Chamber and committees

Maybe—we will see. I might come in with something.

Please get to the question. Thanks.

Thank you, cabinet secretary. We move straight to questions from members, kicking off with George Adam.

I remind Ms Mackay that our pensioners are some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland. I am standing up for them. This plan shows what is wrong with Scottish politics and what needs to change. My party will oppose plans to give free travel to asylum seekers while taking money away from pensioners, but I am grateful that the cabinet secretary outlined that some asylum seekers are already eligible for free bus travel.

We believe that every penny of taxpayers’ money must be spent carefully to address the concerns and needs of people up and down Scotland. We believe that Scotland’s Parliament should be more focused on what matters to Scotland’s people. Under the Scottish National Party, public transport has become unreliable and far too expensive. Unless considerable action is taken, our public transport network will continue to decline. We are calling on the Scottish Government to

“introduce a national £2 bus fare for any single ticket on a bus route, to fully support the Community Bus Fund to allow local authorities to propose bus services in their area, and to implement integrated ticketing across all public transport”

because that will impact everyone positively.

I move amendment S6M-14823.2, to leave out from “extend” to end and insert:

“ensure that there are reliable and affordable bus services in every community across Scotland; acknowledges that the Scottish Government has failed to make the ‘public transport network cleaner, smarter and more accessible than ever before’, as was the stated aim of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, and calls on the Scottish Government to introduce a national £2 bus fare for any single ticket on a bus route, to fully support the Community Bus Fund to allow local authorities to propose bus services in their area, and to implement integrated ticketing across all public transport.”

It is just as well that I was paying attention, Presiding Officer.

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements it has in place to ensure that victims of rape and sexual assault can always access the support that they need to deal with trauma. (S6O-03825)

The trauma of vulnerable victims goes beyond the courts and the justice system. Women are self-excluding themselves from rape crisis centres across the country because a number of the centres are still not clear about their single-sex policy. Despite that, Ms Brindley, who has presided over the mess, is clinging on and trying to save her own skin rather than doing the decent thing and allowing rape crisis services to start again under new leadership. Does the cabinet secretary agree that, if we are genuine in our endeavours to restore rape victims’ confidence in rape crisis centres, it is time for Ms Brindley to leave her role now?

Last November, the then First Minister, Humza Yousaf, confirmed the free bus travel for asylum seekers scheme and said that £2 million had been set aside to pay for it. However, during the summer, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, Shona Robison, said that spending cuts were unavoidable, and the Scottish National Party scrapped plans for the scheme.

We all want to do right by asylum seekers and help people in need, but it is on every politician in this building to spend public money on the biggest challenges our country faces. Everything we do in Parliament is built on taxpayers’ money. That money must be spent on the most pressing concerns of the people in this country. As commendable as it may be to many, the proposal to spend millions of pounds on giving asylum seekers free travel comes at the same time that the SNP and Labour are taking away winter fuel payments from our pensioners. People who have worked hard all their days are getting their winter fuel payment cut. They will be forced to make tough calls this winter. Some will choose between heating and eating. It is not right—it is, in fact, downright scandalous—to take money from pensioners in favour of this proposal. To people across Scotland, it looks like the Scottish Parliament has lost the plot.

I do not recognise the description that it is being hoarded by a few. The only tax that the Green Party seems to like is tax that other people are paying. There is no clearer evidence than this that the Scottish Parliament has lost the plot. Parliament is detached from the everyday lives of people across Scotland. No wonder so many people feel that it does not stand up for them or represent their interests. Taking money from pensioners so that asylum seekers can have free travel shows the disconnect between the Parliament and the people of Scotland.

Will the member take an intervention?

The Scottish Fiscal Commission predicts that, as things stand, social security spending will increase to £8 billion in 2028-29. Alarmingly, current figures show that Scotland’s unemployment rate is rising, with more than 120,000 people having never worked.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that, when times are tough fiscally, it would be better, and advantageous, to invest in education and employment opportunities, which would not only support people back into paid work, where they can apply and develop their skills, but boost Scotland’s economy?