Browse content similar to 20/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello there and a warm welcome to the Scottish parliament here at | :00:20. | :00:24. | |
Holyrood. The main talking point is David Bowie's survives -- surprise | :00:25. | :00:30. | |
intervention in the Scottish independence debate. Apparently he | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
reckons that the UK is hunky-dory. It has caused a bit of a fuss, of | :00:37. | :00:43. | |
course. But Alex Salmond reckons it is a god-awful small affair. Let go | :00:44. | :00:51. | |
to First Minister's Questions. To ask the First Minister what | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
engagement he has planned for the rest of the day. Presiding officer, | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
I am sure the whole chamber will want to join me in congratulating | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
Eve Muirhead and the rink on winning the bronze medal at the Winter | :01:06. | :01:11. | |
Olympics. That is a demonstration that we can all be heroes just for | :01:12. | :01:18. | |
one day. And of course those of us on this side would of course | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
congratulate the corners. We are very proud of them as Scots and part | :01:24. | :01:32. | |
of team GB. Can I ask the First Minister to turn and face the | :01:33. | :01:40. | |
strain? In the past seven days, the shadow -- Chancellor, the Shadow | :01:41. | :01:43. | |
Chancellor, the Chief Secretary of the Treasury, the ST you see, the | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
CBI and the Institute of Directors have all said that both plans a and | :01:49. | :01:55. | |
B for the currency are nonstarters. The president of the EU commission | :01:56. | :02:03. | |
and the president of the EU Council said his plans were at best | :02:04. | :02:11. | |
extremely difficult. The First Minister has just insult them. | :02:12. | :02:21. | |
Order. Perhaps you didn't realise he was insulting people instead of | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
arguing with them. Can the First Minister explain to us why David | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
Bowie is preposterous, bluffing and bullying? I think in terms of | :02:32. | :02:39. | |
insult, most people in Scotland would feel that George Osborne | :02:40. | :02:42. | |
insulted the intelligence of the Scottish people. This may be the | :02:43. | :02:50. | |
last time, and probably the only time, that I will quote the Daily | :02:51. | :02:57. | |
Mail. But I think when Joanne Clement -- Joanne Lamont is facing | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
headlines in the Daily Mail, there may be a reasonable conclusion that | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
the indications we have so far are that the joint enterprise between | :03:09. | :03:11. | |
George Osborne and Ed Balls has backfired on the two unionist | :03:12. | :03:19. | |
parties in spectacular fashion. I watched television the other night | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
and I saw Gordon Brown walk off an interview on STV because he was | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
asked whether Ed Balls was wise to make an alliance with George | :03:29. | :03:35. | |
Osborne. I have never seen him walk off an interview. Perhaps people in | :03:36. | :03:38. | |
the Labour Party should realise the damage that has been done to them by | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
standing hand in glove with the likes of George Osborne. Perhaps the | :03:44. | :03:56. | |
First Minister might reflect on the damage being done to this parliament | :03:57. | :04:02. | |
by the insults he presents to our intelligence and the people of | :04:03. | :04:06. | |
Scotland about the way in which he dismisses those who disagree with | :04:07. | :04:09. | |
him. It takes an extraordinary lack of self-awareness for the First | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
Minister to accuse other people of not telling the truth as a | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
campaigning tactic. Truly, as you live your life, you judge your | :04:20. | :04:22. | |
neighbour. The fact of the matter is, these are too serious for the | :04:23. | :04:28. | |
First Minister to insult us in this way. This week, Alex Salmond, Nicola | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
Sturgeon and John Swinney have been repeatedly asked to put a figure on | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
the transaction costs to British business that will come with giving | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
up the pound in the event of a Yes vote, but have refused to come up | :04:45. | :04:50. | |
with an answer. But the Scottish Parliament information Centre has | :04:51. | :04:52. | |
come up with some numbers. Transaction costs for the rest of | :04:53. | :04:59. | |
the UK, the so-called George tax, work at ?9 per head for people in | :05:00. | :05:05. | |
England, Wales and Northern Ireland. But if the Scottish Government's own | :05:06. | :05:10. | |
figures are to be believed, the cost in Scotland would be ?75 per head. | :05:11. | :05:18. | |
Eight times greater. No wonder they wouldn't and so the question. Given | :05:19. | :05:25. | |
this would be the consequence of his plan to break up the United Kingdom, | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
