 that they can be better than others Because they have to vote SNPified tomorrow to deliver it When I move to First Minister's question Question 1 fortwaith I ask What engagement she has planned for the rest of the day First Minister engagements to take forward the Government's programme for Scotland and maybe a bit of last minute campaigning Before the 2010 general election the First Minister's predecessor encouraged people across the UK fuelwys trys pe71ISH opening ministry, a meddwlod trivial. Can the first minister tell us what happened next? In the 2010 election I recall Labour's message to people of Scotland that they should vote Labour to keep out the Tories. What happened next? Scotland voted Labour and the Tories got in. My message tomorrow is this, vote SNP to make Scotland's voice heard and then use that voice for better politics at Westminster. I will tell you what happened next. We got a Tory Government that opposed austerity on our country and they stood behind whilst working parents had to rely on charity to feed their kids. The First Minister might not like the truth but it is a fact that Alex Salmond spent the last general election telling people to vote against Gordon Brown's Labour Government. That was a Labour Government led by a Scottish Prime Minister and a Scottish Chancellor. In this election, the First Minister unsurprisingly tells people in Scotland to vote for the SNP and against Labour, but she urges people in Wales to vote for plides and against Labour and she calls on people in England to vote for the Greens and against Labour. For someone who says that she wants a Labour Government, she is a funny way of showing it. Let me ask the First Minister a very simple question. What is the best way to get a Labour Government? Is it to vote for Labour or against Labour tomorrow? Kezia Dugdale, I am not sure that this is her intention. I have to assume that it is not her intention, but she is making my point for me here. In 2010, Scotland did end up with a Tory-led Government that has done real damage to Scotland and to individuals and communities across Scotland. Here is the thing. Scotland voting Labour in 2010 did not stop that Tory Government. It did not protect Scotland against that Tory Government. It did not protect Scotland against the bedroom tax. Just like Labour MPs in the past could not protect Scotland against the Tory poll tax, so I think that tomorrow we should do something different. I think that we should vote SNP tomorrow to send a big team of SNP MPs to Westminster to stand up for Scotland in a way that Labour MPs never, ever have to make Scotland's voice heard and to make sure that that is a voice for better policies such as an end to austerity, whether that austerity is being proposed by the Tories or by Labour. The question, I think, for Labour is this. If we, as I hope we do, wake up on Friday morning with an anti-Tory majority across the UK, is Labour willing to work with the SNP to kick the Tories out or are they going to stand back and watch David Cameron get right back into Downing? The First Minister says that she wants the Tories out, but she is fooling no one, because she said that the SNP would defeat a Labour budget, but she could only do that with Tory votes. Her deputy has said that the SNP could defeat a Labour Queen's speech, but she could only do that with Tory votes. We have been here before in this very chamber when the SNP voted with the Tories against the living wage, when they voted with the Tories against their rent cap and when they voted with the Tories against a ban on exploitative zero-hours contracts. Why was it that, when we were on the side of working people in Scotland, the First Minister was on the side of the Tories? Again, for the avoidance of any doubt, let me just make this very clear. If there was a budget brought forward by a Labour Government that sought to continue Tory austerity and damage the most vulnerable people in our society, SNP MPs at Westminster would not vote for that budget, because we want an end to austerity. That would not bring down the Government, but it would send them away to think again and come back with a better budget. A budget that lifted people out of poverty, a budget that protected our national health service and our public services, is the value of having a big team of SNP MPs at Westminster. We can lock the Tories out of Government, but then we can make sure that the Tories are not simply replaced by a Labour Tory-like Government that they are replaced by something better. Can I just remind Kezia Dugdale of this? It was Ed Miliband on live television last Thursday who said that he would rather not have a Labour Government than work with the SNP. Can Kezia Dugdale confirm to me today—I am asking her a direct question—if there is an anti-Tory majority on Friday morning, will Labour work with the SNP to get the Tories out or will Labour stand back and watch David Cameron walk back into Downing Street? Kezia Dugdale. The First Minister has a cheek to describe the Labour Party as Tory-like. There will be more progressive policies in the first week of an Ed Miliband Government than in eight years of an SNP Government. David Cameron has said himself that he just needs one more seat than Labour across the UK to stay in office—just one seat. We can vote for Labour on Thursday and start the process of changing our country on Friday, abolishing the need for food banks, calling time on zero-hour contracts, investing in our NHS, guaranteeing jobs for our