Browse content similar to 25/05/2017: First Minister's Questions. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good afternoon and welcome to the Scottish parliament. Of course the | :00:19. | :00:25. | |
long shadow still cast from the Manchester tragedy and indeed only | :00:26. | :00:35. | |
this morning confirmation that 14-year-old Eilidh among those | :00:36. | :00:43. | |
killed in the tragedy and her friend Laura McIntyre still in hospital. | :00:44. | :00:50. | |
That long shadow I'm sure means this will be a very different session of | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
questions to the First Minister but the only way to find out is to cross | :00:55. | :01:01. | |
to the chamber now. Our sympathies to everyone in Manchester. The sun | :01:02. | :01:07. | |
shines on a sad Scottish Parliament today, campaigning in the general | :01:08. | :01:09. | |
election will resume and parties have agreed that will happen from | :01:10. | :01:15. | |
today and local level and tomorrow on a more national level but I think | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
in Parliament today we are still going to see a degree of | :01:21. | :01:25. | |
circumspection from Scottish politicians as they tried to reflect | :01:26. | :01:31. | |
the mood of the wider population. I do not imagine we will have too much | :01:32. | :01:37. | |
anger expressed today except perhaps with those responsible for the | :01:38. | :01:44. | |
attack itself. The Parliament welcomes it honoured guests from one | :01:45. | :01:50. | |
of the regional parliaments of Germany. Ruth Davidson. Thank you | :01:51. | :01:59. | |
Presiding Officer. I want to ask the first restored engagements she has | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
planned. Members will be aware of the heartbreaking news today that | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
14-year-old Eilidh MacLeod was amongst those killed in the | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
Manchester Arena on Monday night and I know we all want to send our love | :02:13. | :02:16. | |
and thoughts to her mum and dad and all of her families and friends at | :02:17. | :02:21. | |
this dreadful time. Our thoughts also with her friend Laura MacIntyre | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
who remains in hospital. Later today we will look at the government | :02:26. | :02:31. | |
programme for Scotland. I would like to associate myself with the | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
thoughts of the First Minister and prayers from these benches with | :02:38. | :02:40. | |
families of those who lost the plot Monday and particularly with those | :02:41. | :02:44. | |
of Eilidh MacLeod. It is a tragedy that will be felt by everyone from | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
Barra. It would not be right in my judgment used today to indulge in | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
the knock-about of an election campaign but I also believe that the | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
best show of contempt for our tactics of terror fight going about | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
our business of practising the very democratic values the bombers seek | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
to destroy so I would like to do just that. With the welfare of young | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
people forefront in our minds we spoke to the Scottish youth | :03:11. | :03:12. | |
Parliament yesterday to ask if there were any issues they wanted to race. | :03:13. | :03:15. | |
They are currently campaigning on the issue of young people's mental | :03:16. | :03:17. | |
health and they the need to ensure high quality | :03:18. | :03:27. | |
service provision. Can I ask what actions her government is taking to | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
improve the mental health of young people in Scotland. Can I thank Ruth | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
Davidson for her question and also the approach she is taking, I think | :03:35. | :03:40. | |
today above all it is our young people and their interests and | :03:41. | :03:43. | |
well-being that is very much in all our hearts. The Scottish youth | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
Parliament has raised many issues over the years that have not just | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
been of importance to young people in Scotland but having resulted in | :03:52. | :03:54. | |
action by this Parliament and the thing that is to their credit. In | :03:55. | :03:57. | |
terms of mental health as members are aware mental health for young | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
people for children and adolescents and making sure we can meet the | :04:04. | :04:07. | |
demand on services but also ensure the quality of service is very much | :04:08. | :04:12. | |
at the heart of our mental health strategy. In particular amongst many | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
other actions we have given a commitment to in National review of | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
personal and social education and the role of pastoral guidance in | :04:22. | :04:25. | |
schools and school counselling services to make sure that every | :04:26. | :04:28. | |
child has appropriate access to the right support in schools. These | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
actions I think have long been important but given the events of | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
the last few days picking sure we have appropriate support for young | :04:38. | :04:40. | |
people who for a whole variety of reasons experienced stress and | :04:41. | :04:46. | |
trauma and difficulty in their life is hugely important and the | :04:47. | :04:48. | |
government is absolutely committed to making sure we do the right | :04:49. | :04:54. | |
things in this regard. I thank the First Minister for that answer along | :04:55. | :04:57. | |
with the concerns raised by the Scottish youth Parliament we also | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
see this with the Scottish Association for mental health | :05:01. | :05:03. | |
launching a campaign highlighting the mental health needs of young | :05:04. | :05:08. | |
people. Its campaign points out that three children in every classroom in | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
Scotland will have exposed the mental health difficulty by the time | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
they are 16. It also points out that nearly 7000 young people were turned | :05:19. | :05:21. | |
away from the health services last year and warns that the issues may | :05:22. | :05:28. | |
worsen without help. Does the banister Joao is concerned and | :05:29. | :05:31. | |
assures that the concerns are being taken seriously in this campaign. I | :05:32. | :05:43. | |
do share the concerns of SAMH. As I have said many times before and I | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
know this is a point acknowledged across the chamber, we are seeing | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
many more young people come forward for Vedel health services and that | :05:53. | :05:54. | |
is something we should encourage because it does demonstrate that | :05:55. | :06:00. | |
there is a reducing stigma associated and it puts an obligation | :06:01. | :06:03. | |
on the government and our National Health Service and other agencies to | :06:04. | :06:06. | |
make sure that we can meet that demand. There are particular issues | :06:07. | :06:10. | |
I want to respond to in terms of that specific question, firstly | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
around people who come forward for child and adolescent mental health | :06:16. | :06:21. | |
and when those referrals are rejection. As members are aware we | :06:22. | :06:30. | |
have given a commitment in terms of referrals and then a commitment to | :06:31. | :06:34. | |
use the review as a foundation for further improvements. It is | :06:35. | :06:37. | |
important to point out of course that there would be a number of | :06:38. | :06:41. | |
reasons why a referral might be rejected and ultimately that is and | :06:42. | :06:47. | |
always should be a clinical decision. There might of course be | :06:48. | :06:53. | |
reasons why another intervention might be needed but we do want to | :06:54. | :06:56. | |
make sure that our services are joined up properly so that young | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
