25/05/2017: First Minister's Questions Politics Scotland

Good afternoon and welcome to the Scottish parliament. Of course the

long shadow still cast from the Manchester tragedy and indeed only

this morning confirmation that 14-year-old Eilidh among those

killed in the tragedy and her friend Laura McIntyre still in hospital.

That long shadow I'm sure means this will be a very different session of

questions to the First Minister but the only way to find out is to cross

to the chamber now. Our sympathies to everyone in Manchester. The sun

shines on a sad Scottish Parliament today, campaigning in the general

election will resume and parties have agreed that will happen from

today and local level and tomorrow on a more national level but I think

in Parliament today we are still going to see a degree of

circumspection from Scottish politicians as they tried to reflect

the mood of the wider population. I do not imagine we will have too much

anger expressed today except perhaps with those responsible for the

attack itself. The Parliament welcomes it honoured guests from one

of the regional parliaments of Germany. Ruth Davidson. Thank you

Presiding Officer. I want to ask the first restored engagements she has

planned. Members will be aware of the heartbreaking news today that

14-year-old Eilidh MacLeod was amongst those killed in the

Manchester Arena on Monday night and I know we all want to send our love

and thoughts to her mum and dad and all of her families and friends at

this dreadful time. Our thoughts also with her friend Laura MacIntyre

who remains in hospital. Later today we will look at the government

programme for Scotland. I would like to associate myself with the

thoughts of the First Minister and prayers from these benches with

families of those who lost the plot Monday and particularly with those

of Eilidh MacLeod. It is a tragedy that will be felt by everyone from

Barra. It would not be right in my judgment used today to indulge in

the knock-about of an election campaign but I also believe that the

best show of contempt for our tactics of terror fight going about

our business of practising the very democratic values the bombers seek

to destroy so I would like to do just that. With the welfare of young

people forefront in our minds we spoke to the Scottish youth

Parliament yesterday to ask if there were any issues they wanted to race.