young people, increasing the taxes for the rich and sharing that wealth across the whole of the United Kingdom. That is the kind of change that you only get with a Labour Government. Is not it the case that if you want a Labour Government you have to vote Labour tomorrow? The simple fact of a arithmetic is that, on Friday morning, there are more Labour and SNP MPs in the House of Commons than there are Tory MPs. The only way that David Cameron and the Tories get back into number 10 Downing Street is if Ed Miliband and Labour hold the door open for them. I am very clear. If there is an anti-Tory majority, the SNP will want to work with others to keep the Tories out. We have heard all of this from Labour before. Kezia Dugdale talks about zero-hours contracts, and I agree that we need to get rid of exploitative zero-hours contracts. Tony Blair promised that 20 years ago and under his Government zero-hours contracts increased by 40 per cent. It is not enough for Scotland just to get rid of the Tories tomorrow. Of course we want to do that, but we must make sure that the Tories are replaced by something better than the Tories. That is what a big team of SNP MPs is to secure and end to the Tories and a better Government, a bolder, better, more progressive Government, to go in its place. Ruth Davidson to ask the First Minister when she will next meet the Prime Minister. First Minister. No plans in the near future. Ruth Davidson. We know who the First Minister wants to be Prime Minister on Friday morning. She wants Ed Miliband to be Prime Minister. That is the man that Alex Salmond described as the weakest Labour leader I have seen in my political career. For once, I agree with Alex. Why does the First Minister want the weakest Labour leader in recent history to become Prime Minister? Can she tell me the top three things that make him the right man for the job? I will tell you the top thing. He is not a Tory. He is out of office. David Cameron's Tory-led Government has been devastating for vulnerable people across our country. David Cameron's Tory-led Government has pushed more children into poverty. It has undermined our public services. It has held back our economy, and I want to see the back of it tomorrow. However, just as I have said to Kezia Dugdale, I do not want David Cameron's Tory Government to be replaced by Ed Miliband's Tory-light Government. I want a better Government for Scotland and the only way tomorrow, we can make Scotland's voice heard. The only way tomorrow, we can put an end to austerity, protection for public services, a stronger economy, right at the heart of the Westminster agenda, is to vote SNP, because here is the truth. The more seats the SNP wins tomorrow, the more power Scotland will have. Ruth Davidson If I had a pound for every time she said, Tory, today I would be on her wages, and that was it. That was the reason she wanted to put Ed Miliband into Government is because of her hatred of the Tories. I want people to vote positively tomorrow for an economic recovery that has created 100 Scottish jobs every day since we came to power, for a plan that has left fewer children in workless households than we have ever seen, for a Government that will always back the union just as Scots voted for last year. Of course, Nicola Sturgeon does not want to put Ed Miliband in Downing Street because she thinks that it will push independence further away. It is because she thinks that it will bring independence closer. It is so that she can hold a weak Labour Party to ransom and divide our nation forever more. She and I both know that there will be no post-election deals between our two parties, so is not it the case, Presiding Officer, that, while her party might be the party of independence, the Scottish Conservatives are the only party that you can trust to safeguard the union? Ruth Davidson has perhaps stumbled across something, because it was interesting was it not that Kezia Dugdale did not talk about independence today, which must be the first day in this election campaign that Labour has not talked about independence. Maybe they have read the reports of the University of Edinburgh research that have been reported in the papers today, which found that when Labour brings up the issue of independence, it increases support for the SNP. Making independence an issue, the researcher says, penalises Labour because voters perceive it as then being closer to the other unionist parties. In other words, it reminds voters of the Labour-Tory alliance. Tomorrow, we have got an opportunity to do something better for Scotland, where I will try to find a note of agreement with Ruth Davidson I agree that people should vote positively tomorrow for a strong voice for Scotland in Westminster, for an end to austerity, for stronger investment in our public services and for a fairer economy that works for the many, not the few. That is why I say to everybody across Scotland, Presiding Officer, regardless of how they voted in the referendum, even if they have never voted SNP before, I say it to people in every corner of this country. Tomorrow is our opportunity to come together as a country to make our voice heard in Westminster louder than it has ever been heard before. To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the cabinet. Issues of importance to the people of Scotland. I have put the case that the Liberal Democrats stand for stability and unity, for our strong economy and good in the centre ground, for investment in education, the NHS and mental