people get the care that they need. The second point is more general | :07:01. | :07:05. | |
landlubbers laid I said in my first answer about the review we are | :07:06. | :07:08. | |
commissioning into personal and social education. There is also an | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
important is that I think we should all attached to mental health first | :07:12. | :07:19. | |
aid and there is mental health first aid training to support young people | :07:20. | :07:22. | |
and staff in educational establishments that is being funded | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
and rolled out across Scotland by education Scotland and the aim of | :07:27. | :07:28. | |
this is to train staff within secondary schools to increase their | :07:29. | :07:35. | |
confidence and in approaching pupils whom they think might be struggling | :07:36. | :07:37. | |
with a mental health problem and that training is very much | :07:38. | :07:41. | |
complementing other forms of services. There is a whole range of | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
actions we are taking and I hope the chamber can unite behind this | :07:46. | :07:49. | |
approach. We know there is work today but we absolutely determined | :07:50. | :07:58. | |
to get on and do it. I thank you for that response. Often it is not just | :07:59. | :08:01. | |
about money, it is about other factors not within common control, | :08:02. | :08:07. | |
for example the fabulous work done by scouts, guides and Boys' Brigade | :08:08. | :08:10. | |
and other organisations all of which has a hugely beneficial impact on | :08:11. | :08:16. | |
mental health. Organisations which in countless unseen ways change the | :08:17. | :08:18. | |
lives of young people for the better and which steer young people into | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
better choices and happier lives. As well as celebrating the work they do | :08:24. | :08:26. | |
does the First Minister agree that we should do more to support youth | :08:27. | :08:29. | |
organisations and aim to ensure that as far as possible every young | :08:30. | :08:32. | |
person's goblin has the chance to join one? Yes I do. -- every young | :08:33. | :08:39. | |
person in Scotland has the chance. We should pay tribute to | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
organisations like those and in fact I think we have had the boys parade | :08:44. | :08:46. | |
in this Parliament this week talking about the work they are doing to | :08:47. | :08:50. | |
encourage young people to take part in sport. They do fight us to work | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
and I aware I'm sitting next to a former member here and I'm sure | :08:56. | :08:58. | |
there are many others in the chamber. They did fantastic work. I | :08:59. | :09:02. | |
think pointing to the work they do is important for a wider reason. | :09:03. | :09:07. | |
Understandably this week we are talking about unbelievable horror | :09:08. | :09:13. | |
and trauma that has been suffered by young people, principally the young | :09:14. | :09:16. | |
people in Manchester on Monday night but as we have commented in this | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
chamber in the last couple of days children across our country who were | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
nowhere near Manchester Arena will be impacted by the things they have | :09:27. | :09:29. | |
seen on television. We should never forget that youth is a time of great | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
joy and should be a time of great happiness, when young people get to | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
explore, I have read so many beautiful and poignant things this | :09:39. | :09:41. | |
week about the rite of passage for any young people are going to their | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
first concert and the experience of that. So we must always remember | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
that our principal obligation is to support in every way we can young | :09:51. | :09:57. | |
people to get the most out of life and organisations like the one Luke | :09:58. | :10:05. | |
Davison mentions play very important part. The First Minister touched on | :10:06. | :10:12. | |
this but SAMH raises a lack of counselling services and secondary | :10:13. | :10:15. | |
schools and points out that in Wales and Northern Ireland children have | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
guaranteed access to schools -based counselling. Notwithstanding the | :10:20. | :10:22. | |
mental health strategy put in place by the Scottish Dummett it says | :10:23. | :10:24. | |
judge in Scotland are still missing out. Earlier this year we published | :10:25. | :10:29. | |
a mental health paper supporting ladder of school champions and | :10:30. | :10:32. | |
councillors to be appointed in schools, colleges and universities. | :10:33. | :10:36. | |
The First Minister also Everest moves to improve counselling so can | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
she give us an assures that this is something the Scottish Government | :10:41. | :10:42. | |
will take forward in good time so that young people have the same | :10:43. | :10:46. | |
counselling services available as elsewhere in the UK? I think | :10:47. | :10:52. | |
counselling in schools is hugely important and also in a wider sense | :10:53. | :10:56. | |
to recognise that health and well-being is one of the core | :10:57. | :10:59. | |
aspects of the curriculum for excellence. It is embedded in the | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
very curriculum of our schools but it is important we make sure that | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
schools have access to the resources that allows them to support in a | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
very practical and meaningful way the health and well-being of | :11:13. | :11:16. | |
children and young people. Counselling is important. The review | :11:17. | :11:20. | |
I spoke about will look particularly at school counselling and I also | :11:21. | :11:25. | |
mention the role of mental health first aid training. It is important | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
to say that a mental health Link buses available to every school, | :11:30. | :11:33. | |
this is achieved in a variety of ways -- link person is available. It | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
might be a condition or from another specialty such as a primary care | :11:40. | :11:44. | |
worker that may make those will be able to contact specialist services | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
for advice if they need to. The review I have spoken about which is | :11:50. | :11:52. | |
an important aspect of the mental health strategy will allow us to | :11:53. | :11:55. | |
determine what further action we need to take to make sure schools | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
have access to the right resources to get the best possible support to | :12:00. | :12:08. | |
young people. I would like to ask the first Mr Watt engagements she | :12:09. | :12:12. | |
has for the rest of the week. Engagements to take forward the plan | :12:13. | :12:19. | |
for. Barra is one of Scotland's most beautiful places. That peace has | :12:20. | :12:28. | |
been shattered. The family of Eilidh MacLeod are grieving and the family | :12:29. | :12:37. | |
of Laura MacIntyre are praying things will get better. Can this man | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
is to tell us what extra support them Scottish Government can offer | :12:42. | :12:47. | |
the people of Barra. I think Kezia Dugdale raises a powerful point. The | :12:48. | :12:52. | |
death of a young person in a circumstance but particularly in | :12:53. | :12:54. | |
tragic and horrific circumstances like the ones we have witnessed this | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
week is Ray difficult for any community anywhere to deal with. -- | :12:59. | :13:04. | |
very difficult. But Laura MacIntyre is a small and close-knit community | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
so the impact of the death of Eilidh MacLeod and the horrific injuries of | :13:12. | :13:14. | |
Laura MacIntyre will be felt in this community in a way which is much | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
more intense than might be the case in a big agility. We must be mindful | :13:20. | :13:25. | |
