterprise officials have already been in touch | :22:12. | :22:18. | |
with a company, the national pace managers spoke yesterday with | :22:18. | :22:22. | |
representatives to offer support for employees who might be affected by | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
redundancy. The companies say no decisions have been taken. They also | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
point to the increase in posts which could be creep ated at other | :22:30. | :22:36. | |
distribution centres. -- created. We take these matters seriously and | :22:36. | :22:40. | |
there will be Pace and Ministerial intervention as there has been | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
substantial intervention in West Lothian to try and secure the | :22:43. | :22:47. | |
employment and employment prospects of his constituents. That's | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
something we should jointly do as a parliament just as we should jointly | :22:52. | :22:56. | |
welcome the substantial indications that the Scottish employment | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
situation is improving and that youth unemployment in particular has | :23:00. | :23:06. | |
shown remarkable progress over the last 18 months. Question three. | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
the cabinet? Next meeting of the cabinet will discuss issues of | :23:12. | :23:17. | |
importance to the people of Scotland. When I asked before about | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
divisions at the police, he laughed and said it was creative tension. | :23:21. | :23:25. | |
Was he laughing when the chief executive resigned in February? He | :23:25. | :23:30. | |
told me that matters had been resolved. But now we discover that | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
chaos continued at the heart of our newly centralised police force. Why | :23:34. | :23:38. | |
didn't he tell this parliament about the resignation of the senior public | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
leader? I have to say this stinks of a cover-up. Why was this parliament | :23:42. | :23:48. | |
not informed of the resignation of the authority's chief executive, | :23:48. | :23:53. | |
just what did he have to hide? quote the chair of the Scottish | :23:53. | :23:58. | |
Police Authority today. There's continuity at the top of of the | :23:58. | :24:04. | |
Scottish Police Authority, direction -- we have all been appointed for a | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
four-year term. The organisation is maturing its relationship with | :24:09. | :24:13. | |
police Scotland and other stake holders. He points out he's been | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
before parliament on a number of occasions. I don't think Willie | :24:17. | :24:22. | |
Rennie should conflate the interim appointments with the perm Nancy of | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
the Scottish Police Authority and should take the word of the chairman | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
of the Police Authority who says that these matters are in the | :24:28. | :24:32. | |
happened and the organisation looks confidently to the future. The other | :24:32. | :24:37. | |
thing I would say is that when we look at the spectacular success of | :24:37. | :24:40. | |
the Scottish police service in delivering the lowest rate of | :24:40. | :24:45. | |
recorded crime for a generation, if we look at the excel Lens of its | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
performance across Scotland, I think a party forecasting doom and | :24:50. | :24:54. | |
disaster when all of the justice figures and the effectiveness of the | :24:54. | :24:58. | |
police in Scotland say otherwise is basically going to be on a hiding to | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
nothing as these points and arguments are replayed to them in | :25:01. | :25:07. | |
the months to come. You cannot hide behind operational independented | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
pence on this. The Scottish Government, as Andrea I didn't | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
know's letter points out, have been involved every step of the way on | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
the organisation, on the structure of the new Scottish Police | :25:20. | :25:26. | |
Authority. The chief executive was going but it was kept quiet. As a | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
result, we will be without a permanent chief. We have had three | :25:30. | :25:34. | |
chief executives in just one year. If that's continuity, I don't know | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
what not continuity is. Why wasn't the recruitment process started | :25:38. | :25:42. | |
earlier? The First Minister told me that the chaos was sorted in | :25:42. | :25:47. | |
January. Then she resigned in February. We led a police debate in | :25:47. | :25:53. | |
March but parliament was not told. Did the Government ask the chairman | :25:53. | :25:58. | |
to keep the organisation, the - the resignation quiet to avoid | :25:58. | :26:05. | |
embarrassment? Very precisely, did your Government tell Vic Emery to | :26:05. | :26:11. | |
keep this quiet? No, well I am not behinding behind operational | :26:11. | :26:13. | |
