:00:26. > :00:32.Hello from Holyrood. The day after the Independent debate agreed on
:00:32. > :00:37.the ground rules for the referendum. We now have a new question and new
:00:37. > :00:41.spending limits higher than the Scottish government wanted. It is
:00:41. > :00:51.the first opportunity for the First Minister to comment today, I wonder
:00:51. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:57.if he will take it. First Minister's Questions is underway.
:00:57. > :01:01.As the chamber will know, at this week we have had some fantastic
:01:01. > :01:07.analysis showing that in a greatly expanded modern apprenticeship
:01:07. > :01:12.programme, 92% of these youngsters are in work after six months of
:01:12. > :01:16.completing their apprenticeship. That has stimulated a great deal of
:01:16. > :01:21.interest among such companies. The contribution Microsoft will meet
:01:21. > :01:27.today is that they and their partners and suppliers and
:01:27. > :01:35.stakeholders will guarantee a minimum of 2016 new, young, modern
:01:35. > :01:40.apprenticeships. We must obviously welcome at any opportunities for
:01:40. > :01:44.our young people, we would only hope the Government had more of a
:01:44. > :01:47.focus on youth unemployment and the challenges they face, because some
:01:48. > :01:51.of the figures about a young people still being in jobs after
:01:51. > :01:56.apprenticeships is because they were in them before they got the
:01:56. > :02:02.apprenticeship. The process of the referendum is almost agreed by the
:02:02. > :02:08.date. Now we can get down to the substance of the debate. How well
:02:08. > :02:12.the First Minister can doubt that debate? The people Scotland want
:02:12. > :02:17.clear, honest information. We have said an independent Scotland would
:02:17. > :02:22.have to apply to join the European Union, and those negotiations could
:02:22. > :02:25.take time. We have been accused by the First Minister of
:02:25. > :02:30.scaremongering. When the Irish European affairs Minister said an
:02:30. > :02:37.independent Scotland would have to apply to the EU and negotiations
:02:37. > :02:43.could be lengthy and complex, what is she guilty of? I am glad there
:02:43. > :02:49.is so much agreement on the processes of the referendum. I am
:02:49. > :02:55.glad that Joanne and I can go forward on that basis. I look
:02:55. > :03:02.forward to the debate. I do recommend that Johanne Rees that
:03:02. > :03:09.information from the errors European administers. -- Joanne.
:03:09. > :03:19.The timetable for negotiating our position from within the European
:03:19. > :03:32.
:03:32. > :03:36.Union, she has regarded that I have got to say, she asked how we
:03:36. > :03:41.would conduct the debate in Scotland. We will conduct our
:03:41. > :03:48.debate for an independent Scotland in a positive manner. I wonder if
:03:48. > :03:53.the bitter -- I wonder if their Better Together 2012 campaign that
:03:53. > :04:03.can match that? I am not sure how positivity is to misrepresent what
:04:03. > :04:03.
:04:04. > :04:08.people say when they raised legitimate concerns and express a
:04:08. > :04:13.view on what the Scottish Government claims to be the case.
