Chamber and committees

I thought that I was in a different debate.

The Scottish Conservatives will stand up for our oil and gas industry. We support new oil and gas licences. We will not abandon the industry or the workers who rely on its continued survival, and we will not allow the industry to shut down.

There is no denying that the past decade has been exceptionally challenging for the energy sector because of the downturn in oil and gas, the Covid-19 pandemic, Putin’s war in Ukraine and the global energy crisis—not forgetting the massive supply chain disruption that was caused by the conflict. Many companies throughout the supply chain in Scotland have battled to stay afloat, and livelihoods have been lost.

Just as there was an upswing in the industry, more uncertainty struck. The North Sea became a bargaining chip in the disastrous Bute house agreement, with Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater castigating the industry and the thousands of people in my region who rely on it for work. Patrick Harvie ludicrously proclaimed that only those on the hard right support oil and gas extraction.

The SNP’s draft energy strategy includes a presumption against new exploration for oil and gas. It does not want Cambo, Jackdaw or, as we have seen and as is being reinforced today, Rosebank. It does not care about the UK’s energy security, workers in the north-east or the environmental impact of importing fossil fuels.

The Scottish Conservatives recognise the importance of a fair, careful and well-managed move to renewables. We know that we need an energy supply that is more secure and more sustainable. The north-east, with its unrivalled technical knowledge and know-how, is perfectly placed to become a world leader on net zero. However, propped up by the Scottish Greens, the SNP wants to turn off the taps and go for the fastest possible just transition. It is a cliff edge, plain and simple.

The moment that Nicola Sturgeon signed on the dotted line with the Scottish Greens, she betrayed the north-east, because the SNP-Green Government values virtue signalling over 90,000 highly skilled jobs.

Pot, kettle.

Members: Oh!

Will the Scottish Government ensure that all the records of all its meetings and engagements with Eljamel’s former patients, which go back a long time, will be made available to the public inquiry?

You had your chance, and you did not say anything during the committee process.

Members: Oh!

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I wish that there had been as much clarity and scrutiny at stage 1. It shows that my colleagues can scrutinise when they need to do so.

From the Royal College of Nursing to Unison, and many more besides, stakeholders are clear that developments last summer have breached their trust and muddied the waters even more. The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill has been touted by the First Minister as the most ambitious reform of public services since the creation of the NHS, but it has been a masterclass from SNP ministers in how not to legislate, and it is a dog’s dinner. The party of the defunct Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, the delayed deposit return scheme and the dormant Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 has struck again. This is not just about policy but about process, and that process is a sham.

Today, Gillian Mackay asked Emma Harper about self-directed support. That is just the kind of issue that needs to be ironed out in advance of the parliamentary passage of the bill. We are in the extraordinary position of being asked to agree to the general principles of a framework bill that has changed so significantly that we do not know what we are voting on. As Ivan McKee pointed out, it was yesterday—he did not say “only yesterday”, sadly—that a model was shared, which was a week after the committee finalised its report. If no one is alarmed, they should be. It is disrespectful to the parliamentary process.

I think that we all agree that the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s stage 1 report is well written. However, as Dr Sandesh Gulhane emphasised in his remarks, that SNP-Green majority committee has ultimately nodded the bill through with too many unanswered questions. I have outlined two examples. There may be caveats and conditions in the report that support that, but there are no consequences. That is not a threshold of scrutiny that the Scottish Conservatives can get behind.

On Monday, up to half of the north-east’s ambulance fleet—18 ambulances—were stuck outside Aberdeen royal infirmary. A paramedic told The Press and Journal that they are unable to help people who are most in need because they are repeatedly tied up. The situation is now so bad that earlier this month a shop worker in Dyce who was covered in blood after being attacked and left almost unconscious by robbers had to be driven to hospital by her employer because the ambulance service was too busy. What immediate action will the Scottish Government take to address the on-going crisis across the north-east?

The social care sector is deeply concerned that the bill is becoming a battleground. We cannot lose sight of those people who require care, nor of those people who work so hard to provide it. Ramming legislation through on a wing and a prayer will serve no one, especially the taxpayer, who keeps picking up the SNP’s legal bills when it eventually and inevitably goes wrong.

For those reasons, the Scottish Conservatives cannot vote for the general principles of the bill at decision time, and I urge other members to do the same.

The social care sector is deeply concerned that the bill is becoming a battleground. We cannot lose—

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am pleased that Michelle Thomson said that that was a correct quote.

From the Royal College of Nursing to Unison, and many more besides—[Interruption.]