independence, I have no knowledge of anyone in the Government suggesting | :26:13. | :26:18. | |
any such thing to Vic Emery, he says not because in his statement today | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
he says it changed in personnel are a feature of most Mergers and reform | :26:22. | :26:27. | |
programmes. The issue of operational independence is actually not | :26:27. | :26:32. | |
something to hide behind. It's something of fundamental importance. | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
The operational independence of the Police Service is of huge importance | :26:36. | :26:41. | |
in a democratic society and by definition even more important that | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
the Scottish Police Authority has to have operational independence. Vic | :26:45. | :26:50. | |
Emery points out in his quote today, by the end of this month will | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
appeared before the justice committee on four occasions, there | :26:55. | :27:02. | |
will be ample opportunity for Willie Rennie to Putney conspiracy theory | :27:02. | :27:06. | |
that comes that's assuming he remembers to turn up this time. | :27:06. | :27:10. | |
Question four. Christine Graham. Thank you. To ask the First Minister | :27:10. | :27:14. | |
whether the Scottish Government has been in contact with the UK | :27:14. | :27:18. | |
Government regarding illegal surveillance activities in Scotland? | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
We are clear that people have the right to communicate without the | :27:22. | :27:26. | |
fear of unlawful sur vail apes by the state. Following coverage of | :27:26. | :27:29. | |
access to US intelligence Scottish ministers have sought assurances | :27:29. | :27:33. | |
from the UK Government. The cabinet Secretary for justice wrote to the | :27:33. | :27:35. | |
Foreign Secretary on Tuesday of this week both to acknowledge the | :27:35. | :27:39. | |
statement which was made by MrHague on Monday, but to ask for further | :27:39. | :27:44. | |
information for the benefit of this parliament. I thank the First | :27:44. | :27:49. | |
Minister for his answer. Can I ask if the reply also from MrHague will | :27:49. | :27:54. | |
be published. However, what is the kufrnt oversight system for | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
surveillance in Scotland and has there been consideration of changes | :27:58. | :28:03. | |
to the system in the future? I refer in terms of the future work to the | :28:03. | :28:08. | |
evidence that the Deputy First Minister gave before the revanity | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
committee. But can I share with Christine Graham the points that the | :28:11. | :28:17. | |
cabinet Secretary for justice made to the Foreign Secretary. Kenny | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
MacAskill said you will appreciate I wish to be satisfied the rights of | :28:20. | :28:26. | |
people in Scotland have been hundred held. A -- upheld. I would be | :28:26. | :28:29. | |
grateful for further information about the approach you are taking to | :28:29. | :28:32. | |
this investigation and progress that's been made to provide | :28:32. | :28:35. | |
necessary assurance in relation to compliance with the law. In straight | :28:35. | :28:38. | |
answer to Christine Graham's question, of course that reply will | :28:38. | :28:43. | |
be published and we would expect, although it's a matter for the | :28:43. | :28:47. | |
relevant parliamentary committee, that the committee of course could | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
question on that evidence and further pursue the matter if they | :28:50. | :28:57. | |
choose. Jackie Baillie, question five. What steps the Government is | :28:57. | :29:02. | |
taking to improve the detection of cervical cancer? Well, the earlier a | :29:02. | :29:06. | |
cancer is detected the easier it is to treat. We know that the screening | :29:06. | :29:10. | |
is the best way to detect cervical cancer at its earliest stage. Every | :29:10. | :29:14. | |
woman in Scotland between 20-60 years of age is invited to be | :29:14. | :29:18. | |
screened every three years. Information leafletsish ufed with | :29:18. | :29:21. | |
each invitation contain information on the symptoms and advice and | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
seeking medical advice if the symptoms are present. This week is | :29:26. | :29:28. | |
cervical screening awareness week and the message from this Government | :29:28. | :29:31. | |
and I am sure from the chamber is that all eligible women in Scotland | :29:31. | :29:35. | |
should find out more about cervical screening so they can be informed as | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
possible about the benefits of such screening. Can I absolutely | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
associate myself with the First Minister's response, early detection | :29:44. | :29:48. | |
is extremely important. Does he not also agree that securing swift | :29:49. | :29:52. | |
follow-up treatment is also key, unlike England the Scottish | :29:52. | :29:55. | |
Government has cancer waiting targets for initial treatment, but | :29:55. | :29:59. | |
when it comes to follow-up treatment there is some evidence that suggests | :29:59. | :30:03. | |