They are currently campaigning on the issue of young people's mental

health and they the need to ensure high quality

service provision. Can I ask what actions her government is taking to

improve the mental health of young people in Scotland. Can I thank Ruth

Davidson for her question and also the approach she is taking, I think

today above all it is our young people and their interests and

well-being that is very much in all our hearts. The Scottish youth

Parliament has raised many issues over the years that have not just

been of importance to young people in Scotland but having resulted in

action by this Parliament and the thing that is to their credit. In

terms of mental health as members are aware mental health for young

people for children and adolescents and making sure we can meet the

demand on services but also ensure the quality of service is very much

at the heart of our mental health strategy. In particular amongst many

other actions we have given a commitment to in National review of

personal and social education and the role of pastoral guidance in

schools and school counselling services to make sure that every

child has appropriate access to the right support in schools. These

actions I think have long been important but given the events of

the last few days picking sure we have appropriate support for young

people who for a whole variety of reasons experienced stress and

trauma and difficulty in their life is hugely important and the

government is absolutely committed to making sure we do the right

things in this regard. I thank the First Minister for that answer along

with the concerns raised by the Scottish youth Parliament we also

see this with the Scottish Association for mental health

launching a campaign highlighting the mental health needs of young

people. Its campaign points out that three children in every classroom in

Scotland will have exposed the mental health difficulty by the time

they are 16. It also points out that nearly 7000 young people were turned

away from the health services last year and warns that the issues may

worsen without help. Does the banister Joao is concerned and

assures that the concerns are being taken seriously in this campaign. I

do share the concerns of SAMH. As I have said many times before and I

know this is a point acknowledged across the chamber, we are seeing

many more young people come forward for Vedel health services and that

is something we should encourage because it does demonstrate that

there is a reducing stigma associated and it puts an obligation

on the government and our National Health Service and other agencies to

make sure that we can meet that demand. There are particular issues

I want to respond to in terms of that specific question, firstly

around people who come forward for child and adolescent mental health

and when those referrals are rejection. As members are aware we

have given a commitment in terms of referrals and then a commitment to

use the review as a foundation for further improvements. It is

important to point out of course that there would be a number of

reasons why a referral might be rejected and ultimately that is and

always should be a clinical decision. There might of course be

reasons why another intervention might be needed but we do want to

make sure that our services are joined up properly so that young

people get the care that they need. The second point is more general

landlubbers laid I said in my first answer about the review we are

commissioning into personal and social education. There is also an

important is that I think we should all attached to mental health first

aid and there is mental health first aid training to support young people

and staff in educational establishments that is being funded

and rolled out across Scotland by education Scotland and the aim of

this is to train staff within secondary schools to increase their

confidence and in approaching pupils whom they think might be struggling

with a mental health problem and that training is very much

complementing other forms of services. There is a whole range of

actions we are taking and I hope the chamber can unite behind this

approach. We know there is work today but we absolutely determined

to get on and do it. I thank you for that response. Often it is not just

about money, it is about other factors not within common control,

for example the fabulous work done by scouts, guides and Boys' Brigade

and other organisations all of which has a hugely beneficial impact on

mental health. Organisations which in countless unseen ways change the

lives of young people for the better and which steer young people into

better choices and happier lives. As well as celebrating the work they do

does the First Minister agree that we should do more to support youth

organisations and aim to ensure that as far as possible every young

person's goblin has the chance to join one? Yes I do. -- every young

person in Scotland has the chance. We should pay tribute to

organisations like those and in fact I think we have had the boys parade

in this Parliament this week talking about the work they are doing to

encourage young people to take part in sport. They do fight us to work

and I aware I'm sitting next to a former member here and I'm sure

there are many others in the chamber. They did fantastic work. I

think pointing to the work they do is important for a wider reason.

Understandably this week we are talking about unbelievable horror

and trauma that has been suffered by young people, principally the young

people in Manchester on Monday night but as we have commented in this

chamber in the last couple of days children across our country who were

nowhere near Manchester Arena will be impacted by the things they have

seen on television. We should never forget that youth is a time of great

joy and should be a time of great happiness, when young people get to

explore, I have read so many beautiful and poignant things this

week about the rite of passage for any young people are going to their

first concert and the experience of that. So we must always remember

that our principal obligation is to support in every way we can young

people to get the most out of life and organisations like the one Luke

Davison mentions play very important part. The First Minister touched on

this but SAMH raises a lack of counselling services and secondary

schools and points out that in Wales and Northern Ireland children have

guaranteed access to schools -based counselling. Notwithstanding the

mental health strategy put in place by the Scottish Dummett it says

judge in Scotland are still missing out. Earlier this year we published

a mental health paper supporting ladder of school champions and

councillors to be appointed in schools, colleges and universities.

