First Ministers Questions - Thursday April 26 2024
Humza Yousaf faces questions in the Scottish Parliament on the day he dissolved the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Green Party
Humza Yousaf faces questions in the Scottish Parliament on the day he dissolved the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Green Party
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00:00This is First Minister's Questions and at question number one I call Douglas Ross.
00:12Thank you very much Presiding Officer. I was going to ask the First Minister when the Cabinet
00:16last met and what issues were discussed but I think we all know. So let's look at what
00:21Hamza Yousaf said about the SNP's coalition with the Greens. He described it as worth
00:28its weight in gold. Today it's turned to dust. The Greens have called the ending of
00:35the Bute House agreement as, these are their words, an act of political cowardice by the
00:41SNP, accused Hamza Yousaf of selling out future generations. They said he has, and again I'm
00:48quoting his former colleagues' words, broken the bonds of trust with members. They say
00:54he has betrayed the electorate. They called the current First Minister weak. For once,
01:02have the Greens finally got something right?
01:10Let me say that what we have achieved with the Bute House agreement, which, as I've said this
01:16morning, has served its purpose, is a record that I will come to very shortly. That Bute House
01:21agreement, of course, that did last and has lasted 969 days, or another way of putting it—
01:28Well, it lasted—another way of putting it, Presiding Officer, is it lasted 19 Liz Trusses,
01:33Presiding Officer. It lasted 19 Liz Trusses. And that record of the Bute House agreement
01:40is a record that has seen the railways taken into public ownership, one that has seen free
01:45bus travel for those who are under 22, the banning of the most problematic single-use plastics and,
01:52of course, the increasing of the game-changing Scottish child payment. Let us remind Douglas
01:58Ross that our record is one that we can stand on and one that we can be proud of. Can he say that
02:05in stark contrast to a Tory Government record that has seen and overseen the biggest fall in
02:12living standards on record, a Brexit that has been a complete and utter unmitigated disaster,
02:20and the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation? That's why the Tories are on the
02:25brink of an absolute and almighty thumping from the electorate, and they deserve nothing less.
02:32I hope that the cameras might be looking at the Greens, who all had their heads down there and
02:42were not applauding. Let us be clear that the Greens never belonged anywhere near the Scottish
02:49Government. Hamza Yousaf should have ditched this extreme party on day one of his leadership,
02:56but Hamza Yousaf said that they were worth their weight in gold. In his leadership campaign just
03:02over a year ago, he promised to continue the SNP-Green alliance. Just 48 hours ago,
03:11he wanted the coalition to continue. This morning, he said that it came to a natural
03:17conclusion. At what point in the past 48 hours did it come to its natural conclusion,
03:24or did Hamza Yousaf panic because the extreme Greens were about to jump before he could dump
03:30them? I know that Douglas Ross does not want to talk about the substance of policy, but let us
03:37look at the substance of policy. Over the past year, we have been the only part of the United
03:44Kingdom to avoid pay-related strike action in the NHS. We have delivered a council tax freeze
03:51on every single local authority in Scotland, despite the best efforts of the Conservative
03:57party. We have removed peak fares on our railways and invested record amounts in our NHS. Through
04:04our actions, we are estimated to lift 100,000 children out of poverty this year. What has
04:12Douglas Ross supported over the past year? Over the past year, he and the Tories have supported
04:19the Rwanda bill, tax cuts for the rich and a doubling down of austerity that is entrenching
04:29more children and more households into poverty. He has supported his colleagues in England to
04:38give an insulting offer to doctors and nurses who have been left with no option but to go
04:44on strike in NHS England—huge cuts to Scotland's capital budget. I am immensely proud of what my
04:53party has achieved, not just over the past few years as part of the Bute house agreement but
04:58what we have achieved in the past 17 years in government. I bet that Douglas Ross and
05:04the Conservative party cannot say the same thing about their party.
05:07The First Minister completely avoided saying what happened in that 48-hour period in which
05:15he was determined for the coalition deal to continue and now says that it has reached its
05:19natural conclusion. However, based on the answers that we have just heard, I think that he was not
05:23practising the lines that he is using today, because they are dismal. There is no defence
05:28at all. We said from the very beginning that this was a coalition of chaos, and it has ended
05:34in absolute chaos. Humza Yousaf's Government is in crisis. It has unravelled. He has abandoned—
05:43First Minister, colleagues, let us conduct our business in an orderly manner,
05:51and let us not shout at one another.
05:53I think that the First Minister might be a bit tetchy today. I wonder why.
05:57He has abandoned the platform that he stood on. He claims that it is now a new beginning,
06:07but really it is the beginning of the end. Is not Humza Yousaf a lame duck, First Minister?
06:14What an astonishing set of accusations to come from a Conservative. For a Conservative to even
06:20utter the word chaos—the party of Boris Johnson, the party of Liz Truss, the party of a Prime
06:29Minister who was outlasted by a lettuce, the party of Kwasi Karteng, the party of the disastrous
06:38mini-budget and the party of Brexit—to utter the word chaos, no wonder Douglas Ross is getting
06:45redder and redder. They are a party that has decided time and time again to attack the most
06:57vulnerable in our society. They are a party that, time and time again, has denied climate science.