of that. My colleague of course a resident of Barra himself and I know | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
from him just how that is being felt. In terms of the support being | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
offered, Scottish Government officials have already engaged with | :13:35. | :13:37. | |
the council to ascertain that supported be made available and to | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
consider whether there are ways in which we can consider there your | :13:42. | :13:52. | |
support. A further educational psychologist and NHS clinical | :13:53. | :13:57. | |
psychologist are travelling to Barra today and between them they are | :13:58. | :14:00. | |
going to be focusing on the sport that families and those closest to | :14:01. | :14:09. | |
these two girls will need. The aim will be to give is as normal as | :14:10. | :14:14. | |
possible for the school but to make sure that there is support in place | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
for young people who are going to need it. This is often a point that | :14:19. | :14:27. | |
is relevant in any tragic incident like this, we all think in this | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
circumstances in the immediate aftermath of incidents like this | :14:34. | :14:36. | |
because the media is full of images but it is also in the days and weeks | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
and months after an event like this that the impact on those closest to | :14:41. | :14:43. | |
people who have died will be felt. I am very conscious of the fact that | :14:44. | :14:47. | |
the government and working with the council in the lead in this need to | :14:48. | :14:50. | |
make sure that supporters and those not just today, next week and next | :14:51. | :14:53. | |
month but for as long as it is needed. I welcome that answer but | :14:54. | :15:03. | |
after attacks like the one in Manchester political leaders talk | :15:04. | :15:06. | |
about how we cannot let terrorists change our way of life. We can do | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
that by carrying on with business in this chamber and by holding the | :15:11. | :15:13. | |
government account as normal and that is what I want to do. Earlier | :15:14. | :15:19. | |
this week target ovarian cancer published a report, the first of its | :15:20. | :15:24. | |
kind in Scotland and found that 36% of GPs wrongly believe there are no | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
detectable symptoms of ovarian cancer. That is costing lives. Can | :15:29. | :15:33. | |
the First Minister tell us what steps she will take to improve the | :15:34. | :15:39. | |
awareness of ovarian cancer among GPs. We will pay very close | :15:40. | :15:46. | |
attention to that report. One of the things that is extremely important | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
particularly with cancer and honestly our focus is on prevention | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
and early detection as much as it is on treatment but what is very | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
important is to make sure clinicians particularly primary care clinicians | :16:01. | :16:01. | |
have the guidance and information they need. I know GPs and others | :16:02. | :16:08. | |
working in primary care want to be in the best possible position to do | :16:09. | :16:22. | |
that. There will be work done to review guidance given to clinicians. | :16:23. | :16:29. | |
Very strongly through our detect cancer early programme we know that | :16:30. | :16:35. | |
the earlier cancer is detected the better the outcome is. Thank you for | :16:36. | :16:40. | |
that and of course it is not just GPs who lack awareness, this report | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
actually shows that 83% of women do not know the main signs and symptoms | :16:47. | :16:52. | |
of ovarian cancer. The First Minister just mentioned the detect | :16:53. | :16:54. | |
cancer early programme which has been very successful in raising | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
awareness about cancer of the breast, lung and bowel but giving | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
the findings of this report are one of the first Mr might think it is | :17:04. | :17:08. | |
time to extend that programme to cover ovarian cancer which it | :17:09. | :17:14. | |
currently doesn't. 'S First Minister. We keep that under regular | :17:15. | :17:20. | |
review. The decision around this, I was Home Secretary when this | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
programme was first established, there was a lot of very careful | :17:25. | :17:31. | |
thought about deciding which cancers to concentrate on, because of the | :17:32. | :17:34. | |
significant numbers of people who suffer from these cancers in | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
Scotland that regularly groups representing patients with other | :17:39. | :17:40. | |
cancers do make representation for inclusion in the programme and we | :17:41. | :17:43. | |
will always be happy to consider that. Given the Target Ovarian | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
Cancer report referred to today we certainly welcome the opportunity to | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
discuss with Target Ovarian Cancer how we as government can support | :17:54. | :17:56. | |
greater efforts to raise awareness amongst the public at large but also | :17:57. | :18:01. | |
particularly amongst people working in primary care and I would be happy | :18:02. | :18:04. | |
to make sure the Health Secretary includes in that discussion possible | :18:05. | :18:10. | |
future inclusion in the detect cancer early programme. Thank you | :18:11. | :18:18. | |
to. I want to ask the first was when the Cabinet will next meet. Tuesday. | :18:19. | :18:25. | |
May I add my own condolences and those of my party to the families, | :18:26. | :18:32. | |
friends and community of Eilidh MacLeod and our most sincere hopes | :18:33. | :18:35. | |
for the recovery of a great many others who still are fighting for | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
the lives perhaps all recovering from serious injuries including her | :18:41. | :18:47. | |
friend Laura MacIntyre. As the faces of those who have been lost or | :18:48. | :18:53. | |
injured are seen and as we learn the names and something of the life | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
stories of those who have been affected there will be tears shed in | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
communities like Barra, right across the UK, and I think far around the | :19:03. | :19:08. | |
world as well. Election campaigning is due to recommends later and we | :19:09. | :19:12. | |
all have a responsibility to do so in an inappropriate tone and in | :19:13. | :19:15. | |
particular to reject the division that both terrorists and the far | :19:16. | :19:21. | |
right in this country seek to create along lines of race and religion. | :19:22. | :19:28. | |
Keeping people safe at home must never prevent us from also valuing | :19:29. | :19:37. | |
all life equally. Is the First Minister aware of the tragic deaths | :19:38. | :19:40. | |
of at least 34 people, many of them children, toddlers and babies, | :19:41. | :19:43. | |
crossing the Mediterranean on Wednesday from Libya to Italy? Can I | :19:44. | :19:54. | |
seek their continued commitment from the First Minister and I have all | :19:55. | :19:56. | |
ages to resist the voices of hostility and xenophobia and to | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
ensure that we look after those who need safe Routes to this country and | :20:02. | :20:05. | |
to others and to be given safety and security as asylum seekers here and | :20:06. | :20:12. | |
would this be an appropriate time to press the UK for a reversal of its | :20:13. | :20:19. | |
decision to scrap the dubs Amendment protecting child refugees. I am | :20:20. | :20:28. | |
aware of the dreadful tragedy Patrick Harvie refers to and like | :20:29. | :20:34. | |
anybody else has read accounts of that will have been just so | :20:35. | :20:40. | |
distressed and upset to read of mainly toddlers being drowned and | :20:41. | :20:49. | |
killed in this case. I think it is important for us all, I know this is | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
a view we will take as human beings, the loss of a child's life is a | :20:54. | :20:57. | |
