First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 20 June 2024.
Clare Adamson
Scottish National Party
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s position is on the call from the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland for the next United Kingdom Administration to pilot a remote visa to benefit remote areas such as the Highlands, in line with the Migration Advisory Committee recommendation, and any implications that this could have for Scotland’s economy. (S6F-03255)
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
The UK Government’s own Migration Advisory Committee described our rural visa pilot proposal as
“sensible and clear in both scale and deliverability”,
and it highlighted that it is in the UK Government’s interest to trial it. Despite that, and despite the harm that has been caused to our rural and island communities by a hard Brexit, the current United Kingdom Government refused to engage.
The business sector recognises those harms. It is therefore welcome that FSB Scotland is calling for a rural visa pilot, which recognises that businesses need to attract people to Scotland to contribute to our economy and communities. Our offer to the next United Kingdom Government is simple—work with us and with stakeholders across Scotland, which are calling in the strongest terms possible for that pilot to be delivered.
Clare Adamson
Scottish National Party
Scotland’s rural communities often face economic challenges for a range of reasons, and that has been exacerbated by a hard Tory Brexit. What is the First Minister’s latest assessment of the impact of Brexit on the population of rural Scotland and on the ability of businesses across Scotland that face acute workforce shortages to attract new employees? What is his response to the rejection of the European Commission’s offer of youth mobility for under-30s?
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
The issues that Clare Adamson puts to me are very real. Over the weekend and at the start of this week, I spent several days in the north-east, the Highlands, the north-west and our islands on the west coast. Everywhere that I went, I heard about the challenges of availability of population, which is at the heart of Clare Adamson’s questions.
The initiative that the European Commission took in proposing a youth mobility scheme is welcome. Such a scheme would be compatible with the Scottish Government’s openness to freedom of movement for individuals. It is a matter of record that the current United Kingdom Government has resisted addressing those issues. I hope that, after the election, there will be some opportunity to advance those issues, and I will constructively take them forward with an incoming United Kingdom Government. I intend to engage constructively on those questions so that we can find practical solutions to the issues that have been put to me by businesses.
In reference to the point that Mr Sarwar raised about the health service, one of the areas that face the greatest challenge in relation to delayed discharge is the Highlands. That challenge is about the availability of population in communities to deliver social care.
The issues that Clare Adamson puts to me are very important, and the Government will engage constructively to try to resolve them with an incoming United Kingdom Government.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
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Like the Parliament and Council, the European Commission was set up in the 1950s under the EU’s founding treaties.
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.