:04:13. > :04:17.The Irish European Minister's comments fall well short of the
:04:17. > :04:27.Nicola Sturgeon's claimed that that Scott and his membership of the EU
:04:27. > :04:31.would be, automatic. In her clarification it is said, appeared
:04:31. > :04:39.to be is Clear a newly independent state would have to negotiate terms
:04:39. > :04:45.of membership. She adds, these terms would undoubtedly be somewhat
:04:45. > :04:52.different to the existing terms. What part of that does the First
:04:52. > :05:00.Minister disagree with? A year ago we have always said that these
:05:00. > :05:09.negotiations will take place from within the European Union. I have
:05:09. > :05:14.hear the comments of the Minister, she says the SNP position between
:05:14. > :05:20.2014-2016 negotiating our position within the European Union, sums up
:05:20. > :05:26.the position well for stocks that is her exact quote. I do not know
:05:26. > :05:31.the terminology that Joanne Hammond uses, but it seems to me it is
:05:31. > :05:37.somewhat of an endorsement of that the SNP has been putting forward. I
:05:37. > :05:44.have to say, Joanne will have to catch up with hard that terms of
:05:44. > :05:49.the European debate has now changed, how partners in that Better
:05:49. > :05:56.Together 2012 campaign at one negotiations to take the UK out of
:05:56. > :06:00.the European Union altogether. Is it not entirely possible that
:06:00. > :06:06.negotiating for Scotland, wanting to stay part of the European Union,
:06:06. > :06:13.would be rather more successful than and in that out referendum as
:06:13. > :06:16.postulated by her allies in the Conservative Party? You would think
:06:16. > :06:26.it to listen to the First Minister that Nicola Sturgeon had never said
:06:26. > :06:28.our membership to the EU would be automatic. The problem with the
:06:28. > :06:33.First Minister is he lives in a world where we are never supposed
:06:33. > :06:39.to remember what he said yesterday and we're never supposed to expect
:06:39. > :06:43.that tomorrow matches what he says today. People deserve better and if
:06:43. > :06:51.the Independent debate is to be conducted in positive terms, heaven
:06:51. > :06:56.help us all. When the BBC reported the comments, they were accused by
:06:56. > :07:02.the SNP of misconstrue in what she said scandalously one of their
:07:02. > :07:07.members suggested the report had been heavily spliced, yet what she
:07:07. > :07:11.said and what was reported is backed up by the comments of the
:07:11. > :07:16.President of the European Commission. Baghdad also by the
:07:16. > :07:22.Czech Foreign Minister, the Spanish European Minister and anyone who
:07:22. > :07:32.understand the European Union. What was it that was misconstrued and it
:07:32. > :07:32.
:07:32. > :07:39.response -- evoked such an hysterical response from the SNP?
:07:39. > :07:43.Can I asked her to cast her mind back to first minister's questions
:07:43. > :07:48.one year ago. Patricia Ferguson congratulated the Government in
:07:48. > :07:52.publishing a consultation document which said negotiations would take
:07:52. > :07:56.place with the European Union. I replied it has never been our
:07:56. > :08:00.position there would not be negotiations. The point is
:08:00. > :08:05.negotiations will be held within the context of the European Union.
:08:05. > :08:13.I know maybe it takes one year to clarify the position between
:08:13. > :08:16.Patricia Ferguson and Joanna Lamond, but perhaps if she sorts out her
:08:16. > :08:24.internal communications within the Labour Party it will be easier for
:08:24. > :08:30.her to challenge. She is upset by any suggestion that the BBC might
:08:30. > :08:36.be missed construing remarks of the Irish Foreign Minister. -- miss
:08:36. > :08:42.construing. The Irish Foreign Minister said, I am concerned an
:08:42. > :08:47.interview I conducted with the BBC is being misconstrued. She goes on
:08:47. > :08:52.to endorse the SNP position. In fairness to the BBC, it should be
:08:52. > :08:57.said that she says the BBC position has been misconstrued. When it
:08:57. > :09:01.comes to finding people who misconstrue in Scottish society
:09:01. > :09:06.then the best place to look is the Better Together 2012 campaign of
:09:06. > :09:13.the Labour and Conservatives. this is the man who went to court
:09:13. > :09:19.to cover up the fact he did not have a legal advice. He has never,
:09:19. > :09:24.ever been able to explain what he understands by the expression that
:09:24. > :09:29.the terms of the debate. We do not need a lecture from the First
:09:29. > :09:34.Minister about terms of clarity, we need honesty. Everyone is agreed
:09:34. > :09:42.the people of Scotland have the right to the best, most information
:09:42. > :09:48.in the run-up to the referendum. But how can he have a Lhasa Apso I
:09:48. > :09:54.know you were doing your job, which is to make a racket --... I know
:09:54. > :10:00.you are doing your job, which is to make a racket, because that is all
:10:00. > :10:04.the First Minister requires from you! How can the people of Scotland
:10:04. > :10:09.have faith in the information supplied by the Scottish government
:10:09. > :10:14.when they so often have been forced to admit they are wrong. And when
:10:14. > :10:22.those giving accurate facts are ridiculed, bombarded with
:10:22. > :10:25.complaints and pillory. What was it say about Scotland? What does it
:10:25. > :10:33.say when the Minister of a foreign country is bombarded with abuse for
:10:33. > :10:38.telling the truth and news organisations from the Scotsman, to
:10:39. > :10:47.the Herald, to the BBC, are traduced for reporting facts which
:10:47. > :10:52.turn out to be true. People want information so they can make a
:10:52. > :10:57.judgement and they want -- on what an independent Scotland would look
:10:57. > :11:06.like. Is it not the case that all we know it is it will be a land
:11:06. > :11:10.where you are not allowed to disagree with Alex Salmond. I know
:11:10. > :11:15.Joanne would not want to descend into the language used by some of
:11:15. > :11:19.her colleagues in the House of Commons a few weeks ago when she
:11:19. > :11:24.questioned the democratic credentials to this Parliament.