that patients are waiting longer to be seen but this is not recorded. | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
Does the First Minister therefore believe that this hidden cancer | :30:06. | :30:13. | |
waiting list is acceptable? I was hoping that on this issue given its | :30:13. | :30:17. | |
importance, given this is cervical cancer week, that the chamber could | :30:17. | :30:20. | |
speak with one voice and Jackie Bailey could avoid seeing every | :30:21. | :30:24. | |
issue as a potential issue for political division in a service | :30:24. | :30:28. | |
which should unite this whole chamber. As Jackie Bailey should | :30:28. | :30:33. | |
know the early detect cancer programme which looks - considering | :30:33. | :30:37. | |
the future inclusion of additional tumour groups, there are excellent | :30:37. | :30:42. | |
results in terms of the cancer treatment waiting times. For | :30:42. | :30:46. | |
goodness sake, just for once, let's unite in seeing the importance of | :30:46. | :30:51. | |
this condition and supporting the efforts of those who put it forward. | :30:51. | :30:57. | |
Question six, Alex Johnston. Ask the First Minister how much it would | :30:57. | :31:00. | |
cost annually for an independent Scotland to raise benefit payments | :31:00. | :31:06. | |
to enable that the Scottish Government considers -- to a left | :31:06. | :31:09. | |
that the Scottish Government considers appropriate? Changes we | :31:09. | :31:12. | |
think are necessary in the context of an independent Scotland when this | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
chamber and this parliament gains control over social security, but I | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
think we should reflect on the changes we have already had to make | :31:19. | :31:22. | |
as a result of the imposition of some of these welfare changes from | :31:22. | :31:27. | |
Westminster. The attempt to cut council tax benefit by 10% which | :31:27. | :31:34. | |
would have affected 560,000 people across Scotland, his constituents, | :31:34. | :31:38. | |
my constituents, luckily avoided by the joint action of CO2 SLO and this | :31:38. | :31:45. | |
Government in taerms of making up that amount, that cost 40 million. | :31:45. | :31:49. | |
The fund to boost the emergency loan fund as a result of the impact of | :31:49. | :31:53. | |
the welfare changes being imposed from Westminster and of course the | :31:53. | :31:57. | |
additional �8 million going to the advice agencies so people suffering | :31:57. | :32:00. | |
from the policies being imposed by colleagues at Westminster can get | :32:00. | :32:04. | |
the help and advice they need. These are points in mitigation. The two | :32:04. | :32:08. | |
policies we have already announced for an independent Scotland will | :32:08. | :32:16. | |
also offer fairness and justice to the people of Scotland. I note the | :32:16. | :32:20. | |
First Minister's careful answer, but still it does not account for the | :32:20. | :32:25. | |
fact that members of his front bench team and particularly his | :32:25. | :32:30. | |
backbenchers are making promises to many people in Scotland about what | :32:30. | :32:34. | |
would apparently happen to benefits and welfare should Scotland become | :32:35. | :32:38. | |
independent. It is absolutely essential that the First Minister | :32:38. | :32:43. | |
take the opportunity to lay out which of these promises he intends | :32:43. | :32:47. | |
to keep, which he believes are merely on the hoof commitments, and | :32:47. | :32:54. | |
what the cost will be because if this cost is substantial the | :32:54. | :32:57. | |
additional transfer of wealth required within the Scottish economy | :32:57. | :33:00. | |
is something everyone should be aware of before they vote on | :33:00. | :33:10. | |
:33:10. | :33:20. | ||
independence. With the commitments we have made in terms of abolishing | :33:20. | :33:25. | |
the bedroom tax will be �60 million a year, moving away from the | :33:25. | :33:28. | |
earnings disregard and giving parity and justice to women in Scotland | :33:28. | :33:35. | |
will cost in the region of �60-80 million a year. We have made these | :33:35. | :33:39. | |
commitments already. Can I say that looking at this argument the | :33:39. | :33:42. | |
imposition of deep unfairness in terms of the Westminster | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
Government's attitude to these things, the plunging of tens of | :33:45. | :33:50. | |
thousands of more people in Scotland into relative poverty, reversing, I | :33:50. | :33:54. | |
believe as these changes will do, the progress that's been made in | :33:54. | :33:58. | |
child poverty in Scotland, of all the flimsy basis on which the union | :33:58. | :34:02. | |
and the alliance with the Labour Party will stand, that is the | :34:02. | :34:06. | |
flimsiest of them all. People who vote for independence will vote for | :34:06. | :34:12. | |
social justice and progress in that Scotland. Thank you. That concludes | :34:12. | :34:21. | |
questions to the First Minister. Exchanges on the issue of welfare | :34:21. | :34:26. | |
provision, right now and potentially post-independence and in the interim | :34:26. | :34:31. | |
period also extremely serious but also thorough going exchange on the | :34:31. | :34:34. |