Sorry, I do not have time.

If such groups need to decrease their service levels or stop altogether, what kind of negative effect will that have on the economy? Will more people feel that they are being left on the margins of society? Absolutely, they will.

There are many and varied things that the SNP Government is doing and has done to make Scotland a better, more prosperous and fairer country. That includes our commitments to what could be described as the people’s policies, such as the council tax freeze, free personal care for our older citizens, no tuition fees for students and free bus travel for the over-60s, as well as many more such policies. However, a description of what the SNP Government is doing is perhaps best left to the comments of a former member of this Parliament, Lord George Foulkes, who stated:

“The SNP are on a very dangerous tack. What they are doing is trying to build up a situation in Scotland where the services are manifestly better than south of the border in a number of areas.”

When asked whether that was a bad thing, Lord Foulkes replied:

“No, but they are doing it deliberately.”

We know that Westminster is not working for Scotland and even Labour politicians accept that the SNP Government is making services better under devolution. How much more we could achieve with the full powers of independence. At least £222 million of the Scottish budget is spent trying to mitigate Westminster’s welfare reforms. That is £222 million that could be spent on investing further in the Scottish economy, the national health service, local government or even colleges. As the finance secretary recently highlighted, Scotland is a prosperous nation. We know that. We have paid more in tax per head in each of the past 30 years than the rest of the UK. With the full fiscal and economic powers of independence, the Scottish Government could do more to strengthen our economy and to create more jobs.

However, the main gain from independence is that it will be fundamentally better for us all if decisions on Scotland’s future are taken by the people who care most about Scotland—that is, by the people of Scotland. Our economy can grow and prosper when the economic levers and decision-making powers are in this Parliament. I back the motion in John Swinney’s name.