Chamber and committees

The minister makes an important point about inclusion. In rural areas, kids at school cannot get the bus transport to get to the activities and events, and the pools and other assets. What more can the Scottish Government do to support local authorities to ensure that the facilities and events become inclusive for everyone?

This summer is certainly going to be exciting. I hope that it will be non-political and that we can all enjoy it. Even if some people in the chamber do not like football, I am sure that everybody will wish the participants, the volunteers and the spectators well.

I will touch on a couple of the maiden speeches. Irshad Ahmed’s speech was excellent. I very much relate to his being a family man but running a business as well and bringing his young children into work. It is lovely to see that we have people in the Parliament who have run businesses and understand the challenges of running a business.

I also pay tribute to Adam Harley. I do not know him, but it is clear that he still fits his suit, because Alex Cole-Hamilton, whom he worked for, kept him very busy running around. Mr Harley made an excellent speech, and he is absolutely right about removing party politics from the topic that we are talking about this afternoon. I was also really touched by what he said about the individual who has such talent but is worried about losing facilities. That stems from the real issue that we see here.

I congratulate everybody who made their maiden speech today.

I was really proud of being a netball coach and umpire at Earlston high school. We had 45 kids in the group, and we used to take them to matches. We went to the Scottish schools cup and played Gordonstoun, which is a renowned private school. Earlston—a state school—came second in the Scottish schools cup. Liam McArthur is absolutely right that the roles of umpire and coach are really important and we should support them.

I pay tribute to Borders wheelchair racer Samantha Kinghorn. She is originally from Gordon, in my constituency, and many of you will know who she is. She is a key participant in the 2026 Commonwealth games in Glasgow. Rather than competing, this time—because she is expecting a baby—she is serving as an official athlete ambassador, having stepped back from racing to start her family, which is fantastic.

Sammi was one of the first athletes to be selected for team Scotland in 2014, and she made her Commonwealth games debut in front of a home crowd. After finishing fifth in the T54 1500m final in Glasgow and improving on that result by finishing fourth at Gold Coast 2018, she secured her long-awaited podium moment at Birmingham 2022, where a nail-biting finish saw her clinch the bronze medal.

My colleague Miles Briggs noted that, to date, the Scottish Parliament has not held a function or event to mark the Commonwealth games. We should recognise them. I realise that it is a new parliamentary session, but we really need to get behind the teams and support the athletes. I hope that the parliamentary staff will consider having a parliamentary event before we go into recess, which is not that long away.

The health benefits of sport have been articulated—Gillian Mackay talked about them.

Although the support for grass-roots sport is welcome, Scottish local authorities are under huge financial pressure and face challenges that are hampering progress towards the goals that are set out in Maree Todd’s motion. The words that she uses in that motion, such as

“inclusive”

and

“physical, mental, and social health”

should not be used without meaning—Maree Todd will know exactly what I mean by that. We should strive to achieve those goals. If we are to seek short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions, we must also ensure that local authorities have financial sustainability.

I see the time, Presiding Officer. I had only four minutes and I am not used to that. We used to be a very effective Opposition—perhaps we still are, because I note that, yet again, Reform has not even lodged an amendment.

If there is a division, the Scottish Conservatives will support every amendment today, and we will support the Scottish Government’s motion, as amended, at decision time.

17:02

Over the weekend, the Scottish National Party’s new Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Energy said that the Scottish Government’s energy strategy may not be ready until the end of the year. That is a shocking dereliction of duty by the SNP Government. Oil and gas workers are losing their jobs now, and Aberdeen is suffering as a result of damaging anti-oil and net zero policies from Ed Miliband, yet the SNP still has a presumption against oil and gas developments in the north-east.

What on earth will it take for the SNP Government to wake up to the crisis in our oil and gas industry and support drilling now?

I am very proud that the blue wall has been maintained and has stopped an SNP majority. It was my win, and the wins of my colleagues Finlay Carson and Craig Hoy, that absolutely scuppered the chances of the separatists.

The SNP has simply not managed to reach its goal. I am a bit surprised at Reform, which failed to lodge an amendment to the SNP motion. Clearly, it is letting the SNP off scot free—on top of having let the SNP take a number of seats across Scotland.

