3. To ask the First Minister what the economic impact will be on Scotland of the privatisation of the Royal Mail. (S4F-01561)

I think the economic impacts—[Interruption.] I hear “none” from the Conservative or Liberal members. They are deeply out of touch with the feelings of people, particularly those of people in rural Scotland, because the economic impacts of the privatisation are potentially grave. A privatised service will be more concerned with increasing profits than delivering services and could damage Scotland, where the Royal Mail is the lifeblood of rural communities.

Royal Mail is a shared asset that belongs to Scotland as much as to the rest of the United Kingdom. Therefore, I have written to the Prime Minister asking him to place a moratorium on the sale of the Royal Mail until after next year’s referendum. No one should be able to prejudge the decision of the people of Scotland on who should be given the opportunity to decide what we should do with a huge and important national asset.

Royal Mail has been under threat from consecutive Westminster Governments. Will the First Minister confirm that, after the yes vote in 2014, he will ensure that Royal Mail remains part of an independent Scotland?

Dennis Robertson is absolutely correct. I think that the defence of Peter Mandelson and Alistair Darling was that they were planning only a part privatisation of Royal Mail, as opposed to a full privatisation—they were half Tories as opposed to full Tories. [Interruption.]

The Presiding Officer:

Mr Findlay.

I think that this issue goes to the nub of why Scotland needs independence. An overwhelming majority of Scotland’s MPs at Westminster opposed the sell-off of Royal Mail, but we are still faced with privatisation. That illustrates perfectly why important decisions about the future of our country, such as a decision on our cherished postal service, should be taken by the people who care most about Scotland—that is, people who choose to work and live here. That is why we should make every possible endeavour to keep our Royal Mail in public hands, and that is what we will do in an independent Scotland.

In the event that the Tory Government does indeed—regrettably—privatise Royal Mail, and in the event of a yes vote in the referendum, will it be the SNP’s policy to renationalise Royal Mail?

First, we will get a moratorium on the process. Secondly, we will try to stop it, and we will seek to bring Royal Mail back into public hands.

That answer is in sharp contrast to anything that we have heard from the Labour Party at UK level, not to mention the extraordinary extrapolations and muddle over the bedroom tax, so perhaps the member for North East Scotland will take a lesson in bringing forward into policy what he says that he believes in in terms of his politics.

It is a sad day when the First Minister cannot even give clear answers to questions from his own back benchers.

For the third time, is the First Minister giving a clear commitment to renationalise—I emphasise the word “renationalise”—Royal Mail?

For the third time, an independent Scottish Government that I lead—that will be a decision of the Scottish people—will bring Royal Mail, our postal service, back into public ownership. [Interruption.]

The Presiding Officer:

Order.