 I remind members that social distancing measures are in place in the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. I ask that members take care to observe those measures, including when entering and exiting the chamber, and please only use the aisles and walkways to access your seat and when moving around the chamber. The next item of business is a debate on motion 978, in the name of John Swinney, on first 100 days delivering for the people of First Scotland. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate and to press the request to speak buttons now or as soon as possible. I call on the Deputy First Minister to speak and to move the motion. You have 13 minutes, Mr Swinney. On 26 May, the First Minister made a statement to Parliament outlining our ambitious programme to deliver the nation's recovery from the Covid crisis. Central to that programme would be the delivery of the commitments that we set out in our first steps plan during the election campaign. In the 100 days after the First Minister was elected by Parliament, we have applied a clear focus to delivering 81 priorities in that programme that would materially improve the health, safety, security and wellbeing of the people of Scotland. That period ended on 25 August and today I can confirm that the Government delivered 80 of those 81 commitments. That is a significant achievement and one that clearly demonstrates that this is a Government committed to delivering on its promises to the people of Scotland. Successful completion of those commitments required a co-ordinated collective approach across Government and with our partners. I welcome the progress that has been achieved and I want to thank all those involved in the delivery of those commitments. Those targeted interventions will deliver positive change for the people, families and communities who need it most and for our economy, our public services and the environment. They touch on every ministerial portfolio and they will have an impact on communities' length and breadth of Scotland and will have a lasting benefit for years to come. Our most immediate priority has of course been to lead Scotland safely through the pandemic and to steer a careful course back to what can be the closest we can achieve to normality, reopening communities in a safe and a responsible fashion. That has only been possible due to the success of the vaccination programme. Every adult in Scotland has now been offered their first dose of a Covid vaccine and we expect everyone who is eligible to be offered their second dose by 12 September. Drop-in or open access clinics are now offered in all mainland health boards for those aged 16 and over. In total, 91 per cent of adults have received their first dose and 83 per cent have received their second. That includes 92 per cent of healthcare staff and 94 per cent of individuals who are shielding due to clinical vulnerability. Although enormous progress has been made, Covid remains a significant threat to our people and the sharp rise in cases in the past two weeks is a cause for a high degree of concern. Ministers are carefully assessing the case numbers and the relationship to hospitalisation levels. The First Minister will update Parliament on those considerations in her statement to Parliament tomorrow. Last week, the Government took the necessary steps towards learning lessons and improving understanding and preparedness for future pandemics when we published a set of draft aims and principles for an independent public inquiry into the handling of Covid-19 in Scotland. It forms the basis of a process to listen to the views of those affected, especially the bereaved, on what they wish to see from an inquiry. We have already started engaging with bereaved families who we want to put at the heart of the inquiry and its approach. We will ensure that the inquiry has the necessary scope to consider the breadth of the impact of the pandemic on the population across what we would habitually refer to as the four harms of Covid harm, non-health Covid harm, social and economic harms, to ensure that the inquiry is able to explore the full range of the actions of Government and our partners and to subject those and the decision making process that was involved to full and open scrutiny. Our continuing move back towards normality would not be possible without a strong and sustainable health and care sector. Throughout the pandemic, our national health service and care services have worked tirelessly to deal with the increased strain of Covid on top of the other on-going health and care needs of the population. In our 100-day programme, we recognise the selflessness of NHS and care staff by delivering on our commitment to implement the most generous pay rise anywhere in the United Kingdom for NHS Scotland agenda for changed staff. That average 4 per cent pay increase benefits around 154,000 employees. We also took steps to grow our health and care services to meet future challenges. Last week, the First Minister launched the NHS recovery plan to meet our ambition of increasing inpatient day case and outpatient activity by 10 per cent. The plan is backed by over £1 billion of additional investment to support delivery of improvements throughout the five years of this Parliament. Among other things, it will increase primary care investment by 25 per cent and restore face-to-face consultations in GP surgeries. It will reduce A&E attendances by 15 to 20 per cent and increase outpatient capacity by 10 per cent compared to pre-Covid levels. We also launched, again as part of the 100-day commitment, a consultation earlier this month to seek the views of the public on a national care system. We have heard a great deal about the problems that people face with the current system. Now we want to engage the public and all interested parties to build a better and a more sustainable approach that meets the needs of members of the public throughout the country. However, health and care services are only one aspect of how the 100-day commitment has materially improved the lives of the Scottish people. We also took steps to further invest in our communities, our homes, our families and the connections that help us to thrive. For instance, we have begun development of a new five-year plan focused on tackling loneliness and self-isolation head-on. We saw that being experienced during Covid. It was illustrated clearly and powerfully to us, so we have backed it with £10 million over five years and we recognise that that will be the first step to tackle the intensification of the issue that the pandemic has resulted in. On 29 July, we announced almost £1 million in funding to organisations tackling isolation and loneliness over the summer and into early 2022. We are also working to better connect communities across Scotland, and one of the specific measures in the 100-day commitments was the building of 14 new mobile phone masks in remote, rural and island areas. Eight of those have already been activated for 4G service and the remaining six will be activated by November. We are taking further significant steps to eliminate poverty and inequality in Scotland by beginning work to design and deliver a minimum income guarantee. That radical policy will help everyone to receive an income sufficient to live a dignified, healthy and financially secure life. That is only a sample of how we are ensuring our collective future prosperity. Through the 100-day commitments that we invested in jobs and our economy, both to mitigate the harmful effects of Westminster's Brexit and to help Scotland recover from the pandemic. We know that those issues have been particularly hard on local businesses, tourism and hospitality. That is why, among other things, we allocated up to £62 million in direct financial support to taxi drivers and operators, £25 million to tourism, including holiday vouchers for unpaid carers and low-income families. We launched the Scotland Loves Local campaign with a loyalty card scheme and a new £10 million fund to help revitalise high streets hit by the pandemic. In addition to that immediate support, we are taking steps toward a long-term sustainable economic future. Our vision for Scotland is to create a wellbeing economy, a society that is thriving across economic, social and environmental dimensions, one that delivers sustainable and inclusive growth for Scotland's places and people. Of course. I am grateful to the Deputy First Minister for giving way. This is not, in fact, 100 days or whatever. It is 5,234 days since the SNP came to government and one of the stains on that record of the last 14 years are the record drugs deaths. Will the Government commit itself to backing the Scottish Conservative proposals for a right to recovery bill that will tackle the drugs deaths crisis in Scotland? I would point out to Mr Kerr that, of course, the Government has been elected on four occasions by the public in Scotland over the time period that he referred to. In relation to the issue of drug deaths, the drugs policy minister Angela Constance has made it very clear that the Government will consider all suggestions, as the First Minister has just made clear in the statement that she has made to Parliament. We will consider all constructive suggestions from wherever they come within Parliament. That does not guarantee that they will happen, because there will be many issues to wrestle with, but the Government will give serious consideration to the points that are raised in the legislation that Mr Kerr refers to, because we are absolutely determined to put the necessary focus, which I know Angela Constance is doing, on the issues in relation to drug deaths and to addressing that crisis. As part of the wider approach to the 100 days commitments, particularly in relation to economic policy, we established an advisory council to shape our 10-year national strategy for economic transformation, which will be published later in the autumn. The strategy will set out the steps that we will take to deliver a green economic recovery and support new, good, green jobs, businesses and industries in the future. If we are to secure that long-term sustainable future for our economy and our communities, we cannot fail to address climate change and its impacts. We have worked with partners to ensure that the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November will be both safe and we hope to be successful in relation to tackling climate change. To demonstrate Scotland's commitment to tackling climate change, we have published our indicative nationally determined contribution based on our world-leading 2030 target to reduce emissions of all greenhouse gases by at least 75 per cent. We have delivered on our commitment to establish a green jobs workforce academy and to ensure that we match the skills with the job opportunities that will drive our transition to net zero. Of course. What the Scottish Government has not delivered on is its pledge to set out its strategic investment assessment into the Scottish supply chain for offshore wind. Why not? When will it? The Government has fulfilled all its commitments in the 100 days programme, but there will, of course, be other things in the Government's manifesto that we are determined to take forward. We will do that as part of the measures such as the steps that we are taking, for example, on transport decarbonisation with the bus decarbonisation task force, the steps to remove fossil fuels from public transport, where we are making £50 million available in 2021 to help to drive a green recovery, and the successful completion of the extensive woodland creation programme with 12,000 hectares of woodland planting that we have contributed. Those are just some of the measures that we have taken in relation to tackling climate change. One of the inclusions in the 100 days programme was the establishment of the cross-party Covid recovery group, on which I and other members across the chamber serve. On 28 June, I replied to your private officer's email of the same date, asking when the next meeting of the group would be held, and I never had a response. It appears that ministers took time off during recess, whilst Covid rampaged through our communities. Why was the meeting not held? We met extensively before the summer recess, and if my diary is correct, I think that we are meeting later on this week. We will continue the discussions, which Jackie Baillie helped to contribute at all times. I welcome her contribution in that process. Within the 100 days commitments, we took steps to ensure that children and young people in Scotland will have the best start in life and that families will be supported to recover from the difficult period that all families have faced. We provided £20 million for a summer offer of activities for children and young people, most affected by Covid, to reconnect, to have fun and to learn. We introduced free school lunches for primary 4 children as the first step to delivering free school breakfasts and lunches for all primary school pupils. I am grateful to local authority leaders for their agreement to the approach that we have taken, which has meant that the start of the school year primary 4 children have been able to benefit from the support. We have also made available funding to local authorities to increase teacher numbers by 1,000 and classroom assistance by 500 as part of our commitment to 3,500 additional teachers and 500 more pupil support assistants over the parliamentary term. Since the 18th of August at the start of the term, we have supported all local authorities to offer 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare to all eligible children, perhaps the most significant contribution that we can make to enhancing the nurture and the support of our youngest citizens at the most critical time in their lives. In terms of supporting young people, I was very gratified to see in the NHS recovery plan a commitment and ambitious commitment by the Government to clear down child and adolescent mental health waiting times by 2023. Can he confirm to Parliament that that will not just involve parking young people on medication or offering them inferior online interventions and that they will each get access to talking therapy if they need it? On the first part of Mr Cole Hamilton's intervention, my view would be very strongly that it would not be satisfactory for the type of options that Mr Cole Hamilton suggested to be made available in all circumstances, because clearly they would not be appropriate. For the same reason, the latter part of his question is a difficult point for me to commit to, because clinical judgment will be applied in that respect. However, what I do accept and recognise to be vital is that any young person in need of specific mental health assistance is able to receive that, and that is the commitment that the Government is making in relation to the NHS recovery plan that has been published. I will do it, but I suspect that I am beginning to stretch it. The first minister mentioned the things that you have done for young people during the course of the 100 days. One of the things that you have not done is double the Scottish child payment. We know that, if children are in poverty, it is very difficult for them to learn, so all of the things that you have described will be at risk if you do not address the child poverty gap. Will the Government commit to doubling the Scottish child payment in the programme for government immediately? Will the Government also look at the fact that 125,000 children have missed out on the bridging payment that you have paid to young children and young people while there is a huge delay in rolling it out to six to 16-year-olds? The Government is committed to the earliest possible progress on the doubling of the child payment. The most immediate threat to the income of families is the removal of the universal credit supplementary payment, which the United Kingdom Government is about to embark upon. I take this opportunity on my feet in Parliament to commit myself to everything that I can. My colleague Shona Robison is doing everything that she can to try to ensure that the United Kingdom Government does not take that retrograde step, which is an immediate choice in front of the United Kingdom Government ministers just now, which we will directly harm. This Government has taken steps to put in place the bridging payments. We will make as early progress as we possibly can do. It is something upon which we would be happy to discuss with the Labour Party, but we will certainly, as part of our dialogue and discussions with our colleagues who are soon to be confirmed as ministers in the Scottish Government from the Green Party, arising out of the Butehouse agreement, focus on those challenges. I look forward to ensuring that we build on the 100 days programme that the Government has set out to build on that, working in partnership with our colleagues from the Green Party in taking forward the partnership agreement that will influence much of our programme for government and will influence much of the remainder of this parliamentary term. The Government is focused on ensuring that we continue the delivery that we have achieved in the first 100 days to deliver on the expectations of the people of Scotland. We have set out an ambitious agenda. We have delivered on it in the first 100 days, and we intend to continue to keep delivering on it for the remainder of this parliamentary term. I now call on Douglas Ross to speak to him to move amendment 978.3. Mr Ross, you have around nine minutes. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank you and the Presiding Officer for your understanding that I am unable to remain for the whole debate today. I have to say that this chamber has witnessed its fair share of poor speeches, but that one from the Deputy First Minister will rank pretty highly. How any self-respecting politician can be on his feet for more than a quarter of an hour and say how great his Government is and not actually realise what his Government has done over the past 100 days and how they have let down the people of Scotland? John Swinney made a fool of himself during the summer when he introduced the term vertical drinking. However, I think that he has now come up with a new meaning to the word delivery, because this Government has not delivered over the last 100 days. It has in fact failed time and time again, and I will come on to explain just some of the reasons. However, for a moment, I want to discuss this debate, this topic. This Scottish Government led debate. The SNP Government get to choose the topic, get to say that we debate it for hours at a time, and they could choose any subject that they want. They could have chosen to speak about the NHS treatment backlog. They could have spoken to discuss how we get a strong economic recovery from Covid-19. They could have chosen to discuss the future of Scottish education. They could have chosen to pretty much discuss any issue of importance to the people of Scotland, but no. The SNP chose to, instead, pat themselves on the back and say how great they have been over the past 100 days. Completely bereft of ideas to sort out of the mess that they have made of this country, they would rather pretend that everything is great and hope that if they say it enough, people will believe them. However, everything is not great, in fact, far from it. Let us look at the areas that John Swinney did not mention. Apart from an intervention from this side, we have a couple of lines about Scotland's drug deaths crisis. However, it was during the 100 days since it was elected as the Scottish Government that the appalling drug deaths figures were again released for last year. Yet again, an increase in the lives cut short and families left devastated. Scotland remains the drug death capital of Europe, and the Deputy First Minister had nothing to say about it. In fact, it is so bad in Scotland just now, Deputy Presiding Officer, that three deaths every single day are as a result of drug misuse here in Scotland. Although John Swinney and his Government are celebrating about how they have delivered over the past 100 days—indeed, since they were re-elected 117 days ago—more than 350 families have lost a loved one. The Deputy First Minister celebrates his Government. They grieve a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, a friend or a loved one, and it is shameful that we got nothing from the Deputy First Minister about that crisis. However, Scottish Conservatives have plans, as Stephen Kerr said. We have published our plans for a right to recovery, and we will push that forward at every opportunity to make sure that the help is there for those who need it. I thank Douglas Ross for taking the intervention. I wonder whether the proposals in the right to recovery bill will ask for the evolution of drug policies so that we can do more with the powers that we really need in this country if we are going to tackle that. Douglas Ross. I thought Emma Harper came from a medical background. She would then surely be able to tell that we currently have the exact same powers over drug misuse in Scotland as every other party in the United Kingdom, but our drug deaths are more than three times higher. She asked about the Scottish Conservatives proposals. They are proposals that we are bringing forward that are backed by seven recovery groups. Instead of sniping from the sidelines, perhaps Emma Harper will join us to deal with the problem that the SNP has overseen for the past 14 years. I was speaking about health because, during the first 100 days, we have had a recovery plan for the NHS. However, it is one that failed to mention long Covid. It was a rehash of the previous announcements that have been made and is so underwhelming. It gives neither patients or staff the confidence that this Government understands the massive challenges facing the NHS here in Scotland in the months and years ahead. Maybe the reason that we have not had much progress is because the health secretary was so busy rolling out a Covid vaccination status app. No, he was not doing that either, was he? Because people in Scotland have suffered because the SNP Scottish Government wanted to do it differently. They could not work with the UK Government, like other devolved Administrations. They had to set up their own system. It is now delayed, costing taxpayers extra money, holiday makers find themselves unable to access venues abroad and vital oil and gas workers are struggling to get into Norway. What a mess! What a farce! Of course, all completely avoidable. Let us move from health to transport. Again, an area not covered by the Deputy First Minister and the crisis with Scotland's berries continues. Local people and tourists are forced to rely on ancient vessels that regularly break down. The Transport Minister has not been seen on a ferry since his appointment, but maybe he is too busy painting on windows ready for another launch event for Nicola Sturgeon to turn up to. With the SNP, it does not seem to matter if the ferries actually work, they just paint over the cracks and hope no one notices. What about education? Are young people continue to be let down by this Government? Over the past 100 days, this year's exam result showed that the attainment gap between our richest and poorest pupils has increased again. A gap that John Swinney's Government was supposed to be eliminating. Who could forget the First Minister having complete confidence in the SQA at FNQ's one lunchtime before her Government announced that the body would be scrapped a few hours later? As we heard earlier, Scotland's economic recovery is at risk with new green ministers, but it seems that the SNP was already determined to hold us back. Recently, my colleague Donald Cameron revealed that the SNP scheme to build affordable homes in rural areas has spent half its budget in the past five years. We have a housing crisis in rural Scotland and the SNP yet again failed to deliver. We know in response to a question from my colleague Miles Briggs that 275 Scottish families have been living in temporary accommodation for the last at least three years. The Scottish Government response and I quote, these are concerning statistics. It's far, far worse than that and they're not statistics. These are families who are looking for support and have been parked by the Government for years. The new justice secretary is not here. He's maybe reading his brief because he's not fared very well either. He struggled to get to grips with his new portfolio and incorrectly announced that the Inverness prison would be delayed for up to two years, only to be bailed out by his officials a few days later to confirm that wasn't the case. But sadly, there's been no reprieve for people trying to get through to Police Scotland on 101 recently. More than 40 per cent of calls to 101 in June were abandoned. That's right. During one month, right in the middle of when John Swinney expects us all to believe his Government were delivering for Scotland, more than 70,000 calls to 101 could not get through. While the SNP wanted today's debate to be an exercise in self-congratulation, I've only managed to use the time available to me to scratch at the surface of the failures that they've provided over since the election. The list can and should go on and I'm sure other speakers in this debate will use that opportunity. The fact is that no matter how much this Government wished to make the aftermath of the election a new beginning, it cannot escape its old feelings and the new ones that it is continually creating. As we heard earlier, this is not day 100 or 117 since the election. This is day 5,234 of the SNP coming to power. They've already had 14 years in Government and their record over the last decade is no better than their record since the election in May. No supine parliamentary debate or coalition deal can change that. While I look forward to debating the SNP Greens' belated programme for government next week, I already know what's going to be at the centrepiece. It's not going to be a plan to help children catch up from a year of disruptive schooling. It's not going to be a plan to support employers and businesses to deliver a economic recovery. It's not even with their new coalition partners going to be a plan to give our nation the leadership that it needs to meet our climate targets. It will be about a second independence referendum. Even in the aftermath of a global pandemic, when families still face huge uncertainty over their future, when workers still don't know whether their jobs are secure and many public services haven't returned to normal, the SNP cannot let their obsession go. They have no answer to the challenges of the day that Scotland faces. This remains the same tired, stale Government, regardless of whether we are debating 100 days or 5,000 days. That's why the Scottish Conservatives, as the largest opposition party, are getting on with the job of building Scotland's real alternative. The more the SNP preside over failures, the more they let down our country. On this side of the chamber, we can't and won't stand back and allow that to happen. I'll move the amendment in my name. Thank you very much, Mr Ross. I now call on Anna Sarwar to speak to a move amendment 978.2. Mr Sarwar, you have seven minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and because I'll forget later, I'll move the amendment in my name right from the outset. I think that it's important to reflect on where we are in terms of our country coming through this pandemic. I'll come in a moment to the 100 days since the election, 117 days, rather than the election. Let's not forget that thousands of our fellow citizens have lost their lives. Almost every family across our country has grieved the loss of a relative or a wider loved one. Every child in the country has been touched by lost education. Every child in our country has been touched by challenges around their mental health and their wellbeing. There are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of our fellow citizens waiting, I was going to say patiently but probably impatiently, for their healthcare. Huge backlog in terms of cancer diagnosis, a huge backlog in terms of cancer treatment, a huge backlog on mental health support, particularly for child and adolescent mental health services, a huge backlog pre-the pandemic, all exacerbated by the pandemic. There will be tens of thousands of people worried about if and when they will have a job to go back to. We face a looming unemployment crisis coming through this pandemic. Every single business across the country will have their own fears and their own anxieties about what this recovery truly means for them as we head into the latest phase of this pandemic. Justice delayed is justice denied. There are tens of thousands of our fellow citizens who have access to justice through this pandemic period. A huge backlog, not of cases, but also a huge backlog in terms of people on remand. Many of those people, ultimately, who may well be found innocent of what they are accused of in remand for an extended period of time. All that pressure on our key workers, whether that be teachers, whether that be care workers, whether that be NHS staff, whether that be council workers, cleansing workers, retail workers, food delivery workers, all that huge challenge. That moment, layered on top of all that in terms of our national crisis around those issues, has, yes, the global pandemic but also the global climate emergency. That is a real and huge moment for our country. What it requires is not more of the same. What it requires is not just rhetoric. What it requires is more than just cheap sound bites and platitudes from the Government and the new coalition partners. It requires meaningful, deep action, and it requires bigger ideas than the ones that it presented in the last Parliament. It needs bigger ideas, frankly, than the idea of independence. It needs big ideas to make sure that we can deliver for people across our country. While today's motion from the Deputy First Minister is filled with triumphant praise, it will surprise no-one who has followed the Government's conduct in office to learn that things are not quite as they seem on paper. The truth is that far from this being 100 days in which the SNP has transformed Scotland and started that important work of our national recovery, it is instead a missed opportunity. The challenges that we face in recovering from the pandemic have been profound, but rather than rising to that challenge, the SNP's first depth document has been mostly a tick box exercise. No doubt ministers will be pleased with themselves, patting themselves on their back for their achievements, but those were not the big actions of a Government