why should Scottish business pay the Alex tax? Our proposal is to share | :05:30. | :05:38. | |
the pound. And not have the transaction cost. It is her proposal | :05:39. | :05:49. | |
that would force Scotland into a different currency and forced | :05:50. | :05:53. | |
transaction costs on Scottish and English business. The point that was | :05:54. | :05:56. | |
being made by the Scottish Government is a reasonable one. I | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
don't think English taxpayers would take kindly to being forced to pay | :06:03. | :06:11. | |
the George or Joan tax. I don't think Joanne Lamont would want her | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
name attached to the same tax as George Osborne. I said earlier this | :06:16. | :06:19. | |
would be the only time I would quote the Daily Mail. I am going to quoted | :06:20. | :06:26. | |
again! Twice in one session! I do apologise for quoting Labour's house | :06:27. | :06:32. | |
journal, but nonetheless I notice another aspect of the poll this | :06:33. | :06:35. | |
morning showed that our proposal to share the pound was the most pop-up | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
-- popular proposal among the Scottish people. Does that not | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
suggest that perhaps there is a resonance in support of what we are | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
saying, and the Labour Party are struggling because of their | :06:50. | :06:52. | |
association with the Conservative Party? I hope Joanne Lamont | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
continues with this because I may go for the hat-trick and start talking | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
about the party ratings that bad poll indicates. The Labour Party | :07:03. | :07:07. | |
have done themselves huge damage by associating with the Conservatives, | :07:08. | :07:11. | |
and in particular, George Osborne. The reaction of the Scottish people | :07:12. | :07:17. | |
to being told, instructed, from on high that our currency, the currency | :07:18. | :07:20. | |
that we jointly built up, actually does not belong to us, it belongs to | :07:21. | :07:26. | |
George Osborne, I think it is entirely understandable and will be | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
deeply uncomfortable for the Labour Party in Scotland. | :07:30. | :07:37. | |
If we're talking about associations with Tories, it is only the SNP who | :07:38. | :07:43. | |
want to cut tax by 3p more than any Tory Chancellor. 3p more! If we are | :07:44. | :07:54. | |
talking about polls, the same poll, the same poll says that two thirds | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
of the people in this country want to know what the First Minister | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
proposal is for a plan B for the currency, and it is about time he | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
told us. The reality is this. The rest of the United Kingdom, | :08:09. | :08:11. | |
including Carwyn Jones, have said they do not want a currency union. | :08:12. | :08:18. | |
They don't want a currency union. You can art -- you cannot make them | :08:19. | :08:25. | |
have a currency union if you are not in the same country. What do you not | :08:26. | :08:28. | |
understand? What do you not understand? What does the First | :08:29. | :08:36. | |
Minister not understand about his proposal to take Scotland out of the | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
United Kingdom? It has come to this, presiding officer. The Scottish | :08:43. | :08:45. | |
Government, as we have seen, is prepared to deny, deflect, assert an | :08:46. | :08:49. | |
insult in order to win this referendum. -- and insult. They want | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
to keep a currency union, and unfettered single market without | :08:56. | :09:01. | |
transaction costs. They say they want to keep borrowing costs in line | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
with current levels. They say they want to stay in the EU with a rebate | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
on the current opt out. And then they ask, what is the positive case | :09:10. | :09:19. | |
for the union? Isn't the truth that the only way we guarantee keeping | :09:20. | :09:21. | |
those things is by staying in the United Kingdom? Well, I will support | :09:22. | :09:34. | |
Joanne Lamont's call for a calm and considered debate. We look forward | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
to these things! The fiscal commission says the best option for | :09:40. | :09:42. | |
Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom is to share the currency. | :09:43. | :09:47. | |
That was the basis on which the commission working group put forward | :09:48. | :09:51. | |
that policy. I think that is the right policy. I think it is the | :09:52. | :09:54. | |
right policy for Scotland. I think it is the right policy for the rest | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
of the United Kingdom. Can I say to Joanne Lamont, the debate has moved | :09:59. | :10:07. | |
on, has it not? I was looking at the website for the Scotsman today in | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
terms of evidence being presented. Scottish independence were also | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