:11:24. > :11:30.Holding up of the House of Commons as a model of modern democracy. I
:11:30. > :11:38.have quoted exactly from the Irish Minister, it was she who said she
:11:38. > :11:42.thought the BBC coverage of her remarks was misconstrued. Best
:11:42. > :11:49.think it is really important that the Irish Minister said she found
:11:49. > :11:53.the SNP position was entirely sensible and endorsed it. Hopefully
:11:53. > :11:58.that sort of confidence will translate itself to the Unionist
:11:58. > :12:04.parties in this Parliament who cannot really, seriously believe or
:12:04. > :12:13.doubt that energy rich, or oil-rich, fishing rich Scotland would be
:12:13. > :12:18.anything other than all welcome in the ranks of the European Union.
:12:18. > :12:24.But I was intrigued by the reference to cyberspace. I have
:12:24. > :12:29.been looking at a bit of cyberspace myself. The Facebook site labour
:12:29. > :12:35.for Scotland has been tweeted all over the place. I was interested in
:12:35. > :12:42.the comments of the chairman of the East Lothian Better Together 2012
:12:42. > :12:47.campaigns. They have a long way to go before they have -- before they
:12:47. > :12:52.become a party that has electable to the Scottish people. Until the
:12:52. > :12:58.party recognise what the problems are, it will take much longer. That
:12:58. > :13:02.is one of her own constituency chairman, a co-ordinator of that
:13:03. > :13:10.Better Together 2012 campaigns. He has probably been listening to the
:13:10. > :13:16.Tories he is campaigning within East Lothian. A1 to us the First
:13:16. > :13:20.Minister when he will next meet the Secretary of State for Scotland.
:13:20. > :13:24.plans in the future. Now the Electoral Commission report has
:13:24. > :13:30.been widely accepted, we know the spending limits and the question
:13:30. > :13:33.for the referendum. But there is a piece of the jigsaw missing. Can
:13:33. > :13:38.the First Minister tell the people of Scotland what are the exact date
:13:38. > :13:47.that the referendum will take place? That will be introduced to
:13:47. > :13:52.Parliament with the Bill in March. I'm amazed by the First Minister's
:13:52. > :13:58.coy reticence particularly as he is no stranger of making grand
:13:58. > :14:02.statements in this chamber. Why is he trying to keep his poker hand
:14:02. > :14:06.hidden some the room? If the referendum is the property of the
:14:06. > :14:11.people of Scotland, why can he not be straight with them? While
:14:11. > :14:16.members of his Government briefing national newspapers one year ago?