taking the big decisions that are necessary to tackle Scotland's recovery. It is an unambitious list from a tired Government that has been in power for 14 years and run out of the big ideas. The truth is that, while ministers should be focusing on our safe exit from lockdown and kickstarting Scotland's recovery, they have spent the summer formalising their coalition of cuts with the Greens. Given a chance to step up and demonstrate a commitment to the national recovery, we all said that we would be a priority in the election. They have, instead, predictably doubled down on their own obsessions and dodging parliamentary security. Scotland needs a Government focused on results and positive changes, not more of the same of the last five years—indeed, the last 14 years. No one wants a celebration of the appointment of its own ministers to be one of those tick-box exercises or the short-term solutions to their problems or self-congratulating Government. They want big ideas. That is why Scottish Labour has called for an ambitious jobs guarantee scheme that will ensure that no young person that experienced the economic scarring of the pandemic is left behind or left unemployed. Instead, we have the SNP wanting to celebrate the appointment of a minister responsible for youth employment who is overseeing a young person's guarantee that has no targets or meaningful measures of success and will not give the guarantee that it claims on paper. It is almost like that legal guarantee of treatment, but we break the law rather than give people the treatment that they need. There are 30,000 unemployed young Scots and 18,000 still on furlough. What they need is ambition and delivery from Government, not rhetoric and promises of something in the future. We call for an NHS recovery plan to tackle the clinical backlog, support our front-line heroes and deliver a catch-up in our cancer services. Instead of promised fast-track cancer diagnosis centres, they have been late and the health secretary has spent most of the summer either being absent or denying that there is a crisis, the worst A&E waiting times, third week in a row since the history of those stats being produced in 2005. The recovery plan, when it did emerge, was barely a pamphlet. Low ambition was criticised by its staff and more about a PR exercise and slick rhetoric, rather than delivering for people on the ground. He is absolutely right in the lack of ambition around acute care, but does he recognise the work done by members such as Jackie Baillie, Sandesh Gulhani and myself on the issue of long Covid? There are as many as 100,000 Scots facing this devastating condition without the support that is available to other sufferers in other parts of the United Kingdom? I thank Alan Cole-Hamilton for raising that and congratulating all the members that he mentioned by name. If I do not congratulate Jackie Baillie, I will pay a heavy price for it later. It is a serious and important issue. Long Covid has impacted many of our fellow citizens. The pandemic has not gone away. People are still getting Covid and people are still hospitalised by Covid. Sadly, people are still dying from Covid and people are still getting long Covid. What it needs is direct action. We heard from the First Minister today lots of warm words being the great unifier, wanting to have co-operation, seeing when ideas will well to take them on board. I have heard people from across this Parliament talk about long Covid clinics and dedicated long Covid clinics since this Parliament reconvened after the election. We have still not had that backed up with delivery. We can have all the warm words about co-operation, but co-operation has to be more than just saying, roll over and agree with what we want. It has to be genuinely listening to other people's concerns. On the issue of long Covid, I wholeheartedly agree with Alan Cole-Hamilton. Happy to take the intervention from Emma Harper. Does he not agree that the respiratory care action plan that is being implemented right now by the Scottish Government includes long Covid as part of that respiratory care action plan? I welcome the respiratory care plan, but long Covid is more than just respiratory care. The thing about action plans, consultations and working groups is that it is fantastic and brings people together and gets ideas. However, to be honest, at some point the Government needs to get past strategy documents and all those action groups and go to the action that is being delivered itself. Willie Rennie said that if every working group that the Scottish Government announced a job was created, it would have full employment in Scotland. I think that he is right about that. It is time to turn from those working groups and talking shops and deliver for people across the country. In closing, there is still time to take the urgent action that we need to tackle the crisis. Let's deliver a genuine jobs guarantee for young people and the long-term unemployed. Let's double the Scottish child payment immediately to confront child poverty. Let's remobilise the NHS to confront Scotland's biggest killer, cancer, back that around cancer support and long Covid connections. Let's take urgent action so that we do not have a repeat of the SQA exams fiasco year after year after year. Let's make sure that we are investing in our young people. Let's not pretend that this is day 1 of a new SNP Government. It's day 5,233. After all that time, what the people of Scotland need is a Government that wants to truly bring us together, not pull us apart. It wants a Government that wants to talk, but not just do talk, but deliver in action. Scotland needs this Government to do better. Thank you, Mr Sarwar. I now call on Alex Cole-Hamilton to speak to you and move amendment 978.1. Mr Cole-Hamilton, you have six minutes. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I move the amendment in my name. I may also take this opportunity to welcome lawness later in Patrick Harvie to their places. Despite my earlier remarks on the opposition of my party, I do recognise that this is a big day for them. I wish them success in their new roles. 100 days is a long time in politics, but it's even longer if you are suffering from suicidal thoughts and still haven't been seen by a psychiatrist. If you are a drug user who has reached out for help and been told that it will be 10 days before you receive an assessment phone call or if you're still waiting for a laptop to access online learning, it's a long time for those in particular living in rural areas amid unmet promises on increased connectivity or waiting on ferries that were allowed to rust in Scotland's shipyards. There have been discussions about the exact date of the Government's 100 days and when they fell, but given the gravity of the situation facing all of our constituents, I will not waste precious time bickering about those days. For me, that was something of a false flag that helped to deviate from this Government's record. Deputy Presiding Officer, last week, the Scottish Government published its much-hype and much-called for NHS recovery plan. We have heard that it was rather a thin document, but given the pressure our health service is under, my team and I were anticipating a weighty tone full of evidence-based policies, new strategies and clarity for under-pressure staff on when they might expect some relief. Instead, we got our 26 pages of repackaged and reheated promises. With any department's more stretched than ever before and well over 200,000 operations lost or deferred to the pandemic, patients and staff deserved more than wafer-thin guarantees and recycled commitments. However, what they got was a vague and poorly thought-out avoidance strategy. The plan's answer to the crisis facing the NHS appeared to be to suppress demand and shift patients online. I cannot even decide whether the GP recruitment target is for 2026 or 2028. It cannot be both, but the recovery plan suggests that it is. GPs are being asked to do more with less, but with the same increase in capacity that was planned in 2017, so pre-pandemic, it just does not add up. During the election, the SNP promised a plan that would deliver 10 per cent more capacity. Based on the plan that was published last week, the only thing that the SNP looks set to deliver is yet more disappointment. Despite modelling suggesting that up to 100,000 people in Scotland could suffer from long Covid, the NHS recovery plan just does not mention it, not even once. That is a disgrace. Last week, I attended the Long Covid cafe run by Long Covid Scotland. It was truly devastating to see people who should be in the prime of their life, laid low by this crushing condition, was an eye-opener. Frankly, it is not unduly fair to say that they would be better off in England, where they would have at least access to the long Covid clinics. As Sarwar rightly points out, it has been talked about in the chamber since the Parliament reconvened after the election. Presiding Officer, Long Covid is perhaps the biggest disabling event since the First World War. Many people who are suffering from this condition cannot even verify that they have it because they were never tested for Covid in the early days in the first wave of the pandemic. As such, they are left in limbo without access to support, without access to long-term sick pay. They are suffering those awful conditions, such as air hunger, chronic fatigue and gastrointestinal issues. They are not getting the support that they need. I am working very closely, as I said earlier, with Jackie Baillie and Dr Sandesh Gulhane, to establish a cross-party group on the condition. We are doing this because we recognise just how important it is going to become to the work of the chamber. Professor Jason Leitch said that cases of Covid could be as high as 14,000 a day this week. Test and protect is still understaffed and struggling. Positive cases will certainly slip through the cracks and more people will become infected as a result and come down with long Covid as a result. I find it astonishing that the Government still refuses to properly engage with the threat that that condition poses to our communities. That complacency will be devastating, not least to those sufferers and those around them, particularly women and young people. Letting down young people has become somewhat symptomatic of an SNP Government, and the 100-day pledge that we are debating today is no different. The one way of hope that I would accept is in the commitment and the bold commitment to clear down child and adolescent mental health waiting targets by 2023. I wish the Government well in that. It is so needed. You cannot continue to have children waiting two years for first-line treatment. In our schools, children and young people need more support than ever. After a year of disruption with soaring class sizes and staff shortages, part of everyday life in most schools, there is dire need for focus. That does not have to be this way. Permanent funding structures will give local authorities the confidence that they need to properly invest in their workforce. No teachers should be left without a job yet. Precious, employment and a dearth of jobs means that qualified teachers are being driven away from the profession. It is a workforce planning disaster. Giving a laptop to every child in Scotland is not much use if there are no teachers in post who can help them to learn how to use it. Given the sheer scale of the disappointment felt after 14 years of government, such a self-congratulatory debate is infuriating. Six minutes is nowhere near enough time to explore those areas where this Government has been found wanting. In the last year, there has been a 10 per cent increase in open homelessness cases. A and E departments have seen the worst waiting time figures since records began. Our planet is on the brink of being irreparably damaged and alcohol-related deaths are 17 per cent higher than they were two years ago. The Scottish Government could have used this afternoon to call for a debate on any one of the above issues, inviting colleagues from across the chamber to work constructively to address them. Instead, the cabinet secretary has tabled a motion calling on Parliament to give this Government a pat on the back for all their successes. Quite simply, the plan and its delivery are not good enough. Thank you very much, Mr Cole. Hamilton, we now move to the open debate. I am afraid that we have used up all the latitude that we had earlier on in terms of extra time, so any interventions will have to be accommodated in your time allocation. I call firstly Stuart McMillan, who will be followed by Oliver Mundell. Mr McMillan, you have six minutes, please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. First of all, I would like to congratulate Patrick Harvey and Lorna Slater on their new positions. I am pleased to be speaking in this debate today. I welcome the bold steps that the Scottish Government has taken since the election. In the 100 days that the SNP has delivered, 80 priorities have been set out by the First Minister in May, demonstrating the commitment to taking the action needed to make lasting generational change to improve the lives of people across Scotland and also my Greenock and Inverclyde constituency. Recovery from the pandemic is, of course, the urgent priority, and I welcome the ambitious and transformative measures that the SNP has delivered thus far. However, this is only the beginning and there is much more that we can and will do to build a fairer and more sustainable country as we continue to drive Scotland's recovery from Covid-19. It is no surprise to anybody in the chamber that I believe that the full powers of independence should enable us to get even further, which is why it is essential that the people of Scotland have a choice over our future once the Covid crisis has passed. The independence referendum will come, but I will focus on what the Scottish Government have achieved for the people of Scotland during the first 100 days, which is in stark contrast into what the Tory Westminster Government has delivered. I will take up my entire speech and more to list every achievement that has been delivered, so I will focus on a few that I know will make a positive impact for my constituents. First, the 4 per cent average pay rise for NHS workers, including full back pay. On top of the £500 payment that has been made to all health and social care staff earlier this year, in challenging economic times, the Scottish Government is making a point of ensuring that front-line NHS staff are recognised for their service and dedication. Another commitment that was delivered was increasing the school clothing grants to at least £120 per primary and £150 per secondary school child and abolishing core curriculum charges for all pupils. The Scottish Government also provided a further £100 payment to families to coincide with the start of the summer holidays. That was in addition to the £100 paid at Easter and was also part of the £520 support commitment that was made to lower income families. We know that Covid has affected many pupils' finances, so that support will help many families in my constituency by putting some money and more money in their pockets. The pupils and families will also benefit from the abolition of fees for music and art tuition in schools. As someone who plays an instrument, I recognise the positive impact that those subjects can have on a child's development and enjoyment. I disagree with the member's analysis, but does he not accept that it is as a result of cuts by his own Government that those charges became commonplace right across Scotland? I disagree with Mr Mundell, and you will probably not be surprised that I have said that. If Mr Mundell looks at the financing that came from the consecutive Westminster Governments to the Scottish Parliament, he will understand if he wants to look at the facts. There has been a real terms cut to Scotland's budget. Looking beyond the 100 days that the Scottish Government has committed to double the Scottish child payment to £20 during this parliamentary term, some of the Scottish Fiscal Commission indicates that around 2,500 children and families in Inverclyde could benefit from that payment, which has been labelled a game changer by child poverty charities. With a combination of support, including the Scottish child payment, the best start grant and the best start foods, eligible low-income families with one child could receive up to £5,200 by the time of their child that turns at six. While the Scottish Government gives with one hand the Tory UK Government is taking it away with another, the removal of the £20 universal credit uplift will be devastating for many households across Scotland. