 We now move into open debate, and I would invite all members who wish to speak today to press their request to speak buttons now, and I call on Ruth Davidson to open. First of all, I thank the First Minister for early sight of our speech. Presiding Officer, last week I set out some of my own priorities for the parliamentary year ahead in a speech in Edinburgh. I began by pointing out that the next week marks the 20th anniversary of the devolution referendum of 1997. Famously, Donald Dewer declared after that referendum that devolution was a process and not an event. It sometimes feels a little as if we've spent the last two decades since determined to prove him right. The political structures that surround us have often been the central focus of our politics, and I hope that as we mark 20 years of devolution, we now move on to a wider debate about political substance as well. To that end, I and my colleagues on these benches are committed to challenging the Government, to scrutinising its decisions, but also to proposing our own alternative way forward in what I hope will be a spirit of respectful debate. That's with the clear aim, which is to use the powers of this Parliament to make a difference to the lives of the people who live here, or at least that's the plan. In response to the First Minister, please let me begin by seeking out what common ground exists and finding what I can to welcome in her speech today, and for all the SNP may pretend otherwise that common ground is there. Indeed, given how much the SNP has poached from the Scottish Conservative manifestos over recent months, I'm tempted to suggest that our programme for government should be called something borrowed, something blue. So today I'm happy to welcome, I'm happy to welcome the Government's proposal for an education reform bill. That's because the principle of reform has been consistently put forward by the Scottish Conservatives these last five years. However, I support for the detail of that bill is limited because there is growing concern that far from delivering real independence to school, the Government is actually attempting to centralise control with its governance reforms and that would be unacceptable. To borrow from the SNP's dictionary for a moment while we support reform, we will not support a school's power grab from this Scottish Government. I am genuinely pleased to see the inclusion of Frank's law in today's programme. It is absolutely a policy whose time has come. Scots who need care should not be divided by an arbitrary line of age. I pay tribute to Amanda Cappell, who has campaigned for this on behalf of her late husband, Frank, for years, and has done so with such amazing dignity and strength. I say to the First Minister if she wishes to expedite this so that we can get this in and working on the ground as soon as possible, I believe that she will have the whole chamber's support and she will certainly have mine. I am pleased to see the campaign for a new offensive drug driving, brought forward by my erstwhile colleague Douglas Ross, who has found favour with the Scottish Government, as has the long-held call from John Lamont for a south of Scotland enterprise agency. On the issue of public sector pay, the Scottish Conservatives supported the Government, both here and across the rest of the UK, in choosing pay restraint for public sector workers instead of redundancies, as they sought to stabilise the economy following the financial crash. Having righted the ship, it is time to revisit that restraint. Depending on which part of the public sector Scots work in, their salaries can be set by either Holyrood or Westminster, and although we await the details, on timing, on levels of increase and the rest, it is right to revisit restraint today, just as we expect to see movement in the same area from the UK Government in the period ahead. On homelessness, we urge the Government to also commit to a new national homelessness strategy for Scotland. All parties are committed to contributing to one. We also welcome the announcement of a bill to pardon gay and bisexual men. It is an important necessary step, which will allow us to turn the page on the past and ensure that we no longer label consensual behaviour as criminal. As much as we welcome the tone and some of the content of today's statement, we are also entitled to be sceptical too. We have just had 12 months where it is fair to say that delivery has not been top most of this Government's list of priorities. Today, the First Minister comes to this chamber with 16 bills. Last year, she came here with 15 and only got through four. The public are entitled to ask if today's 16 are in front or behind last year's leftovers in the queue. There are also areas where the Scottish Conservatives will not offer their support. There are areas where we will fight every step of the way because the SNP Government has simply got it wrong. They have brought forward a programme to raise taxes and keep robbers out of the jail. Nicola Sturgeon has played down in our speech sentences of 12 months or less. 17 per cent of all offenders done for attempted murder or serious assault received a sentence of less than 12 months. More than a quarter of all sex offenders are given jail terms of less than 12 months. We see the need in many areas for criminals to be taken off the streets, and we see that nowhere greater than in domestic violence cases and domestic abuse cases, where keeping an offender in the home environment means that others can never break free. I remind the First Minister that domestic abuse takes many forms. Yes, it can be violence but also financial, psychological and intimidation. I see that she has linked the two bills and we will fight to ensure that the option of jail is there. Otherwise, the SNP's soft touch Scotland just got a whole lot softer. On a citizen's basic income scheme, we would be concerned if we thought that anything would ever come of it beyond trying to write today's headline and the bones she's throwing to the Green Party. When the First Minister's commitment extends only to working with interested local authorities to fund research into its concept and