:14:16. > :14:20.We have known for a more than a year at the date of the Ryder Cup,
:14:21. > :14:25.there are more than five years the date of the Commonwealth Games, and
:14:25. > :14:29.important although they are, they do not impact on the state of this
:14:29. > :14:38.nation like a referendum. The people deserve to know, why will he
:14:38. > :14:42.not tell them? If she knows that date, why is she asking me? It is
:14:42. > :14:49.entirely reasonable to introduce it with the Bill to this Parliament,
:14:49. > :14:55.surely that is what Parliament will expect. I am delighted by the
:14:55. > :14:59.agreement on the process of the referendums. I do remember it was
:14:59. > :15:04.her who described the SNP's government question as fair and
:15:04. > :15:09.decisive. Then she changed her mind after some processes I will not
:15:09. > :15:15.going to. She also said most parties are accepting the report,
:15:15. > :15:17.that is excellent news. Will she now communicate that to the Prime
:15:17. > :15:22.Minister and follow the Deputy First Minister's request for
:15:22. > :15:27.serious discussions on the areas of practicality which the Electoral
:15:27. > :15:32.Commission rightly identify us. So far we have had a no in terms of
:15:32. > :15:42.Europe and Trident. At what stage will the Conservative Government
:15:42. > :16:08.
:16:08. > :16:16.Fire was the original report not made public? -- why was? There is a
:16:16. > :16:19.suspicion of a cover-up. This process of Healthcare
:16:19. > :16:24.improvement Scotland inspecting care of older people in acute
:16:24. > :16:31.hospitals was initiated by this Government. Before that, there was
:16:31. > :16:36.no process. Thus far, there have been 12 hospitals who had been
:16:36. > :16:44.inspected out of the 23 acute hospitals in Scotland that will be
:16:44. > :16:52.inspected. It is the case that the three examples have been a follow-
:16:52. > :17:02.up reports, unannounced inspections. In Kyle Rees cases, the reports
:17:02. > :17:02.
:17:02. > :17:06.have been published as one. -- in two cases. It is part of a process
:17:06. > :17:10.of health care improvements Scotland. The clue to this is in
:17:10. > :17:13.the title. The purpose of these reports is to bring about
:17:13. > :17:19.improvement in the standards of care in the health service so that
:17:20. > :17:25.we can avoid the situation which has happened elsewhere where
:17:25. > :17:35.dramatic and very difficult findings have been found. In
:17:35. > :17:39.
:17:39. > :17:44.fairness, we will look at the airport. -- At the report. It seems
:17:44. > :17:50.to me exactly the purpose of this process of inspection which was
:17:50. > :17:55.initiated by this Government. It is important that the whole chamber
:17:55. > :18:03.accepts that that process of inspection is exactly the process
:18:03. > :18:08.that is a good thing in the health service which is prepared... When
:18:08. > :18:16.deficiencies are found, improvements can be made. It seems
:18:16. > :18:23.to me to be in the interests of patients at patient care.
:18:23. > :18:31.The First Minister will be aware of the decision by the board of the
:18:31. > :18:36.Byre Theatre in so it Andrews -- in St Andrews that the theatre is to
:18:36. > :18:40.be closed. Will ministers do all they can to support discussions
:18:40. > :18:50.between Fife Council and Creative Scotland in an attempt to secure a
:18:50. > :18:51.
:18:51. > :18:56.future for the theatre? I can certainly give that assurance. I am
:18:56. > :19:00.sure, across the chamber, we hope a good future can be found for the
:19:00. > :19:04.byre Theatre. We admire the work it has done in the past. The answer to
:19:04. > :19:14.the question is yes and I hope she takes up the offer of a meeting
:19:14. > :19:17.
:19:17. > :19:20.with the Culture Secretary. To ask the First Minister for what
:19:20. > :19:24.purpose the Scottish Government has recently contacted the foreign
:19:24. > :19:28.ministries of EU member states. To reiterate the Scottish
:19:28. > :19:35.government's position that we wish Scotland to remain a construct a
:19:35. > :19:42.member of the European Union. That was partly in response to messages
:19:42. > :19:47.coming from their Westminster Parliament where many members are
:19:48. > :19:52.looking for the exit door. I thank the First Minister for his reply.