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has warned that millions of households will face an income loss equivalent to £1,040 a year, but by extending the uplift, the UK Government can actually boost the incomes of 1.5 million people, including 300,000 children. The UK Government is rightly saying that it wants to support people back into work as we emerge from the crisis, but research indicates that working families make up the majority of those who will be affected. When Douglas Ross earlier moaned about the SNP Green co-operation agreement and his nonsensical rhetoric about the agreement adversely affecting hard-working families, if Mr Ross focused on one job as compared to his multiple jobs, he might have realised the fact that working families make up the majority of those who will be affected. It is clear, then, that the multimillionaire Tory MP, Rysius Sunach's decision, will create more in work poverty, including for hard-working families and plunge more people into crisis, Mr Kerr. Rysius Sunach's reputation will be forever damaged by driving more people into poverty and desperation. That is in complete contrast to the actions of the Scottish Government, which is determined to reduce poverty and make Scotland a fairer, greener and more equal society. The list goes on, but I will touch on a couple. In 100 days, we have also opened three fast-tech cancer diagnostic centres that secure a £10,000 bursary for Scottish student paramedics, invested £70 million in youth employment through our young persons guarantee, delivered £10 million to restore nature and improve biodiversity, increased funding for local heat and energy efficiency projects and many, many more. However, we have seen a Scottish Government start this session with great speed and co-operation, said of the absolute chaos that we see from the Tories at Westminster. Thank you, Mr McMillan. I now call Oliver Mundell to be followed by Carl Mawkin. The first 100 days of a new parliamentary session, if not a new Government, is an opportunity to hit the political reset button, an opportunity to do things differently to take the country forward. Never has this task been more important than following the last 18 months that this whole country has lived through. To say that the first 100 days of this new Parliament has been a wasted opportunity is an understatement, and I can't sum it up better than the lackluster speech that we heard from John Swinney. Far from setting out an ambitious programme to take us forward, all we see is the same old tired thinking and obsession with the arguments of the past. Worse still, that does not even seem to have been able to be repackaged and cobbled together into a programme for government in time for this Parliament returning. What can be more depressing than the realisation that the priority for the Scottish Government's deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for the Covid recovery over the summer was not the wider interests of the people of Scotland but the narrow political interests of the SNP. Whatever happened to Nicola Sturgeon's big, bold offer to work across this chamber? Like so many of the SNP's promises, the answer is nothing, because rather than building a broad coalition and taking the whole country forward together, the SNP has focused on bringing on board a band of extremists to bolster their case for independence. If the case for breaking up our country in the midst of a global health pandemic seemed dangerous enough already, surely the prospect of putting people into government who want to shrink our economy, destroy jobs and condemn those living in rural communities to be punished for their hard work growing our food and penalised for driving a car where no public transport exists hardly provides you with any confidence. I will offer a little bit of advice. It certainly does not move you from no to yes. After all, let us not pretend that the Greens are there to champion the environment. No, this is all about their extreme left-wing pet projects and their shared ambition to bring about the end of the United Kingdom as we know it. Yesterday is historic but for all the wrong reasons. Many will argue that this is the first time a party has gone into government to make a country smaller, poorer and reverse life chances of its citizens. Those less charitable might argue that is what the SNP has been trying to do for the past 14 years, but we have not seen anything yet. Against the backdrop of that coalition of chaos, the so-called achievements of the first 100 days look even more feeble, merely a placeholder to fill the vacuum while the deal was hammered out. Take education alone. It takes some doing to pat yourself on the back for increasing teacher numbers when you spent years arguing that your own cuts to teacher numbers have had no impact on classroom learning. It is equally absurd to claim that having discussions about the distribution of laptops and iPads is the same thing as delivering them into the hands of the children and young people that need them. Something that has made it even more ridiculous by the fact that some local authorities such as the Scottish Borders Council and a number of individual schools managed to do that some time ago when it actually made a critical difference. As I said after the election during the 100 days education debate, where are the serious plans for catch-up after an average of 16 weeks lost learning? Surely our young people deserved a little bit more than they got. Where are the big bold ideas to restore standards in our education system? Where is the humility when it comes to the admitting that the SNP have got it wrong? Where is the big vision? Why are we so heavily dependent on the OECD's conclusions when a number of Scottish educationalists and teachers have been sounding the alarm bells for years? The answer is simple. This is a tired Government who has run out of ideas of their own. It is a Government that is responsible for so many of the problems in Scotland, not because they happened to be in office today but because it is their policy choices over the past 14 years that have created them. Now the best they can do after falling short on that all-important and expected electoral majority is to draft in some new passengers for the Government limos. I suspect that in the absence of any serious ideas from the SNP we will come to find that it is Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater who are in the driving seat when it comes to dictating Government policy. This is bad news for my constituents and for that matter, the whole country. Presiding Officer, what a way to end your 100 days in office or to put it another way? Imagine getting to 5,234 days in office and this is the best it gets. Thank you, Mr Mundell. I now call Carol Mocken to be followed by Fulton MacGregor. Ms Mocken, you have six minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's good to be back here at Holyrood, making a start on the job that we were all elected to do, push Scotland forward and building a better future for us all. To my mind at least, it's long overdue. This Parliament needs to use its time and its powers much more decisively and effectively. It is our duty to do so, not only for those who elect does, but for the generations who fought to bring power here in the first place. During the summer, I have been out regularly speaking to constituents. The most common question that I am asked after a year at the door is a simple one. What does the Scottish Parliament actually do? I will be honest, in the first months of my time as an MSP, I have found myself asking the same question. In short, the answer is not enough. It is a great disappointment to see that the Government's plan and delivery for the first 100 days of government is, as usual, more than underwhelming. Although there are positive advances that are to be welcomed, including an inquiry into the Covid crisis and a billion for the NHS, it is far from the radical template for a new country that the manifestos of the two governing parties suggested back in May. In reality, most of the plan is just recycled announcements that we are already known. The long-awaited NHS recovery plan unfortunately contains nothing of note for social care, which is a catastrophic tipping point. It lacks meaningful youth job guarantee and we are still left with little to no detail at all on what was to be done to help people invented accommodation in Scotland. I understand that this is in part part of a great many things that we will hear about later in the year. I promise that the public have gotten used to under this Government. Reform of the rented sector is one of the key public concerns of our age. We often hear positive rhetoric about Scotland's supposedly progressive approach to housing, but that does not stand up even to the most cursory bit of scrutiny. Although I am sure that many will welcome input from the Greens, it will need to be more than just another voice in the room. We are years behind on those reforms. If we do not act now with the added economic costs of Covid, it may be too late to get many renters' lives back on track. The saddest fact is that we all know a great deal of the public to not pay much attention to what goes on in the building precisely because so much is consigned to reports, future plans and payments, with no little long-term purpose behind them. Perhaps that term will be different and my words of warning will sound hollow. I truly hope that that is the case. However, if we have another five years of governance in Scotland in which decisions, such as doubling the Scottish child payment or saying no to the Campbell oilfields are not made, then we will be back here again in 2026. I would like to warn that a Greener Scotland does not simply mean having Greens in the Government, but should mean actively pursuing radical and transformative change. As noted by the world-renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg today, Scotland, under this Government, has done little to suggest that it is a world leader on climate change. With COP26 approaching, we could well become caught out in front of the world's gaze. Scottish Labour has said that we need to use the opportunity of COP26 to show leadership on tackling the climate emergency and deliver a just transition with thousands of new green jobs across Scotland. Under this Government, direct jobs in the low-carbon economy are at the lowest level since 2014, and the SNP's new green jobs workforce academy amounts to little more than new and new jobs portal. That is not good enough. Before you publish another plan to keep the press happy, my message to the SNP and the Greens during this important week is simple. You cannot stand up for Scotland by lying down. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is a great pleasure to speak in this debate and in the many remarkable achievements of this Government already in such a short time into office. The scale of those 100 achievements is a testament to our desire to repay the public for the faith that they put out in us in May this year. I also want to say that I wholeheartedly welcome the co-operation agreement between the SNP and the Green Party, and I think that it will do a lot to build a fairer, more equal country. Many of our achievements have already been talked about at length, including the well-deserved 4 per cent, paid eyes for our hard-working and heroic NHS staff, the largest increase anywhere in the UK, and also the development of a national care service, the details of which I am personally looking forward to scrutinising here in this Parliament and making sure that it can be as good a service as possible. I was also really pleased to hear about the women's health plan to tackle those inherent inequalities that we all know about. Perhaps, Presiding Officer, this announcement stood out for me more than ever this year, because, as some members may be aware, over the summer recess I became a dad for the third time to a baby girl. I thought that it would be right at this point to mention her in the chamber, like I did when I became a dad last time. I shout out to baby Mornan MacGregor, as it is my first speech here. Thank you. Although I have always known it, we all do in this chamber and we all know about the inequalities. Perhaps now, over the past few weeks, I understand more keenly the challenges that she will face growing up. Perhaps I now know that her brothers and their male peers will not face. I suppose that there is a wee bit about the understanding, the knowing it and the understanding of it. I think that it is my job and all her jobs in here to make sure that that is not the case. That is why I really welcome this policy development and others like it. Moving on, I would like to focus my remarks on some of the policies and achievements that are aimed at supporting children, young people and families. Again, some colleagues across the chamber have already mentioned them. One that sticks out is the making further strides to improve the attainment gap through, for example, the pupil equity funding and the challenge authority programme. In my constituency of co-bridge and crisis, I would like to make some progress and perhaps come back to you. My constituency of co-bridge and crisis has some significant areas of poverty and deprivation, and I stood for election to vote for policies that will directly tackle this. I am glad that these measures and others like it do just that. Related to this is the expansion of free school meals to P4s, another positive step, although I would like to say to the Government that I would be supportive of universal free school meals throughout, to all school pupils in Scotland. I hope that, by expanding this to P4s, this is something we are very much on a path towards. Likewise, I welcome the increase in the grant and I also note that the SNP draft agreement pledges to bring forward statutory guidance for schools in relation to school uniforms. I was wondering and summing up if the Deputy First Minister can give us an update