health, and respect for the result of the referendum last year. In contrast, the First Minister's evasion and avoidance shows that a vote for her party is a vote for the second referendum party. Or can she now, finally, at last rule out a second referendum for a generation? First Minister. I am very grateful to Willie Rennie for giving me the opportunity again to directly address the people of Scotland on this issue. This election tomorrow is not about independence. Even if—and I am not making a prediction here—the SNP wins every seat in Scotland, that is not a mandate for independence or a second referendum. Tomorrow is an opportunity to make Scotland's voice heard. We need Scotland's voice to be heard more loudly than ever before, because Willie Rennie may try to make that positive case for the Liberal Democrats, and good luck to him as he tries to do so. Unfortunately for him and his party, people know that over the past five years what his party has been doing is standing shoulder to shoulder with a Conservative Government damaging the poorest in our society. That is why, tomorrow, I do not think that the verdict of the Scottish people on the Scottish Liberal Democrats will be a particularly happy one for Willie Rennie. Willie Rennie. That is very interesting, but that is not what she said to the Guardian this morning. She was very clear that I am not going to rule it out. That is not what she said before last September. Now she expects people to believe her this time. We know that her colleagues are on maneuvers for a second referendum, but the First Minister can sort this out now. She has the capacity to show leadership on this. Will she rule out serving as First Minister in a Scottish Government that holds a second referendum? Will she rule that out? First Minister. I think that what I have said this week has actually been Ruth Davidson on maneuvers sitting astride her tank, which I have to say, albeit that we are in opposing political parties, I thought was a splendid photo call, but I am not sure that I will win many votes, but there you go. Willie Rennie is clutching at straws here. I am happy as we are right now, less than 24 hours before the opening of polls in this unique, perhaps watershed, general election, to let the Scottish people have their say. I am very clear what this election is about and is not about. I will let people in Scotland judge that this election is not about independence. That is why it is an opportunity for people regardless of how they voted in the referendum and regardless of how they voted in past elections. This is an opportunity for us to unite as a country, for us to come together and make our voice heard. Only by voting tomorrow will Scotland's voice be heard, loudly and clearly, and Westminster. Then we will have a team of SNP standing up for an end to austerity and stronger public services. That is the opportunity that we have as a country tomorrow. Let's grab it. To ask the First Minister what progress the Scottish Government is making on widening access to university for young people from the most deprived communities. First Minister? In the programme for government, I set a long-term target for government and for our universities to eradicate the inequality and access to higher education, so that a child born today in one of our most deprived communities will, by the time he or she leaves school, have the same chance of going to university as a child born in one of our least deprived communities. That is why this year we have doubled funding to the impact for access fund, which encourages people from disadvantaged backgrounds to go to university. Our commitment to free tuition benefits over 120,000 undergraduate students every year, and there has been a 40 per cent increase in the proportion of 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds accepted to universities since 2007. I thank the First Minister for that answer and welcome the progress that is being made in getting students from less well-off areas into higher education, while at the same time agreeing with her that there is still much more to do. As part of that on-going effort, is the First Minister able to ride me with detail on the programme of work that the Widening Access Commission will now undertake? I think that Stuart Maxwell is absolutely correct when he says that there is much more to do. I am not in any way complacent about this. I genuinely want every young person in Scotland to have the same chance to go to university. I want young people from our most deprived communities not just to have a better chance but to have the same chance as any other child in Scotland. In order to remove barriers to access, we first have to understand more fully what they are. That is why we have established the Widening Access Commission under the convenership of Dame Ruth Silver. The commission, just to address the question directly that the commission met for the first time last week, a key part of its work will be to engage more widely with those who can relate through their own experiences what needs to change to meet the ambition that we have set. I look forward to receiving the commission's final report in the spring of next year. I also welcome the commission and the membership, which I think is first class. We need to see the full remit for the commission's work, though. In the meantime, can the First Minister confirm that the commission will look at the impact on widening participation of Scotland having the lowest student grants in