tragedy no matter when a child comes from. For the circumstance they have | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
grown up in. We should mourn and brief any child's life and where a | :21:04. | :21:08. | |
child loses their life whether in an attack like we saw in Manchester or | :21:09. | :21:15. | |
crossing the Mediterranean, fleeing circumstances we can scarcely | :21:16. | :21:18. | |
imagine in the hope of a better life somewhere else, we should always | :21:19. | :21:23. | |
dedicate ourselves to learning the lessons and trying to do everything | :21:24. | :21:26. | |
we can to make the world a better place for our children to grow up | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
in. The only person responsible for what happened in Manchester on | :21:32. | :21:37. | |
Monday night was the man who did what he did and carried out that | :21:38. | :21:42. | |
attack. But it is the case that we must all of us work to resolve the | :21:43. | :21:48. | |
conflicts in the world that people like that individual completely | :21:49. | :21:53. | |
without justification but nevertheless they tried to use as | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
basis for the heinous acts they carry out. There is a lot of it | :21:58. | :22:01. | |
injustice in our world right now and sometimes we can feel very helpless | :22:02. | :22:05. | |
in the face of that but we all have a role to play in trying to address | :22:06. | :22:09. | |
that injustice and make our world a better place. One of the ways in | :22:10. | :22:15. | |
which we can do that is to offer the hand of friendship to those who are | :22:16. | :22:22. | |
fleeing conditions elsewhere that we can scarcely imagine. I am very | :22:23. | :22:26. | |
proud of the work that local authorities and other agencies | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
across Scotland have done in welcoming Syrian refugees and making | :22:31. | :22:33. | |
them feel at home here in Scotland and today is not the day for party | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
political statements to be made but I do think there is more the UK can | :22:38. | :22:46. | |
and should do in the years ahead and honouring the Dubs Amendment would | :22:47. | :22:48. | |
be one way of making sure we are giving that helping hand to | :22:49. | :22:55. | |
vulnerable children. I am grateful for those worlds, all of our hearts | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
are hurting for those whose names and faces we are learning but it is | :23:02. | :23:05. | |
important to remember the equal value of every life including those | :23:06. | :23:10. | |
whose faces and life stories we will probably never learn about. Can I | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
also ask the First Minister about the decision by the UK Government | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
which in this case I support to suspend the sharing of intelligence | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
information with the United States following a series of leaks are | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
particularly sensitive and potentially relevant to enquiries | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
information to the media. It has been said that UK officials have | :23:38. | :23:41. | |
expressed anger, disbelief and astonishment at the actions of the | :23:42. | :23:46. | |
US intelligence services in leaking misinformation. Does the first Mr | :23:47. | :23:50. | |
share that reaction, does she agree with the decision of the UK | :23:51. | :23:54. | |
Government to suspend the sharing of that information, and what are the | :23:55. | :23:58. | |
implications for the security measures to the Scottish Government | :23:59. | :24:04. | |
and police Scotland if in future we are unable to trust the intelligence | :24:05. | :24:09. | |
services of an ally. Firstly in terms of the first part of the | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
question is said earlier every child is valued and I will not be the only | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
person in this chamber and across the UK who today finds it difficult | :24:21. | :24:27. | |
to look at the photographs of the eight-year-old girl who was killed | :24:28. | :24:30. | |
in Manchester without feeling tearful but many of the children who | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
die in other circumstances we will never see the faces but that does | :24:35. | :24:38. | |
not mean their lives are any less valuable or that we do not have | :24:39. | :24:41. | |
responsibility working with others to try to make things better for our | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
children. In terms of intelligence sharing, firstly can I say the | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
ability of countries to share intelligence and to share | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
intelligence confidentially and securely is one of the things that | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
helps keep us safe and the importance of that and the | :25:00. | :25:02. | |
importance of having trusted arrangements in place such as | :25:03. | :25:08. | |
through the finalise system, cannot be overestimated. I do share the | :25:09. | :25:17. | |
anger and the disbelief that we have seen very sensitive details of this | :25:18. | :25:26. | |
ongoing situation leads to the reader and I think all of us should | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
make clear that is unacceptable and cannot be defended in any way. -- | :25:33. | :25:38. | |
the Five Eyes system. I know that with regret the UK Government is | :25:39. | :25:45. | |
right to stop showing until a list like this with the American | :25:46. | :25:47. | |
government for hopefully a short period. I know they would on to the | :25:48. | :25:52. | |
as temporarily as possible on another Prime Minister will be | :25:53. | :25:54. | |
raising this issue with President Trump today so I very much hope the | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
assurances will be given by the American government that allows a | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
very speedy return to the sharing of intelligence that is such an | :26:04. | :26:06. | |
important part of keeping just published of the UK safe but | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
publishers across the world. Let us be in no doubt that what we have | :26:11. | :26:13. | |
read and seen in American newspapers of the last couple of days is | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
completely unacceptable and potentially compromises the | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
investigation that is currently underway into the trustee we saw on | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
Monday night. APPLAUSE -- into the atrocity we saw on | :26:28. | :26:32. | |
Monday night. If we can keep the answer is relatively succinct. Linda | :26:33. | :26:41. | |
Fabiani. Thank you, in this sad when people have many concerns and of | :26:42. | :26:43. | |
course safety and security are amongst them. May I ask the First | :26:44. | :26:48. | |
Minister to confirm that the Chief Constable does have the proper | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
resources to deal with the security situation here in Scotland as it | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
stands. I have had that assurance from the Chief Constable and we | :26:59. | :27:01. | |
discussed this yesterday in Parliament when I made a statement | :27:02. | :27:05. | |
on the security situation and after that statement I visited the multi | :27:06. | :27:11. | |
agency coordination Centre and spoke against Chief Constable there. The | :27:12. | :27:16. | |
Chief Constable has as is his responsibility reviewed the security | :27:17. | :27:21. | |
arrangements in Scotland giving the increase in the threat level and he | :27:22. | :27:24. | |
has made judgments about the level of policing including armed policing | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
that is necessary. It is his judgment at this stage although he | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
will keep that under review that the police have the resources within | :27:33. | :27:35. | |
their own resources to provide that level of policing across Scotland | :27:36. | :27:38. | |
and their four he does not require at this stage to call on military | :27:39. | :27:45. | |
