Chamber and committees

The response to the debate from some members has been predictable. There was not only the earliest mention of Paisley ever from George Adam, but we heard the usual old clichés about independence. For anyone who had their bingo card out, there were seven mentions of division and five mentions of us having an obsession, and we were called separatists at least five times. As Rachael Hamilton has just shown us, the unionist parties are in severe need of new patter, as well as credible arguments.

Many members across the chamber have mentioned really serious issues on which we need to work together: the NHS, schools and the cost of living crisis. We absolutely need to see the NHS put on a sustainable footing in order to ensure that patients have the appointments that they need and that we look after our staff. We need to introduce more additional support needs teachers and support staff to our schools, reduce class sizes, improve teacher wellbeing and tackle teacher workload. We need to ensure that we insulate homes, move to using sustainable ways to heat our homes and support those who live in fuel poverty.

However, I am a bit sad that many members are so lacking in ambition that they do not think that we can do more than one thing at once. As Ross Greer said, the mental gymnastics have been incredible. The issue of mandates would have been amusing had the arguments not been so duplicitous. Labour said that its 2024 mandate was against a referendum because of its vote share, but it is happy to ignore mandates here. From what I followed of Lord Offord’s contribution, he tried to break down the numbers from the indyref. His former party took Scotland out of Europe against its will. What was the mandate for that? On a turnout of 72.2 per cent of registered voters, 51.9 per cent voted leave and 48.1 per cent voted remain. By his logic, that means that only 37.3 per cent of people voted for Brexit, so there was no mandate for it at all, even by his standards.

We have not heard from any party that is opposed to independence how Scotland gets to have its say. The youngest people who voted in the 2014 referendum are now in their late 20s. I hate to break it to some of the new MSPs, but people in their late 20s are hardly young any more—I say that as a formerly young person. Hundreds of thousands of young people have never had their say on the direction of the country, despite some having been able to vote in three Holyrood elections and three Westminster elections. How much longer do members want to deny democracy to those young people? How many more years do they have to wait before they get to have their say?

We have not heard that level of honesty from those who oppose independence. Too often, the phrase “once in a generation” is thrown around. It would have been the very oldest of those in generation Z who got to vote in 2014, and the very oldest of those in generation alpha were able to vote for the first time this year. That is literally a generation. That does not include the thousands of people like me who voted no in 2014 but have since changed their minds.

If opponents of independence are not willing to say how long is long enough between expressions of democracy, surely they cannot deny that the circumstances in which we find ourselves now are so different compared with those in 2014. We have had Brexit, which Scotland did not vote for and has materially impacted life for everyone in this country. We have had a merry-go-round of Prime Ministers—which does not look as though it is going to stop any time soon—and a series of UK Governments that could not have had Scotland any further down their priority list, and that is not to mention the looming danger of a far-right Government in the UK. In any one of those scenarios—let alone if they were combined—a nation in a so-called voluntary union would want a say on its future outside of that union.

However, for me and for the Scottish Greens, it is not just about what we would be leaving behind; it is about the Scotland that we want to build and the Scotland that we could be. Independence should be a mechanism to deliver a fairer, greener and more equal society. It should be the mechanism that we use to rejoin the EU and put us back where we should have always been. It would stop us having to work around policies and decisions that we can and should be taking by ourselves.

We have a pro-independence majority in the chamber, and I think that we are no longer in a situation in which it is a case of if there is another referendum—it is a case of when. We cannot sit back, though. As a movement, we have to prove to the people of Scotland why those decisions would be better in our hands, using the powers that we have to make Scotland a fairer and more prosperous place by tackling child poverty, making childcare fit for how families live now, tackling the cost of living crisis and being an open and welcoming society that recognises the value of all Scots alike.

We have to take that fight to the UK Government. Let us test the boundaries of devolution and venture into those grey areas to achieve our aims. Let us do things that any Labour Government that was still holding true to its values would find difficult to take to court and challenge. This is a fight that we have to win, and we have to work here with that in mind.

On behalf of the Scottish Greens, I congratulate John Swinney on his election as First Minister. It is a remarkable achievement to win a fifth term in office for the SNP. I think that it is safe to say that this is probably not the role that the First Minister anticipated this time last session and, on behalf of my party, I acknowledge the sacrifices that both he and his family have made to allow him to serve Scotland.

The Scottish Greens will work with his Government to deliver on our priorities and deliver for the people of Scotland. The Opposition parties that took that constructive approach in the previous session of Parliament have grown in their numbers, and it is clear that that is what the public expect us to do. To put it simply, our constituents expect us to co-operate where we genuinely share values, even if we do not agree on every detail of policy.

