Chamber and committees

There is absolutely no reassurance for farmers in that answer.

Let us look at another measure in the report. Fewer than 1 per cent of Scotland’s homes have a heat pump, but to meet the SNP’s 2045 target, that figure would need to reach almost 70 per cent. The number of annual installations would need to increase fivefold in just five years’ time. That is before we work out how people would afford heat pumps, given that they typically cost between £8,000 and £15,000. That proposal is simply not realistic, and if it was imposed, it would hammer hard-working Scots. Will John Swinney please rule it out now?

The Climate Change Committee’s new report sets out what the Scottish Government would need to do to reach its 2045 net zero target. It would have to reduce oil and gas production by 91 per cent, which would devastate the industry and our economy. It would have to ask home owners to meet stringent and expensive new energy standards. It would have to get more than half the population to drive electric cars or vans by 2035. For electric cars, the current figure is just 2.2 per cent, and for electric vans it is less than 1 per cent.

The report lays bare the crippling cost to hard-working families and businesses. Does John Swinney think that the committee’s proposals are realistic?

I can only share my colleague’s frustration at this weekly exercise in deflection and evasion. The SNP has missed its eco-targets for years. Its expert advisers now confirm that the only way to reach net zero by 2045 is by imposing radical and financially devastating policies.

If John Swinney sticks to his target, he has to be honest with the people of Scotland about the price that he expects them to pay. People will be forced to ditch petrol cars, rip out their boilers and change their diets. Farmers will need to get rid of cattle. Scotland’s oil and gas industry will cease to exist. All of it will be paid for through higher taxes and higher household bills. None of it makes sense to people in the real world. It is just not realistic or affordable. Does John Swinney agree, or will he continue to make promises that he knows that the SNP cannot keep?

The people of Scotland expect politicians to focus on what matters—rising household bills, their children’s education, getting a general practitioner appointment, fixing the roads and keeping communities safe, yet the priority for out-of-touch SNP, Labour, Lib Dem and Green MSPs is an urgent debate about the Holyrood toilets. Does Parliament agree with the Scottish Conservatives that this is a farcical waste of time?

Last Saturday, 16-year-old Kayden Moy was stabbed to death on Irvine beach. Less than 24 hours earlier, on Portobello beach, a 17-year-old was, allegedly, stabbed. Police Scotland says that the number of serious assaults committed by teenagers has risen by 600 per cent in the past five years. Two teenagers died and 11 were injured during a spate of knife incidents involving youths in the past two months.

Young people do not feel safe. The system does not protect them. What does John Swinney have to say to parents who tell me that they are terrified every time their son or daughter leaves the house? (S6F-04090)

If John Swinney will not listen to me, perhaps he will listen to the parents of victims. A mum whose teenage daughter was subjected to a horrific assault, which was filmed, said:

“My girl cannot return to school or leave home. She lives in fear while her attacker faces no punishment. The system is broken.”

The mum of a teenage boy who was subjected to a homophobic attack, which was filmed—his attackers faced no consequences—said:

“We cannot come to terms with what is happening in Scotland. Serious crime is being downgraded. The clear message to us and our son is that people can do what they want to him because he just doesn’t matter enough.”

A mum who was too fearful to include details of her child’s ordeal said:

“Many of the bad kids are in gangs and know that there are zero consequences for their actions. Good kids are paying a heavy price. Who is going to stand up and do something that will actually make an impact?”

Parents want a return to discipline in schools and deterrence in the justice system, so why will John Swinney not listen to them?

Young people do not feel safe because of the sickening rise in youth violence, but it is not happening in a vacuum. It can be linked directly to the policies and actions of the Government. The Scottish National Party has systematically weakened the justice system, especially in youth justice. It seeks to make excuses for those who commit harm, and those who commit crimes are told that there are no consequences for their actions, which means that there is no longer any meaningful deterrent. That inevitably fuels youth violence.

That misguided thinking is at the heart of SNP policy making. Surely John Swinney can see that it is not working and it is time to take a tougher approach.

It seems that John Swinney will not accept that his Government bears any responsibility for rising youth violence, but let us look at the SNP’s policies. It will not exclude disruptive and dangerous pupils from schools. Official guidelines prevent teachers from being able to instil basic classroom discipline.

John Swinney talks of firmness in the justice system, but the SNP passed a law banning under-18s from being sent to prison, even if they commit murder, and it decided that more young criminals should not be prosecuted in court. Instead, they are sent to children’s panels, where their interests are the priority and victims are ignored. There are also the perverse under-25 sentencing guideline, which prevents criminals—adults, by any definition—from being jailed.

That approach is weak, it is reckless and it is costing lives. Is it not time for John Swinney to rethink those harmful policies?

That is a deeply concerning answer from the First Minister, who is clearly not willing, or perhaps not able, to say how much that will end up costing taxpayers or when the boats will both be in service.

It was John Swinney who personally signed off what was a corrupt CalMac procurement process. He has never accepted blame and no one in the SNP ever has or ever will. Not a single one of them has held up their hands to islanders or to taxpayers. We have seen half a billion pounds and almost a decade wasted, so who is responsible?

This week, we discovered that the CalMac ferry MV Glen Rosa will not be completed until June 2026 at the earliest and that it will enter service at least eight years late. Why will it take so long?