Chamber and committees

The success of Scotland’s and the United Kingdom’s vaccination schemes means that we can now look to move forward and remove almost all Covid restrictions. In advance of today’s statement, my party called for the easing of restrictions to happen as planned. We highlighted the need for rules on social distancing to be removed so that businesses can get back to normal trading. We sought changes to self-isolation rules for those who have been double vaccinated and a move towards a test first system, instead of a blanket requirement to self-isolate for 10 days. We have argued for some time for changes to the self-isolation rules for children in schools to prevent their learning experience from being disrupted further. For the same reason, we wanted the requirement for face masks in schools to be removed.

We proposed those steps because the vaccine is working. It is saving lives and limiting the spread of the virus, which is why I urge everybody to go out and get vaccinated.

We are pleased that the Government has listened to our suggestions. However, overall, today’s statement is a mixed bag. It sets out some welcome steps in the right direction, but the on-going restrictions will hold back Scotland’s recovery.

When Scotland moved to level 0, some people were—rightly—confused, because level 0 implies no restrictions, yet many restraints remained in place. We have now moved beyond level 0. Again, people could rightly assume that that means that Covid restrictions have been dropped, but curbs remain in place. Yet again, the goalposts have been moved.

We are beyond level 0—at level minus 1 or level minus 2—and the Government is still clinging on to control over large parts of people’s lives. Events have capacity constraints, the threat remains of local lockdowns and travel bans, the Government seems to be U-turning on Covid status certification, home working is still being enforced and social distancing is in a very grey area because the legal restriction has gone but the guidance remains in force. Clear communication is essential to maintaining public trust and compliance, but the statement is not very clear on many fronts.

People have gone through a lot; they have made sacrifices and tolerated severe constraints on their lives. They have done so with impressive dedication because it was necessary and the public health data supported those decisions, but they are losing patience with these last-minute extensions to the limitations on their lives without full justification or a clear idea of what comes next. Is the First Minister seriously considering imposing another local lockdown in the future? Is she considering introducing a ban on people leaving their local area? If so, how will that be enforced? When will the state of limbo on social distancing end, so that all barriers are removed?

Given the scale of Scotland’s drugs deaths crisis and the heartbreaking loss of life, even at this late hour, will the First Minister finally step up to lead her Government’s response?

In the past 16 months, the public have made huge sacrifices. Their lives have been upturned. They have missed out on many special occasions and moments that they will not get back, yet they have done what is necessary with incredible dedication.

Before the pandemic struck, we would have found it unbelievable if a Government had told people to stay inside their own homes for 23 hours a day, restricted how far we could travel, and forced people to miss the births of their children and the final moments of a loved one’s life. We would have found it equally unbelievable if the overwhelming majority of the public—almost everyone—followed the restrictions assiduously, putting the good of our country first.

People across Scotland and the United Kingdom deserve our utmost thanks and appreciation for everything that they have done. However, now is the right time to move forward. We cannot continue to ask the public to sacrifice so much of their lives when we promised them that the vaccine would bring an end to restrictions. The consequences for mental and physical health and family finances have already been catastrophic. The balance has to tilt further in favour of moving forward, and we have to make progress back to normality.

The public have done what was expected of them—now it is time for this Scottish National Party Government to deliver and hold up its end of the bargain. Therefore, it is welcome that Scotland will move to level 0 next week, with some minor modifications, and that self-isolation rules for people who are travelling will be relaxed. However, although the statement provides some of the clarity and answers that we expected, the challenges are still piling up for this SNP Government on multiple fronts.

On test and protect, standards have dropped. Rather than restore those high standards, the SNP has lowered the bar and weakened the criteria, as reports this week have uncovered.

On the vaccine roll-out, which has happened at a phenomenal pace across the whole of the United Kingdom and allowed us to safely ease restrictions at a faster pace, progress in Scotland has now slowed. Today’s figures are the worst in three months.

On NHS readiness, we have multiple hospitals bordering on breaking point and declaring code black status. On long Covid, an illness that has the potential to overwhelm our NHS if it is not tackled seriously, the SNP Government has been slow to act, and it refuses to consider our proposals for a network of long Covid clinics. Parents are still anxiously waiting to hear whether their children will need to self-isolate after a year of disrupted learning.

Will the First Minister listen to our request for additional resources to boost test and protect and return it to the same standard as before? Now that the vaccine roll-out is at its lowest level in months, what is being done to increase the pace? By what date will the education advisory group publish its findings to allow parents, pupils and teachers to know for sure whether self-isolation rules will continue in schools? Will the First Minister finally agree to launch a network of long Covid clinics, as we have proposed? To be absolutely clear, if it takes until the middle of September to double vaccinate all adults, will the First Minister tell the country whether that will have an impact on the plan to ease almost all restrictions on 9 August?

The OECD report—[Interruption.]

There is absolutely nothing grown-up or responsible in the Government claiming that it has changed its mind on the quality of the SQA because of an OECD report that it has had, not just for the past three weeks, but for months. The Government had the report before the election that we have just been through.

