Scottish Government Priorities

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 31 August 2021.

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Photo of Dean Lockhart Dean Lockhart Conservative

I will back any policy that promotes sustainable economic growth. The point that I have been making is that that has not been achieved after 14 years of SNP Government, and the coalition with the Greens will make it even less likely to happen.

It is not only in economic terms that Scotland has suffered under the SNP. As other members have highlighted during the debate, the attainment gap has increased, NHS waiting times are at record levels, environmental and climate change targets have been missed, and drug deaths are at a record high. We also have a ferry network that is beyond breaking point—the situation is getting worse and is nothing short of a national scandal. We have two ferries that are still under construction that are now five years overdue and £100 million over budget. We have a ferry network that relies on vessels that are operating years beyond their lifespan, with constant breakdowns causing disruption. If the Government cannot get the construction of two ferries right, how can we expect it to deliver on the complexities of climate change or Covid recovery?

The SNP likes to blame Westminster whenever things go wrong, but I make it clear that all the policy failures to which I have just referred have been 100 per cent within the devolved powers of the SNP Government.

Let me conclude by coming back to the Government’s motion on the first 100 days. It is clear from listening to ministers’ speeches today that the only real action that the Government has taken in the first 100 days is to enter into a coalition of chaos with the Green Party. That coalition highlights the SNP’s true priority for the parliamentary session—once again, it will prioritise constitutional division at the expense of Covid recovery, the health service, education, drug deaths and jobs.

It is not a new Administration—far from it. It is a Government with a long track record of failure to deliver. The addition of the Greens to the Administration will only make matters worse.

I support the amendment in Douglas Ross’s name.