Chamber and committees

On you go.

I am not in the Government. I have two words: Chris Grayling. He awarded £14 million to a ferry company that had no ferries.

Liz Smith listed a number of things in her motion that she says are down to the SNP. Does she have any space in that list for energy costs, interest rate rises, inflation or the effects of Brexit—or do those not matter?

Does the member accept that there has been more investment in ferries by this Government than by any previous Government? [Interruption.] Does he accept that the Government that he supports gave £14 million to a ferry company that had no ferries?

I was delighted to see that tourism was to be discussed in the chamber, and then I saw the motion. It is a misleading attempt to score political points at the expense of one of Scotland’s most important sectors. It starts off with a false assertion and continues to cherry pick problems and pretend that there can be simplistic solutions to complex issues.

Worse still, what we have heard ignores energy bills, interest rates, the impact of inflation and—

Was that an intervention?

No—I have only four minutes.

Two years ago, the Tories promised to improve ferry service to the Isles of Scilly. They have not even put that out to tender.

Trying to ignore the real impact of energy costs, interest rates, inflation and Brexit on the tourism industry is the real hardline anti-business agenda that has been spoken about before.

In my constituency, the Stirling and Clackmannanshire city region deal will see the Scottish Government invest £15 million to enhance the cultural, heritage and tourism offering, aiming to attract even more people from across Scotland, the UK and the world to our spectacular region.

The Scottish Government’s tourism strategy was laid out in March 2020—the month that the pandemic hit hard. This morning, I heard Steve Barclay, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, say that the huge waiting lists in the national health service in England were due to the pandemic, which affected every Administration around the world. We hear no mention of that from the Scottish Conservatives. This is not a serious motion about the tourism industry in Scotland.

The figures show that the sector is recovering well—it is returning to the positive growth figures that we were seeing before the pandemic. The Scottish quarterly gross domestic product index for sustainable tourism, which plummeted during the pandemic, is now back to pre-pandemic levels and moving in an upwards trajectory. Indeed, employment in the sector increased by 10.6 per cent over the latest year.

It is worth mentioning employment. We used to get a monthly bulletin from Murdo Fraser celebrating every time the UK outperformed Scotland’s rate of employment, but he has not said a word for the past few months as Scotland has outperformed the UK in relation to the rates of employment, economic activity and unemployment.

There is no room for complacency, but there is no place for a doom-laden pronouncement either. It is the usual from the Conservatives: they are talking Scotland down.

The A9 was mentioned. The first priority of the Tory party, as of the Labour Party—this was certainly the case when I joined this Parliament—was to vote for £500 million to be spent on the trams in Edinburgh. That was their priority, not the A9 or the A96, which this Government has progressed. What we inherited from previous Labour and Tory Governments was in an abysmal state.

I have said that I am not taking any more interventions.

The fact is that some parts of that route present some severe engineering challenges. Everyone knows that, especially those who use it.

What has not been mentioned? The investment in the Aberdeen western peripheral route; the Borders railway line, which is the longest rail extension in the UK for 100 years; and the Queensferry crossing. As Willie Rennie mentioned, RET had a massive impact in parts of the country, too.

The two biggest on-going barriers to growth for the tourism economy in Scotland are entirely of the Tories’ making, and they should be facing up to that. The first is the fall-out from the failings of its disastrous economic policies—we have heard about Liz Truss. The second is the effect of Scotland being dragged out of the European Union against our wishes, ending freedom of movement, making it harder for visitors to come here and causing major employment headaches for many sectors, particularly, it must be stressed, the hospitality sector. The Tories are the ones who are undermining the tourism industry in Scotland. Their motion should have at least acknowledged that.

I recognise the pressures that you have mentioned. I live in an area that, like Ayrshire, has three local authorities, although it is probably not as big a land area as the Ayrshires. It has only one general hospital, which was built around 15 years ago.

I do not want to put words into your mouth but, in the areas where you said that you think that a more national role might be beneficial, to what extent do you think that health boards as they are currently constructed help or hinder the taking of such an approach, where it might be more appropriate and beneficial for the service? I realise that that is a difficult question to answer.

To be honest, I cannot say that I have seen any evidence in my own bills so far of a reduction in energy costs. That is the important point. What people have to spend will have an impact on inflation.

I will take two or three points together. Michelle Thomson made a point about a 14 per cent reduction in capital funding over the next few years. Somewhere in your report, you said that living standards are projected to take one of the biggest hits that we have ever seen, and the revenue side will see a pretty small increase in the next few years. You have been asked a number of questions about comparative inflation and taxes. This could be described as a period of austerity. I am not asking you to do this, but has any comparison been done following austerity policies? Such policies are odd, given that the national debt has ballooned to £2.5 trillion. Are austerity policies working for the ends that were set out, or are other countries following a different path that is more productive? Have any comparative studies been done on that?