Chamber and committees

Yes. I would like you to think about how we would do that, if we wanted to do it. It is clearly an issue, although I fully accept the complexity around it.

I want to cover our shared interest in culture at the heart of place in relation to town centres. We have heard evidence during the inquiry that culture must be at the table, and we have heard discussions about the extent to which culture can be involved in business improvement districts and so on. We have even heard commentary that bodies such as Creative Scotland should be made statutory consultees. Do you see culture as being at the heart of town centres? What is the Government’s thinking on how it might be able to assist that to be the case as we come out of the pandemic and deal with all the issues that we have covered today?

I totally agree with you about key stakeholders being at the table.

That takes us back to a point that Maggie Chapman made and on which you picked up, minister, about community entrepreneurialism. Arguably, musicians and artists are entrepreneurs. Perhaps we need to start to think about them in that way.

I will not press you for an answer, but I am interested in whether the Scottish Government has considered or is considering ideas that would practically support people who are in culture when we think of it as being at the heart of place. I refer, for example, to targeted rates relief, to go back to some of the points that John Mason made. Rather than thinking about it as a broad brush across the top—culture is good and it contributes to society—are we thinking of it as being at the heart of town centre regeneration and enablement, because it brings in many other things and supports many other types of business as well?

To ask the Scottish Government how it will align its priorities for local government services with future projects by local authorities that are funded through the United Kingdom Government’s shared prosperity fund. (S6O-01228)

Given that the UK Government plans yet another fund that is intended to bypass the Scottish Government and that Westminster’s Public Accounts Committee noted in a recent report that the UK Government does

“not yet have a strong understanding”

of what delivers local growth, will the minister consider legislation or perhaps even guidance in order to ensure that Scottish local authorities must take account of Scottish priorities when bidding for such funds?

They say that change is made inevitable when parties fundamentally diverge based on their values. Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is important to contrast our vision, which is based on democracy and ethical values, with that of the failing UK state? In particular, does the cabinet secretary agree that today’s news regarding the willingness of the UK to break international treaty obligations and, domestically, to shield dramatic levels of financial corruption is merely a glimpse of the folly of dependence, while independence is a harbinger of a very different and better future?

Forecasts this week from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have shown that the United Kingdom is set to have the lowest growth of any economy in the G20, apart from sanctioned Russia. That is a direct result of a Tory Brexit and will have a regrettable direct impact on Scotland, given that the majority of key economic levers reside with Westminster. Does the First Minister share my concern about UK Government mismanagement and will our independence prospectus help the public to understand why it is critical that those economic levers are controlled by Scotland for the benefit of Scotland?

The current capacity of renewables is just over 12GW, and there are plans for a further 15GW. In addition, the ScotWind leasing round is expected to deliver 25GW. That will represent a more than fourfold increase in Scottish renewable energy production and will meet all Scotland’s current energy demands. That will be far in excess of the 2030 target. Does the cabinet secretary agree that that represents a huge opportunity for Scotland? Will he ensure that every chance is taken to help everyone in Scotland to understand that that is a bounty that will serve us and all our futures, in perpetuity?

I am delighted to have taken that intervention, because I will go on to reflect much more carefully on economic growth, gross domestic product and so on.

As well as a lack of morality, I notice the absence from the Tory motion of any mention of Scotland’s assets. We know about the Tories’ track record of exploiting Scotland’s resources such as those in the North Sea. Of course, Norway invested in its future and created a fund for long-term investment while successive UK Governments squandered the riches. At that point, there was no empathy with the needs or, indeed, the rights of the Scottish people, so long as the Tories’ friends in the City of London were doing all right, thank you.

Today, Scotland has the prospect of an even larger and longer-lasting asset, with the wind and seas driving a revolution in sustainable energy production. Earlier today in the chamber, I commented that Scotland’s anticipated energy production capacity far exceeds even our own 2030 target.

We need to put the needs of people and society at the heart of our economics. I ask the people of Scotland to focus on the right outcomes. Who do we trust? Is it a Government elected by Scotland for Scotland, or Boris Johnson?

The Tory motion talks of concerns about the growth estimates being revised downwards, but it fails to acknowledge the failure of UK Government policies that contributes to that.

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether its target of generating 50 per cent of energy use from renewables by 2030 is sufficiently ambitious in light of new opportunities arising for Scotland. (S6O-01194)

If the past few days have taught us anything, it is that the price of dependence on the failing UK state and leaders such as Boris Johnson makes the need for Scottish independence all the more urgent.

Economics cannot be understood without a deep appreciation of society. That idea was fundamental to the work of Adam Smith. To understand The Wealth of Nations, it is best to read his earlier work The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith knew only too well the importance of justice, of effective administration of the law, of ethics, of human behaviour and of empathy for others—all issues that the Tory Government at Westminster shows little regard for.