The First Minister also Everest moves to improve counselling so can

she give us an assures that this is something the Scottish Government

will take forward in good time so that young people have the same

counselling services available as elsewhere in the UK? I think

counselling in schools is hugely important and also in a wider sense

to recognise that health and well-being is one of the core

aspects of the curriculum for excellence. It is embedded in the

very curriculum of our schools but it is important we make sure that

schools have access to the resources that allows them to support in a

very practical and meaningful way the health and well-being of

children and young people. Counselling is important. The review

I spoke about will look particularly at school counselling and I also

mention the role of mental health first aid training. It is important

to say that a mental health Link buses available to every school,

this is achieved in a variety of ways -- link person is available. It

might be a condition or from another specialty such as a primary care

worker that may make those will be able to contact specialist services

for advice if they need to. The review I have spoken about which is

an important aspect of the mental health strategy will allow us to

determine what further action we need to take to make sure schools

have access to the right resources to get the best possible support to

young people. I would like to ask the first Mr Watt engagements she

has for the rest of the week. Engagements to take forward the plan

for. Barra is one of Scotland's most beautiful places. That peace has

been shattered. The family of Eilidh MacLeod are grieving and the family

of Laura MacIntyre are praying things will get better. Can this man

is to tell us what extra support them Scottish Government can offer

the people of Barra. I think Kezia Dugdale raises a powerful point. The

death of a young person in a circumstance but particularly in

tragic and horrific circumstances like the ones we have witnessed this

week is Ray difficult for any community anywhere to deal with. --

very difficult. But Laura MacIntyre is a small and close-knit community

so the impact of the death of Eilidh MacLeod and the horrific injuries of

Laura MacIntyre will be felt in this community in a way which is much

more intense than might be the case in a big agility. We must be mindful

of that. My colleague of course a resident of Barra himself and I know

from him just how that is being felt. In terms of the support being

offered, Scottish Government officials have already engaged with

the council to ascertain that supported be made available and to

consider whether there are ways in which we can consider there your

support. A further educational psychologist and NHS clinical

psychologist are travelling to Barra today and between them they are

going to be focusing on the sport that families and those closest to

these two girls will need. The aim will be to give is as normal as

possible for the school but to make sure that there is support in place

for young people who are going to need it. This is often a point that

is relevant in any tragic incident like this, we all think in this

circumstances in the immediate aftermath of incidents like this

because the media is full of images but it is also in the days and weeks

and months after an event like this that the impact on those closest to

people who have died will be felt. I am very conscious of the fact that

the government and working with the council in the lead in this need to

make sure that supporters and those not just today, next week and next

month but for as long as it is needed. I welcome that answer but

after attacks like the one in Manchester political leaders talk

about how we cannot let terrorists change our way of life. We can do

that by carrying on with business in this chamber and by holding the

government account as normal and that is what I want to do. Earlier

this week target ovarian cancer published a report, the first of its

kind in Scotland and found that 36% of GPs wrongly believe there are no

detectable symptoms of ovarian cancer. That is costing lives. Can

the First Minister tell us what steps she will take to improve the

awareness of ovarian cancer among GPs. We will pay very close

attention to that report. One of the things that is extremely important

particularly with cancer and honestly our focus is on prevention

and early detection as much as it is on treatment but what is very

important is to make sure clinicians particularly primary care clinicians

have the guidance and information they need. I know GPs and others

working in primary care want to be in the best possible position to do

that. There will be work done to review guidance given to clinicians.

Very strongly through our detect cancer early programme we know that

the earlier cancer is detected the better the outcome is. Thank you for

that and of course it is not just GPs who lack awareness, this report

actually shows that 83% of women do not know the main signs and symptoms

of ovarian cancer. The First Minister just mentioned the detect

cancer early programme which has been very successful in raising

awareness about cancer of the breast, lung and bowel but giving

the findings of this report are one of the first Mr might think it is

time to extend that programme to cover ovarian cancer which it

currently doesn't. 'S First Minister. We keep that under regular

review. The decision around this, I was Home Secretary when this

programme was first established, there was a lot of very careful

thought about deciding which cancers to concentrate on, because of the

significant numbers of people who suffer from these cancers in

Scotland that regularly groups representing patients with other

cancers do make representation for inclusion in the programme and we

will always be happy to consider that. Given the Target Ovarian

Cancer report referred to today we certainly welcome the opportunity to

discuss with Target Ovarian Cancer how we as government can support

greater efforts to raise awareness amongst the public at large but also

particularly amongst people working in primary care and I would be happy

to make sure the Health Secretary includes in that discussion possible

future inclusion in the detect cancer early programme. Thank you

to. I want to ask the first was when the Cabinet will next meet. Tuesday.

May I add my own condolences and those of my party to the families,

friends and community of Eilidh MacLeod and our most sincere hopes

for the recovery of a great many others who still are fighting for

the lives perhaps all recovering from serious injuries including her

friend Laura MacIntyre. As the faces of those who have been lost or

injured are seen and as we learn the names and something of the life

stories of those who have been affected there will be tears shed in

communities like Barra, right across the UK, and I think far around the

world as well. Election campaigning is due to recommends later and we

all have a responsibility to do so in an inappropriate tone and in

particular to reject the division that both terrorists and the far

right in this country seek to create along lines of race and religion.

