Chamber and committees

The Scottish Fiscal Commission conducts rigorous and independent analysis of tax and the economy in Scotland. Its most recent report outlines that Scottish National Party tax rises are costing Scottish workers £1.7 billion each year. We should have an extra £1.7 billion to spend, but we do not, because the SFC identifies what it calls an “economic performance gap” with the rest of the United Kingdom. That actually reduces the amount that is available to spend.

Does John Swinney know the size of the economic performance gap between SNP-run Scotland and the rest of the UK?

I will try to stop laughing for a minute.

John Swinney does not even seem to accept that the economic performance gap exists. It is peak SNP denial. The SFC is saying it—it is in its report, which the First Minister should try to read.

The SNP has failed to keep up with the rest of the UK. It has made the situation even worse by wasting billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on a national care service that does not treat patients, the endless CalMac ferry scandal, a £1 billion prison with bird and bat boxes and an annual benefits bill that will soon top £9 billion.

The SNP is costing Scotland £1 billion a year in lost growth and countless billions of pounds through its sheer incompetence. Is that not exactly why John Swinney cannot bring down bills or improve public services? He is throwing all the money away.

That is more smoke and mirrors from John Swinney. He does not seem to know the figures, so let me help him. SNP tax rises for hard-working Scots should result in £1.7 billion more to spend, but, because the SNP-run economy lags behind the economy in the rest of the UK, the Scottish Fiscal Commission says that the Scottish Government has only £600 million more to spend. Under the SNP, there is a £1.1 billion economic performance gap—and that is just this year. Last year, it was another £1 billion.

Over the past 10 years, according to the SFC, the economic performance gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK adds up to £5.4 billion. Does John Swinney now realise that anti-business SNP policies are costing Scotland a fortune?

The Scottish Conservative Party wants to lift children and families out of poverty, not keep them trapped on benefits.

The SNP wastes money on an industrial scale, but, unbelievably, Labour looked at the SNP’s economic record and decided to copy it. It has already raised national insurance, but there is more pain to come. The spending review signals a return to tax and spend. Rachel Reeves is shafting business, workers, farmers and the oil and gas industry, but at least there is enough money now for John Swinney to give Scots a tax break. Will he commit to bringing down the burden on Scottish workers and families?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I would have voted yes.

John Swinney appears to be hearing things—I said no such thing.

We have top-level crime bosses making millions of pounds from killing vulnerable Scots with their drugs. We were told that the Mr Bigs would be bankrupted by the proceeds of crime law that was passed at the start of devolution, but the law has failed. Criminals and their white-collar enablers no longer fear the proceeds of crime legislation, and, 18 months ago, the SNP rejected my call to review why that is not working.

According to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, one drug dealer made more than £126 million, but it can find only £118,000-worth of his assets. The proceeds of crime legislation needs an urgent and radical overhaul. We must turn the tables on the drug gangs so that they live in fear. Will John Swinney toughen the legislation to make it fit to tackle organised crime in 2025 and beyond?

In recent weeks, we have witnessed a sickening outbreak of gangland violence across the country. Two Scottish drug dealers have now been shot dead in Spain. Their gang has waged a turf war on Scotland’s streets since the dawn of devolution, which has mutated to include proxy groups, including the US-sanctioned Kinahan cartel. Those parasites grow rich by preying on society’s most vulnerable. Those cowards cause terror and death with guns, knives and firebombs. Those thugs go after journalists, politicians, businessmen, police and prison officers. Organised crime is out of control and communities are living in fear. Does John Swinney accept that the Scottish Parliament has failed to tackle organised crime in Scotland?

The First Minister talks about the prisons being safe—tell that to the 10 prison officers whose cars have been firebombed outside Scotland’s prisons by organised crime gangs that are fighting for control of the drugs trade inside Scotland’s prisons. There is a dangerous complacency to this Government’s approach.

We need to stop crime bosses exploiting vulnerable young people. The two men who were shot dead in Spain were groomed for a life of crime. Most of their gang associates are dead or in prison, and now there is an official policy in place that makes young people even more vulnerable to exploitation. Senior Police Scotland officers say that under-25 sentencing guidelines are part of the problem. Detective Superintendent Andy Patrick said:

“Organised crime groups are exploiting this policy. They are coercing young and vulnerable people to carry out some of these crimes because they’re under reduced risk of imprisonment.”

Will John Swinney rethink his Government’s support of those damaging guidelines?

John Swinney says that he agrees about the seriousness of organised crime, but, under successive Scottish National Party and Labour Governments, organised crime has rarely been on the agenda. It was not even mentioned in the Scottish Government’s flagship five-year justice strategy—not even once. I got into politics because I could not understand why politicians do not talk about the malevolent reach and devastating harm of organised crime.

Local front-line policing is absolutely critical. The Scottish Police Federation has said:

“The bottom line is the intelligence on organised crime groups ... and terrorism comes from the communities. If you don’t have community police officers out there patrolling and picking up on that intelligence, then they’re missing out on so much.”

However, under the SNP, officer numbers have fallen by nearly 1,000. Does John Swinney accept front-line officers’ view that his Government’s decision to reduce police numbers inevitably fuels organised crime?

Let us take a look at some of the specific suggestions in the report. To meet the Scottish National Party’s net zero target, the number of cattle and sheep in Scotland would need to fall by 2 million—meaning a cull of 2 million animals in the next decade—which is around 25 per cent. That would drive farmers out of business, destroy the rural economy and put our food security at risk. The report says that Scots would need to eat one third less meat. That is utter madness. It is an act of national self-harm. Will John Swinney rule out going ahead with that specific plan?