First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 7 November 2024.
Yesterday, the First Minister offered congratulations to the convicted felon Donald Trump on his re-election. Writing officially on behalf of the Scottish Government, he said that he is sure that Scotland’s cultural and social ties with the US will “flourish” during the presidency of a misogynist, a climate-change denier, a fraudster, a conspiracy monger, a racist and a far-right politician who tried to overturn an election result both covertly and by inciting violence. Words fail me.
What social and culture ties does the First Minister really think will benefit from a relationship with such a man? More importantly, what has the First Minister done so far to reach out to the marginalised and vulnerable people whose lives are most directly threatened by a second Trump term?
I have a duty as the First Minister of Scotland to engage with other Governments and to represent the people of Scotland in that process. As part of that duty, I wrote the letter in question that Mr Harvie cites.
There are deep cultural, social and economic ties between Scotland and the United States of America, and I think that they are important. They are important for employment in our economy, for the cultural expression of our country and for the way in which we are able to pursue our objectives.
Although there are very big differences in expression, priority and way of life between me and Donald Trump—clearly, because of what I said before the presidential election—I cannot deny the existence of links between Scotland and the United States, and, regardless of the presidential choice in the United States, I want to maintain good relationships between Scotland and the United States.
Mr Harvie knows me well enough to know that the concerns of people who feel marginalised in our society and who feel under threat are concerns that I wrestle with every single day as First Minister. I stood here and pledged to be the First Minister of all of Scotland, and that is entirely what I intend to do.
Big differences of priority—that sounds like extraordinary complacency at a time of incredible danger for the world. The re-election of Trump is particularly dangerous for climate policy, as he has peddled climate conspiracy theories for many years.
Such threats exist in Scotland, too. The First Minister’s Government is on the verge of making a decision on a new fossil fuel power station at Peterhead. Last week, researchers at Carbon Tracker revealed that the emissions from the power station could be five times worse than the companies that would profit from it have admitted. The First Minister has the power to demand a new environmental impact assessment to ensure that those companies come clean about the pollution that their scheme would cause. Will he do so, and does he accept that, until he does, ministers could be breaking the law if they sign off that reckless fossil fuel development?
The application at Peterhead is live, and I would be breaching the ministerial code if I were to make any detailed comments about it. There will be processes of scrutiny to be undertaken, which ministers will undertake, on the basis of the information. Of course, all decisions of the Government can be subject to legal challenge because of the Parliament’s constitution.
The Government takes incredibly seriously our obligations on tackling climate change. On Tuesday, the acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy steered through the Parliament the final stage of the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill, and the Government is considering all the issues in relation to the tackling of climate change in the budget priorities that we take forward. I assure Mr Harvie of our absolute determination to do so. No change of Government in the United States is going to change this Government’s attitude about the imperative of addressing the climate emergency.