incorrect on the EU. Jim Carrey, former Director-General, says that | :10:17. | :10:22. | |
he was extremely unwise and incorrect. If that is not enough, | :10:23. | :10:28. | |
the speech in Ireland of the Secretary-General of the | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
commission. Should it vote for independence? She said that Commons | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
over the weekend had been misunderstood. -- comments. Perhaps | :10:39. | :10:48. | |
the comparison between Scotland and Kosovo was perhaps not the wisest | :10:49. | :10:56. | |
comparison to make. Evidence has been presented in significant form | :10:57. | :11:03. | |
by people as eminent as... It shows absolutely that Scotland, who have | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
been part of this European Union for 40 years, the build-up rights and | :11:08. | :11:10. | |
entitlements as part of that structure, who conform to the | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
democratic imperatives that the EU represent, of course we are entitled | :11:16. | :11:21. | |
to our rights as European citizens. And the idea that the rest of Europe | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
is wanting to deny us these rights is a total illusion talked up by the | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
Unionist parties. Scotland is a European nation and we shall | :11:32. | :11:40. | |
continue to be a European nation. The real problem with this is that | :11:41. | :11:44. | |
the First Minister only listens to people who agree with him. And it | :11:45. | :11:56. | |
works. It works. It works in here. But it doesn't work in the rest of | :11:57. | :12:03. | |
the world. It is not in the First Minister's gift to tell people in | :12:04. | :12:06. | |
England, in Northern Ireland, in Wales, in Europe, what is in their | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
best interest. It is in their gift. And he has to deal with that. The | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
permanent Secretary to the Treasury has rejected the currency union. So | :12:17. | :12:23. | |
too has the Chancellor, the Shadow Chancellor and the Chief Secretary | :12:24. | :12:26. | |
to the Treasury. The CBI, the Institute of Directors and the | :12:27. | :12:34. | |
Scottish TUC. It is not good enough simply to listen to yourself. You | :12:35. | :12:39. | |
have to accept other people have a credible position. The president of | :12:40. | :12:42. | |
the EU commission and the president of the Council of ministers have | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
said that Scotland getting an agreement of all the other member | :12:47. | :12:50. | |
states after a yes vote would be extremely difficult, if not | :12:51. | :12:57. | |
impossible. Business cost of ?75 per head. Average mortgages up and | :12:58. | :13:05. | |
eyewatering ?100 a week. And I am sure people across the country will | :13:06. | :13:12. | |
reflect how little seriousness the SNP backbencher is put on the | :13:13. | :13:14. | |
consequences for ordinary people. So despite all of this the First | :13:15. | :13:22. | |
Minister still simply steams ahead. Isn't it the case that the only | :13:23. | :13:31. | |
preposterous bullying bluffer in this fight is the First Minister? | :13:32. | :13:39. | |
Can I quote from Professor Christine Bell, constitutional Professor of | :13:40. | :13:42. | |
law at Edinburgh University? I have no knowledge of her politics. | :13:43. | :13:47. | |
Whether she agrees with me or not. She says, legally under | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
international law the position is clear. If the remainder of the UK | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
keeps the name and status of the UK, it keeps its liabilities for the | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
debt. Scotland cannot therefore default. As Joanne Lamont knows, we | :14:02. | :14:09. | |
have set out in the White Paper our proposal that we should share the | :14:10. | :14:14. | |
assets and liabilities of the United Kingdom. We think that is the fair | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
and responsible thing to do. One of these assets is, of course, the Bank | :14:19. | :14:23. | |
of England, which was nationalised in 1946. It is undoubtedly a | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
national public asset. We think that is a fair proposition to put | :14:29. | :14:31. | |
forward. What we pointed out is that the implication, in fact, the | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
certainty, because the Treasury had to state this to the market last | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
month, that if you argue, as the UK and the Treasury are now doing, all | :14:42. | :14:44. | |
of these eminent people that Joanne Lamb and has cited, they are the | :14:45. | :14:49. | |
legitimate state, they keep the assets of the united kingdom. It | :14:50. | :14:53. | |
follows that they end up with the liabilities. The reason that I | :14:54. | :14:58. | |
believe George Osborne and Ed Balls are bluffing is not just that it | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
would be against the interests of the English people to impose | :15:04. | :15:07. | |
transaction costs into Scotland, it is that I don't believe we will get | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