personnel to help police the streets or public places in Scotland. | :27:46. | :27:49. | |
Although let me say publicly and record my gratitude to the military | :27:50. | :27:55. | |
for their offers of support and for the support they are providing in | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
other parts of the UK. I spoke to the Brigadier responsible in | :28:00. | :28:05. | |
Scotland yesterday and recorded my gratitude for his offers of support. | :28:06. | :28:10. | |
But the police here in Scotland have the resources from within Police | :28:11. | :28:14. | |
Scotland to provide the appropriate level of security and I think we | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
should be grateful to them for that. The Chief Constable has that | :28:20. | :28:21. | |
operational responsibility to make those decisions and he will keep | :28:22. | :28:25. | |
that matter under review for as long the heightened security situation | :28:26. | :28:30. | |
exists. This morning the culture committee consider the roles | :28:31. | :28:36. | |
Scottish libraries, museums and galleries play in the pursuit of | :28:37. | :28:40. | |
knowledge and understanding. Would she understand that after Manchester | :28:41. | :28:44. | |
people keep asking why this atrocity happened and there fore could she | :28:45. | :28:48. | |
undertake to coordinate the work of the National collections in the | :28:49. | :28:52. | |
study of Islam and the diversity of religious tolerance and | :28:53. | :28:54. | |
understanding are finding work that goes on across all our indices to | :28:55. | :28:58. | |
make sure that happens. I am very happy to take that and ask Fiona | :28:59. | :29:03. | |
Hyslop to have a look at what we can do to support our National | :29:04. | :29:06. | |
galleries, libraries and others in making a contribution to the mutual | :29:07. | :29:09. | |
understanding of different cultures and faiths. That is what is so | :29:10. | :29:15. | |
important at the heart of this, so many conflicts and disputes across | :29:16. | :29:18. | |
the world: from ignorance and misunderstanding. Of it has to said | :29:19. | :29:25. | |
deliberate misunderstanding, and ignorance. But the more we can | :29:26. | :29:30. | |
encourage people to learn and understand about different faiths | :29:31. | :29:33. | |
and different cultures, the more chance we have got of ensuring that | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
people not just in this country but across all can live together in | :29:38. | :29:42. | |
harmony. Culture, books, art have a hugely important role to play in | :29:43. | :29:45. | |
this. I think it is a very good suggestion and I would be happy to | :29:46. | :29:54. | |
ask for this to be taken forward. First Minister, I met the head of | :29:55. | :29:58. | |
the student Association for Glazkov Calvin College recently and I | :29:59. | :30:06. | |
understand that term is money to be extended. Can the Scottish | :30:07. | :30:15. | |
Government work with colleges to alleviate any additional costs | :30:16. | :30:20. | |
associated with this? Shirley and Somerville met on Tuesday this week | :30:21. | :30:22. | |
to seek reassurances on the contingencies colleges have in place | :30:23. | :30:26. | |
to minimise any impact on students as a consequence of the recent | :30:27. | :30:31. | |
strike action. A firm assurance was given that contingency measures are | :30:32. | :30:36. | |
in place however I'm happy to ask her to speak to colleges Scotland to | :30:37. | :30:42. | |
raise these issues. More generally we are pleased to see the agreement | :30:43. | :30:45. | |
reached last Friday to enable further strike action to be called | :30:46. | :30:46. | |
off. To ask the First Minister the | :30:47. | :30:54. | |
government is taking to attract foreign and direct investment. The | :30:55. | :31:03. | |
2017 and still young published on Tuesday reported that with 122 | :31:04. | :31:09. | |
projects successfully secured during 2016, in three Scottish cities, | :31:10. | :31:12. | |
Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen in the top ten, Scotland continues to | :31:13. | :31:16. | |
be the most attractive occasion for foreign direct investment outside | :31:17. | :31:20. | |
London for every one of the past five years. We continue to work to | :31:21. | :31:24. | |
attract investors across the globe, to make sure they are aware of the | :31:25. | :31:28. | |
strength of the Scottish economy and the range of support available to | :31:29. | :31:34. | |
grow businesses here. Kate Forbes. I agree that the survey is a positive | :31:35. | :31:39. | |
thing for the Scottish economy, does the First Minister agree that a | :31:40. | :31:44. | |
further positive sign is the number of high-value projects, particularly | :31:45. | :31:47. | |
RND projects that Scotland now attracts, and while they may not | :31:48. | :31:53. | |
bring as many jobs, they are the basis for a high-value, | :31:54. | :31:55. | |
knowledge-based economy that will lead to more and better paid jobs in | :31:56. | :32:02. | |
the future? Yes, I agree very much with that. The attraction of | :32:03. | :32:06. | |
high-value jobs to Scotland is a very positive sign. The survey says, | :32:07. | :32:12. | |
and I quote, Scotland is a leader for research and develop it in the | :32:13. | :32:19. | |
UK, attracting more projects. It added, the project attract high | :32:20. | :32:23. | |
skilled, high-value jobs and our excellent performance in the face of | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
what we see as reductions in research and development show | :32:28. | :32:33. | |
academic excellence, but we mustn't be complacent and must focus on | :32:34. | :32:40. | |
getting Scotland to be seen to be a attractive place to invest. Whilst | :32:41. | :32:45. | |
foreign and direct investment is to be welcomed, it was a 2.5% increase | :32:46. | :32:52. | |
for last year, compared to a 51% growth the previous year. So our | :32:53. | :32:56. | |
growth was less than the UK as a whole, and the total number of jobs | :32:57. | :33:00. | |
secured has fallen by nearly 50%. The survey also said that Scotland's | :33:01. | :33:05. | |
perceived attractiveness to investors has decreased for a number | :33:06. | :33:09. | |
of reasons that I won't rehearse. Can the First Minister offer an | :33:10. | :33:13. | |
explanation as to why there is a difference in FDI growth, and what | :33:14. | :33:16. | |
action she is taking to close that gap? I think it is difficult for | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
anybody to fairly read report from Tuesday and come to the conclusion | :33:23. | :33:26. | |
that is anything other than positive for Scotland. If we look, for | :33:27. | :33:33. | |
example, at the comparison with last year, 2015, the previous year the | :33:34. | :33:40. | |
report was based on, was our highest percentage year for UK projects | :33:41. | :33:43. | |
recorded in the past ten years. It was a particularly strong year. The | :33:44. | :33:48. | |
improvement this year on last year was always likely to be slightly | :33:49. | :33:54. | |
less than that. But the 2016 result is still excellent. 10.7% of all | :33:55. | :34:02. | |
projects coming to Scotland still places Scotland significantly above | :34:03. | :34:04. | |
our population share in what is an extremely competitive inward | :34:05. | :34:08. | |
investment environment. I think that is something we shouldn't be | :34:09. | :34:13. | |
complacent about, but should celebrate. This goes back to the | :34:14. | :34:19. | |
question Kate Forbes asked me, Kate Forbes absolutely put her finger on | :34:20. | :34:26. | |
this. A number of the project, of course, reported through VE why | :34:27. | :34:32. | |
study didn't have figures for jobs. We don't know how many jobs are | :34:33. | :34:39. | |
there, but one of the issues with numbers of jobs here is that so many | :34:40. | :34:44. | |
of the projects that we attracted last year were high-value projects, | :34:45. | :34:48. | |
particularly in research and development. As people know from | :34:49. | :34:51. | |
their own experience, these kind of projects do not necessarily bring | :34:52. | :34:55. | |
the large numbers of jobs that others do. But what they do bring is | :34:56. | :35:01. | |
huge value to the Scottish economy. And the future success of our | :35:02. | :35:04. | |
economy is based on attracting high skilled roles in areas like | :35:05. | :35:10. | |
software, and delivering higher value. The success of R should be | :35:11. | :35:17. | |
