Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 14 March 2024.
Paul McLennan
Scottish National Party
I will come to that point in a second.
A key element of our approach was the launch in June last year of the consultation on “Housing for Varying Needs: a design guide”, which related to new builds— the consultation closed in December.
When we talk about investment in social housing, there are a couple of points of context to highlight. One is that we build 40 per cent more affordable homes than England does, and 70 per cent more than Wales does.
There is a 10 per cent capital budget cut from the member’s Government—[
Interruption
.] Obviously, the member has no influence on that whatsoever. It was a choice by the Tory Government to cut the capital budget allocation to the Scottish Government—[
Interruption
.]
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