to a situation where George Osborne wants to make every person in | :15:12. | :15:16. | |
Scotland ?25,000 richer, which is what would happen if the UK had to | :15:17. | :15:25. | |
accept all of the national debt. Order! Unlike Joanne Lamb and, I | :15:26. | :15:32. | |
would find agreeing with George Osborne extremely uncomfortable. -- | :15:33. | :15:36. | |
Joanne Lamont. That is why the Labour Party is suffering serious | :15:37. | :15:39. | |
and perhaps permanent damage in Scotland by their alliance with the | :15:40. | :15:51. | |
Conservative Party. I want to ask the First Minister when he will meet | :15:52. | :15:58. | |
the Secretary of State for Scotland? No current plans but we might both | :15:59. | :16:05. | |
be in the Aberdeen area on Monday. I'm sure the First Minister's hotel | :16:06. | :16:11. | |
will be of a higher standard. On one side of the argument we have Alex | :16:12. | :16:15. | |
Salmond, on the other side of the argument we have everyone else and | :16:16. | :16:20. | |
hasn't his response today been telling? As if to make my point for | :16:21. | :16:30. | |
me, thank you very much. The First Minister of Wales says he does not | :16:31. | :16:32. | |
want a currency union with an independent Scotland and he is | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
ignored. The permanent Treasury says he will not advise one and he is | :16:37. | :16:42. | |
dismissed. The Chancellor and his opposite number said they could not | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
support this for the UK, and it is a bluff. Alex Salmond's independence | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
allies say they want a set its currency and be sidelined. The CBI | :16:52. | :16:59. | |
and Institute of to say the risk is unacceptable and be Unionist | :17:00. | :17:04. | |
stooges. The rest of the people in the UK say no also. And they are | :17:05. | :17:11. | |
ignored this week. The First Minister may be in denial, but the | :17:12. | :17:15. | |
rest of the country has woken up. Isn't this the week we find out the | :17:16. | :17:25. | |
emperor has got no clothes. Far be it from me to remind Ruth Davidson | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
the fiscal commission working group contained two Nobel laureates. As | :17:31. | :17:41. | |
well as other eminent economists. It is interesting in that reference, | :17:42. | :17:47. | |
because when Mark Carney gave his excellent speech in Edinburgh a few | :17:48. | :17:51. | |
weeks ago, he only mentioned two economists, one was Adam Smith, and | :17:52. | :18:00. | |
we agree he is a great founder of the economic science and the second | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
economist Mark Carney cited was Sir James Merrill ease. Do you think he | :18:06. | :18:14. | |
was unaware he was one of the authors of the fiscal commission | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
working group on whose recommendations we acted on? She | :18:20. | :18:24. | |
shakes her head but she started her question by saying nobody agreed | :18:25. | :18:29. | |
with me. I am pointing out a Nobel laureate economist put forward the | :18:30. | :18:36. | |
proposition. And the poll indicates today having halved that what ever | :18:37. | :18:45. | |
else she might say the Scottish people do not agree with George | :18:46. | :18:53. | |
Osborne. The sand is shifting beneath his feet as he stands up and | :18:54. | :19:08. | |
speaks. We have made our choice, we want a strong Scotland in a strong | :19:09. | :19:11. | |
United Kingdom. That already gives us the currency union he desperately | :19:12. | :19:17. | |
wants to keep and gives a political and social union. He wants to pick | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
and mix when everyone knows that they can't. The First Minister said | :19:23. | :19:26. | |
he quoted the Daily Mail so I will quote the Guardian. In the | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
contradictions it says, Alex Salmond and company are acting like spoiled | :19:32. | :19:38. | |
children. On the currency he is weak, on pensions he is weak, | :19:39. | :19:42. | |
un-European is weak, on the basic facts he is weak. He is weak, weak, | :19:43. | :19:48. | |
weak. Isn't it true he is the man with no plan? Ruth Davidson is a | :19:49. | :19:59. | |
week every week. Higher praise I cannot give than the new chairman of | :20:00. | :20:02. | |
the Scottish Conservative Association asked this week to | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
assess a Ruth Davidson's performance. He said she was, " | :20:08. | :20:15. | |
improving". If you cannot get the endorsement of the new chairman of | :20:16. | :20:18. | |
your own party, you are not in a strong position. Perhaps Ruth | :20:19. | :20:24. | |
Davidson should draw this a line in the sand. The line in the sand might | :20:25. | :20:31. | |
be, we should have a look at the attitudes of the Scottish people as | :20:32. | :20:35. | |
we currently understand them. We can think of a number of things about | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
the best constitutional options for Scotland, but there is little doubt | :20:41. | :20:45. | |
the reaction to having things led down from on high by George Osborne | :20:46. | :20:52. | |
has been somewhat negative, for the improving Scottish Conservative | :20:53. | :20:58. | |