something not seen as a negative, because it brings fewer jobs, it | :35:18. | :35:20. | |
should be a positive because of the added value for the economy over the | :35:21. | :35:27. | |
longer term. While foreign direct investment is essential to Scotland, | :35:28. | :35:32. | |
before any Scottish Government money is invested in these companies based | :35:33. | :35:35. | |
abroad, will the Scottish Government carry out any checks to ensure two | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
things, one that the companies pay proper taxes in the UK, and | :35:40. | :35:46. | |
importantly have a level of pay for the workforce that is legal and | :35:47. | :35:52. | |
appropriate? Scottish enterprise carries out robust due diligence on | :35:53. | :35:58. | |
companies before they invest and has a careful assessment of the | :35:59. | :36:02. | |
companies that they invest in, not least so that we can get the | :36:03. | :36:05. | |
greatest value for taxpayer money. In terms of two particular points | :36:06. | :36:12. | |
raised by Mike rumbles, the Scottish Government as to be clear, it is | :36:13. | :36:15. | |
absolutely the responsibly Diop all companies to pay the tax they are | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
due to pay. I believe that we should have, much more robust rules and | :36:21. | :36:28. | |
regulations around tax avoidance by companies in place. In terms of the | :36:29. | :36:36. | |
wage, we are clear about the importance we attach to the living | :36:37. | :36:40. | |
wage. We are in the situation now where Scotland has a higher | :36:41. | :36:46. | |
percentage paid the right amount, but we still have work to do. We | :36:47. | :36:51. | |
will continue to use all believers at our disposal to encourage | :36:52. | :36:55. | |
companies to pay the living wage or set out plans by which they can move | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
towards paying the living wage. Adam Tomkins. To ask the First Minister | :37:00. | :37:05. | |
whether the Scottish Government will provide details of the meeting held | :37:06. | :37:12. | |
with business leaders on 21st March. Details of the meetings are | :37:13. | :37:14. | |
proactively published on the website, on 21st March, the Deputy | :37:15. | :37:20. | |
First Minister and the economy secretary and finance secretary met | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
with 13 key business leaders to continue our engagement with | :37:26. | :37:27. | |
industry on Scottish Government activity and allow them the | :37:28. | :37:29. | |
opportunity to raise issues with us in return. Adam Tomkins. I am | :37:30. | :37:36. | |
pleased that the Scottish Government spends a proportion of its time | :37:37. | :37:40. | |
speaking with business leaders. We can learn from Scotland's businesses | :37:41. | :37:43. | |
large and small about how to grow and stimuli the Scottish economy. | :37:44. | :37:48. | |
Given that young people are a theme of today's First Minister's | :37:49. | :37:56. | |
Questions, what advice can be stimulator for young people entering | :37:57. | :38:00. | |
the jobs market, and how is the Scottish Government acting on and | :38:01. | :38:03. | |
taking forward this advice? There is a range of different ways we are | :38:04. | :38:09. | |
working towards the economy that young people need and want. The work | :38:10. | :38:16. | |
that schools and colleges do, the courses that are provided, employers | :38:17. | :38:20. | |
need them to grow their businesses is part of that. The work we are | :38:21. | :38:24. | |
doing to encourage high-value investment in Scotland is another | :38:25. | :38:27. | |
part of that, developing the young force, one of the business leaders | :38:28. | :38:32. | |
that was engaged with us on the date I am talking about with Salim Wood, | :38:33. | :38:35. | |
Salim would lead you work for the Scottish Government on making | :38:36. | :38:44. | |
productive link between schools and academic institutions, and the world | :38:45. | :38:49. | |
of work. Developing the young workforce, work is now being taken | :38:50. | :38:53. | |
forward across Scotland, the chambers of commerce have a leading | :38:54. | :38:55. | |
role to play in that. Whether economic strategy and economic | :38:56. | :39:00. | |
initiatives have a range of purposes in terms of growing the economy, all | :39:01. | :39:04. | |
of it should be furthering the opportunities that our young people | :39:05. | :39:10. | |
have to succeed and prosper. To ask the First Minister in light of her | :39:11. | :39:15. | |
expressing the view that the NHS pay cap is unsustainable, whether the | :39:16. | :39:18. | |
Scottish Government will provide details of the submission made to | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
the new body. In the last pay review, the submission that the | :39:24. | :39:27. | |
Scottish Government sent included a commitment to paying the real living | :39:28. | :39:33. | |
wage, guaranteeing a minimum increase of ?400 for staff earning | :39:34. | :39:37. | |
?22,000 or less, continuing a policy of no compulsory redundancies. Those | :39:38. | :39:41. | |
policies are different to the situation elsewhere in the UK, and | :39:42. | :39:47. | |
lastly, a 1% pay increase for staff earning over ?22,000, which I know | :39:48. | :39:54. | |
is similar to the position in Wales. Now, that was our last submission. I | :39:55. | :39:59. | |
have made it clear, as we have entered a period where inflation is | :40:00. | :40:03. | |
rising, the pay restraint of recent times is unsustainable. That is why | :40:04. | :40:06. | |
in advance of the next submission, we have asked staff were present at | :40:07. | :40:11. | |
its, including unions, to work with us to work with us on the next | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
submission to the pay review body. The First Minister will be aware | :40:17. | :40:22. | |
that NHS staff have endured seven years pay restraint, meaning a 14% | :40:23. | :40:31. | |
real terms cut. In the submission was to keep the 1% pay cap, does the | :40:32. | :40:36. | |
First Minister and accept that the NHS staff deserve better pay, and | :40:37. | :40:39. | |
will she commit to scrapping the pay cap? As I said before, we have had | :40:40. | :40:48. | |
pay restraint for the number of previous years, and I know how | :40:49. | :40:52. | |
difficult that is for staff. At a time when our budgets have been | :40:53. | :40:55. | |
getting reduced year-on-year, it has been to protect jobs in our public | :40:56. | :41:01. | |
services, our NHS and our wider public service. The Scottish | :41:02. | :41:05. | |
Government has taken a range of actions to give targeted support, | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
particularly to the lowest paid, in the initiatives I outlined. These | :41:10. | :41:19. | |
are all policies that are not in place elsewhere in the UK. I think | :41:20. | :41:23. | |
that is an indication of how seriously we take fair treatment for | :41:24. | :41:28. | |
those that work in our NHS. In terms of the future, I made clear that | :41:29. | :41:32. | |
when inflation is rising, pay restraint of that nature cannot be | :41:33. | :41:36. | |
sustainable. We and the NHS have given that commitment to getting a | :41:37. | :41:42. | |
submission with staff representatives that take account of | :41:43. | :41:44. | |
inflation and moving forward where we can secure their outcomes for | :41:45. | :41:50. | |
staff in the NHS and the wider public service. Taking account of | :41:51. | :41:54. | |
affordability, but also the cost of living and the pressures people live | :41:55. | :41:58. | |
with on a day-to-day basis. Thank you, that concludes First Minister's | :41:59. | :42:02. | |
Questions. We come to the conclusion of First | :42:03. | :42:07. | |
Minister's Questions, dominated and overshadowed by the tragic events in | :42:08. | :42:10. | |
Manchester, particularly the death of young Eilidh MacLeod, a | :42:11. | :42:17. | |
14-year-old girl from Barra. We heard from the political leaders, | :42:18. | :42:22. | |
the idea of commonality, of humankind, the idea that we grieve | :42:23. | :42:26. | |
with those who have died, Patrick Harvie extending it to other | :42:27. | :42:32. | |
tragedies as well. On these sorts of occasions, poetry occurs to me. | :42:33. | :42:36. | |
Perhaps John Donne put it best, "Each man's death diminishes me, for | :42:37. | :42:44. | |
I am involved in mankind," it was very much the attitude and | :42:45. | :42:51. | |