feasibility, we are sleeping pretty easy on the Conservative benches tonight. It is clear from the First Minister's words today that the SNP has realised that the absence of domestic legislative activity over the last year was a mistake and that it is now trying to change tack. For all the warm words, however, I am afraid to say that the evidence suggests that the SNP still hasn't quite got the message. On Brexit, the First Minister is right that new powers will come to this place after we leave the European Union and we will support that process. However, the First Minister must recognise that the country has had enough of constitutional squabbling. Brexit must not be used by the SNP as another opportunity to retreat to their comfort zone of talking process. Instead of the First Minister really wants to find consensus on this matter, it must approach the issue pragmatically. We can't just talk about where powers lie. All of us now need to start talking about what to do with the powers that we have. That is because time is pressing. Just look at some of the enormous challenges that we face in Scotland and the ones that have come to light since we last met in this chamber. A survey of more than 3,000 nurses found that half-believe patient care has been compromised because of insufficient staffing. Or at Scotland concluded that the Government has failed to plan adequate staffing for the NHS in the long term and today the ISD Scotland report shows record vacancies for NHS consultants and for miswives. There are currently equivalent of 3,200 posts unfilled. Figures showed that the number of drug deaths in Scotland in 2016 rose by 23 per cent on the last year. The Scottish Parliament's education committee has warned that there is a real risk of increasing shortages of headteachers in the future. As I said last year, when I stood here, the entry is bulging and we need action. So it's clear that if it is going to re-earn the trust and respect of the people of Scotland, we also need a new approach from the Scottish Government. One that shuns the over-promising and under-delivering of the past, compounded by trying to cover it all up when inconvenient facts emerge. Absolutely, I'll give a way to the minister. I'm grateful that Ruth Davidson has given me. I wonder if she could tell the chamber if she thinks that the filling of vacancies in the national health service will be helped or hindered by Brexit. The minister said that we have for years been talking about workforce planning that has not worked in 10 years under the Scottish National Party Government. They may choose now to hide behind the Brexit fig leaf, but what were they saying a year ago? What were they saying two years ago? What were they saying five years ago? What were they saying 10 years ago when Labour, when us, when the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party brought workforce planning to this chamber? They said nothing, absolutely nothing. Let's have a look again at the record over the summer. This time last year, the SNP Government's big announcement was a new £500 million Scottish growth deal. Yet last week, we learned that this new deal has yet to provide a single penny to any Scottish firm and we asked why the delay. Last year the SNP staged major announcements where GPs were told that this Government was committed to increasing the proportion of NHS funding going into primary care, but over the summer GP leaders have warned that this cast iron promise was now being watered down. Grand promises, but in reality less than the sum of their parts. People want a Government prepared to face up to the issues, but too often we have had a Government which has tried to hide them away. A Government which asked its independent poverty adviser to tone down a report criticising cuts to further education, one of which urges Audit Scotland to water down its warnings to NHS, which does not confront its own failings in Government, but is more concerned with trying to fool people into not noticing. People have a right to be wary of a Government which, for the tenth year on the trot, is promising jam tomorrow. A Government which complains about the levers it does not have but seems terrified of the ones under its control. So, as the main opposition party, we will seek to push the Scottish Government to a bolder path by ourselves pushing for change. Last week, I set out some of my initial ideas, focusing specifically on ways to help to solve Scotland's housing crisis. Nobody in this chamber, I believe, can be satisfied with the current situation where young people find themselves shut out of the housing market until their mid-30s, where a new generation no longer believes that they will match the living standards of their parents. So we must act. If you speak to people in the sector, they are utterly frustrated by the drift and delay that they have seen from this Government on planning. Drift, which is deterring investment and sending it to Manchester, Liverpool or Birmingham, not Glasgow or Edinburgh or Aberdeen. We must find new ways to ensure that 2,500 homes a year, 25,000 homes a year, are built in Scotland and we will push the Government to deliver. Furthermore, we need to address the current state of housing in Scotland. That is why we will continue to push the Scottish Government to use its growing capital budget to ensure that no one has to live in a hard-to-heat home. A transformational investment in home energy efficiency would be a huge win-win for Scotland, creating jobs, reducing carbon emissions, improving health and helping householders with their energy bills. That is why in Government we would introduce a new target to ensure that every home is energy efficiency rated C or above by the end of the next year, in the end of the next decade and as opposition, we will attempt to write such measures into the bill that the SNP brings forward. On the NHS, I am pleased to say that tomorrow we will unveil our new NHS advisory panel, made up of practitioners and health professionals. It will examine how best we sustain our health service and its traditions for the long term. There is, I think, plenty of consensus in this chamber that we need to face