Chamber and committees

Will the member take an intervention?

If there is time later, I will come back to the member.

As my colleague Liz Smith pointed out at the time, and as economists highlight now, the higher income tax rates in Scotland have led to less rather than more money for public services. It is that knowledge and understanding that we will miss next session, as Liz Smith has decided to stand down. I, for one, will miss her wise words.

That funding matters. As a former leader of a local council, I know how crucial local authorities are in early intervention and prevention. This Government often speaks about early intervention and prevention, but it only talks the talk; it does not walk the walk. So much early intervention and prevention is done by local authorities, particularly in health and social care, which means that less money is needed to deal with crisis situations later on.

My colleague Brian Whittle spoke last week about obesity and the impact that that will have on healthcare going forward. However, without proper funding for local councils, we are seeing swimming pools and sports centres closing, along with libraries. School sport clubs are being axed and kids are sitting in front of computer screens instead. We need a new approach, and it is much better for the public purse to ensure that issues are dealt with early on.

It is much better to ensure that the elderly can stay at home as long as possible with a great care package, rather than ending up in long-term care or bed-blocking in our hospitals. It is much better to ensure that families get support through well-funded social work and support services than to deal with family breakdown and children requiring additional care. It is much better for local authorities to offer a well-rounded education package to our young people with additional needs than to arrange out-of-area placements because they cannot find provision in the area where they live. However, continued cuts to local authorities, increased wage bills through national insurance hikes and irresponsible pay deals have all meant that local authorities are facing the prospect of withdrawing vital services altogether.

The second area that I will focus on is the lack of funding that has been allocated to the north-east. The just transition funding for the north-east and Moray was announced in 2022. It was meant to be £500 million over 10 years, and so you would expect about £50 million per year, but that figure has slowed right down over the past two years: it was £12 million this year and it will be £16 million next year. That snail’s pace, along with the hostility shown to the oil and gas industry, means that there will not be much to transition. Aberdeen is on its knees right now. House prices are falling through the floor as people are moving away. There needs to be urgent action.

That is not the only broken promise to the north-east. Although £200 million was promised to improve rail journey times by 2026, not even 10 per cent of that was delivered, and there is nothing in this year’s budget. We have only grand announcements, made years ago, but no delivery—just like the dualling of the A96 and the A90 to Peterhead and Fraserburgh. Why should the people of the north-east believe this Government anymore?

The Scottish Conservatives remain the only party that will stand up to this SNP Government and its partners, the Scottish Labour Party. Only the Scottish Conservatives offer an alternative to the growth-destroying, innovation-depressing policies that are being discussed here today. We will be the only party that stands up for a just transition for the north-east.

I am proud, along with colleagues, to be the only party that will vote against this damaging budget today. We will stand up for businesses, communities and local authorities when the rest of the politicians in this building will not.

Will the member take an intervention?

I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I was a councillor at the start of this session.

I am proud to stand here today with my colleagues as a member of the only party that is willing to stand up to the devolved SNP Government. This budget is bad for businesses and individuals right across Scotland. It will leave them poorer and it will stifle growth, limit opportunities and hit our vital industries hardest. It is shameful that the other so-called Opposition parties are signing up hook, line and sinker to the budget.

Will the member take an intervention?

It is a pleasure to speak to the motion, which is on my favourite topic—the myth that is GB Energy.

GB Energy will do nothing for my constituents. It is a fraudulent front that seeks to rob hard-working oil and gas workers of their livelihoods. What is worse is that my constituents are expected to be grateful for GB Energy being based in Aberdeen, for new pylons covering the countryside and that they were promised 1,000 jobs, only for the chair of GB Energy to roll back on that commitment and tell us that it might be 200 jobs over the next five years. We were told before the election that GB Energy would reduce bills, but what we see is bills increasing.

I will give way to Daniel Johnson to tell us when bills will decrease.

We do not know. Where is the plan?

Will the member take an intervention?

I absolutely accept that there is a need for transition, but a plan needs to be in place. I have signed Unite the union’s campaign pledge for no ban without a plan. I think that Jackie Dunbar has, too. Has Daniel Johnson signed it?

It is fraudulent when we are promised 1,000 jobs but the chair of GB Energy then says, “Well, those jobs will perhaps come in 20 years’ time.” That is what I call fraudulent: it is a joke.

We have Labour and the SNP—two partners in crime—determined to destroy the countryside with pylons, and both turning a blind eye to the desecration of the north and north-east of Scotland. We have Labour and the SNP—two partners in crime—determined to destroy the oil and gas industry and, with it, tens of thousands of well-paid jobs.

It is common sense not to have a ban without a plan. We on this side of the chamber understand that, and Unite the union understands it. Like Unite, I will fight for my constituents and to save the jobs of the North Sea oil workers. It is shameful how few Labour MSPs have signed up to Unite’s campaign. It is a party that is meant to stand up for workers. Instead, it is siding with its donors and Just Stop Oil.

Like GB Energy itself, the process that we are being asked to follow in approving the LCM is a joke. We had an LCM a couple of weeks back and a supplementary one was lodged on Monday, which—as the convener said—gave no time for the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee to scrutinise the impact before the Parliament makes the decision today. That is complete disrespect for this Parliament. It sounds as though we might have another LCM coming next week.

What will the LCM change? From what I can gather, it will add amendments on sustainable development. The definition of sustainable development is:

“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

What about the future generations who will have their countryside ruined by the overindustrialisation that we are seeing? What about the future generations who will have prime agricultural land taken away and replaced by battery storage sites, substations or solar panels?

Earlier this week, I met the Angus Pylon Action Group. It has asked to speak to Gillian Martin, but its request has fallen on deaf ears, as have requests from all other campaign groups. Members of the APAG are devastated by what they are facing. They feel ignored and abandoned by the Government, which talks about engaging with communities but does not want to listen to them. They have real concerns, but are struggling to get answers.

That is where the Scottish Government is also to blame. In the weeks since the last time that we had this debate, there has been no news on the energy strategy. That strategy is now years late. There is no strategy, no plan and no clue. That sums up this devolved Government. We are still working under the shadow of its presumption against new oil and gas, and its presumptions that we should import oil and gas rather than use our own resources, that we should protect jobs in Azerbaijan rather than in Aberdeen and that we should make ourselves poorer while we make the Saudis richer.

We need a commonsense strategy for our energy that puts our own resources and workers at its heart. This Government does not care about oil and gas and it certainly does not care about the people working offshore or in the supply chain. Oil and gas from the North Sea is good for Britain, good for Scotland, good for the environment and good for jobs.

Let us drop the pretence that GB Energy will bring down bills, or be good for investment or for my constituents, because it simply will not.