understanding in the background for a minute's silence held in | :42:52. | :42:54. | |
Parliament earlier, as it was throughout the whole of the UK. | :42:55. | :43:02. | |
Let's see this seems from that occasion across Scotland. -- scenes. | :43:03. | :43:19. | |
Concluding there with the parliamentary leaders joined by the | :43:20. | :43:42. | |
presiding officer here Let's talk about the tone first, | :43:43. | :43:57. | |
Patrick Harvie described it as an appropriate tone, but it began with | :43:58. | :44:00. | |
Ruth Davidson and Kezia Dugdale, they got it right. They did. Today, | :44:01. | :44:05. | |
we saw Parliament not arguing but discussing and remembering. Ruth | :44:06. | :44:11. | |
Davidson asked a question very respectfully, and she decided not to | :44:12. | :44:18. | |
adopt the usual approach, which is, as we would normally see, to ask a | :44:19. | :44:23. | |
difficult question and put the first list on the spot. Instead, she asked | :44:24. | :44:26. | |
youth Parliament to say what issues affecting young people would like to | :44:27. | :44:32. | |
address. She chose mental health. She chose mental health in a very | :44:33. | :44:37. | |
respect for way. Way she asked it was she was still challenging and | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
requesting changes, requesting enhanced service, but it was asked | :44:42. | :44:46. | |
in a consensual fashion. Absolutely. The First Minister started by | :44:47. | :44:50. | |
thanking her for the question and the way she asked it. Ruth Davidson | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
added her thanks to the First Minister's response. Later on, when | :44:56. | :44:58. | |
she asked another supplementary question, noted that often, as we | :44:59. | :45:04. | |
have seen in recent weeks, debates are about funding. But in fact, she | :45:05. | :45:08. | |
decided not to go down that line come and instead talked about how | :45:09. | :45:13. | |
important organisations like the Guides and Boys' Brigade are, giving | :45:14. | :45:18. | |
an opportunity for the First Minister to add her agreement. Who | :45:19. | :45:27. | |
would have thought John Storey was in the Boys' Brigade. Kezia Dugdale | :45:28. | :45:30. | |
to us directly to Barra and the families greeting there with her | :45:31. | :45:35. | |
opening remarks. She went straight into the emotional heart of it, if | :45:36. | :45:40. | |
you like. It is the place we are all thinking of at the moment. It is | :45:41. | :45:44. | |
very difficult in these situations when we asked several days from a | :45:45. | :45:50. | |
tragedy like that, and everybody involved here knows the election | :45:51. | :45:55. | |
campaign is not zooming today, about to resume. It is there, pending. We | :45:56. | :46:00. | |
are on a strange boundary between the hiatus, which came after | :46:01. | :46:06. | |
Manchester, and the resumption of campaigning. What we saw today in | :46:07. | :46:10. | |
the chamber was how the politicians have managed very successfully to | :46:11. | :46:16. | |
bridge that, using emotional terms that Kezia Dugdale did, but moving | :46:17. | :46:20. | |
on to more serious topics, and in her case she talked about ovarian | :46:21. | :46:26. | |
cancer. And then we were on to more, if you like, combated questions | :46:27. | :46:29. | |
after that. She moved on to a health question later. She asked about | :46:30. | :46:37. | |
health pay. It didn't seem to jar, because it was done in a respectful | :46:38. | :46:45. | |
fashion. You had to raise some topics, but it didn't seem to jar. | :46:46. | :46:53. | |
In the 45 minutes, we travelled a long way from the tributes, | :46:54. | :46:56. | |
condolences and respect, and by the end of it, we had almost got back to | :46:57. | :47:01. | |
a very respectful form of campaigning. Political debate and | :47:02. | :47:10. | |
discourse. For that reason, it has been very important in this process. | :47:11. | :47:15. | |
Before we did that, Rebecca, Patrick Harvie raising some important | :47:16. | :47:22. | |
points, he was the one I had most in mind when I quoted Dunne, people | :47:23. | :47:35. | |
moving. What he was saying was we must value all lives that are lost, | :47:36. | :47:41. | |
of children... He drew an applause for that. He did. It was a heartfelt | :47:42. | :47:51. | |
applause, I felt. The First Minister absolutely reiterating what he had | :47:52. | :47:55. | |
said, stressing that every life matters. He also then went on to | :47:56. | :48:02. | |
talk about the so-called amendment, and whether this is a moment... | :48:03. | :48:09. | |
Asylum. Offering asylum to refugees, and saying, would this be an | :48:10. | :48:15. | |
appropriate moment for the First Minister to reiterate her support | :48:16. | :48:20. | |
for that. It was a tricky one, ultimately, for the First Minister, | :48:21. | :48:22. | |
because she then had to say literally nothing, to excuse the | :48:23. | :48:30. | |
Manchester bomb, but the events did not happen in a vacuum. That | :48:31. | :48:34. | |
exchange with Patrick Harvie gave us the first edge of real politics to | :48:35. | :48:39. | |
it, because the First Minister said that she absolutely supported the UK | :48:40. | :48:44. | |
Government when it came to not now sharing intelligence with the | :48:45. | :48:46. | |
American authorities because of what has happened, and the leaks that | :48:47. | :48:51. | |
have happened on the other side of the Atlantic. She came back to say | :48:52. | :48:54. | |
she disagreed with the UK Government as far as its policy on child | :48:55. | :49:00. | |
refugees. That was the first inkling of a little bit of what we might | :49:01. | :49:05. | |
call a party politics edging in. As you say, she trod a clear line by | :49:06. | :49:10. | |
making it absolutely clear that as far as the Manchester bombing was | :49:11. | :49:13. | |
concerned, the bomber was responsible, and nobody else. Let's | :49:14. | :49:17. | |
talk about those two elements. The issue of the relations with the US, | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
and UK policy. The First Minister saying she disagreed with it on the | :49:24. | :49:28. | |
issue of asylum. The approach to asylum, this was not the day to say | :49:29. | :49:32. | |
it. Did she manage... It is a difficult course to straddle. You | :49:33. | :49:37. | |
can't say it is the day not to say it and go on and say it. But the | :49:38. | :49:41. | |
tone she struck was so respectful and so measured, I think she got | :49:42. | :49:47. | |
away with it. That was the only occasion when we drifted into | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
perhaps a little bit of intergovernmental party politics. | :49:53. | :49:55. | |
She proper begot away with it. Do you agree with her? Yes, absolutely. | :49:56. | :50:03. | |
Tone was key throughout. So much of what we talk about when we stand | :50:04. | :50:09. | |
here is the body language, the emotion, the sometimes quite | :50:10. | :50:15. | |
personal veiled insults. Let's be frank, they arrive with barbs. Today | :50:16. | :50:20. | |
they didn't arrive with them, they dispensed with them. They did not. | :50:21. | :50:25. | |
It was a very different type of exchange that we were seeing. | :50:26. | :50:32. | |
Arguably, we should see more of this respectful exchange on a daily | :50:33. | :50:37. | |
basis. What about the issue of US intelligence, quite a remarkable | :50:38. | :50:40. | |
development. It may be short-term, it may be more of a gesture, but in | :50:41. | :50:44. | |
practice they are cooperating behind-the-scenes. But currently, | :50:45. | :50:48. | |
the UK authorities are saying they will currently not share | :50:49. | :50:50. | |
intelligence with the US because they cannot trust them. Absolutely. | :50:51. | :50:56. | |
It comes down to this fact which the First Minister said herself, it | :50:57. | :50:59. | |
could have compromised the investigation. There is really | :51:00. | :51:05. | |
nothing more serious than that. She was dressing she agreed entirely | :51:06. | :51:10. | |
with the UK Government, until they are absolute you sure that this will | :51:11. | :51:13. | |
not happen again, I cannot afford to take that risk. It UK Government to | :51:14. | :51:21. | |
cut out its most good can ally on intelligence. It will not have been | :51:22. | :51:26. | |
taken lightly. If you think about the weight of intelligence that | :51:27. | :51:30. | |
comes one way or the other, guests, the Americans rely on what we give | :51:31. | :51:33. | |