Western Europe on student debt, being highest among students from poorer backgrounds uniquely in the United Kingdom? I hope that we can strike some consensus across the chamber on that issue. We all agree about the importance of that, but I point out to Iain Gray that it was not this Government, but NUS Scotland, which described the Scottish Government student support package as, I quote, the best support package in the whole of the UK. The latest student loan company figures, which were published in June last year, show that average student loan debt in Scotland is the lowest in the UK—7,600 pounds in Scotland compared to more than 20,000 pounds in England, 17,000 pounds in Wales and more than 16,000 pounds in Northern Ireland. Those are the facts, and it would serve us all well to remember them. I want the widening access commission to have the ability to look at any issue that it wants, because I am absolutely serious about the determination of myself and the Government to close the inequality gap. I know that, as many of us across the chamber know from our own personal experience, the importance of good education. I cannot speak for anybody else. I know that I would not be standing here right now without it, and I am determined that every young person in Scotland, regardless of their background, gets the same chances in life that I did. To ask the First Minister about the Scottish Government's position as on fracking. First Minister, we are taking an evidence-based approach to fracking. That is why we have a moratorium in place to ensure that it cannot happen while we are looking further at a variety of issues. We will undertake a full public consultation, listen to the voices of concerned communities and undertake further research. The cautious and evidence-led approach to unconventional oil and gas is in direct contrast to what I would describe as the gungho approach of the UK Government and, indeed, the refusal of the Labour Party to support a moratorium when that was put forward in the House of Commons. Neil Findlay. Thanks for that reply. Since January, I have been pursuing a freedom of information request with the Scottish Government to try and bring into the public domain the Scottish Government's dealings with Ineos at Grangemouth and their plans for fracking. That request has been refused because of the sensitive nature of some of the discussion. Given that, according to Ineos, they had a very positive relationship with the former First Minister and met him on numerous occasions. Will the First Minister now order the release of that information so that the Scottish people can see exactly what plans the Scottish Government has to facilitate Ineos's desire to frack across the central belt? As the member knows, there is a statutory process to go through for freedom of information requests, and the Government will comply with that process. Ineos, in case it has escaped the notice of Neil Findlay, is a major employer in Scotland. Surely anybody in this chamber, and certainly everybody outside this chamber, would want any First Minister and any Government to seek to have a positive relationship with an employer who provides so many jobs in Scotland. I make no apology for seeking to do just that. The fact that Labour questions that perhaps tells you everything that you need to know about Labour's unfitness to hold office in this Parliament. I also say that that positive relationship will not influence the position that the Scottish Government comes to on fracking. We will carefully go through the evidence consistent with that precautionary and evidence-based approach that I have described. We will take decisions that are in the broader and the widest possible interest of the people of Scotland, because that is also what people of us are right to expect its Government to do. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Communities across Scotland who have been threatened by fracking and other forms of unconventional gas are impatient to see a moratorium turn into a full permanent ban, but they cannot understand and nor can I why the Scottish Government has not included the even riskier form of unconventional gas underground coal gasification in its evidence-based approach or its moratorium. Why not? As Patrick Harvie will be well aware, there are different technologies at stake there, but we continue to consider properly all of those issues. I know that people are impatient to see a moratorium turn into a ban for understandable reasons opposed fracking, but if we were to do that before doing all the proper work, we would not be taking an evidence-based approach just as we would not be taking an evidence-based approach if we had not had the moratorium. We are striking the right balance and we will continue to strike the right balance and take into account all of the right issues before coming to final views. Part of the work that we are doing, as Patrick Harvie is well aware, is a public consultation exercise. That gives every member of this Parliament and all of their constituents in areas that would, if fracking was ever to go ahead, be affected by fracking the opportunity to take part. I would hope that people across the chamber would welcome that. On Monday, the leading Scottish engineering company, Weer Group, announced a new joint venture with Rolls-Royce to produce an integrated power system to make fracking more efficient. Can the First Minister explain to us how the SNP Government's indefinite moratorium on fracking will help a successful