07:04They are a party that has inflamed community tensions.
07:09On the Bute house agreement, we can point to the fact that we have committed ÂŁ75 million
07:16of the 10-year transition fund for the north-east of Moray. We can point to free bus travel for the
07:21under-22s. We can point to the great strides that we have made in lifting children out of poverty.
07:28We can point to the fact that we have some of the most generous grants for clean heat
07:33right across the UK. The Tories have not, in Scotland, won an election in well over
07:40half a century with Douglas Ross in charge. That is not changing any time soon.
07:46Humza Yousaf described this as a coalition that was worth its weight in gold. He stood
07:53on a platform to continue it, and now that deal is broken. This week, the First Minister
08:00jumped before the Green members pushed him. Even his nationalist colleagues do not trust him.
08:09I can confirm today that, on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives,
08:12I am lodging a vote of no confidence in Humza Yousaf.
08:18He is a failed First Minister. He has focused on the wrong priorities for Scotland. He has governed
08:25in the SNP's interests and not in Scotland's interests. He is unfit for office. Should this
08:31not be the end of the road for this week? The Conservatives are nothing if they are not
08:40predictable. Here is an opportunity for Oppositions to show what they are really
08:46made of. Do they want to govern in the national interest? Do they want to come together with
08:52ideas? Do they want to collaborate, or are they going to play, as Douglas Ross has demonstrated,
08:57political games? They will be judged very poorly on that.
09:01If they want to be judged on their record, let me say that it is a record that we and I stand
09:06very proud of. Our actions will lift an estimated 100,000 children out of poverty. It is our actions
09:15that have seen the fact that we have removed peak railfares from our railways. It is our action
09:21that has seen a council tax freeze helping households in the midst of a cost-of-living
09:26crisis. I will leave it to Douglas Ross to play the political games that he wants to play.
09:31If he wants to put our record and his gut party's record on the line, let us do that.
09:36There is a general election coming this year, and I can guarantee him that the electorate will give
09:41the Conservative Party an almighty thumping. Show them the door, and they deserve nothing less.
09:472. Anas Sarwar
09:52In 2021, Nicola Sturgeon said that the Bute house agreement
09:55meant bold policy action on pressing issues. She told us that it would mean
10:00a commitment to more affordable housing, a better deal for tenants,
10:04steps to accelerate our transition to net zero and a focus on green jobs.
10:09But less than three years on, under his weak leadership, the affordable housing budget has
10:14been slashed, new rents are rising faster in Scotland than in the rest of the UK,
10:19climate targets have been abandoned and the only two green jobs created—Patrick Harvie
10:25and Lorna Slater's—have now come to an end, just like the Bute house agreement.
10:30But with this Government's record of failure and incompetence, people across Scotland will
10:34be asking why only two Ministers have lost their jobs today.
10:39The First Minister
10:41Anas Sarwar asked me a range of climate change-related questions. This is the week
10:46when we have just seen consenting and approval for the world's largest commercial
10:50round for floating offshore wind, which puts Scotland at the forefront of offshore wind
10:55development globally. Let us also look at Labour's credibility when it comes to tackling
11:01climate change. It is the party that ditched its commitment to invest ÂŁ28 billion in green
11:07energy, giving in to pressure from the Tories, risking squandering Scotland's immense
11:12renewable energy potential. Labour in Glasgow used to support a low-emission zone and then
11:17tried to stop it from being introduced. It teamed up with the Tories to oppose workplace
11:23parking levy. Whether it is at Westminster, Holyrood or in councils across the country,
11:30Labour is guilty of not just the worst type of political cowardice but hypocrisy and,
11:35frankly, climate denial when the SNP is taking the action that is necessary.
11:41I say to Anas Sarwar that we will continue to support and take action where necessary
11:46to tackle not just the climate crisis but the nature crisis as well. Would it not be
11:50quite something that, as opposed to opposing every measure that we take to tackle the climate
11:55crisis, Anas Sarwar actually supported it and demonstrated that he is serious about
12:01tackling the climate emergency?
12:06I am happy for Humza Yousaf to delude himself that everything is going well and he is having
12:09a great week. Keep it up, First Minister. The First Minister actually spent weeks defending
12:14this discredited Government. He protests now, but if Humza Yousaf will not listen to me,
12:20perhaps he will listen to Humza Yousaf. Just days ago, he said that the Bute house agreement was
12:26worth its weight in gold. I know that the Deputy First Minister will not want to hear this,
12:32but he was pleading with Green party members to keep his shambolic Government together.
12:37I hope that the co-operation agreement will continue. I hope that Green members will also
12:41see the benefit of that co-operation. However, now he has been forced into a humiliating U-turn,
12:48and he knows it. These are his words. I cannot imagine being the leader of the SNP,
12:54and the first thing that I do is destabilise the Government by going into a minority Government.
