Chamber and committees

I can beat that.

Congratulations on your election, Presiding Officer. I suspect that today’s proceedings will not be quite as exciting as last week’s, because, of course, this is largely a foregone conclusion. However, I have put my name forward because it gives me the opportunity to put forward my vision for a better Scotland and for a Scottish Parliament that works on behalf of the people who put us here.

John Swinney spent the entire election saying that he was going to win—and with a majority. He said that winning a majority would be the trigger for another independence referendum. His relentless obsession with breaking up the United Kingdom is not what people want to hear. We know what matters most to the people of Scotland: the ever-rising cost of living, Scotland’s stagnant economy, the NHS being in a near-permanent state of crisis and the impact of immigration on strained public services. What they do not want is a distracting and painful return to the arguments of the past.

Thankfully, John Swinney did not get the majority that he said was in the bag, and my party played its part in stopping him. The blue wall stayed blue as we won a hat trick of seats across the south of Scotland. However, I was bitterly disappointed to lose so many valuable and respected colleagues in my party and beyond. This is a very different Parliament from the one that came before.

When John Swinney is inevitably elected as First Minister today, he will have some big questions to answer. He has said that he will work with Sinn Féin to break up the UK and that victims of IRA terrorism should “move on”—I wonder whether he understands the hurt that those comments have caused. Will he continue to put constitutional paralysis above good governance? When Scots tell him that a referendum is not a priority, as they did in another poll published today, will he listen? Even without a majority, I fear that he will not listen, because independence will remain the only issue that really matters to him and his party.

This is what a sensible and responsible First Minister should focus on: growing the economy; backing business and not attacking it; cutting taxes for those who work hard; and doing the right thing by fixing our national health service, schools and other public services.

On the economy, let us start with Scotland’s world-leading oil and gas sector. The SNP opposes new drilling. John Swinney’s party agrees with Labour that oil and gas should remain under the North Sea. Thousands of jobs are being lost. That position is absurd, especially in today’s volatile world. Our country will need oil and gas for decades, not just for energy but for manufacturing, so I ask John Swinney: does it really make sense for Norway to extract oil and gas from the same basin that his party wants to leave untapped? I think that he knows the answer to that.

I make the promise today that the Scottish Conservatives will continue to stand up for the oil and gas sector. We would get Britain drilling again. People in the north-east know that we are the strongest challengers to the SNP—we came within just over 1,000 votes of beating Stephen Flynn. If pro-UK voters unite behind the Scottish Conservatives in Aberdeen South in a few weeks’ time, we can beat the SNP again.

We all have a duty to act in the best interests of the people of Scotland. This Parliament has an opportunity to transform Scotland over the next five years. A more dynamic and prosperous Scotland should be our shared goal—we should be a country of opportunity, with more well-paid jobs, and of lower taxes and less red tape, where hard work and aspiration are rewarded. Let us harness our proud spirit of innovation to get Scotland working again.

14:11

My party and I sincerely congratulate John Swinney on his re-election as First Minister. I commit to working constructively with him and his ministers when offers to do so are made in good faith.

John Swinney and I fundamentally disagree on the future direction of Scotland. In my opening remarks, I set out a vision for a more prosperous Scotland at the heart of the United Kingdom. John Swinney is not short of people offering him advice, but I ask him to hear me out about what I believe should be our collective focus. People desperately need some respite from endless SNP and Labour tax rises. Growth and prosperity flow from educating our young people, creating opportunity, nurturing aspiration, rewarding success and giving businesses the space and support to thrive.

Economic growth will be absolutely critical, because there is a looming £5 billion black hole in Scotland’s public finances. Throughout the election campaign, I repeatedly warned about the potential impact of that vast and impending deficit. Others did not want to talk about it but, with the election now behind us, there is no escaping from that hard reality.

To plug the gap between the revenues raised and Government spending commitments, John Swinney is likely to do one of two things—and, possibly, both. One is to cut funding for public services; the other is to raise taxes. Both would be a mistake. Do not cut front-line services. Cut the waste and the quangos, treat taxpayers’ money with respect and cut a benefits bill that is unaffordable and unsustainable. On taxes, I say this: no more. Scots already pay almost £2 billion more a year in income tax than they would for doing the same jobs elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Businesses have been hit with sky-high rates bills that will force some to cut jobs or cease trading altogether.

Mr Swinney might not choose to listen to me, but he should listen to Scotland’s business leaders, who repeatedly warn that we cannot tax our way to economic growth. John Swinney knows that to be true but, even though he knows about the perilous state of the public finances, my fear is that he will remain distracted. He has already said that he will make the first vote of the Parliament a demand for another referendum—even without a majority. That is his intent. He knows that the people of Scotland do not want that, yet we heard it again from him today. For the sake of Scotland, drop it, Mr Swinney. Put country before party. End the politics of grievance. Stop blaming others for the many problems that have been made by the SNP over two decades. Govern for all of Scotland.

My party will continue to stand up for hard-working Scots who are struggling to pay the bills. We will be honest about the hard choices that lie ahead and we will work tirelessly to hold the Government to account.

15:33

I, Russell Findlay, 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.