Does the First Minister share my concerns that the UK budget has failed to deliver the level of investment and provide the long-term support that businesses and households in my Constituency and across Scotland need to ensure a sustainable recovery from the pandemic?

Yes. The support that was announced in the budget was very welcome, but it had omissions. In certain respects, it felt partial and incomplete and I think that support for businesses and households was significantly less generous than what we have committed to in Scotland. The refusal to make the £20 uplift to universal credit permanent was particularly disappointing. The Resolution Foundation notes that, due to the removal of that payment uplift, the poorest households will face a 7 per cent fall in income in the second half of this financial year. That will take the basic level of benefits back to levels that have not been seen since the early 1990s, at the same time as unemployment is due to peak.

We have provided certainty and stability to businesses by extending 100 per cent non-domestic rates relief for retail, hospitality, leisure and aviation businesses for 12 months. The UK budget fell short of that.

We have taken a number of steps that were not matched yesterday, including, of course, financial support to enable the freezing of council tax. The support was welcome, but there is much more that the UK Government needs to do to help businesses and, more importantly, to help the individuals who are most in need.