Keeping people safe at home must never prevent us from also valuing

all life equally. Is the First Minister aware of the tragic deaths

of at least 34 people, many of them children, toddlers and babies,

crossing the Mediterranean on Wednesday from Libya to Italy? Can I

seek their continued commitment from the First Minister and I have all

ages to resist the voices of hostility and xenophobia and to

ensure that we look after those who need safe Routes to this country and

to others and to be given safety and security as asylum seekers here and

would this be an appropriate time to press the UK for a reversal of its

decision to scrap the dubs Amendment protecting child refugees. I am

aware of the dreadful tragedy Patrick Harvie refers to and like

anybody else has read accounts of that will have been just so

distressed and upset to read of mainly toddlers being drowned and

killed in this case. I think it is important for us all, I know this is

a view we will take as human beings, the loss of a child's life is a

tragedy no matter when a child comes from. For the circumstance they have

grown up in. We should mourn and brief any child's life and where a

child loses their life whether in an attack like we saw in Manchester or

crossing the Mediterranean, fleeing circumstances we can scarcely

imagine in the hope of a better life somewhere else, we should always

dedicate ourselves to learning the lessons and trying to do everything

we can to make the world a better place for our children to grow up

in. The only person responsible for what happened in Manchester on

Monday night was the man who did what he did and carried out that

attack. But it is the case that we must all of us work to resolve the

conflicts in the world that people like that individual completely

without justification but nevertheless they tried to use as

basis for the heinous acts they carry out. There is a lot of it

injustice in our world right now and sometimes we can feel very helpless

in the face of that but we all have a role to play in trying to address

that injustice and make our world a better place. One of the ways in

which we can do that is to offer the hand of friendship to those who are

fleeing conditions elsewhere that we can scarcely imagine. I am very

proud of the work that local authorities and other agencies

across Scotland have done in welcoming Syrian refugees and making

them feel at home here in Scotland and today is not the day for party

political statements to be made but I do think there is more the UK can

and should do in the years ahead and honouring the Dubs Amendment would

be one way of making sure we are giving that helping hand to

vulnerable children. I am grateful for those worlds, all of our hearts

are hurting for those whose names and faces we are learning but it is

important to remember the equal value of every life including those

whose faces and life stories we will probably never learn about. Can I

also ask the First Minister about the decision by the UK Government

which in this case I support to suspend the sharing of intelligence

information with the United States following a series of leaks are

particularly sensitive and potentially relevant to enquiries

information to the media. It has been said that UK officials have

expressed anger, disbelief and astonishment at the actions of the

US intelligence services in leaking misinformation. Does the first Mr

share that reaction, does she agree with the decision of the UK

Government to suspend the sharing of that information, and what are the

implications for the security measures to the Scottish Government

and police Scotland if in future we are unable to trust the intelligence

services of an ally. Firstly in terms of the first part of the

question is said earlier every child is valued and I will not be the only

person in this chamber and across the UK who today finds it difficult

to look at the photographs of the eight-year-old girl who was killed

in Manchester without feeling tearful but many of the children who

die in other circumstances we will never see the faces but that does

not mean their lives are any less valuable or that we do not have

responsibility working with others to try to make things better for our

children. In terms of intelligence sharing, firstly can I say the

ability of countries to share intelligence and to share

intelligence confidentially and securely is one of the things that

helps keep us safe and the importance of that and the

importance of having trusted arrangements in place such as

through the finalise system, cannot be overestimated. I do share the

anger and the disbelief that we have seen very sensitive details of this

ongoing situation leads to the reader and I think all of us should

make clear that is unacceptable and cannot be defended in any way. --

the Five Eyes system. I know that with regret the UK Government is

right to stop showing until a list like this with the American

government for hopefully a short period. I know they would on to the

as temporarily as possible on another Prime Minister will be

raising this issue with President Trump today so I very much hope the

assurances will be given by the American government that allows a

very speedy return to the sharing of intelligence that is such an

important part of keeping just published of the UK safe but

publishers across the world. Let us be in no doubt that what we have

read and seen in American newspapers of the last couple of days is

completely unacceptable and potentially compromises the

investigation that is currently underway into the trustee we saw on

Monday night. APPLAUSE -- into the atrocity we saw on

Monday night. If we can keep the answer is relatively succinct. Linda

Fabiani. Thank you, in this sad when people have many concerns and of

course safety and security are amongst them. May I ask the First

Minister to confirm that the Chief Constable does have the proper

resources to deal with the security situation here in Scotland as it

stands. I have had that assurance from the Chief Constable and we

discussed this yesterday in Parliament when I made a statement

on the security situation and after that statement I visited the multi

agency coordination Centre and spoke against Chief Constable there. The

Chief Constable has as is his responsibility reviewed the security

arrangements in Scotland giving the increase in the threat level and he

has made judgments about the level of policing including armed policing

that is necessary. It is his judgment at this stage although he

will keep that under review that the police have the resources within

their own resources to provide that level of policing across Scotland

and their four he does not require at this stage to call on military

personnel to help police the streets or public places in Scotland.

Although let me say publicly and record my gratitude to the military

for their offers of support and for the support they are providing in

other parts of the UK. I spoke to the Brigadier responsible in

Scotland yesterday and recorded my gratitude for his offers of support.