them, but we probably will I am awful lot more on what we get from | :51:34. | :51:37. | |
the Americans. Nicola Sturgeon mentioned the five I's, where | :51:38. | :51:45. | |
sharing is done on a regular basis. If we say to the Americans got we | :51:46. | :51:49. | |
will not share information with you, it does not disrupt transatlantic | :51:50. | :51:56. | |
tray, it disrupts the five I's. A big decision to take. But around the | :51:57. | :52:01. | |
chamber, politicians of all parties supported. Is it just a gesture? | :52:02. | :52:07. | |
There is no way you can tell. But in practice, there may be some | :52:08. | :52:10. | |
cooperation. It must be reflective of a huge agree of anger in the | :52:11. | :52:14. | |
British intelligence and security and police community. There will be | :52:15. | :52:20. | |
huge anger. Any suggestion that the investigation has in any way been | :52:21. | :52:23. | |
compromised by the intelligence services on the other side of the | :52:24. | :52:28. | |
Atlantic, yes. There will be huge, huge anger at the side. But you | :52:29. | :52:32. | |
would think that this intelligence sharing is so important to both | :52:33. | :52:35. | |
sides that one would hope they would both get back together within a | :52:36. | :52:40. | |
matter of days, and hopefully at that point, with the American | :52:41. | :52:43. | |
intelligence agencies agreeing that this will not happen again. Do you | :52:44. | :52:47. | |
agree? Again, the First Minister alluded to the fact that the Prime | :52:48. | :52:52. | |
Minister will be meeting with Donald Trump today. One would hope that | :52:53. | :52:59. | |
that would then mean an absolute end to any further leaks. Let me turn | :53:00. | :53:11. | |
you to another issue, Tavistock made a mention of using Scotland's | :53:12. | :53:16. | |
database and facilities to write little understanding, something that | :53:17. | :53:20. | |
has been raised by numerous MSPs, you don't want a backlash of hate. | :53:21. | :53:25. | |
You would a backlash of understanding. Patrick Harvie saying | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
we must reject divisive responses to this. Then point was made, education | :53:31. | :53:42. | |
and the problems arrive often from ignorance. The backlash that we have | :53:43. | :53:46. | |
sometimes seen in the past, it arrives out of ignorance. The only | :53:47. | :53:50. | |
way to tackle that is through education, saying that the resources | :53:51. | :53:53. | |
of museums and galleries should be used to help promote understanding. | :53:54. | :53:57. | |
An interesting idea coming out of that context of trying to spread | :53:58. | :54:02. | |
mutual understanding. I thought it was actually a very nice way of | :54:03. | :54:05. | |
tying in what is happening in Parliament today. One of the | :54:06. | :54:08. | |
committee 's this morning was dealing with the issue of national | :54:09. | :54:13. | |
collections and what is going to happen with Brexit and so on, | :54:14. | :54:18. | |
looking at those things. He had come from the committee, and you are | :54:19. | :54:21. | |
right, there is a way to tie it in. The point he made was important, it | :54:22. | :54:25. | |
is about understanding. It is about getting rid of the prejudice, if you | :54:26. | :54:30. | |
like, perhaps on both sides, and that way trying to undermine any of | :54:31. | :54:33. | |
those who perhaps want to spread terror. Hang on a couple of seconds, | :54:34. | :54:42. | |
we will be back with you shortly. He doesn't get a question every week | :54:43. | :54:47. | |
come sometimes he is left out, Patrick Harvie was left out. On this | :54:48. | :54:51. | |
occasion, he did not get a question. We thought it right that he | :54:52. | :54:55. | |
contribute to this programme. Kirsten Campbell asked him about his | :54:56. | :55:00. | |
reaction to events. What's great is there hasn't been a | :55:01. | :55:03. | |
backlash and I hope that continues. It is important that we reach out | :55:04. | :55:07. | |
beyond our communities to make sure that everybody feels safe and | :55:08. | :55:12. | |
secure, because we should not demonise anybody. We should reach | :55:13. | :55:15. | |
out, linking arms in arms, making sure that we do not demonise anybody | :55:16. | :55:20. | |
in society. What about the general election campaign, when will things | :55:21. | :55:23. | |
get back to normal in that regard? I can see after First Minister's | :55:24. | :55:27. | |
Questions today, political campaigning will be slowly grinding | :55:28. | :55:32. | |
back into action. It is important on the process of democracy must | :55:33. | :55:36. | |
continue. People are getting back to their lives. Manchester United | :55:37. | :55:42. | |
played football and won, so it is important for everybody else, | :55:43. | :55:45. | |
including the democratic process, gets back, too. Otherwise the | :55:46. | :55:51. | |
terrorists win. The terrorists win if normality | :55:52. | :55:54. | |
isn't resumed, but normality is difficult after the dreadful events | :55:55. | :55:59. | |
in Manchester. Let's talk with my colleagues again about that. Rebecca | :56:00. | :56:03. | |
first, the beginning of local campaigning today, the beginning | :56:04. | :56:05. | |
perhaps tomorrow of national campaigning. That's right. I don't | :56:06. | :56:12. | |
think we should expect it to go back to business as usual immediately. It | :56:13. | :56:16. | |
helps in a way that tomorrow is Friday going into the weekend. We | :56:17. | :56:19. | |
will see something more like normal campaigning next week. But as you | :56:20. | :56:25. | |
have just said, there is a strong sense I think that this is a very | :56:26. | :56:28. | |
important election coming up in two weeks' time, to indefinitely stop | :56:29. | :56:36. | |
campaigning would be a victory for the terrorists. The possibility of | :56:37. | :56:41. | |
manifestos this week on the day of the tragedy itself instead of | :56:42. | :56:45. | |
convening a meeting of the emergency committee, of the own Scottish | :56:46. | :56:48. | |
Government. Nicola Sturgeon was meant to launch her party's and | :56:49. | :56:52. | |
fester, but that is postponed until next week. The three we have left | :56:53. | :56:57. | |
are the Greens, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the SNP. My feeling | :56:58. | :57:02. | |
is, it will certainly be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday next week. | :57:03. | :57:05. | |
Probably the Greens on Monday, the SNP on Tuesday, and the Scottish Lib | :57:06. | :57:11. | |
Dems on Wednesday. Through the manifesto launches, we will be back | :57:12. | :57:14. | |
campaigning, full-blown political campaigning. Will it be with the | :57:15. | :57:18. | |
appropriate tone that Patrick Harvie was calling for today? It will be to | :57:19. | :57:22. | |
start with. What is interesting is how quickly or how long it takes for | :57:23. | :57:29. | |
us to get back into, if you like, the more aggressive, pugilistic, | :57:30. | :57:33. | |
shouting sort of politics that we come to expect. I think it. Of | :57:34. | :57:38. | |
muted, but it is difficult to see politicians holding back forever. | :57:39. | :57:42. | |
When they have ten days or so to go after the beginning of next week. | :57:43. | :57:45. | |
Rebecca, what is your boat on that on the tone? -- your thoughts on | :57:46. | :57:53. | |
that. The investigation will be ongoing, there will still be news | :57:54. | :57:58. | |
coming out on an ongoing basis. Particular care will be given to any | :57:59. | :58:03. | |
issue around terrorism and home affairs, but ultimately, there is a | :58:04. | :58:06. | |
general election, a very important one in two weeks' time. And we can | :58:07. | :58:12. | |
expect some business as usual to return. The tone, will it be more | :58:13. | :58:18. | |
subdued briefly? It will be more subdued. We need to look at next | :58:19. | :58:22. | |
week's First Minister's Questions. To set the tone? Yes, we will see a | :58:23. | :58:27. | |
marked difference from this week, and also back to where we usually | :58:28. | :58:33. | |
are with normal party politics as law. Thank you for joining me. A | :58:34. | :58:39. | |
different set of questions to the first Minster, dominated, of course, | :58:40. | :58:44. | |
by the events of Manchester, particularly the death of the young | :58:45. | :58:49. | |
girl in a row, our sympathies for the family embarrassment everywhere. | :58:50. | :58:55. | |
-- for the In Japan, art and life are | :58:56. | :59:24. | |
intrinsically connected. | :59:25. | :59:28. |