on where discussions on that issue might be at, because it is an issue that I am very interested in. Of course, the roll-out for living 40 hours again is a massive step forward and to deliver this, despite the pandemic, I think is a great achievement and this will help many families. A slightly separate note, I know that Minister Clare Hockey is visiting or can near after-school care in forest school on Friday, which is in my constituency, and although I am unable to join her, I want to thank her for the invite. I am sure that she will have a very warm welcome from the people of Coatbridge in Christ and be very impressed by the forest school. A couple of our policies I want to mention that are similarly related to never a particular significance in my constituency. For example, the play park's refurbishment is quite a simple policy, but I think that it is a fantastic one. I noticed during the election period that it engages so many people. My team and I are currently working on a survey to find out what part's constituents across Coatbridge in Christ should think should be prioritised and asking questions about accessibility. I think that there are real questions about disabled access to a lot of our parks. I think that the £20 million investment in summer activities has been such a game changer for so many in our communities. I want to give a wee example there that came across the benefits of this directly just at the weekend by accident. I booked my two older children and their cousins to a planetarium event at Summerly Museum in Coatbridge. When I got there, I was told by one of the staff that was setting up that it was a free event that came about through the Government funding. It was absolutely fantastic event, I have to say, for the kids, of course, learning about space and they got to hold mule meteroids and the like. My wee boy has been talking about it since. That was repeated throughout events across Lanarkshire. From my point of view, it was really good to get that real life unplanned. I wasn't there as an MSP, as such, but it was an experience of how that is actually working. I would like to thank the Government for that, because it really was an excellent event. I know that, as I said, there was a lot like it. I am not going to be able to take in the interventions with a lot of what I wanted to say in this debate, so I apologise to the member for that. In conclusion, I want to end by saying that I support this motion and the pledges that we have already delivered are remarkable. Clearly, the biggest issue that we still face is the response to Covid-19. I cannot say that I am not becoming increasingly anxious about the rise in cases in recent weeks. It is getting to the stage now where I know quite a large number of individuals and families who have contracted Covid, so there is a real increase there. I believe that the Government has responded well in rolling out the vaccine, prioritising skills and reopening gradually. It will continue to have my support on whatever steps that I think are appropriate to continue to curtail the virus and move through in and out of this very difficult time in our history. I now call Gillian Mackay, who will be followed by Dean Lockhart. I also take this opportunity to welcome Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater to their new jobs. I am sure that you will have every success in them. I welcome this debate on the first 100 days of Parliament. While Covid cases continue to soar and our NHS is placed under increasing pressure, it makes sense to reflect on what has been achieved in the first 100 days and how much further we have to go before the pandemic is behind us and our health service can fully recover. While the Covid crisis is by no means over, it is never too early to begin learning lessons from the pandemic. I am therefore pleased that the Scottish Government has taken steps to establish a public inquiry. The Covid crisis has left thousands of people with long-term health effects and many have tragically died. We have witnessed this terrible virus that devastates care homes, places our loved ones in hospital and changed the way that we live our lives. The Government's handling of the pandemic must be thoroughly scrutinised so that we can establish how Scotland could be better prepared and ensure that we are in a better position to handle future pandemics. It has been almost 18 months since the first Covid case in Scotland. During this time, healthcare staff have gone above and beyond to protect us from the virus while continuing to deliver emergency and routine care. Staff are exhausted and demoralised, and as we make plans to help our NHS recover, we must avoid placing extra pressure on them. The NHS recovery plan must be accompanied by clear messaging from the Scottish Government. Ministers need to be honest with the public about what level of service the NHS can provide while it recovers and how long it will be expected to wait for routine treatment. It cannot be left up to already overburdened staff to deliver the message. Just last week, a GP wrote to me about the negativity that practice staff had faced when explaining to patients that they cannot access general practice the way they used to, saying that often staff have been in tears. They said that comments in the media when the plan was published about GPs opening up for face-to-face appointments was unhelpful. General practice has always been and remains open. Throughout the pandemic, GPs have held face-to-face appointments when clinically necessary. Due to rising patient demand, GPs are having to triage patients so that the most urgent cases will be seen first. The reality is that that will continue for some time. We need to see leadership from the Government on this issue and a public information campaign that clearly sets out how people can expect to access health services in the wake of Covid. In order for our NHS to recover, recruitment and retention must be prioritised and attractive pay and conditions will be key to that. We know that some clinicians and trade unions have expressed disappointment at the proposed pay increases for NHS staff. Chair of the BMA, Dr Lewis Morrison, has said that the 3 per cent pay uplift fails to address years of pay erosion and does virtually nothing to address low morale. As we work to help our NHS to recover, another major focus of this Parliament will be social care reform. The Scottish Government's consultation on a national care service has now been published, giving people the chance to have a say in how the service should be shaped. That is a historic moment when we have the chance to transform the way people access social care, to improve choice and autonomy, to deliver greater recognition of unpaid carers and to design an ethical commissioning process to name a few. That will be some of the most important work that we will undertake in this Parliament and I look forward to working with colleagues across the chamber to ensure that we have a truly human rights-based person-centred service. There is also much work to be done to improve our existing public services in the wake of Covid. Rail strikes are growing across Scotland as swift resolution is needed, as we risk serious disruption at COP26, when hundreds and thousands of people will be travelling to Glasgow. Abelio has a duty to its staff and passengers to resolve the situation, and it is a problem of the operator's own making and one that it has an obligation to fix. Scottish Greens are strongly supportive of moves to bring ScotRail entirely into public hands. Discussion of what a people's railway will look like when the franchise is taken over by the state need to start now, including how we achieve timetables that work and reduce times rather than increasing them. That is the year of COP26, and this Parliament's response to climate change is rightly under increased scrutiny. The citizens climate assembly has produced ground-breaking recommendations and given the people's consent to transformative change. We must rise to this challenge. In response to the climate change plan update last session, the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee set out a series of recommendations, and it is vital that we see a meaningful response to those in the run-up to COP26. While reflecting on the past 100 days, it is worth stating that the next 100 days will also be crucial. Our ambitions and decisions in the run-up to COP26 can make a significant difference for generations to come. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I am just waiting for my microphone. Despite the best efforts of the Scottish National Party's spin machine and the wording of the Government motion today, this is not a new administration with bold new policies and a fresh ministerial team to take Scotland forward. Talk of delivering for the people of Scotland in the first 100 days is, frankly, ridiculous when you look at the serial failure to deliver in the previous 5,000 days that this Government has been in power. The SNP motion today talks about creating jobs and delivering a green recovery, but this is the same Government that promised to deliver 130,000 jobs in the renewable sector. The reality is that, today, 20,000 jobs—that is 20,000 jobs—15 per cent of that target has been delivered. This is the same Government that says that Scotland would become a world leader in low-carbon and renewables manufacturing, the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy. However, today, Scotland has a negative balance of trade in the renewable sector. We import £230 million more in renewables equipment than we export. That is not delivering a sustainable recovery for Scotland. It is a monumental failure to deliver on Scotland's natural resources and the massive opportunities that are available in this sector. I want to make a bit of progress. In 2017, the SNP promised to deliver a publicly-owned energy company, a company that would address fuel poverty and reduce energy prices and help to meet climate change targets. Four years later, after spending £500,000 of taxpayers' money on feasibility studies, there is no energy company. A policy announced by the First Minister to Great Fanfare was quietly dropped over recess. The Scottish National Investment Bank, first approved by the Parliament three years ago, was supposed to deliver transformational change to Scotland's economy and meet the objectives of net zero. With an initial budget of £500 million promised, three years later, less than 20 per cent of that money has been invested. Before the pandemic struck, the economy committee published a report covering the first 12 years of the SNP Government, concluding that the Scottish Government had failed to meet every single one of its own economic targets. During the pandemic, as we all saw, repeated failures of ministers to deliver the support desperately needed to save small firms across Scotland, leaving it for the UK Government to save 800,000 jobs and over 150,000 small firms in Scotland. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the Government's inability to deliver economic recovery will change. We saw that during recess, we saw the usual announcements of pointless new quangos and advisory groups, with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance announcing a new council of economic transformation, presumably because most of the previous economic advisory council had quit following criticism of the Government for not understanding how the business or economy works. We all know that the Greens do not believe in economic growth, and in that respect, they have found the perfect coalition partner in the SNP. If he backs economic growth, will he back the target that is in the green agreement for a doubling of onshore wind capacity in Scotland? I will back any policy that promotes sustainable economic growth. The point that I have been making in this debate is that this has not been achieved after 14 years of SNP Government, and the coalition with the Greens will make it even less likely. Presiding Officer, it is not just in the economic terms that Scotland has suffered under the SNP. Various MSPs during this debate have highlighted the attainment gap is up, NHS waiting times are at record levels, environmental and climate change targets have been missed, drug deaths are at record highs, and we have a ferry network that is beyond breaking point, a situation that is getting worse and is nothing short of a national scandal. We have two ferries still under construction, that are now five years overdue, £100 million over budget, and a ferry network relying on vessels operating years beyond their lifespan with constant breakdowns causing disruption. If this Government cannot get the construction of two ferries right, how can we expect it to deliver on the complexities of climate change or Covid recovery? Presiding Officer, the SNP likes to blame Westminster whenever things go wrong, as we know, but I want to make it clear that all the policy failures that I have just referred to have been 100 per cent within the powers of the SNP, 100 per cent within their devolved powers. Let me conclude by coming back to the Government's motion on the first 100 days, because having listened to the contribution of ministers today, it is clear that the only real action that has been taken in the first 100 days is to enter into the coalition of chaos with the Green Party, a coalition that highlights the true priority of the SNP for this coming parliamentary session. It will once again prioritise constitutional division at the expense of Covid recovery, the health service, education, drugs deaths and jobs. This is not a new administration far from it, it is a Government with a long-track record of failure to deliver, and the addition of the Greens to this administration will only make matters worse. I support the amendment in the name of Douglas Ross. The action that is taken by the Scottish Government since its re-election in May has made substantial inroads to delivering the manifesto commitments that we put to the Scottish people at the start of this year. Our tangible actions that prove the SNP does what it says it will, and that is important because it replays voter trust, which responsible Governments do. It ultimately improves the lives and opportunities for millions of Scots, including those of us living and working in the north-east. The energy sector in the north-east is vital to the nation, and what happens in that sphere is particularly crucial to the people of my constituency of Aberdeensia east. Many parts of Scotland currently rely on oil and gas for jobs, but in the north-east, it is an overwhelming percentage of our workforce and supply chains, and we must have a just transition to a sustainable energy sector in our area. I am delighted at the creation of the post from minister for just transition employment and fair work. My friend and north-east colleague Richard Lochhead MSP is a superb choice for that role, and I look forward to working with him to support the existing skilled workforce of the north-east and the next generation of workers who will build sustainable careers in our part of Scotland. We have just voted on Lorna Slater as minister with responsibilities for skills in this area and women with great deal of relevant expertise. As I campaigned for a re-election, the pathways for the reskilling and upskilling of existing oil and