Scottish company like Weer Group who wants to expand, create jobs and grow the economy? First Minister, as a Government, we have got a very good record in supporting companies to locate in Scotland, to expand in Scotland, to succeed and prosper in Scotland because the economy and the jobs of thousands, tens and hundreds of thousands of people depend on that approach and we will continue to do that. I know that Murdo Fraser takes a particular view on issues of unconventional gas but I think that it is right, as the Scottish Government, to take a precautionary approach. There are a number of concerns that have been raised about health impact and environmental impact and about the rights of communities who would be affected by fracking to be properly and meaningfully consulted. I will leave it to Murdo Fraser and the Conservatives to argue to those communities as to why they should not have a voice in taking those decisions. However, the Scottish Government will continue to take a precautionary, evidence-based approach because, fundamentally, it is the right way to do it. I welcome the First Minister's comments on the need for public consultation and, indeed, the moratorium. Can she provide an update on the devolution of licensing of onshore oil and gas extraction to the Scottish Parliament as recommended by the Smith commission? The devolution of powers over onshore oil and gas licensing represent a significant increase in the ability of the Scottish Government to determine our own path for onshore oil and gas. Following the Smith commission's heads of agreement and the subsequent UK Government publication of the draft clauses and command paper, the Scottish Government is awaiting further discussions with the incoming UK Government to determine the full extent of the devolution of those powers prior to the introduction, I hope, of a Scotland bill later this year. Obviously, Parliament will be kept fully informed of progress on that, and we will have the opportunity to contribute as appropriate. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the increase in Scotland's population. I am delighted that Scotland's population has risen again and is now at its highest ever level, over 5,300,000. In the last year, we have seen a significant increase both in the number of people coming to Scotland from the rest of the UK and, indeed, from further afield, highlighting just how attractive Scotland is as a place to live in, work in, study or invest in. Not only that, but more than two thirds of those coming to Scotland from overseas are aged between 16 and 34, showing the value of migration and helping to grow our working-age population. I thank the First Minister for her answer. She will be aware that 48 per cent of migrants from the rest of the UK are aged 16 to 34. Despite lots of stories during the referendum that people would be put off coming to Scotland, it is clearly the case that young people in particular continue to seek to study, live and work in Scotland. Regardless of the result tomorrow, will the First Minister agree to continue to extend the hand of friendship to people elsewhere in the UK? Yes, I do, and I always will. Scotland welcomes the contribution that New Scots make to our economy and to our society, whether they come from overseas or from just over the border. The latest population figures show that Scotland's net migration gain from the rest of the UK was approximately 9,600. That is a significant contribution to the overall population increase. I hope that this is shared across the chamber. Scotland should always be welcoming to people who want to come and live here, whether they want to come from other parts of the UK or from further afield. We are a nation of emigrants, as well as a nation of emigrants. People who come here make a significant contribution to our economy and to our society, and we should welcome them. Annabelle Goldie Given the population increases that mirror closely existing projections, does that not strengthen the validity of forecasts on Scotland's ageing population, in particular the Scottish Government's report on demographic change in Scotland, and make the well-documented failure of the Scottish Government's change fund to reshape care for older people even more stark? I am not sure that I entirely follow Annabelle Goldie's train of thought or logic there, but if that is my fault and I have maybe missed the premise of her question, she should feel free to write to me and I am happy to address it fully. If Annabelle Goldie heard what I said in my original answer, over two thirds of people coming to Scotland from overseas are between 16 and 34. In other words, they boost our working age population. One of the ways in which Scotland, in common with many other countries across the world, has to deal with our ageing population, and let us never forget that our ageing population is a good thing, something to be celebrated because it means that people are living longer. However, the way that we deal with that is to grow our working age population, so those figures are good news in many different ways, but not least because it actually helps our ability to ensure that we can cater for a population that, thankfully, is living longer into old age. Thank you. That ends First Minister's Questions. We are now moving to portfolio questions, so question number one is from Rob Gibson, but I will give a few moments for people to just settle down first. If you are leaving the chamber, could you do so quickly and quietly?