Party. It may not be of any great moment to the Conservatives and some | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
of the backbenchers were described as coasting in the same article. All | :21:04. | :21:12. | |
of them are coasting. The Conservative Party have little to | :21:13. | :21:14. | |
lose, but you are dragging down this lot with you. Guilt by association. | :21:15. | :21:24. | |
To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
meeting of the Cabinet? We will discuss issues of importance to the | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
people of Scotland. The First Minister has put on his best poker | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
face this week. But they might not be bluffing. There could be a | :21:40. | :21:45. | |
separate Scottish currency. His own fiscal commission thinks it could be | :21:46. | :21:52. | |
a possibility, John Cain knows it, Patrick Harvie and Dennis Caravan | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
want it. The First Minister is the last man standing refusing to | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
concede. Will he take this opportunity to confirm a Scottish | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
currency is a possibility? He has a duty to make a statement to | :22:08. | :22:11. | |
Parliament this week or next week, so people in Scotland know where | :22:12. | :22:19. | |
they stand. Will he do that? Did you notice the first date meant that | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
question when he said, might be bluffing. I think this is an | :22:26. | :22:33. | |
improvement. I think Willie Rennie in that traditional, liberal | :22:34. | :22:36. | |
tradition of on the one hand this and on the other hand that, doesn't | :22:37. | :22:43. | |
display the same certainty as the Conservative and Labour Party | :22:44. | :22:45. | |
alliance. As Willie Rennie should know, the fiscal commission working | :22:46. | :22:51. | |
group set out a range of options for the currency options of an | :22:52. | :22:54. | |
independent Scotland. They said these options were viable given the | :22:55. | :22:57. | |
strength of the Scottish economy. They recommended the best option | :22:58. | :23:03. | |
Scotland and the rest of the UK is the currency union we propose. We | :23:04. | :23:08. | |
propose that is the one that will be negotiated because it is in the best | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
interests of Scotland and it is most certainly in the best interest of | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
the rest of the UK, who will not want to be lumbered with the whole | :23:18. | :23:25. | |
of the UK national debt. Despite all of the opinion, including on his | :23:26. | :23:32. | |
side, he cannot even say it might be a possibility. He cannot hide on | :23:33. | :23:39. | |
that until September. It will be the Chancellor, after a yes vote, if | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
that was to happen, who will have to convince about a currency union. The | :23:46. | :23:51. | |
First Minister's plan is based on the judgement of that Chancellor. | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
And that Chancellor is George Osborne. This is a man he derides | :23:56. | :24:00. | |
for his judgement every day of the week. The First Minister is gambling | :24:01. | :24:06. | |
that George Osborne will transform from his belligerent barbarian to | :24:07. | :24:13. | |
this pacifist puppy, arch enemy to best friend in a day. But they don't | :24:14. | :24:21. | |
think that is going to happen. Two out of three people in the poll he | :24:22. | :24:24. | |
likes to talk about today, once the First Minister to set out his | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
alternative. Why is he ignoring them? If he is a pacifist puppy, I | :24:31. | :24:36. | |
would not dream of using such language, and Mr Danny Alexander who | :24:37. | :24:43. | |
gave evidence to the Parliamentary committee yesterday seems to be the | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
shadow to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the moment. The | :24:50. | :24:55. | |
preferred option is our option of a currency union between Scotland and | :24:56. | :24:58. | |
the rest of the United Kingdom. I don't think it is me who would have | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
said Danny Alexander or George Osborne to see that in the best | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
interests, it is facing up to the realities of the debt for the rest | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
of the UK and I hope transaction costs north and south of the border | :25:12. | :25:17. | |
are not a good thing for business. I have this vision of George Osborne, | :25:18. | :25:22. | |
Ed balls and Danny Alexander after independence, who will be on our | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
side, of course. But Ed Balls and George Osborne going to businesses | :25:28. | :25:33. | |
in and North saying we're going to you transaction costs to export | :25:34. | :25:37. | |
goods to Scotland, come and vote for us. I don't think that is credible. | :25:38. | :25:45. | |
I keep saying, because of Willie Rennie, I don't think he is a lost | :25:46. | :25:49. | |
soul. I do detect a bit more reasonableness in terms of his | :25:50. | :25:53. | |
approach to things. But I did ink it was unreasonable for Danny Alexander | :25:54. | :25:59. | |