gas workforce in particular was a concern of many of the people I spoke to. I look forward to welcoming Ms Slater to my area and due course so that she can hear first hand what the current barriers are. Do they need removed and we have no time to waste? I welcome to the additional financial support that has been provided so far by this Government to help businesses and innovators. I will take an intervention. Ms Martin, from whom are you taking the intervention? There were two bits there. Oh, from Mr Kerr. Liam Kerr. Very grateful, I'll be suitably brief. I support a lot of what the member has just said about the oil and gas industry, but does she share my concern at Lorna Slater's comments about shutting down the industry within the next four years? I'm not one for cherry picking things out of context and levelling them at them. It's been done to me in the past. I don't like it when it's done to others. You know what I also don't like? I'm not accusing Mr Kerr of this, but there's been a bit of an attack on the female member of our new ministers more than anything to date. I'm getting a distinct width of misogyny, not from Mr Kerr, who I respect, but from some of his colleagues. Anyway, I'll get back to my speech if I can. I'm very pleased about the 16.5 in a net zero technology centre in Aberdeen, and the £20 million fund to upskill and retrain people into new careers. This £25 million fund to help businesses to enhance their digital capacity, and I won't have taken one already. We have a highly skilled and innovative workforce, and investment such as that noises off is annoying. I think that the member has made it clear that she's not taking any further intervention. At the moment, I hear too often about oil and gas workers paying through the nodes for retraining and still not getting through the door when applying for renewables jobs. Over the summer, I launched a survey on the issue, and I received comprehensive testimony from 559 workers, and I'm currently collating the responses and will be delivering a report to all relevant Government ministers within the next month, and I'm pleased to add Ms Slater to that email recipient list. As someone who represents towns like Inveruri, Mintlaw, Tariff and Ellyn, I'm very pleased about the launch of the 10 million Scotland Loves Local fund to help transform towns and neighbourhoods. I'm always gratified to see a focus on rural economy of Scotland and the recognition of the role of our farmers and land managers to perform. I must continue to perform as we move towards a net zero sustainable economy. A agricultural sector is vital, and must hit by Covid-19, just as badly as other sectors, while having to navigate through the chaotic Brexit, Boris Johnson's stories, have steered us into. I must mention the Scottish Government's £715,000 pig producers hardship fund, which opened yesterday, after the closure of the Abattoir in Brichon following a Covid-19 outbreak in March. I was contacted by the north-east NUFS for help. I have to pay tribute to the former cabinet secretary, Fergus Ewing, who not only listened to me, but committed to that support almost immediately. His successor, Mary Gougeon, has opened the fund this week, I think just yesterday, and I know that it's hugely welcome from pig farmers in my area, many of whom we're really struggling financially due to the implications of the outbreak. I look forward to working with my good friend, Miss Gougeon, who absolutely understands the challenges of the rural economy. Our young people have been affected particularly harshly by the implications of Covid-19, and many of the actions in the first 100 days will have a positive impact on their lives. Investment of £70 million for the young person's guarantee, the funding to deliver 5,000 more short industry-focused courses, the free bus travels for under-22s, and the removal of dental charges. The increase in funding on affordable homes will all make a big difference to young people starting out in life. I'm sure that families will welcome the provision of free, healthy school lunches for over 90,000 pupils. I'm also delighted that Aberdeenshire has a pilot project, one of the pilot projects, to offer free bicycles to children who can't afford them. I've taken the interventions and used up a lot of my time, so I will end now. The depth and breadth of the work carried out so far is an illustration of the seriousness and the responsibility that the Scottish Government is navigating our country. It's one of the most challenging periods in our country's history. I now call Paul O'Kane, to be followed by Co-Cabs, Stuart and Co-Cabs, to be the last speaker in the open debate. Mr O'Kane. In this debate, we've already started to see the truth about the first 100 days of this Government. The commitments contained in the SNP first document were not those of a new administration ready to tackle Scotland's recovery, but those of a tired Government that has run out of ideas. Indeed, many of the key actions in the 100-day plan are either recycled announcements or feeble promises that have prioritised rhetoric over the substance of delivery for the people of Scotland. It is worth reminding the chamber again that the first 100 days of the Scottish Government ended nearly 14 years ago, and positioning the Government as something new and bold would be comical if the reality went so serious in our health service, our schools and in communities across Scotland. Just as the Government is recycling that 100-day rhetoric, it is also recycling policies, pledges and promises. I note the congratulatory tone of the Government motion, but what have those 100 days really been marked by? Health services struggling to cope with pressures in A&E and ambulance services, rising Covid cases, stalling vaccinations and people now struggling to access testing. Teachers, pupils and parents worried about their return to school and the lack of action over the holidays to improve ventilation. Councils once again facing cuts in the midst of hugely unprecedented times when services and hard-working staff are stretched to breaking point. Isn't it the case that the priority in those 100 days has been formalising the new coalition with the Greens? Formalising what local councils have known over the past five years, that budgets will continue to be cut, and services, communities and jobs will suffer as a result. I do want to focus my remarks on local government in particular, and I declare an interest, Deputy Presiding Officer, as a serving councillor. I have seen first hand how cuts passed down from the SNP Government and voted through by the Greens have gutted our local councils and forced councillors and hard-working staff to make decisions that we never wanted to make. Is the member arguing that we should have given less to the NHS and more to local government? The argument that I am making is that local government has consistently been cut by this Government, and that the added pressures that have been placed on local government have created a perfect storm. So the fact of the matter is that people are having to make decisions in councils that are unthinkable in his own city of Glasgow, so we see the issue with libraries. So the fact is that there are choices to be made. Presiding Officer, not nearly enough has been done to ensure that councils have the money that they need in order to deliver the services that are so relied upon. I am sure that SNP members will be keen to stress, and they have already, that the first 100 days have supported local government, they will say, in terms of eye-catching policies like the refurbishment of every play park in Scotland, free bikes for children who cannot afford them. But what is the reality of the delivery of those policies? Not nearly enough funding and local government making clear that they need flexibility and no further cuts to environment budgets just to keep play parks safe and open. With only £60 million promised, clear that it is not nearly enough money to fulfill the pledge. And to me it is playing that this Government is disconnected from the reality of what is happening on the ground in local councils. And the pledge on free bikes to children in Scotland who need them, what is the reality? A pilot where councils are actually on the ground struggling to find funding to support physical activity programmes in schools and communities. At the heart of local government are its workers, and after all the work that they have put in to support our communities throughout the pandemic, they should be treated with decency. As such, the Government should have started this session with a promise to properly fund local workers a fair pay rise and £15 an hour for care workers, which we have already heard that the Scottish Greens used to support and pledged to in the election. The truth of the matter is that this Government have tripled austerity for local councils between 2013-14 and 2021-22, and we have seen non-ring fence local government review funding cut by £937.3 million in real terms. So it is disingenuous to hear SNP members claim credit for funding music tuition, core curriculum charges and education, increased school uniform grants and refurbishing play parks when it is their own cuts that have caused those needs in the first place. As we promised at the election, Scottish Labour will focus on providing real alternatives that addresses our national recovery, protects the NHS and properly funds local government to ensure that all of our communities have the support that they need to come through this difficult period and recover fully. Beyond yet another self-promoted, historic 100 days and another historic deal with the Scottish Greens, we on these benches will focus on speaking up for our communities who are being so badly let down by this Government and I support the motion in Annas Sarwar's name. Thank you and I now call on Cokab Stewart, who will be the last speaker in the open debate. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and please accept my apologies for my lack of understanding of protocols at the beginning of this debate. As Scotland and the wider world continues to tackle Covid-19, the many varied challenges it presents, I welcome that the Scottish Government has started this Parliament on the front foot and is focused on the delivery of its manifesto commitments. In only 100 days, this Government has already taken significant strides to improve the lives of people, the length and breadth of Scotland, and my fellow members have already mentioned several of them already in this debate. A clear commitment was made by the SNP that if they were re-elected, the people of Scotland would be choosing a First Minister and a Cabinet who would prioritise their safety in moving towards relaxation of restrictions in recovery. The success of our vaccination programme, administered by the incredible NHS, was critical to that. The success of the vaccination programme in Scotland has taken hard work and determination. Having completed first doses for all over 18s, who attended the scheduled appointments by mid-July, being well on track to offer second doses to all adults by mid-September and having begun vaccinating 16 and 17-year-olds, that puts Scotland significantly ahead of the majority of other world nations. To have many of our everyday activities restored, this has been an incredibly emotional time for constituents everywhere, but Glasgow Kelvin, in particular, who have reached out to share their thanks, notably the service users of the Annex Healthy Living Centre in Partick. This community resource rallied round during lockdowns, and it has been heartwarming to see that their programme activities is back up and running with classes every week. The move beyond level 0 has been hard-earned, and the sacrifices that everyone has made over the past year and a half can never be overstated. Although the increasing case numbers should make us all pause for thought, that is why I continue to be grateful for this Government for being measured and ensuring that public health remains central to their decision-making during this on-going and complex challenge. Of the many achievements so far, it will come as no surprise that I welcomed the announcements and additional support that is being offered to children and families. The additional £50 million that has been targeted to fund recruitment of new teachers and pupil support assistance has been warmly welcomed across the teaching profession. In their efforts to support—no, I won't, Mr Kerr—the education recovery and honours yet another commitment made by this Government. In addition, the £65.5 million of permanent funding that has been allocated annually to councils from 2022-23 will help to remove barriers for councils, employing those additional staff on permanent contracts and meet the local needs of children and young people. I will take an intervention. You talk about funding. Does the member agree with the coalition partner stance that Scotland needs a totally different tax structure? At this moment, I take the opportunity to talk about the funding in teaching and education, and I will continue on that vein. It has that funding gone a considerable way to reassure the correspondence that I have had from teachers in Glasgow Kelvin, who were quite rightly concerned about their employment status and were wanting to make that permanent. It is welcome news indeed to hear the cabinet secretary for education announce that the Scottish Government and local authority leaders reached an agreement to increase the national school clothing grant to a minimum of £120 per eligible primary school, pupil and £150 for eligible secondary school pupils. That will be supported by almost £12 million of additional funding to local authorities, which will go a significant way to remove an often hidden but substantial barrier burdened from families. The efforts made by the Government in respect of clothing grants, along with the expansion of the provision of good quality free school meals, should be warmly welcomed by all across the chamber. As the MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, I was delighted to receive confirmation from the cabinet secretary for health that hospital parking charges are finally set to end in Scotland on a permanent basis. At long last, those remaining sites will come into public hands and help to phase out the legacy of PFI in hospital car parks across the country. Lastly, I would like to take a moment to celebrate our creative industries in Glasgow Kelvin and, in particular, the musicians who have called in the constituency that I represent their home and the place of work. The Scottish Government's recent launch of the touring fund for live music is going to make a marked difference to the lives of many in Kelvin. Musicians, bands, artists and venues will be able to apply to this fund to bring new and additional concerts to venues and festivals in Scotland next year. As one of the hardest-hit groups by this pandemic due to the nature of live performance, I am sure that it will support further efforts from the Government in this area. I am going to finish up. I can see that my time is there and I have not tried to take interventions there. As a new MSP in this 100 days has reiterated to me that this Parliament can achieve well, it has also left me excited for our nation at the scope of this Parliament could have with full powers once we achieve our independence. One thing is certain though and it has been evident throughout this pandemic that this Government has never taken its eye off the day job and I warmly welcome the Government's motion. Thank you. We will now move to closing speeches and I call Alex Cole-Hamilton. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would like to start where Corkab Stewart left off. She mentioned that the record of this Government in the last 100 days of office shows Parliament working well. I would fundamentally disagree with that assessment. The concept of the 100 days is an American import. It dates back to 1932 and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's election to the presidency in the teeth of the Great Depression. FDR set out to make quick and significant changes in both economic and social policy. On taking office, he summoned US Congress back for emergency session for three months, in which he passed no less than 36 new laws, mostly aimed at easing the effects of that depression. By any measure, the SNP should be ashamed to seek comparison on such a level. The measure of a civilised society should be in the care and protection it offers our people first and foremost. In the 14 years that it has held office, there have been warning lights blinking across the dashboard of public policy in this country. In the climate change emergency, the waits for child and adolescent mental health services, the threadbare state of our police force, the list goes on and on and on. FDR passed 76 acts of Congress in his first 100 days. The Scottish National Party Administration in the first 100 days of this term passed just one. That was the further extension of emergency powers that it has since expressed interest in keeping in perpetuity. It says a lot about the legislative priorities of this Administration that the only bill to have been sent to the Queen is a law that seeks, once again, to extend the reach of its centralising grasp. I want to start my role as the leader of my party by seeking consensus where I can find it. On this debate, I struggle. However, I am grateful to the Deputy First Minister for his assurances in his opening remarks on loneliness and isolation. I have used the quote of Honoré de Balzac, the French novelist, several times that solitude is fine, but you need somebody there to tell you that it is fine. It is a really important reflection on the human condition. However, isolation was a problem in Scotland before any of us had heard either of Wuhan, China or of the coronavirus. When many vulnerable citizens would go days without human contact, they would spend Christmas alone. I know of many who saw more of those they cared about when they were bubbled up with people who were either on furlough or had more time to give them during lockdown. They are now dreading the full return to normality and work and the loneliness that will come with that and the severance of those ties. I am glad that the Government are taking that seriously. I am also grateful for assurances around child mental health, but talk is cheap. This is a really massive issue. We have thousands of children waiting more than a year for first-line assessments. In some cases, they then join a secondary queue if it is about autism or if it is another neurodiverse condition. It has to be real and targeted interventions, not parking people on medication or referring them to the internet. I also wish to echo Douglas Ross's words about the drug death emergency. A number of us attended a very moving event this afternoon with Peter Crikan to mark international overdose day. The theme that came out of that was not a party-political one but the fact that that is a particularly Scottish problem. It is not a deficiency of Scottish devolution settlement or a factor of the UK Government policy. If it were, we would have things as bad in Gloucester as they are in Glasgow, but we have it nearly four times as bad as any other part of the islands. Scotland needs radical solutions to that, but only because things have got so bad. It also needs a new Government to deliver those solutions because the SNP has shown itself wholly unequal to that tax. Anas Sarwar raised the issue of remand. That is a really important one. It has been a problem throughout Covid but before Covid as well. The delays in remand are perverting the course of justice in this country, with those facing charges pleading guilty to crimes that they did not commit because they know that they will get a shorter sentence by doing so. I am also grateful to Anas Sarwar for his words on long Covid. Stuart McMillan started well but then connected to the unavoidable umbilical cord that links every SNP backbencher's speech to the mothership. Presiding Officer, there is a muscle memory to Government backbencher's speeches. Independence is still the land in which death shall have no dominion, but I do not even think that they believe what they are saying any more. Oliver Mundell made such an important point. I will take an intervention. I thank Alex Cole-Hamilton for taking an intervention. I am sure that Mr Cole-Hamilton will admit that at the beginning of my speech I did touch upon independence, but the vast majority of my speech was about the achievements of this Scottish Government over the past 100 days. Alex Cole-Hamilton is very grateful for the intervention, but the achievements of this Government over the past 100 days have all been, there has been a paucity of them because of this Government's overwhelming focus on the institution that is not doing my constituents any good, it is not doing your constituents any good, Deputy Presiding Officer. I think that it is probably time that we just dispense with the rhetoric. We know that you guys want independence. Just go and shout up about it. Oliver Mundell made an important point about the delivery of laptops to children after the fact. He was right to point out that the absence of humility in the SNP in that regard, getting people things that they need in good time is an aspect of good government that has not been delivered. Carol Mochwyn touched upon that in her passionate call for reform in the rented sector. I want to congratulate Foulton on his new job, but also Paul Cain had a big life event in the summer as well. Getting married, as he did, is always good to recognise those things. Although we are proficient speeches from Gillian Mackay, Gillian Martin and Corcap Stewart, they all missed the underlying point that this Government's attention is elsewhere. Presiding Officer, I know that my time is up, but I will go back to where I started in his first 100 days. FDR, in the grip of a national crisis, recalled Congress and passed 76 laws to effect immediate change. This country is in need of immediate change, but we have been found wanting under this Government. Let me leave aside the obvious confusion of a Government that has been in power for 14 years having a document entitled First Steps. When clearly these are not the first steps, never mind the first 100 days for the SNP. Let me also leave aside the debate about when the 100 days started as ministers have been in charge throughout the entire period of the election, but, given those facts, the 100 days promises lack ambition and there are glaring omissions. Let me instead focus on the substance of what is before us today and the context in which it lands. Given that we are still in the middle of a pandemic, with case numbers at their highest ever levels in the last week and the pressure on our NHS reaching crisis proportions, the NHS recovery plan fell short of expectations and fell short of what is needed. Covid positive cases have been rising and, following the return of schools, are at the highest levels recorded. On Saturday, there were over 7,500 cases recorded. The numbers in hospital are increasing, too, more than 50 per cent higher than they were a mere week ago. Test and protect are struggling to cope. PCR testing kits ran out for days on end in Helensburg due to the surge of cases. I know that people today from Greenock were being sent to Helensburg or Irvine because there were no more appointments locally. The vaccination rate has slowed. 200,000 people in Scotland are due their second dose, but have not received it yet. Contact tracing is only able to deal with the highest-risk cases, all but stopping identifying close contacts because they are just so overwhelmed. It is particularly disappointing that, in relation to second doses, knowing how important vaccination is in protecting people from Covid, that those are now overdue. I urge quick action from the Scottish Government on that regard. Scottish Labour has repeatedly made calls for drop-in clinics, mobile vaccination clinics, suggested creative ways of setting young people to take up vaccinations, but the Scottish Government has been slow to act. There is no joined up substantial action on long Covid, as many members across the chamber have raised. Let me look at the pressure on the NHS. I start by agreeing with Gillian Mackay's comment about GPs. They and their staff have been working tirelessly to support colleagues in secondary care. They do, yes, need to return to doing work in primary care, but to suggest that they have not been working is entirely wrong, and I regret that that impression has been given by the Scottish Government. Waiting times at A&E are at their highest for six years, and, despite the best efforts of staff who deserve our praise and thanks, more than 1,000 people are waiting more than eight hours to be seen, hundreds more waiting more than 12 hours, and yet there are fewer people attending A&E than were experienced at pre-pandemic levels. What the clinicians are seeing are more complex cases that have failed to be diagnosed during the pandemic that require hospitalisation. Many health boards, including now, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, have cancelled elective surgery and are almost on a daily basis escalating code black measures such as the crisis that they are facing. Of course, the ambulance service is under huge strain, too. Waiting times are soaring as the service is unable to keep pace with demand. There are examples of people who are seriously ill waiting for hours and hours before an ambulance arrives. In my constituency, one man died in the ambulance after waiting four and a half hours for it to arrive. The ambulance never left his driveway. That is not the fault of the staff. That is down to a lack of resources being given by the Scottish Government. Turn-around times at A&E are far too long and that stops ambulances being available for their next call. A quick trip to the A&E at the Queen Elizabeth University hospital will show ambulances cued right around the block waiting to drop off patients. That is all before the winter flu season starts piling even more pressure on the NHS. There was not much in the recovery plan that addressed immediate pressures. Measures to improve workforce planning are welcome, but we have had at least three workforce plans in the last Parliament and not much has changed. In fact, it has got worse. Today, we see from the Scottish Government figures that over 600,000 Scots are on NHS waiting lists, some for diagnostics and others for treatment. Having a recovery plan, yes, is better than not having one at all. Of course, let me remind you, Jeane Freeman announced a remobilisation plan for the NHS in December 2020. We welcomed it then. She set up a remobilisation working group to deliver on the actions that are outlined. It met every month, then along comes Humza Yousif, as the new cabinet secretary for health. Meetings cancelled, and the group has only met once since. That does not really suggest that this is a priority for the cabinet secretary nor the SNP Government. No wonder the First Minister reportedly had to send the plan back and publication was delayed for a fortnight. Presiding Officer, I am running out of time, so let me touch on one glaring omission in the 100 days plan, and that is social care. Where is the remobilisation plan for social care? The restarting of respite care, the restoration of care packages for people, the support for carers, the rewarding of care workers with a wage rise of £15 an hour. Something that Scottish Labour was proud to campaign for at the budget, but the SNP and Greens voted down. Where are all those services to support and enhance the dignity of our older people and those with disabilities? Presiding Officer, the 100 days plan is a very mixed bag. Things are missing, other elements are seriously underwhelming and some initiatives to welcome, like the Covid public inquiry. However, in all of that, it is implementation that counts and what impact that has on the people of Scotland. On that count, the SNP will be judged, and so far, I have to say, Presiding Officer, the people of Scotland deserve so much better than this. Thank you, Ms Bailey, and I call on Murdo Fraser to wind up for the Conservatives. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I start by congratulating Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie on their appointment as Scottish ministers, although we may have the odd political disagreement from time to time. Nevertheless, it is a great honour to be appointed as one of the Queen's ministers, and I congratulate them on that appointment. I wish them well in it, and I hope that they will advise her well in their new roles. Of course, the appointment of the two ministers means that we have the biggest and most expensive Government ever in the history of devolution, so I hope that it is worth all the money that is being devoted to it. Alex Cole-Hamilton in his winding up speech gave us a history lesson about the concept of 100 days—the first 100 days—in Government. There is nothing, of course, scientific or magical about 100-day period. It is a measure that politicians set themselves to judge their progress. Given that the SNP Government made a number of claims about what it would achieve in the first 100 days, it is only reasonable for the opposition to test the claims that it made against what it actually delivered. Against that test, the SNP Government has been found to be wanting, as we have heard throughout this debate. This week, we should have been debating the programme for government. We do that every session, every year, the first week back after the summer recess. That is what we do, but that debate has been delayed for a week, meaning that we and the rest of the country are still waiting to hear what the Government's priorities are for the coming year in terms of its legislative programme and other initiatives. The unrelenting focus on Covid recovery that we have been promised from the First Minister was somewhat lacking in the speeches that she made earlier this afternoon. In the 100-day document that was published by the SNP, despite all the spin that we have heard from its benches this afternoon, it made promises that it has failed to deliver. It failed to remove unnecessary elements of coronavirus legislation, which it promised to do, so it retained the ability, for example, to release prisoners early from prison. It promised to vaccinate all adults and it failed to deliver on that. It failed to deliver fair results for pupils, given the issues that we have seen with the SQA awards, and it failed on their promise not to push for another independence referendum when we know