:19:53. > :19:59.In her letter, his deputy says that his government consider it a to be
:19:59. > :20:03.a case for reform of certain aspects of the EU. But are
:20:03. > :20:11.supportive of the ongoing process of institutional reform. Does it
:20:11. > :20:17.that support mean his support for the creation of a sudden a United
:20:17. > :20:22.States of Europe based on fiscal and political union? No, it does
:20:22. > :20:32.not. The opposition to that is shared by many states across the
:20:32. > :20:35.
:20:35. > :20:38.European Union. The Common Fisheries Policy, I was surprised
:20:38. > :20:48.to see their Prime Minister site that as a success in his
:20:48. > :20:51.
:20:51. > :20:54.negotiations as if all the problems were solved. But then it was a Tory
:20:54. > :21:04.government that describe the Scottish fisheries industry as
:21:04. > :21:11.
:21:11. > :21:14.expendable. To ask the First Minister what
:21:14. > :21:18.steps the Scottish Government is taking to protect the number of
:21:18. > :21:23.nursing and midwifery staff. They have the security of art no
:21:23. > :21:33.compulsory redundancy guarantee. We have seen an increase of qualified
:21:33. > :21:33.
:21:34. > :21:37.nurses. From a 41,002 it for... We have more qualified nurses today
:21:37. > :21:44.working in our national health service than in any year under the
:21:45. > :21:48.previous Liberal, Labour Executive. Nurses are perhaps the clearest
:21:48. > :21:54.embodiment of the NHS in the public service values for which it stands.
:21:54. > :21:58.Can you provide an assurance of that NHS boards will listen to
:21:58. > :22:03.nurses on the front line, such as those at the Royal Hospital for
:22:03. > :22:12.Sick children and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary so that their valuable
:22:12. > :22:22.experience can shape the future of our nursing workforce? The nursing
:22:22. > :22:26.workload are planning draw on a huge evidence-based. Boards will
:22:26. > :22:30.work in partnership with nurses so planning tools are bowled out a
:22:30. > :22:37.successfully across the country. I know that people in the chamber
:22:37. > :22:43.would not want to allow their natural anxiety to attack the
:22:43. > :22:49.government at every opportunity to be confused with a lack of support
:22:49. > :22:53.for the efforts and quality of our national health service staff.
:22:53. > :22:59.It is breathtaking that the First Minister is accusing his bench of
:22:59. > :23:06.not supporting staff in the NHS when his government has cut almost
:23:07. > :23:12.2500 nurses in the last few years. He often quotes England as being
:23:12. > :23:16.worse than us. England has only cut 7000 bursars over the same period.
:23:17. > :23:21.His government has cut over three times as many nurses
:23:21. > :23:28.proportionately. At the same time, the government has cut the student
:23:28. > :23:38.intake by 20%. That comes on top of the paediatric services in disarray
:23:38. > :23:42.
:23:42. > :23:46.because of lack of staff. In reality, it is a total shambles.
:23:46. > :23:54.As Richard Simpson is presumably aware, we have a higher quarter of
:23:54. > :23:57.nurses in the Scottish National Health Services proportionately.
:23:57. > :24:05.There are more qualified staff in the health service now than there
:24:05. > :24:09.were when we took office. There are more people working in the National
:24:09. > :24:16.Health Service in Scotland than when the SNP took office. It ill
:24:17. > :24:20.behoves a political party, and Richard Simpson was part of the
:24:20. > :24:23.manifesto and platform which refused to guarantee it increased
:24:24. > :24:33.funding for the National Health Service, they have to cut their
:24:34. > :24:36.
:24:36. > :24:45.cloth as they said, and then they refused to confirm the SNP
:24:45. > :24:48.commitment to safeguard the NHS. What are now does it take to come
:24:48. > :24:58.here and tell us you actually support the public National Health
:24:58. > :24:59.
:24:59. > :25:01.Service in Scotland. To ask the First Minister whether
:25:01. > :25:04.the Scottish Government has approved plans for staff
:25:04. > :25:09.redundancies suggested by the Scottish Police Authority.