That damning OECD report criticised the confusing and unhelpful communication that was given to schools. Is it really any wonder? Nicola Sturgeon says that she has full confidence in the SQA, so she scrapped it. It is just another example of a Government that has lost its way in education, and that says one thing and does another with no vision of where it is going or how it gets there.

Today is the final chance in the Parliament, before courses start next term, for the First Minister to give young people and teachers, who have faced so much uncertainty over the past year, a clear answer. Will there be traditional exams next year?

On the specific question of the teaching of exams in Scotland, the First Minister said—I wrote this down, to make sure that I quote her correctly—that she will “consider their place” in education, going forward. Given that the First Minister has been in Government for 14 years and First Minister for seven, and given that she pledged that education would be her number 1 priority, I think that people across Scotland will expect her to be able to quite clearly say whether she is for or against exams, but she absolutely did not do that in that answer.

The First Minister’s Government no longer seems to value traditions that have served us well—traditions that helped the First Minister and I get from great local schools to this Parliament. Our education system has always been distinct. It is uniquely our own; a cornerstone of what makes us Scottish. If the Scottish National Party removes the focus on fundamentals, stops valuing core knowledge and ditches exams, will the First Minister’s Government not be abandoning the very things that made Scotland’s schools great?

The OECD report is so important and crucial that Nicola Sturgeon kept it in her drawer over the election period to make sure that there could be no challenge to her Government’s shambolic record on education. In all the quotes that she read out, she did not say that the OECD report said that “Confusing and unhelpful” communication has been given to schools. That one slipped the briefing from the First Minister.

The First Minister also says that she cannot stand up and give a definitive answer to young people about whether they will face exams next year and that it would be irresponsible for her to do so. However, the First Minister stood up in the chamber earlier this week to give the country a route map out of restrictions. Therefore, on the one hand, we know how we will get out of the Covid-19 restrictions, but on the other, young people are left in limbo with no answers as to whether they will sit traditional exams next year.

Let us look at what Scotland’s experts on education are saying about it. Keir Bloomer, who helped to write the curriculum for excellence, said that if the Government goes

“too far ... we will see a fall in standards.”

The University of Edinburgh professor Lindsay Paterson said—[Interruption.] I am really sorry that the Deputy First Minister of Scotland and a Scottish Government minister are criticising an independent expert in education before I have even read the quote. John Swinney has the gall to nod his head. Perhaps if he had listed to Lindsay Paterson, he would not have been sacked as education secretary.

Lindsay Paterson said that it is unlikely that a system that relied wholly on coursework would ever command public confidence.

The Scottish Conservatives firmly believe that traditional exams are the best and fairest way for young people to show what they know and what they can do. Does the First Minister agree?

As schools across Scotland prepare to break up for the summer, I take this opportunity to thank them for all that they have done to support young people in extremely challenging circumstances over the past year, often with little or no help from the Government.

Three weeks ago, the First Minister told the Parliament that she had full confidence in the Scottish Qualifications Authority, which is now being scrapped. What happened in that time to change her mind?

I, too, express my sympathies and condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one in the past 24 hours and throughout the time that we have dealt with this awful virus.

The penultimate sentence of the First Minister’s statement started, “Thanks to vaccines”. I am pleased that she acknowledged that there is more evidence that the success of the Scottish and United Kingdom vaccination scheme is significantly reducing hospitalisations. We all welcome that.

We also welcome the fact that we will finally have changes to wedding and funeral guidance, although it is disappointing that that has come late, after many occasions have been affected. After the statements in the past two weeks, I stood in the chamber and asked the First Minister to consider making immediate changes to the numbers who could attend funerals and weddings, but neither MSPs nor the businesses in the sectors that made such requests got a response.

The changes are welcome, but the First Minister called them minor, which they are not—they are major changes for the couples who asked for them and the businesses that sought them. For too many, the changes will come too late and will not be in time for ceremonies.

It is welcome to have more of an indication of when we will be free from restrictions; I will come on to that in a moment. In speaking of welcomes, I echo the First Minister and say that I hope that we will all welcome a solid Scotland win tonight. I wish Steve Clarke and the team all the best for kick-off at 8 o’clock.

I will ask the First Minister about the basic mitigations that will remain in place after 9 August. Will those mitigations include social distancing, particularly in hospitality venues? [Interruption.] The First Minister asks whether I listened to what she said. I listened carefully; she made clear what will happen when we move to level 0 and what she hopes will happen when we come out of restrictions on 9 August, but the statement made it clear that basic mitigations will remain in place.

It would be useful to have clarity on three points. Under the basic mitigations, will social distancing remain in place in hospitality venues? Will limits continue on indoor social gatherings? After 9 August, will the mitigations include wearing masks in offices and schools?

The Deputy First Minister has used a number of times the example of 24 May, saying that a Government-initiated question was used and no issues were raised then. Does he know and understand that 24 May was a Monday and therefore not a parliamentary sitting day, and that last Thursday was a sitting day, when ministers such as he could have announced it to Parliament and been questioned by MSPs?

This afternoon, the Scottish Parliament will debate the next steps to tackle Scotland’s drug deaths crisis. Does the First Minister accept that people in Scotland today are still being denied access to rehab, and that her Government’s addiction treatment is fundamentally broken?