Chamber and committees

Over the past 10 years, there have been three reviews of maternity and neonatal services. I do not believe that there is any joined-up thinking in this Government about its approach and how it will improve those services for mums and their babies.

I want to raise an issue about the number of beds that are available for parents in neonatal wards. The work that was undertaken by Bliss Scotland shows that, for every 10 children who need specialised care, there is only one bed for parents who want to stay overnight. I worked with the previous minister on the issue and I am willing to work with the cabinet secretary. Will she give an update today on the number of beds that are currently available for parents? Will she ensure that there is a positive change in the number of those beds, to ensure that parents can stay with their babies who need specialised care?

The Christie commission was established in 2011. We are talking about prevention, which was mentioned then, and about joined-up working, which was also mentioned then. What is going to be different this time?

The Court of Session has just ruled against West Lothian Council in my region in finding that providing multi-user unisex toilets in a primary school amounted to indirect sex discrimination against female pupils. Therefore, will the Scottish Government implement the EHRC guidance in full without further delay and work directly with councils to ensure that they are not falling foul of sex discrimination law?

We are all aware of the negative impact that mobile phones can have on young people, from bullying to disruption and violence in our classrooms. The Scottish Conservatives have been calling for a ban on mobile phones in classrooms for quite some time. Does the cabinet secretary accept that teachers, parents and pupils have waited long enough for action? Does she understand that some might feel frustrated that, instead of action now, we have yet another consultation, which could mean that the can is kicked down the road?

It appears that John Swinney’s Government has been on the Mounjaro, because it is slimmed down in size, but it somehow carries all the same political baggage. To judge by some of yesterday’s appointments, the First Minister clearly knows how to recycle. We now have a Government in which the Cabinet looks exhausted already, and it has not even delivered its first programme for government. No matter how busy some of our cabinet secretaries might get—Màiri McAllan included—I am sure that they will always make time for calls from world leaders who are looking for advice on how not to run a country.

The Government talks a big game. It has somehow promised more spending, more subsidies, more childcare expansion, supermarket price controls, more quangos and more intervention—all while still claiming that it can deliver net zero on time and on budget. It acts like it has a magic money tree in the back garden at Bute house only for the new Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to discover that the roots have rotted away.

During the election campaign, the Scottish National Party treated the Scottish public to a never-ending parade of gimmicks and giveaways—free this, cap this, ban this and subsidise that. Every problem in Scotland was apparently to be solved by another taxpayer-funded announcement and another glossy press release. However, reality has now arrived. Hidden under all those grand promises is a financial black hole that is estimated to be around £5 billion. The uncomfortable truth for SNP members is that they cannot endlessly announce Scandinavian levels of spending while delivering a Scottish level of economic growth. At some point, someone has to do the sums.

That task now appears to have fallen to Ivan McKee, although I am not entirely sure that “Cabinet Secretary for Public Sector Reform” is the correct title. Throughout the election campaign, the Scottish Conservatives consistently pointed out that the SNP’s sums just do not add up. Now, we have a minister for cuts—perhaps more appropriately, and as he might become known over time, Ivan the Terrible—who will instil fear across Government departments as he bursts through the door, swinging an axe and looking for cuts in every nook and cranny that he can possibly find. The nationalists have promised more spending without saying where that money is coming from, which means that tax rises or spending cuts—or, indeed, a combination of both—are on the way.

I welcome Stephen Flynn to the chamber. Can I just check with him whether he managed to get through the security gates okay this morning? It seems like the doors at Bute house can be tricky to open, but it is good to get some practice in, isn’t it? Perhaps the First Minister was trying to keep him out for as long as possible, because—let us be honest—everyone knows why Stephen Flynn is truly here. He is certainly not visiting Holyrood for its architecture.

On a sincere note, I wish all cabinet secretaries and ministers the best in their new positions. Despite all the jokes that we will probably hear over the next few minutes, there are serious responsibilities at a serious time for Scotland.

That brings me to the amendment in my name on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives. Members from across the parties will remember the debates in the previous session regarding the impact of gulls on communities throughout Scotland. Nobody pursued that issue more persistently than Douglas Ross, who stood up for his constituents and repeatedly pressed the Government on what action it intended to take regarding the growing gull population. Nobody expected the extraordinary behaviour that Jamie Hepburn displayed during those exchanges.

We all accept that Parliament is a place for robust debate, but business managers have a particular responsibility to maintain working relationships across the chamber. Their job is to lower the temperature, not to raise it, and to build consensus, not to fuel confrontation. During the altercation involving Douglas Ross and Jamie Hepburn, we saw behaviour that was entirely unbecoming of someone entrusted with that responsibility. If someone demonstrates that they cannot control their temper during tense parliamentary exchanges, they should not be handed the responsibility of negotiating sensitive parliamentary business again a few months later.

The First Minister should know that it is wrong to reappoint Jamie Hepburn as business manager, because it sends completely the wrong message about standards, accountability and behaviour in the Government. Therefore, I urge all members to vote against that appointment at decision time.

I move amendment S7M-00109.1, to leave out “Jamie Hepburn,”.

I, Meghan Gallacher, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.