up to challenges in the NHS and we want to play our part in that. On education, we will press the Scottish Government to push real power down to individual schools and head teachers because they are the ones that know their school best. We will set out fresh ways to tackle what is the clear pressing priority of parents to ensure that there are enough teachers in our schools. We will report back soon with a full review of the curriculum for excellence. The warnings made by Professor Lindie Patterson at the weekend cannot be dismissed out of hand as the SNP Government has sought to do. The urgent priority must be to address our declining numeracy and literacy standards and we need more investment in teacher numbers with more flexibility for roots into teaching. We need root and branch reform of our education agencies. On justice, we will support further prison reforms that will focus on rehabilitation. At the same time, we need to give judges the tools to punish the very worst criminals by backing whole-life sentences. We must also act here to listen to the concerns of rural Scotland to reflect the concerns of people who too often feel left out of Scotland's public debate. We have had enough of hearing about who is to blame for a lack of rural broadband. People just want to see both Governments get on and sort it out. On the economy, we will seek to lead a debate here in this place on the need to put growth first. The time for endless theoretical debate about the state of our economy in a future constitutional position is over. We need to focus on the more pressing issue of how we grow the Scottish economy now, how we increase productivity, how we train and retrain our people for the jobs of today and the jobs of tomorrow. The new financial powers here mean that Scotland needs to raise closer to what it spends. We will continue to argue this year that growing Scotland down with ever more punitive taxes is not the right way. The First Minister is opening the door on greater tax rises today, and we say stop taking ever more money from the pockets of Scotland's workers. We must instead go for growth. The Scottish Government's own review of business rates last month urged ministers to rethink some of their tax rises. If even their own report is critical of their policy, then surely it is time to listen. The SNP bluntly needs to decide what it believes in. It has tacked left on its new land and buildings transaction tax, and it has inevitably gummed up the market as a result. On the new air passenger duty, it has recognised the benefit of competitive taxation. On issues such as APT, we will seek to work with the SNP to deliver something that could be of huge economic benefit to Scotland. We only wish that they would show some consistency. We are all reading that the SNP is preparing to march leftward this year, largely for its own political reasons. The SNP, the small firms, the employers and the taxpayers of Scotland. On that note, the Scottish Government has announced a business development bank. I welcome the focus on providing finance for capital investment, and I will not be ideological about it. However, it would be remiss of me to avoid pointing out that yet again we have been here before with the establishment of new banks. The Scottish Government announced the Scottish business development bank and was then re-announced in September 2013. It was dropped in May 2014 before resurfacing in this First Minister's first programme for government towards the end of 2014. Since then, it has not only been delayed a few times, but the plan has also changed from the setting up of a dedicated bank to being part of the existing Scottish investment bank. Guess what? It still does not operate in full. Overpromise and underdeliver is a theme with this Government. Given the parliamentary arithmetic of this place, I do not seek to downplay the challenge facing the Government in pushing its agenda through this year. Indeed, we all await with anticipation the great Scottish courting ritual of the winter months, though it may be that Mr Harvey will find competition as a suitor this year from Mr Rennie. Sometimes I can even muster some sympathy for the First Minister, but what all parties will be looking for from all sides of the chamber is a sign of change, because if this Government is to earn back the respect of the people of Scotland, which it has squandered in the last year, then it must change and change fast. It must show that it understands the difference between a genuine complaint and the politics of endless grievance. It must accept responsibility for all its record in Scotland and fix the mistakes that it has made. It must be frank about the huge challenges that Scotland faces and not seek as its first response to very bad news and pretend that it does not exist. Given what we know of this Government, we will wait to see whether today's warm words are backed up by action before making a judgment. The Government should know this. After this last year, it is on probation with the people of Scotland. It is time to change tack and it is time to deliver. Thank you very much. Alex Rowley. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I take this opportunity to welcome everyone back to Parliament? Can I also take this opportunity to congratulate all who were involved in the construction and the design of the Queensferry crossing, the magnificent new bridge linking the wonderful Kingdom of Fife to the Lothians? It was good to be at the official opening yesterday and I do hope that more members of this place will take the opportunity to venture across the forth and enjoy some of the delights of Fife. I also want to congratulate all the workers involved in building the aircraft carriers. The HMS Prince of Wales will have its naming ceremony and recise this Friday and I say well done to everyone that was involved. The First Minister in her speech today has announced an extensive programme for her Government and she will be looking for support across this chamber. I want to be clear that Labour will not oppose for the sake of opposing and we will work constructively with the Government where it is in the best interests of the