:25:09. > :25:13.The committee are no compulsory redundancy policy, any reductions
:25:13. > :25:18.in police support staff are expected to be delivered through
:25:18. > :25:28.voluntary exit schemes. Police officer at numbers remain
:25:28. > :25:31.
:25:31. > :25:39.significantly higher than before 2007. An increase of 7.5%, over
:25:39. > :25:44.2000 officers. There's just assume that that
:25:44. > :25:50.answer to my question was actually a yes. As far as I can interpret it,
:25:50. > :25:54.that is what he said. Can he there for confirm, if indeed his answer
:25:54. > :26:00.is to imply that he has approved these plans, can he confirm that we
:26:00. > :26:07.are talking about 1400 police staff to be made redundant or offered
:26:07. > :26:11.early retirement, can he confirm a cost of �61.3 million for so doing?
:26:11. > :26:18.Can he tell us how those redundancies and retirements are to
:26:18. > :26:23.be funded? At what cost to the police service?
:26:23. > :26:29.I cannot confirm that these things. What I can confirm is that we have
:26:29. > :26:32.are no compulsory redundancies of policy. In contrast to the
:26:32. > :26:36.Conservative and Liberal government at Westminster, but in contrast
:26:36. > :26:41.also to the Labour government when they were in power in Westminster.
:26:41. > :26:48.Lewis MacDonald is fully aware, given that his son party supported
:26:48. > :26:54.the move to a single police force in Scotland, there are areas of
:26:55. > :26:59.duplication which will longer be required. That was one of the
:27:00. > :27:04.arguments and point of having a single police service in Scotland.
:27:04. > :27:10.The other significant point, apart from the no compulsory redundancy
:27:10. > :27:20.policy, which I think is a huge assurance to scarf across Scotland
:27:20. > :27:30.-- to Staff, across Scotland... I see Labour she gave her -- shaking
:27:30. > :27:32.
:27:32. > :27:40.their heads. Do they not think are no compulsory redundancy policy is
:27:40. > :27:43.a good idea? The policing policies of this government implemented by a
:27:43. > :27:53.police support staff and police officers have now resulted in
:27:53. > :27:54.
:27:54. > :27:58.recorded crime in the Scotland being at a 37 a year low.
:27:58. > :28:03.What does the First Minister think of the proposal by the Westminster
:28:03. > :28:10.government, shared by at Labour opposition, that senior police
:28:10. > :28:17.officers need not have any policing experience? I know the consultation
:28:17. > :28:20.comes from a recommendation in the Tom Windsor review. The Scottish
:28:20. > :28:25.government did not commission a review and we will not be
:28:25. > :28:31.implemented in Scotland. Public confidence in the police is at an
:28:31. > :28:41.historic high in Scotland. In the Westminster government, south of
:28:41. > :28:46.
:28:46. > :28:51.the border, it is at an historic low. Labour in Westminster are not
:28:51. > :29:01.complaining about the principle of police redundancies out of the
:29:01. > :29:03.
:29:03. > :29:13.border, just about the number. Given the First Minister's response
:29:13. > :29:13.
:29:13. > :29:17.to Lewis MacDonald about civilian staff and develop their escalating
:29:17. > :29:22.numbers of police officers not on frontline duties, how is there
:29:22. > :29:29.going to be a room for all these people in the back offices of
:29:29. > :29:36.police stations? The Scottish government position is basically
:29:36. > :29:42.beyond argument both in terms of the numbers on the streets in
:29:42. > :29:45.Scotland and that fall in recorded crime. Recorded crime at a 37 a
:29:45. > :29:52.year law and police numbers in Scotland at a record high or two
:29:52. > :30:00.things that are not just related, but indicate that success of that
:30:00. > :30:03.policy of this government. To ask the First Minister what
:30:03. > :30:07.projects, and at what value, have been delivered through the non-
:30:07. > :30:10.profit distributing model pipeline in 2012-13.
