Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: ...years. There would be problems of the border and of the currency—a whole range of problems. As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, has said, the Teflon gloss coating is beginning to go from Nicola Sturgeon at the moment. The issue on which it seems to be faltering is astonishing: it is not the major problems that the Scottish Government have created with their inability to build...
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: ...years. There would be problems of the border and of the currency—a whole range of problems. As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, has said, the Teflon gloss coating is beginning to go from Nicola Sturgeon at the moment. The issue on which it seems to be faltering is astonishing: it is not the major problems that the Scottish Government have created with their inability to build...
Nicola Sturgeon: I think that a rapist should be considered a rapist. That is what I think. That individual has been convicted of rapes and therefore that is the terminology. I will not get into the individual circumstances of that particular individual’s claims to be a woman, because I do not have enough information about that, but the individual has been convicted of serious sex offences, and that is the...
Nicola Sturgeon: Councillors are not wrong to say that we live in times of real financial difficulty and constraint. That is true of the Scottish Government, and it is absolutely true of councils across our country. At this time every year—I think that I made this comment a couple of weeks ago—we hear such questions, as councils look at options that are put before them. Often, those options are not taken...
Nicola Sturgeon: The Cabinet will meet on Tuesday. I also take the opportunity to convey my deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of firefighter Barry Martin. He typifies the bravery and courage of all our emergency service workers, particularly our firefighters. I have written to Firefighter Martin’s family. The thoughts of everyone, from across the chamber, are very much with them at...
Nicola Sturgeon: I am very firmly of the view that a reduction in teacher numbers would not be in keeping with our commitment to raise attainment and close the attainment gap in our schools. Indeed, as Christine Grahame has set out, this Government is committed to recruiting additional teachers and classroom assistants. We have provided an additional £145.5 million in this year’s budget specifically to...
Nicola Sturgeon: High energy prices, along with the wider cost of living crisis, are causing extreme challenges for many people, right now. We provide a range of disability benefits to help disabled people and those with long-term conditions. The child winter heating assistance and carers allowance supplement provide financial support that is available only in Scotland, as does our new winter heating payment,...
Nicola Sturgeon: We remain very concerned about the hardship that people are facing right now due to the cost of living crisis, which is not yet abating. The majority of the key policy levers are, of course, held by the United Kingdom Government, including those that are related to energy bills. We will continue to press the UK Government to use all the levers at its disposal to tackle the emergency on the...
Nicola Sturgeon: Natalie Don is absolutely right. There is, perhaps unsurprisingly, real discomfort on the Tory benches. Perhaps Tory members have just seen that another consequence of Tory economic and financial incompetence and mismanagement is that interest rates have been increased yet again by the Bank of England, which has real implications for people. The IMF’s forecast is deeply worrying, but it...
Nicola Sturgeon: Yes I will— I am happy to give my support to that campaign. I welcome the British Heart Foundation to Parliament today and commend the organisation for the excellent work that it does, which has an impact on families across Scotland—we are very grateful to it for that. It is important that we work to raise awareness of education and training in CPR. I understand that the British Heart...
Nicola Sturgeon: From my constituency, I know the importance of community centres and facilities, so I certainly agree with the sentiment that is being expressed. The individual issue that the member has raised is for the local council. On the central question about whether the Scottish Government will further increase the allocation to local councils, as I said earlier, the draft budget already proposes an...
Nicola Sturgeon: I agree with Donald Macaskill and I think that he was very clear in his comments last night when he said that we have lost thousands of front-line staff in nursing and in direct social care because of Brexit and because of the Westminster visa and immigration system. Of course, the wider cost crisis is also having an impact. As a country, we need to find a way back to Europe. As a country, we...
Nicola Sturgeon: Circularity Scotland continues to work with businesses as they finalise operational delivery plans ahead of the launch in August. It is also developing and constructing the logistical network that will support the effective operation of the scheme. I will ask Lorna Slater, the relevant minister, to write to the member to set out further details of the steps that are being taken between now...
Nicola Sturgeon: We will continue, as we have done with all benefits, to ensure that people who are entitled to these benefits get the money timeously. We received the data from the DWP and payments will be made to the 415,000 people eligible for the payment automatically over the course of February and March.
Elizabeth Smith: ...far better public services, whether in health, education, transport, policing or housing. At present, all that the public see is cuts, especially in local government, and a stand-off between Nicola Sturgeon and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities about the lack of flexibility when it comes to council spend, particularly on teacher numbers. Mr Swinney knows only too well that Scots...
...McNair, Marie, Minto, Jenni, Nicoll, Audrey, Regan, Ash, Robison, Shona, Roddick, Emma, Ruskell, Mark, Slater, Lorna, Somerville, Shirley-Anne, Stevenson, Collette, Stewart, Kaukab, Stewart, Kevin, Sturgeon, Nicola, Swinney, John, Thomson, Michelle, Todd, Maree, Torrance, David, Tweed, Evelyn, Whitham, Elena, Yousaf, Humza Against: Baillie, Jackie, Baker, Claire, Balfour, Jeremy, Bibby,...
Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie: ...a devolved authority without the Government’s consent. But I believe a loophole remains whereby a future Government could simply approve that or any other law that has been passed in Holyrood, so Nicola Sturgeon could still become the content moderator for the whole of the UK. How should online providers therefore respond where there are differences in legislation across the four...
Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie: ...a devolved authority without the Government’s consent. But I believe a loophole remains whereby a future Government could simply approve that or any other law that has been passed in Holyrood, so Nicola Sturgeon could still become the content moderator for the whole of the UK. How should online providers therefore respond where there are differences in legislation across the four...
Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie: ...a devolved authority without the Government’s consent. But I believe a loophole remains whereby a future Government could simply approve that or any other law that has been passed in Holyrood, so Nicola Sturgeon could still become the content moderator for the whole of the UK. How should online providers therefore respond where there are differences in legislation across the four...
Russell Findlay: I begin by expressing my disappointment at Nicola Sturgeon’s refusal to be here today. She presided over gender self-identification in Scotland’s prisons. She invalidated women’s concerns about single-sex spaces being compromised. She created the obscene situation in which a double rapist was sent inside a women’s prison. She should be here to answer questions about a mess that is...