But the police here in Scotland have the resources from within Police

Scotland to provide the appropriate level of security and I think we

should be grateful to them for that. The Chief Constable has that

operational responsibility to make those decisions and he will keep

that matter under review for as long the heightened security situation

exists. This morning the culture committee consider the roles

Scottish libraries, museums and galleries play in the pursuit of

knowledge and understanding. Would she understand that after Manchester

people keep asking why this atrocity happened and there fore could she

undertake to coordinate the work of the National collections in the

study of Islam and the diversity of religious tolerance and

understanding are finding work that goes on across all our indices to

make sure that happens. I am very happy to take that and ask Fiona

Hyslop to have a look at what we can do to support our National

galleries, libraries and others in making a contribution to the mutual

understanding of different cultures and faiths. That is what is so

important at the heart of this, so many conflicts and disputes across

the world: from ignorance and misunderstanding. Of it has to said

deliberate misunderstanding, and ignorance. But the more we can

encourage people to learn and understand about different faiths

and different cultures, the more chance we have got of ensuring that

people not just in this country but across all can live together in

harmony. Culture, books, art have a hugely important role to play in

this. I think it is a very good suggestion and I would be happy to

ask for this to be taken forward. First Minister, I met the head of

the student Association for Glazkov Calvin College recently and I

understand that term is money to be extended. Can the Scottish

Government work with colleges to alleviate any additional costs

associated with this? Shirley and Somerville met on Tuesday this week

to seek reassurances on the contingencies colleges have in place

to minimise any impact on students as a consequence of the recent

strike action. A firm assurance was given that contingency measures are

in place however I'm happy to ask her to speak to colleges Scotland to

raise these issues. More generally we are pleased to see the agreement

reached last Friday to enable further strike action to be called

off. To ask the First Minister the

government is taking to attract foreign and direct investment. The

2017 and still young published on Tuesday reported that with 122

projects successfully secured during 2016, in three Scottish cities,

Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen in the top ten, Scotland continues to

be the most attractive occasion for foreign direct investment outside

London for every one of the past five years. We continue to work to

attract investors across the globe, to make sure they are aware of the

strength of the Scottish economy and the range of support available to

grow businesses here. Kate Forbes. I agree that the survey is a positive

thing for the Scottish economy, does the First Minister agree that a

further positive sign is the number of high-value projects, particularly

RND projects that Scotland now attracts, and while they may not

bring as many jobs, they are the basis for a high-value,

knowledge-based economy that will lead to more and better paid jobs in

the future? Yes, I agree very much with that. The attraction of

high-value jobs to Scotland is a very positive sign. The survey says,

and I quote, Scotland is a leader for research and develop it in the

UK, attracting more projects. It added, the project attract high

skilled, high-value jobs and our excellent performance in the face of

what we see as reductions in research and development show

academic excellence, but we mustn't be complacent and must focus on

getting Scotland to be seen to be a attractive place to invest. Whilst

foreign and direct investment is to be welcomed, it was a 2.5% increase

for last year, compared to a 51% growth the previous year. So our

growth was less than the UK as a whole, and the total number of jobs

secured has fallen by nearly 50%. The survey also said that Scotland's

perceived attractiveness to investors has decreased for a number

of reasons that I won't rehearse. Can the First Minister offer an

explanation as to why there is a difference in FDI growth, and what

action she is taking to close that gap? I think it is difficult for

anybody to fairly read report from Tuesday and come to the conclusion

that is anything other than positive for Scotland. If we look, for

example, at the comparison with last year, 2015, the previous year the

report was based on, was our highest percentage year for UK projects

recorded in the past ten years. It was a particularly strong year. The

improvement this year on last year was always likely to be slightly

less than that. But the 2016 result is still excellent. 10.7% of all

projects coming to Scotland still places Scotland significantly above

our population share in what is an extremely competitive inward

investment environment. I think that is something we shouldn't be

complacent about, but should celebrate. This goes back to the

question Kate Forbes asked me, Kate Forbes absolutely put her finger on

this. A number of the project, of course, reported through VE why

study didn't have figures for jobs. We don't know how many jobs are

there, but one of the issues with numbers of jobs here is that so many

of the projects that we attracted last year were high-value projects,

particularly in research and development. As people know from

their own experience, these kind of projects do not necessarily bring

the large numbers of jobs that others do. But what they do bring is

huge value to the Scottish economy. And the future success of our

economy is based on attracting high skilled roles in areas like

software, and delivering higher value. The success of R should be

something not seen as a negative, because it brings fewer jobs, it

should be a positive because of the added value for the economy over the

longer term. While foreign direct investment is essential to Scotland,

before any Scottish Government money is invested in these companies based

abroad, will the Scottish Government carry out any checks to ensure two

things, one that the companies pay proper taxes in the UK, and

importantly have a level of pay for the workforce that is legal and

appropriate? Scottish enterprise carries out robust due diligence on

companies before they invest and has a careful assessment of the

companies that they invest in, not least so that we can get the

greatest value for taxpayer money. In terms of two particular points

raised by Mike rumbles, the Scottish Government as to be clear, it is

absolutely the responsibly Diop all companies to pay the tax they are

due to pay. I believe that we should have, much more robust rules and

regulations around tax avoidance by companies in place. In terms of the

wage, we are clear about the importance we attach to the living

wage. We are in the situation now where Scotland has a higher

percentage paid the right amount, but we still have work to do. We

will continue to use all believers at our disposal to encourage

companies to pay the living wage or set out plans by which they can move

towards paying the living wage. Adam Tomkins. To ask the First Minister

whether the Scottish Government will provide details of the meeting held

with business leaders on 21st March. Details of the meetings are

proactively published on the website, on 21st March, the Deputy

First Minister and the economy secretary and finance secretary met

with 13 key business leaders to continue our engagement with

industry on Scottish Government activity and allow them the

opportunity to raise issues with us in return. Adam Tomkins. I am

pleased that the Scottish Government spends a proportion of its time

speaking with business leaders. We can learn from Scotland's businesses

large and small about how to grow and stimuli the Scottish economy.