:30:10. > :30:15.The 2.5 billion MPD project pipeline is one of the largest
:30:15. > :30:23.programmes of its kind in Europe. I know that Gavin Brown it will be
:30:23. > :30:31.delighted to know that the value of the projects which have entered
:30:31. > :30:37.procurement is approximately �900 million.
:30:38. > :30:42.The First Minister said earlier he likes to spend time in cyberspace.
:30:42. > :30:48.I think it is where he got that answer. My question was
:30:48. > :30:58.specifically on what has been delivered in a 2012 and 2013, can
:30:58. > :31:00.
:31:00. > :31:06.he now answer that question? It is a project based finance programme.
:31:06. > :31:11.Order. Procurement is important. Those other projects that are being
:31:11. > :31:18.bid for by construction companies across Scotland. -- those are the
:31:18. > :31:28.projects. Let's give him some detail. Wicket school, James
:31:28. > :31:29.
:31:29. > :31:39.Gillespie's School, National Health service Lanarkshire, Gorbals health
:31:39. > :31:45.
:31:45. > :31:55.centre, Kilmarnock a college, the National Health Service at law the
:31:55. > :31:59.
:32:00. > :32:06.and a Royal Hospital for Sick children, -- low -- Lothian,
:32:06. > :32:16.Scottish national transfusion service, Ayrshire and Alan acute
:32:16. > :32:18.
:32:18. > :32:28.mental health, -- Ayrshire and Arran, and most recently it...
:32:28. > :32:46.
:32:46. > :32:56.Order. 472 million entered into the Order.
:32:56. > :32:57.
:32:57. > :33:02.The chamber getting very excited I had a serious question about
:33:02. > :33:08.digging holes, but the First Minister seems to be the only
:33:08. > :33:14.person digging a hole around here. He has confirmed that there has
:33:14. > :33:19.been a slippage in the programme of at least 300 million this year.
:33:19. > :33:24.Under the general terms education and health, can he promised to tell
:33:25. > :33:32.us which projects? I understand they include half of the list he
:33:32. > :33:38.has read out there. The information was presented to the parliamentary
:33:38. > :33:47.committee. The Labour Party seemed to be suggesting that in terms of
:33:47. > :33:52.project base of finance, you can shift finance from one project to
:33:52. > :33:59.another. That is not how it works. It has to be based on these
:33:59. > :34:04.projects. Les remember why we are introducing the programme. One of
:34:04. > :34:11.the reasons is the dramatic cutbacks in direct capital spending.
:34:11. > :34:20.Capital spending has the advantage that it can be implemented very
:34:20. > :34:26.quickly as John Swinney has demonstrated. He has announced
:34:26. > :34:31.substantial shovel ready projects. Why has that been necessary?
:34:31. > :34:35.Because Alistair Darling as Chancellor of the Exchequer
:34:35. > :34:45.postulated a cut off a 36% in at the Capital Investment Direct
:34:45. > :34:46.
:34:46. > :34:50.budget for Scotland. The -- the Conservatives are have
:34:50. > :34:55.reduced that cut which they claim is and I'm pleased. I think the
:34:56. > :35:01.programme will deliver as illustrated under the commitments.
:35:01. > :35:07.The Labour Party should hang their heads in shame that Alistair
:35:07. > :35:12.Darling created this situation that we are going forward with.
:35:12. > :35:15.And that concludes questions to the First Minister.
:35:15. > :35:20.Question time for another week in which the First Minister said he
:35:20. > :35:24.welcomed the agreement that now existed on the rules and process
:35:24. > :35:29.for the referendum. He cold on the Prime Minister to enter into a
:35:29. > :35:33.serious discussion about what would happen after the vote in 2014 and
:35:33. > :35:37.he confirmed that he will go up as the precise date for the referendum
:35:37. > :35:44.when a bill is brought before Parliament in March. The big bone
:35:44. > :35:52.of contention today, the place an independent Scotland would have in
:35:52. > :35:57.a European Union. Labour were highlighting comments by the Irish
:35:57. > :36:00.minister. The First Minister said the comments were later qualified
:36:00. > :36:06.and the minister had appeared to concede that any negotiations could