Chamber and committees

A great deal of work is under way in that respect through dialogue with stakeholder organisations who are well connected within communities. The justice secretary and I visited the Edinburgh central mosque during the incident and it was reassuring to hear the comments that were being made by members of the Muslim community about their relationship with the police and the dialogue that takes place.

I had my own experience of that when I visited a synagogue in East Renfrewshire and I met the Jewish community and heard similarly their appreciation of the assurance of their safety that was undertaken, although they highlighted to me the fact that, at times, they feel very unsafe and fearful.

We have to actively support activity in that respect and I assure Rona Mackay that that work is under way in Scotland today.

I welcome Mr Sarwar’s remarks, particularly the point that he makes in relation to interaction with social media. There is a responsibility on us all with regard to what we say and what we do on social media, as well as with regard to whether we believe what we see on social media, but there is also a huge obligation on those companies in that regard. The United Kingdom Government has been making those obligations pretty clear to social media companies. Ofcom has also been doing that—its statements at the height of the difficulties were very clear about the obligation of those companies to operate within the code of responsibility. As I indicated in my statement, there is much more to be done to ensure that that is the case.

We cannot pause for a moment to in any way, shape or form relax our rejection of far-right ideology. We have to stand together and be persistent and assertive about setting out that that represents the wrong agenda for our country, that we believe in the importance of diverse, multicultural communities and that we believe in the importance of bringing people together. Therefore, I was delighted to welcome political leaders to Bute house to enable us to have a briefing and to make the point—as colleagues have done—that we are working to create a cohesive society. We want people to come together, and we reject the ideology of the far right in politics.

I acknowledge the importance of Mr Harvie’s points, and I thank him for his comments. Many comments have been made in the mainstream media and by politicians that I would never want to be associated with, because they represent an ideology that I find repugnant. However, I accept that that is a reality, which is why it is important that we exercise political leadership in Scotland, that we reject that ideology and that we reject it across the Parliament. It is to the credit of all parties in the Parliament that we are prepared to stand together to reject that. I will do everything that I can as First Minister to foster a climate that enables that to be the case, because I want this Parliament to speak as one in saying that the far-right ideology of racism or hate has absolutely no place in our society whatsoever.

On Mr Harvie’s point about social and economic cohesion in our communities, as he will know, the Government invests heavily to make sure that we work to tackle poverty in our society. I would like to feel that I was operating in a situation in which I had a more sympathetic, prevailing climate to try to tackle poverty as a consequence of the change of UK Government. I am somewhat bewildered by the fact that we are not making more headway on that question, but it is early days.

It is important that we recognise the damage of austerity—I associate myself with Mr Harvie in that regard. Austerity is damaging our communities and the fabric of life. That is why it has to come to an end, and I want to ensure that that is the case in Scotland.

I encourage people who intend to attend any such event to follow the guidance that is available, to follow any advice from the police and, fundamentally, to stay safe and to engage in democratic peaceful protest. There is a place for democratic peaceful protest in our society—Parliament will be familiar with the fact that I have been on a few such protests over my time. There is a place for democratic engagement, but it has to be done in a peaceful fashion, and I am sure that that will be followed this weekend.

I very much agree with Ben Macpherson. A whole host of community organisations do remarkable work in bringing people together. They exist across all communities. During the summer, I had a conversation with Mr Carlaw about organisations that come together in his constituency to support communities and provide welcome assistance and assurance for individuals. I encourage them to continue to do that and I express my appreciation for all that they do.

As I have explained to Parliament previously, I accept that the delayed discharge numbers that Douglas Ross raises with me are far too high. The Government is in active dialogue with local authorities and health boards to reduce those numbers. On waiting times for cancer treatment, we are treating more patients, and an increased number of personnel in the health service are working to deliver on cancer care. Across the whole health service, we are allocating more resources to ensure that it is able to meet the rising demand that has occurred in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic. The health service now occupies a much larger proportion of our budget than was the case previously.

There is, of course, a link between the condition of the health service and the question of independence, which is the question of financial control. What worries me—and not only me; this has been expressed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies as well—is that, at this moment, there is a conspiracy of silence between the Conservatives and the Labour Party about the funding of our public services and our health service. The issue is this: we are not confronting the consequences of 14 years of austerity. For Scotland, independence is the way to do that.

I think that the Government’s decisions speak volumes about the priority that we attach to the health service—[Interruption.]

I do not really think that Douglas Ross is in a position to go on at me about division when his colleagues behind him have told him to get out of office as leader of the Scottish Conservative Party. [Interruption.] Oh! Do they all want him to stay? What I read in the newspapers was that they were all in revolt. They all wanted rid of him. [Interruption.]

—consequences of 14 years of Conservative austerity. They are suffering because of the Conservative obsession with Brexit, which is damaging our economy. They are suffering because of the cost of living crisis that was escalated by the ludicrous behaviour of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, which Douglas Ross wanted me to emulate. Independence is the solution to austerity, Brexit and the cost of living—and we are going to see the back of Douglas Ross as well.

Our carer support payment is the 14th benefit to be delivered by Social Security Scotland and has been available for new applicants in Dundee city, Perth and Kinross, and the Western Isles since November 2023. From November it will operate nationally, and on Monday we completed the latest phase of the roll-out, opening the payment to new applications in Angus, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire.

The carer support payment, which was co-designed with carers and support organisations, extends entitlement to many carers in full-time education, thereby removing barriers to education for around 1,500 carers a year.