Given that young people are a theme of today's First Minister's

Questions, what advice can be stimulator for young people entering

the jobs market, and how is the Scottish Government acting on and

taking forward this advice? There is a range of different ways we are

working towards the economy that young people need and want. The work

that schools and colleges do, the courses that are provided, employers

need them to grow their businesses is part of that. The work we are

doing to encourage high-value investment in Scotland is another

part of that, developing the young force, one of the business leaders

that was engaged with us on the date I am talking about with Salim Wood,

Salim would lead you work for the Scottish Government on making

productive link between schools and academic institutions, and the world

of work. Developing the young workforce, work is now being taken

forward across Scotland, the chambers of commerce have a leading

role to play in that. Whether economic strategy and economic

initiatives have a range of purposes in terms of growing the economy, all

of it should be furthering the opportunities that our young people

have to succeed and prosper. To ask the First Minister in light of her

expressing the view that the NHS pay cap is unsustainable, whether the

Scottish Government will provide details of the submission made to

the new body. In the last pay review, the submission that the

Scottish Government sent included a commitment to paying the real living

wage, guaranteeing a minimum increase of ?400 for staff earning

?22,000 or less, continuing a policy of no compulsory redundancies. Those

policies are different to the situation elsewhere in the UK, and

lastly, a 1% pay increase for staff earning over ?22,000, which I know

is similar to the position in Wales. Now, that was our last submission. I

have made it clear, as we have entered a period where inflation is

rising, the pay restraint of recent times is unsustainable. That is why

in advance of the next submission, we have asked staff were present at

its, including unions, to work with us to work with us on the next

submission to the pay review body. The First Minister will be aware

that NHS staff have endured seven years pay restraint, meaning a 14%

real terms cut. In the submission was to keep the 1% pay cap, does the

First Minister and accept that the NHS staff deserve better pay, and

will she commit to scrapping the pay cap? As I said before, we have had

pay restraint for the number of previous years, and I know how

difficult that is for staff. At a time when our budgets have been

getting reduced year-on-year, it has been to protect jobs in our public

services, our NHS and our wider public service. The Scottish

Government has taken a range of actions to give targeted support,

particularly to the lowest paid, in the initiatives I outlined. These

are all policies that are not in place elsewhere in the UK. I think

that is an indication of how seriously we take fair treatment for

those that work in our NHS. In terms of the future, I made clear that

when inflation is rising, pay restraint of that nature cannot be

sustainable. We and the NHS have given that commitment to getting a

submission with staff representatives that take account of

inflation and moving forward where we can secure their outcomes for

staff in the NHS and the wider public service. Taking account of

affordability, but also the cost of living and the pressures people live

with on a day-to-day basis. Thank you, that concludes First Minister's

Questions. We come to the conclusion of First

Minister's Questions, dominated and overshadowed by the tragic events in

Manchester, particularly the death of young Eilidh MacLeod, a

14-year-old girl from Barra. We heard from the political leaders,

the idea of commonality, of humankind, the idea that we grieve

with those who have died, Patrick Harvie extending it to other

tragedies as well. On these sorts of occasions, poetry occurs to me.

Perhaps John Donne put it best, "Each man's death diminishes me, for

I am involved in mankind," it was very much the attitude and

understanding in the background for a minute's silence held in

Parliament earlier, as it was throughout the whole of the UK.

Let's see this seems from that occasion across Scotland. -- scenes.