that that is the centrepiece of their agreement with the Scottish Greens. Earlier in the debate, Douglas Ross set out a whole list of policy failures from this Government, the worst set of drug deaths in Europe, an attainment gap in education wider now than any year since 2017, huge and growing waiting lists in the NHS for operations, for vital treatments and, shamefully, for mental health. People waiting still to see a GP face-to-face. As Anna Sarwar and Alex Cole-Hamilton reminded us, a lack of support for those crippled by long Covid. On the justice system, tens of thousands of unanswered calls to the police are number 101. Community sentences are not completed and not followed up on. An enormous backlog in the court system with justice delayed for too many victims of crime is the record of this SNP Government after 100 days. One thing that they have achieved, of course, is the deal with the Scottish Green Party, a deal that is causing a great deal of concern across Scotland, causing concern in the business community. We now see in the heart of Government for the first time in Scotland people who do not just not believe in economic growth but people who are actively hostile to it. We have a party whose co-leader supports the nonsense that is modern monetary theory and who says that it is not possible to run out of money. I am sure that Kate Forbes is very interested in that particular theory. A party whose policies would cause devastation to those whose jobs depend on the oil and gas sector, particularly in the north-east of Scotland, from a party who would pursue a slash-and-burn approach to that industry. We see concern raised from representatives of the farming community, of the fishing community and of rural industries as to the impact that green policies would have on them and their dismay at extremists now being brought into government, as Oliver Mundell reminded us. We see questions being raised in the Highlands and in the north-east about what the Greens of Government will mean for vital road safety projects, such as the dualling of the A9 and the A96. Despite the best efforts of Graham Simpson, we had no clarity from the First Minister on that question earlier. The Greens claim that they have secured a shift away from road building. There are a whole host of other local road projects that are absolutely necessary to help to save lives, prevent accidents, reduce congestion and pollution, and assist economic growth, which could now be at risk, thanks to the Greens being in government. In my own home area of Perthyn Cynros, one such good example is the Cross-Tail Link Road project, which is essential not just to unlock the economic potential of East Perthshire, but is vital to reduce congestion and air pollution already at dangerous levels in Perth city centre. It is a project that depends on financial assistance from the Scottish Government. It is also a project that we know that the Greens are actively hostile towards. If we read Mr Mark Ruskell's press releases on the subject, he is never done condemning it. Will that vital project be sacrificed on the altar of the SP Green deal, or will it be allowed to proceed? There are many similar questions to which we await answers. There are many other projects, vital road improvements across the country that we need to know if they are going to go ahead. Against that backdrop, it is little wonder that there are so many on the Scottish National Party benches in this Parliament who are concerned at the direction of the deal and where it is taking them and taking Scotland. We know what the deal was all about. It was all about trying to bring forward another unwanted independence referendum. According to the draft shared policy programme that was published on 20 August, it is the intention of the SNP and Greens to bring forward that referendum within the first half of the five-year parliamentary session. At a time when we should be focusing on Covid recovery, when the First Minister promised that that would be her unrelenting focus, instead we see the Scottish Government making its real priority the breaking up of the United Kingdom and within the next two years. Instead of promoting division, we could have had the consensus here. We could have had an agreement on what Scotland needs to do to rebuild our economy, to create jobs to replace those that have been lost, to restore our public services, such as health and education, and to start investing in our vital transport infrastructure. Those should have been the priorities of the first 100 days in government. Instead, they have gone down the route of jumping into bed with a party who wanted to take Scotland back and not forward. This is the Government that Scotland did not vote for. I said earlier that Alex Cole-Hamilton gave us a history lesson. Perhaps the most famous 100 days in history were in 1815, when Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Paris after escaping from exile in Elba. Within 100 days, he had been defeated by the forces of Britain and Prussia at the Battle of Waterloo and sent back into exile. The First Minister will be hoping that she has more success than Bonaparte did, but in doing a deal with the extremist, anti-business and anti-growth greens, she is sowing the seeds of her own Government's destruction. I would now call on the Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, to wind up for the Government, and if he could take us pleased to decision time. There has been an interesting point at the heart of this debate, which Douglas Ross and Murdo Fraser have been on the opposite side of. I am obviously going to reflect on a number of comments that Douglas Ross made. He is not present. I do not know the reason why. I could explain that he has given notice to the issue. I understand that he has given notice, but in terms of parliamentary protocol, I would not normally refer to a member if they were not here, but because he opened the debate, I feel that I have to do so. I want to be clear about that intention in his absence. Douglas Ross and Murdo Fraser were on opposite points in this debate, because Douglas Ross led the charge for saying that this debate should not be happening, and Murdo Fraser led the charge for saying that this is an opportunity to scrutinise the Government. At the opening debate of this session of Parliament, we have the Conservatives facing in opposite directions together. This is an opportunity, which, according to Murdo Fraser, is an opportunity to scrutinise the Government, and, according to his leader, it is a debate that should not be happening. Of course I will give way to Mr Murdo Fraser. Oliver Mundell? I thank the Deputy First Minister for giving way, but does he not think that that point is a bit rich on a day when he has gone into government with a group of politicians who do not believe in economic growth? I do not think that that is a relevant comment whatsoever, because it is quite clear that, on certain issues, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slate and I are never going to agree, but we have agreed to co-operate in the spirit of the new politics. Of course, there has been a lot of discussion about the new politics in this chamber today, and I do not think that Douglas Ross, Oliver Mundell or Murdo Fraser will get, frankly, anywhere on the subject of new politics with the language that they have used to describe fellow members of Parliament today, because the language has been fundamentally disrespectful. Why do I say that? It is also relevant to the question about whether it has been a 100-days debate or the 5,234-day debate, because Stephen Kerr has marshaled the argument that we have had 5,234 days. It has obviously been part of the Tory script, because they have all used it. Dean Lockhart, Murdo Fraser, Oliver Mundell and Douglas Ross have all churned it out. The inconvenient fact that they miss is the fact that this Government has been elected on four occasions to serve the people over that time. The language, the style, the rhetoric, the argument that has been piled out by the Conservatives today has been the same bile that they have piled out in 2011, 2016, 2021, and they are over there, and we are over here, and we are here for the fourth time. This is me providing some gentle advice to the Conservatives, but their approach to this debate is, frankly, getting them nowhere, because they piled it out in 2021. It was to be the end of this Government. They threw absolutely everything at us in the run-up to the 2021 election, and they gained not a single seat in this Parliament. We, in fact, gained a seat in this Parliament and came back with 64 members, and our colleagues in the Green Party gained three seats in this Parliament. My advice to Oliver Mundell before I accept his next intervention is to point out that the strategy, the vile strategy that he and his party have pursued, has got them absolutely nowhere, and they need to think again. Oliver Mundell. I thank the Deputy First Minister for giving way. I am pleased that the SNP that is shouting and clapping are a substitute for ideas to take our country forward. After everything that the SNP has thrown at its campaign for independence and its divisive attempts to break up our United Kingdom by stealth, does it not reflect on the fact that there was no majority in Scotland for an SNP Government that wanted to hold a second independence referendum? Can I just remind Oliver Mundell that the Conservatives lost the election, and they lost the 2019 general election in Scotland when they told us that India ref 2 was on the ballot paper. Jackson Carlaw, a man consigned to the back benches, led a campaign in 2019, telling us that India ref was on the ballot paper in 2019. Everyone had to come out and vote to stop it. What happened? The SNP hammered the Tories once again, and the Tories lost half their seats. I would simply say to the Conservatives that the strategy is not working. Oh, I can't resist. Because, Deputy Presiding Officer, perhaps we can calm the Deputy First Minister down and return him to the subject of this debate. I try to intervene on Cocab Stewart, someone who I have a personal respect for, to ask her this question, which I will now put to the Deputy First Minister in the hope that he might address the substance of policy and delivery. During the summer, it was disclosed in a parliamentary answer to me that one in eight teachers in Scotland are on temporary contracts. That is shameful. Will the Government take steps to underpin the commitment to fund those places to local authorities so that they can give those teachers permanent contracts? Mr Kerr has been paying attention. He would find that we have reached a financial agreement with local authorities over the summer to do exactly that, as well as extending the teaching profession. If he did his homework before he came to Parliament, it would be nice. A lot has been said in the course of the debate about the agreement that we have reached with the Scottish Green Party. I am going to make no apology for an agreement that focuses on taking the necessary action on tackling climate change, on delivering economic recovery in the aftermath of Covid, on tackling endemic child poverty, which will be made worse if universal credit cuts are delivered by the Tory Government in Westminster, and on an agreement that gives the people of this country the right to decide on their constitutional future as they chose their members of Parliament to enable them to do so. There were 71 members elected to this Parliament, committed to an independence referendum, and I believe that the people of Scotland should have the right to have that referendum. I will give way to— Tess White. Will the cabinet secretary agree with your new coalition partner stance that the oil and gas sector must transition or die? I think that everybody in the Parliament believes in a just transition on the oil and gas sector. We all recognise that there has got to be a move away from hydrocarbons. That is the way we have got to tackle climate change, but the difference between this Government, of which my colleagues are a member, and the Conservatives, is that the Conservatives were prepared to throw people on the scrap heap of industrial decline in the 1980s, and this Government will not do that. The last thing that I want to mention is the fact that, in the speech that Douglas Ross made, he made a big thing about the fact that the debate had to focus on the reality of the day. I have tried to do that with my comments about Covid recovery in my earlier speech and in some of the challenges that we face, and in the accomplishments that the Government has delivered. In his entire speech to Parliament earlier on today, Douglas Ross made absolutely not a single mention of the havoc that has been created and inflicted on our society by Brexit. Farmers in my constituency are unable to harvest their product or take it to market because there is not the capacity in the supply chain to handle it. Fish producers who cannot take their product to market because, if they are ludicrous, I will give way to Mr Carson, yes? Does the Deputy First Minister agree with the new ministers that we should have a cut in the production of red meat in Scotland, which would result in offshoring our carbon to countries that have a considerably higher carbon footprint than we have here in Scotland? Partnership agreement is committed to a buoyant future for Scottish agriculture, which is being challenged by the lunacy of Brexit that is forced upon us by the Conservative Party. There has been not a word of apology or explanation for the chaos that is now inflicted upon the people of this country who cannot get access to basic foodstuffs that Michael Gove promised us that we would be able to get access to after Brexit. Maybe a little bit too much time in the nightclubs of Scotland and not enough time in the day job is what is going on with Michael Gove. This Government has undertaken a significant programme of work to achieve the commitments that we have made in our first 100-day document. We will continue to pursue that approach for the remainder of this parliamentary term. We will do so in a spirit of partnership with our colleagues in the Green Party. If the Opposition wishes to engage in that process, they will be welcome to do so, but I suggest, particularly for the Conservatives, that the tone of their contribution has got to change significantly before anyone takes them seriously. Thank you. That concludes the debate on the first 100 days delivering for the people of Scotland. It is now time to move on to the next item of business, which is consideration of two parliamentary bureau motions. I ask George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move motions 995 on committee membership and 994 on substitutions to committee membership. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and formally moved. Thank you. The questions on those motions will be put at decision time, and there are five questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first question is the amendment 978.3 in the name of Douglas Ross, which seeks to amend motion 978 in the name of John Swinney on the first 100 days delivering for the people of Scotland be agreed. Are we all agreed? No. The Parliament is not agreed, therefore we will move to a vote. There will be a short suspension to allow members to access the digital voting system.