Part of First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 2 October 2025.
Keith Brown
Scottish National Party
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am sure that you agree that it is very important that, in this chamber, we speak the truth. It is important for the benefit of the people in the gallery, for every member of this chamber, for the reputation of the Parliament and for the wider public—not least to try to stem the tide of misinformation and disinformation that we see all the time.
Today, Russell Findlay—[ Interruption .] That is coming from those who have tried to speak against or shout down the truth.
During this parliamentary session, Russell Findlay has already had to apologise to the chamber for falsely accusing me of misleading the Parliament. Today, he sought to mislead the Parliament by stating that a Majority of people in Scotland pay more tax than their counterparts in the rest of the UK, when, in fact, the truth is that a majority of people in Scotland pay less tax than people in the rest of the UK. We are all entitled to our own opinions, but we are not entitled to our own facts. In order to help to build trust in this place, can Mr Findlay be offered the opportunity, when he eventually returns to the chamber, to correct the record and apologise for misleading the Parliament?
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.
The House of Commons.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