Concluding there with the parliamentary leaders joined by the

presiding officer here Let's talk about the tone first,

Patrick Harvie described it as an appropriate tone, but it began with

Ruth Davidson and Kezia Dugdale, they got it right. They did. Today,

we saw Parliament not arguing but discussing and remembering. Ruth

Davidson asked a question very respectfully, and she decided not to

adopt the usual approach, which is, as we would normally see, to ask a

difficult question and put the first list on the spot. Instead, she asked

youth Parliament to say what issues affecting young people would like to

address. She chose mental health. She chose mental health in a very

respect for way. Way she asked it was she was still challenging and

requesting changes, requesting enhanced service, but it was asked

in a consensual fashion. Absolutely. The First Minister started by

thanking her for the question and the way she asked it. Ruth Davidson

added her thanks to the First Minister's response. Later on, when

she asked another supplementary question, noted that often, as we

have seen in recent weeks, debates are about funding. But in fact, she

decided not to go down that line come and instead talked about how

important organisations like the Guides and Boys' Brigade are, giving

an opportunity for the First Minister to add her agreement. Who

would have thought John Storey was in the Boys' Brigade. Kezia Dugdale

to us directly to Barra and the families greeting there with her

opening remarks. She went straight into the emotional heart of it, if

you like. It is the place we are all thinking of at the moment. It is

very difficult in these situations when we asked several days from a

tragedy like that, and everybody involved here knows the election

campaign is not zooming today, about to resume. It is there, pending. We

are on a strange boundary between the hiatus, which came after

Manchester, and the resumption of campaigning. What we saw today in

the chamber was how the politicians have managed very successfully to

bridge that, using emotional terms that Kezia Dugdale did, but moving

on to more serious topics, and in her case she talked about ovarian

cancer. And then we were on to more, if you like, combated questions

after that. She moved on to a health question later. She asked about

health pay. It didn't seem to jar, because it was done in a respectful

fashion. You had to raise some topics, but it didn't seem to jar.

In the 45 minutes, we travelled a long way from the tributes,

condolences and respect, and by the end of it, we had almost got back to

a very respectful form of campaigning. Political debate and

discourse. For that reason, it has been very important in this process.

Before we did that, Rebecca, Patrick Harvie raising some important

points, he was the one I had most in mind when I quoted Dunne, people

moving. What he was saying was we must value all lives that are lost,

of children... He drew an applause for that. He did. It was a heartfelt

applause, I felt. The First Minister absolutely reiterating what he had

said, stressing that every life matters. He also then went on to

talk about the so-called amendment, and whether this is a moment...

Asylum. Offering asylum to refugees, and saying, would this be an

appropriate moment for the First Minister to reiterate her support

for that. It was a tricky one, ultimately, for the First Minister,

because she then had to say literally nothing, to excuse the

Manchester bomb, but the events did not happen in a vacuum. That

exchange with Patrick Harvie gave us the first edge of real politics to

it, because the First Minister said that she absolutely supported the UK

Government when it came to not now sharing intelligence with the

American authorities because of what has happened, and the leaks that

have happened on the other side of the Atlantic. She came back to say

she disagreed with the UK Government as far as its policy on child

refugees. That was the first inkling of a little bit of what we might

call a party politics edging in. As you say, she trod a clear line by

making it absolutely clear that as far as the Manchester bombing was

concerned, the bomber was responsible, and nobody else. Let's

talk about those two elements. The issue of the relations with the US,

and UK policy. The First Minister saying she disagreed with it on the

issue of asylum. The approach to asylum, this was not the day to say

it. Did she manage... It is a difficult course to straddle. You

can't say it is the day not to say it and go on and say it. But the

tone she struck was so respectful and so measured, I think she got

away with it. That was the only occasion when we drifted into

perhaps a little bit of intergovernmental party politics.

She proper begot away with it. Do you agree with her? Yes, absolutely.

Tone was key throughout. So much of what we talk about when we stand

here is the body language, the emotion, the sometimes quite

personal veiled insults. Let's be frank, they arrive with barbs. Today

they didn't arrive with them, they dispensed with them. They did not.

It was a very different type of exchange that we were seeing.

Arguably, we should see more of this respectful exchange on a daily

basis. What about the issue of US intelligence, quite a remarkable

development. It may be short-term, it may be more of a gesture, but in

practice they are cooperating behind-the-scenes. But currently,

the UK authorities are saying they will currently not share

intelligence with the US because they cannot trust them. Absolutely.

It comes down to this fact which the First Minister said herself, it

could have compromised the investigation. There is really

nothing more serious than that. She was dressing she agreed entirely

with the UK Government, until they are absolute you sure that this will

not happen again, I cannot afford to take that risk. It UK Government to

cut out its most good can ally on intelligence. It will not have been

taken lightly. If you think about the weight of intelligence that

comes one way or the other, guests, the Americans rely on what we give

them, but we probably will I am awful lot more on what we get from

the Americans. Nicola Sturgeon mentioned the five I's, where

sharing is done on a regular basis. If we say to the Americans got we

will not share information with you, it does not disrupt transatlantic

tray, it disrupts the five I's. A big decision to take. But around the

chamber, politicians of all parties supported. Is it just a gesture?