13:00That would be a tremendously foolish thing to do. Does the First Minister feel tremendously foolish
13:07today? I am not content with stealing Tory policies. Anas Sarwar is now nicking Tory lines
13:15when it comes to the questions that he asks. Let us hear the First Minister.
13:20This year, Anas Sarwar talks about—
13:24Let us hear the First Minister.
13:26Let me remind Anas Sarwar about his record when it comes to his principles. Anas Sarwar
13:33described lifting the cap on bankers' bonuses when the Tories did it as economically illiterate
13:39and morally repugnant. However, when Keir Starmer does it, Anas Sarwar, like a good boy,
13:45falls into line. Anas Sarwar used to oppose the two-child limit. He now supports Keir
13:51Starmer in retaining it. He used to believe in progressive taxation. He now supports tax
13:56cuts for the wealthy at the expense of public services. Is it not the case that the only
14:04principles that Anas Sarwar has are those that Keir Starmer tells him that he is allowed to have?
14:08I am rebuilding my party and looking forward to the next general election.
14:15Keir Starmer is destroying his party and wants to run away from a general election.
14:22This First Minister is claiming that this is all a sign of strength. The louder he shouts,
14:28the weaker he sounds. However, for once, people agree with Lorna Slater. He is weak,
14:34hopeless and untrustworthy. The challenges facing our country have never been so great,
14:41but Scotland's Government has never been so poor and its leadership has never been so weak.
14:47One in seven Scots is stuck on an NHS waiting list as he fails to get a grip of the NHS crisis.
14:54Families are struggling to make ends meet while this Government wastes public money,
14:59and green jobs are going elsewhere while he scraps Scotland's climate targets.
15:05The people of Scotland can see that the Scottish National Party has lost its way.
15:09It is weak, divided, incompetent and putting party before country. The people of Scotland
15:16did not vote for this First Minister. The people of Scotland did not vote for this mess
15:22and this chaos. Is it not time to end the circus and call an election?
15:30The country will, I hope, go to the polls sooner rather than later in a general election. Here is
15:35the message that each of us will be able to take. I will be able to look in the whites of the eyes
15:41of the people of Scotland on every doorstep in the country and say that they should be able to vote
15:46for a party whose values are the people of Scotland's values. That is through our actions,
15:52because our actions are estimated to lift 100,000 children out of poverty. That is a party that has
15:58chosen investment in the NHS over tax cuts for the wealthy—a nation that is, of course,
16:03the only one in the United Kingdom that has not had junior doctors or nurses going or strike.
16:08Anas Sarwar's party would lift the cap on bankers' bonuses but retain the cap on child benefits.
16:16It is a party that wants to retain the rape clause. It is a party that wants to spend billions
16:20of pounds on the obscenity of nuclear weapons, not on reducing household poverty. It is a party
16:26that wants to keep Scotland out of the European Union. Anas Sarwar used to believe in many of the
16:35values that this Government believes in. He has, of course, flip-flopped, dumped and ditched those
16:40principles because his bosses in London have told him to do so. That is the height of hypocrisy,
16:46and the people of Scotland will see through it.
16:48To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.
17:05The two partners to this failed agreement are at each other's throats. They are now
17:10trying to blame each other, but in reality they have both failed the people of Scotland.
17:16Together, they have cut our NHS off at the knees, butchered the housing budget,
17:23junked climate targets and made life harder for business. Islanders still do not have the ferries
17:29that they desperately need, and Scottish schools are tumbling down the international rankings.
17:35The First Minister is ditching things left, right and centre. Two clowns have left the clown car,
17:42but this circus continues. We do not just need an end to the Bute house agreement,
17:49we need an end to this entire Government.
17:52Mr Cole-Hamilton, I will just remind you of the requirement that you treat
17:55all members with courtesy and respect.
17:59Then I apologise, Presiding Officer. We do not just need an end to the Bute house agreement,
18:05we need an end to this entire Government. When will Humza Yousaf finally look at himself in
18:11the mirror and say,
18:12I am the problem—it is me?
18:16I saw that I got a thumping endorsement from the four Liberal Democrat MSPs
18:20in the chamber. Maybe I should listen to what Alex Cole-Hamilton has to say,
18:25because if there is a lesson in relation to coalitions and co-operation agreements,
18:29we should probably remember the lesson of the Liberal Democrats. When they entered into a
18:34disastrous coalition with the Conservatives, which ushered in 14 years of austerity,
18:40to this day people are suffering the consequences. That is why Alex Cole-Hamilton
18:45leads a party that could not even field a five-a-side football team.
18:50What we achieved as part of the Bute house agreement, but also 17 years in Government,
18:58is the only part of the United Kingdom to have avoided pay-related strike action in the NHS. We
19:03delivered a council tax freeze that is helping households up and down the country. We removed
19:10peak fares on our railways. We invested record amounts in the NHS and, through our actions,
19:17are lifting 100,000 children out of poverty. When that general election is called by the
19:23Conservatives, we will take our record proudly to every single doorstep in the country.
19:27I do not think that Alex Cole-Hamilton can do the same.