The Scottish Government has a huge range of devolved powers across health, education, justice, housing, transport and some parts of taxation. We are one of the most powerful Parliaments in the world, and I am proud to be part of that and to have been re-elected. However, the Government demands yet more powers. We have heard that before. Why does it not use its current powers? Why does it not give businesses certainty or deal with the unresolved questions about currency, central banking, public finances, borrowing powers and all the rest of it, such as the questions that it cannot even answer about regulations and pensions?

Will the member take an intervention?

Let us spell out what happened. In 2021, Nicola Sturgeon denied that there was anything untoward in the SNP’s finances; months later, Police Scotland opened a formal investigation; and, in April 2023, a tent was erected by Police Scotland at Nicola Sturgeon’s family home and Peter Murrell was arrested. The SNP’s former chief executive appeared in court in March 2025, charged with embezzlement, and Nicola Sturgeon was let off without charge. Yesterday, Peter Murrell pled guilty to embezzling £400,000.

Given that the First Minister himself appointed Peter Murrell, will he tell the public whether he believes that his judgment was lacking?

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome you to your role, and I welcome everyone who is making their maiden speech today. I remember making mine back in 2016, and it is quite a daunting thing to do.

I am disappointed by the SNP’s motion for our first debate because it fundamentally fails to recognise what the Scottish public so desperately want their Government to be focused on. Today, it seems that we have drawn the dividing lines between unionism and nationalism. Voters of all political persuasions are saying to me that they wish their Government would focus on the things that matter. All of us have spoken about that. Instead of focusing on the topic of independence, we should be lowering people’s staggering and rising bills, helping people to keep their businesses afloat by dealing with the non-domestic rates revaluation, improving educational standards, stamping out violence in schools, dealing with and stopping crime, and ending the relentless obsession with fringe issues, which we spent most of the last session arguing about. Those should be our priorities, whether we are a unionist or a nationalist.

Russell Findlay has already said that he was surprised that our first debate was to be on independence. We have had that debate already. We had a vote, with an 85 per cent turnout, in 2014, and the public expressed their opinion clearly.

In the previous parliamentary session, the SNP claimed that an SNP majority in the Holyrood election would be a mandate for independence. It claimed that a pro-independence majority would give it the right to further pursue an independence referendum. Pro-independence parties, including the SNP’s friends the Greens, who agree with letting prisoners out of prisons, were returned to this Parliament with a vote tally that was reduced by 400,000—none of them has actually talked about that today—while support for unionist parties has barely changed.

John Swinney is desperately trying to sweep this scandal under the carpet and deny that there was any problem in 2021—that is on record.

Peter Murrell will rightly face the full force of the law, but the public will question why the former First Minister did not face investigation. Nicola Sturgeon denies any knowledge of her husband’s crimes, despite using a 700-quid pen while checking the time on her five-grand watch and sipping coffee from a three-grand coffee machine. That is unbelievable. Normal married couples would question where that money came from. The Lord Advocate is responsible for all criminal prosecutions in Scotland, and she sits in the SNP Cabinet. Can the First Minister tell the Parliament whether the Lord Advocate will publish the reasons why the Crown Office did not pursue charges against Nicola Sturgeon?

Will the member give way?

Alan Brown thinks that the grass is greener, but he cannot even deal with his own lawn. Is that not a shame?

The Scottish Government cannot even get the number of GPs that we need. It promised drop-in clinics. There was a six-hour waiting list in its trial clinic, according to a freedom of information request, and it cannot even get GPs to fill the posts. Oh dear—Alan Brown has a lot to learn in this place.

Businesses want certainty. Oil and gas workers in the north-east want certainty. I am really pleased that Jackie Dunbar agrees with calls to “drill, baby, drill”—my colleague Liam Kerr was very pleased about. We will ensure that we tell voters in Aberdeen South that the SNP agrees with us.

We need to support our NHS and reduce crime. The Scottish Conservatives will always stand against the SNP’s obsession with independence. We just hope that the other unionist parties will join us in doing so.

16:23