There is no way you can tell. But in practice, there may be some

cooperation. It must be reflective of a huge agree of anger in the

British intelligence and security and police community. There will be

huge anger. Any suggestion that the investigation has in any way been

compromised by the intelligence services on the other side of the

Atlantic, yes. There will be huge, huge anger at the side. But you

would think that this intelligence sharing is so important to both

sides that one would hope they would both get back together within a

matter of days, and hopefully at that point, with the American

intelligence agencies agreeing that this will not happen again. Do you

agree? Again, the First Minister alluded to the fact that the Prime

Minister will be meeting with Donald Trump today. One would hope that

that would then mean an absolute end to any further leaks. Let me turn

you to another issue, Tavistock made a mention of using Scotland's

database and facilities to write little understanding, something that

has been raised by numerous MSPs, you don't want a backlash of hate.

You would a backlash of understanding. Patrick Harvie saying

we must reject divisive responses to this. Then point was made, education

and the problems arrive often from ignorance. The backlash that we have

sometimes seen in the past, it arrives out of ignorance. The only

way to tackle that is through education, saying that the resources

of museums and galleries should be used to help promote understanding.

An interesting idea coming out of that context of trying to spread

mutual understanding. I thought it was actually a very nice way of

tying in what is happening in Parliament today. One of the

committee 's this morning was dealing with the issue of national

collections and what is going to happen with Brexit and so on,

looking at those things. He had come from the committee, and you are

right, there is a way to tie it in. The point he made was important, it

is about understanding. It is about getting rid of the prejudice, if you

like, perhaps on both sides, and that way trying to undermine any of

those who perhaps want to spread terror. Hang on a couple of seconds,

we will be back with you shortly. He doesn't get a question every week

come sometimes he is left out, Patrick Harvie was left out. On this

occasion, he did not get a question. We thought it right that he

contribute to this programme. Kirsten Campbell asked him about his

reaction to events. What's great is there hasn't been a

backlash and I hope that continues. It is important that we reach out

beyond our communities to make sure that everybody feels safe and

secure, because we should not demonise anybody. We should reach

out, linking arms in arms, making sure that we do not demonise anybody

in society. What about the general election campaign, when will things

get back to normal in that regard? I can see after First Minister's

Questions today, political campaigning will be slowly grinding

back into action. It is important on the process of democracy must

continue. People are getting back to their lives. Manchester United

played football and won, so it is important for everybody else,

including the democratic process, gets back, too. Otherwise the

terrorists win. The terrorists win if normality

isn't resumed, but normality is difficult after the dreadful events

in Manchester. Let's talk with my colleagues again about that. Rebecca

first, the beginning of local campaigning today, the beginning

perhaps tomorrow of national campaigning. That's right. I don't

think we should expect it to go back to business as usual immediately. It

helps in a way that tomorrow is Friday going into the weekend. We

will see something more like normal campaigning next week. But as you

have just said, there is a strong sense I think that this is a very

important election coming up in two weeks' time, to indefinitely stop

campaigning would be a victory for the terrorists. The possibility of

manifestos this week on the day of the tragedy itself instead of

convening a meeting of the emergency committee, of the own Scottish

Government. Nicola Sturgeon was meant to launch her party's and

fester, but that is postponed until next week. The three we have left

are the Greens, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the SNP. My feeling

is, it will certainly be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday next week.

Probably the Greens on Monday, the SNP on Tuesday, and the Scottish Lib

Dems on Wednesday. Through the manifesto launches, we will be back

campaigning, full-blown political campaigning. Will it be with the

appropriate tone that Patrick Harvie was calling for today? It will be to

start with. What is interesting is how quickly or how long it takes for

us to get back into, if you like, the more aggressive, pugilistic,

shouting sort of politics that we come to expect. I think it. Of

muted, but it is difficult to see politicians holding back forever.

When they have ten days or so to go after the beginning of next week.

Rebecca, what is your boat on that on the tone? -- your thoughts on

that. The investigation will be ongoing, there will still be news

coming out on an ongoing basis. Particular care will be given to any

issue around terrorism and home affairs, but ultimately, there is a

general election, a very important one in two weeks' time. And we can

expect some business as usual to return. The tone, will it be more

subdued briefly? It will be more subdued. We need to look at next

week's First Minister's Questions. To set the tone? Yes, we will see a

marked difference from this week, and also back to where we usually

are with normal party politics as law. Thank you for joining me. A

different set of questions to the first Minster, dominated, of course,

by the events of Manchester, particularly the death of the young

girl in a row, our sympathies for the family embarrassment everywhere.

-- for the In Japan, art and life are

intrinsically connected.