That does not mean that this Government will have an easy time of it from the Greens. We will hold the Government to account and ask difficult questions. We need to see work quickly on childcare and free bus travel in particular, but other public services need support and reform, too. We will push for this Government to go further and faster, especially when it comes to tackling child poverty and the climate crisis.

In the first 100 days, this Government could fix some of the issues with childcare that we raised before dissolution. Ensuring that childcare is truly free at three would put hundreds of pounds back into families’ pockets before we move to expand free hours to include two-year-olds on what we would like to be a universal basis. The 1,140-hour entitlement is a national policy, but some families have had to move their children twice due to changes made by local authorities. Working with councils to ensure that cross-boundary placements can happen would support families’ choices.

We need to work together to put the NHS on a sustainable footing, we need to talk about how we support councils to deliver the services that they want to deliver, and we have to—finally—scrap and replace the council tax.

Ultimately, in the first 100 days of this Government, we need to see tangible work to deliver on the cost of living crisis and make people’s lives cheaper for the long term, to support the climate, and to make Scotland more welcoming and outward looking. The Scottish Greens will not shy away from holding the new Government to account, but we look forward to working with the First Minister to deliver for the people of Scotland.

15:29

I congratulate you on your appointment, Presiding Officer.

First, I acknowledge that, unless something dramatic happens, I should get 15 votes, so I doubt that I will become First Minister this afternoon. Despite that, there is something to be hopeful about. The electorate has returned not only the biggest-ever independence-supporting majority but the biggest-ever majority for parties that are socially progressive. Those who lost in numbers at the election were the ones chasing votes to the right, and that must inform what we do in this parliamentary session.

We acknowledge that the SNP won the election and should have the right to form a Government, and we will work with it on issues to make Scotland a fairer, greener and independent country. However, we will also hold that Government to account to ensure that ambition matches delivery. We want a debate on the future of Scotland as an independent nation, and I hope that the First Minister will keep his promise to bring that forward as soon as possible.

We have seen how badly Westminster has let Scotland down, making things much more difficult not just for the Parliament but for the people of Scotland. We were promised big things in the wake of 2014, but what followed was Brexit, a decade of Westminster failure, a merry-go-round of Prime Ministers and an ongoing climate breakdown. People’s lives have got materially worse, and Scotland must have our chance to choose differently.

For the Scottish Greens, independence is not an end goal in itself; it is a tool that we can use to make Scotland better, where democracy and decision making are closer to people. That is why, alongside that push for a referendum, we must use all the powers that we already have to make Scotland a better place to live in right now.

We all heard during the election campaign about the immediate and real impact that the cost of living crisis is having on people’s lives. There are a host of solutions that not only put money back into people’s pockets but help to tackle the climate emergency at the same time. Providing everyone with free bus travel would put money back into people’s pockets while moving more people on to public transport. We have seen the success of free bus travel for under-22s. Making sure that people, particularly those commuting, could leave the car at home would help to tackle transport emissions, which we have historically struggled to make a dent in. Other countries have taken that step in recent months, and we should absolutely be doing the same.

A large portion of families’ income is taken up by childcare costs. Unfortunately, we no longer live in a time where families can survive on one income, so good-quality, affordable childcare is a must. That, for us, has to be a universal offering, giving every child the same start and, crucially, making sure that the funding follows the child. Supporting families, particularly women, to be able to work with good-quality, reliable childcare will absolutely help to tackle child poverty.

It is crucial that we look at our tax system and how we tax wealth in particular, in order to make sure that we can afford the measures that will support many people across society. We need to make sure that everyone can have a home to call their own, that they can heat that home, that we have good-quality public services, that nurses and teachers are paid well and that we deliver that fairer society. Tax is how we fund those things, which are for the common good, and those with the most should contribute the most.

It is clear that the hopeful vision that the Scottish Greens put forward at the election resonates with the hundreds of thousands of Scots who voted for us. Above all else, perhaps, what people want to see now are actions that make Scotland a fairer, kinder and more welcoming country. Not only do we have a large pro-independence majority in this chamber, but we have a pro-Europe majority and a pro-immigration majority. This is a Parliament that not only recognises the contribution of all Scots, old and new, but says that Scotland’s future is one that looks outwards to our neighbours and friends across seas and borders.

The people of Scotland need this Parliament to work collaboratively in the face of unprecedented crises so as to make people’s lives better both here and around the world. The Scottish Greens are ready to do that. Scotland is ready, so let us make that happen.

14:15

My oath is to the people of Scotland, who are sovereign.

I, Gillian Audrey Mackay, do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law.