to say independent Scotland's bond rates would be higher. 2.8 cents, | :26:00. | :26:07. | |
Switzerland 1.1%, Austria 1.9%, Sweden 2.3%. There is a lot of | :26:08. | :26:14. | |
evidence small, independence countries across Europe pay lower | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
interest rates than the United Kingdom at the present moment. To | :26:19. | :26:28. | |
ask the First Minister when Scottish government met representatives of | :26:29. | :26:36. | |
Kozlov. It is part of the commitment to working in partnership and local | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
governments. One of the issues ministers are considering is a | :26:43. | :26:47. | |
request to freeze the funding forum on local authorities, something I | :26:48. | :26:50. | |
know which is of interest to Maureen Watt. I thank the First Minister. | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
They have asked the Scottish Government to freeze the funding | :26:57. | :27:00. | |
formula. A decision I believe supported by Aberdeen City Council | :27:01. | :27:04. | |
and Labour councils throughout Scotland. As I understand it, they | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
cannot revisit this without a change to their standing orders and we see | :27:10. | :27:14. | |
Aberdeen and other Labour councils throwing their dummies out of the | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
plan. Can the First Minister set out what it will mean for Aberdeen and | :27:20. | :27:24. | |
what the impact will be on funding for Aberdeen if the Scottish | :27:25. | :27:26. | |
Government accept Kozlov's requests? It is Kozlov who have put | :27:27. | :27:33. | |
forward this proposal, I understand by a narrow majority. John Swinney | :27:34. | :27:39. | |
has considered this and will write to them outlining the impact of the | :27:40. | :27:47. | |
planned freeze as they propose in comparison to distributing the | :27:48. | :27:50. | |
funding local authorities would receive if we use the same method | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
that has been in place since 1983. I will write to Maureen Watson shortly | :27:55. | :27:59. | |
setting out the position of Aberdeen City Council and her constituency. | :28:00. | :28:04. | |
It is worth noting it was this SNP government in 2011 which introduced | :28:05. | :28:12. | |
a funding floor. After eight years of total in action by the previous | :28:13. | :28:17. | |
labour, liberal executive, and that means it ensures Aberdeen currently | :28:18. | :28:21. | |
receives a better deal than it would have had if that measure had not | :28:22. | :28:26. | |
been introduced. I will write to her shortly pointing out the | :28:27. | :28:30. | |
implications of what has come forward, as we understand it, | :28:31. | :28:35. | |
supported by Aberdeen Council. Given the confirmed withdrawals from | :28:36. | :28:41. | |
Kozlov and the speculation of other local authorities, does the First | :28:42. | :28:45. | |
Minister have a view to the point it does not represent authorities in | :28:46. | :28:51. | |
Scotland and is there a contingency plan how the government will engage | :28:52. | :28:55. | |
with local authorities should that reach such a point? We discussed | :28:56. | :29:04. | |
this at Cabinet on Tuesday and we have considered the prospect. The | :29:05. | :29:09. | |
member is right to raise the question, because as he probably | :29:10. | :29:14. | |
knows there is a time period between signalling and intention to leave | :29:15. | :29:17. | |
the organisation and that leaving taking effect. Therefore, it would | :29:18. | :29:26. | |
be in the best interests if we took counsel on it and allow the | :29:27. | :29:29. | |
individual councils to come to their consideration. But it would be | :29:30. | :29:33. | |
helpful to some of the councils if we set out the indicative position | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
that would have arisen if the same funding formula that has been | :29:38. | :29:43. | |
applied since the 1980s had been applied in the year after next. We | :29:44. | :29:47. | |
have to take this proposal always done. But it is important all of the | :29:48. | :29:57. | |
councils understand and know the implications of what some of them | :29:58. | :30:00. | |
seem to have voted for as part of the considerations within the Labour | :30:01. | :30:06. | |
group. Thank you presiding officer. As local government resources shift | :30:07. | :30:12. | |
evermore away from local taxation and towards the block grants, that | :30:13. | :30:15. | |
being a bigger proportion of local government resorts because central | :30:16. | :30:22. | |
government decisions, surely the tensions in the block grant will get | :30:23. | :30:29. | |
worse. Isn't it clear that the freeing up of local government to | :30:30. | :30:32. | |
make local decisions, particularly on local taxation is an absolutely | :30:33. | :30:36. | |
necessary part of this debate for the longer term if we want local | :30:37. | :30:41. | |
government to be government? There we have it, coming to the | :30:42. | :30:45. | |
close of coverage of questions to the First Minister. Substantial | :30:46. | :30:49. | |
exchanges over the currency with all of the leaders joining in that. And | :30:50. | :30:53. | |
closing with the financial situation effect in councils. From me, | :30:54. | :30:56. | |
goodbye. | :30:57. | :31:01. |