people of Scotland to do so. Equally, I hope the Government for its part will be more open to working with others and be open to listening to other ideas and other opinions. She has listened to us and agreed to lift the public sector pay cap. That is to be welcomed and her plan to launch a national investment bank to boost her economy is also good news. This light scrapping the pay cap was part of Labour's general election manifesto. Unfortunately, however, without a Labour Government in Westminster it won't have the £20 billion of lending power to get it started but nevertheless we very much welcome the announcement. We will be looking for complete transparency on how it is to be set up, who is put in charge of what should be a vital part of Scotland's economic infrastructure. However, it seems that in other areas of Government the years were closed to the advice, ideas and experiences. Carrying on with the poor education governance reforms which have been criticised by all in the sector is, in our view, pure dogmatic politics. The First Minister has often said that she wants to be judged on what her Government does to improve her education system. Let's just remind ourselves of a few of the facts. Over 4,000 fewer teachers than when the SNP came to power. 1,000 fewer support staff than when the SNP came to power. Spending per pupil across all ages is down. If pupils spend had remained the same as the 2010-11 levels then primary schools would be £726 million better off and secondary schools would be £308 million better off. I cannot see how what is proposed today addresses any of this. Indeed, it seems to me that it is a classic avoidance technique when in doubt restructure. It did not work for Police Scotland, it did not work for fire and rescue, it did not work for our colleges and it will not work for our schools. Presiding Officer I have used much of this summer recess to meet and listen to people and listen to what they have to say. The teachers I spoke to over the summer, they told me about the impact of the cuts in schools and in classrooms. Workloads that have them completely run off their feet. Class sizes that are far far too large. The need for more teaching assistants in our classrooms and they told me not about having those materials to be able to provide the teaching and learning of the quality that we need. James Dornan Does he then regret the decision made by North Lanarkshire Council when they went into coalition with the Tories and the first thing that they did was they sacked 100 classroom assistants? Alex Rowley What I regret is the £170 million in the local council budget last year that meant classroom assistants and others being taken out of the education authority. It really is rich for SNP MSPs to come in here and talk about council cuts when they voted for those council cuts. Most of the concerns that are being expressed by teachers are a result of severe shortage of funding in education. That is, First Minister, what needs to be addressed if we are going to tackle education and the issues in education. Taking control of education away from our councils will not address any of those issues. That brings me to local government. We must recognise that local councils are on the front line of supporting people suffering from failed Tory austerity. Local councils lead on planning and economic development. Health and social care protect our environment, the education of our children and the health and wellbeing of our communities. The obsession of this SNP Government to centralise local government has got to stop. The willingness to pass on Tory austerity to local public services has got to stop. The Government must change course, must build a new partnership with local councils, must build on mutual respect, understand and join up planning to tackle the big issues in our communities. Clare Adamson. Thank you for taking the intervention, Mr Rowley. I appreciate what you are saying about local government, something that is very dear to my heart, having served as a council in North Lanarkshire, but you have just talked about cuts. Why did North Lanarkshire Labour fail to use the flexibility in the council tax to maybe alleviate some of those cuts? Alex Rowley. We need to make sure, in the next budget round, that we do not simply pass on failed Tory austerity to local councils and local public services. I really hope that the First Minister and indeed the Finance Minister are listening to what others are saying. For it is time to use the powers of this Parliament to pay for a more fair, more equal society and to support our public services. It is time to introduce a 50p top rate of income tax. Have an honest discussion with the people of Scotland to show that those who can afford to pay a bit more should do so. Scrap the unfair council tax as she once promised she would do, for no amount of tinkering with the bans will make it any fairer. While they say that they will lift the public sector let us be clear in this debate. It cannot be done on the back of cutting even more from public services. It must be paid for. I have listened, Presiding Officer, to the hundreds of people this summer at street stalls, coffee mornings and on the doorsteps. It should be no surprise to the First Minister that people right across Scotland are very concerned about the state of our national health service. We have an NHS workforce crisis. Today, new figures show how bad it is. Nursing and midwife vacancies are up. Consultant vacancies are up and over 400 operations were cancelled in July. I'm not sure anything that the First Minister said today is actually going to tackle these major issues in our health service. For the hundreds queuing outside of the city practises trying to get an appointment, the people being removed from the list, those trapped in hospitals, those on waiting lists for care packages, waiting lists for operations, waiting to see specialists or seeking mental health support, will this programme of government bring change for them? I'm not sure. It should also not be a surprise that people were raising the problems of housing. Shelter says that Scotland has a housing crisis. I agree. So too do the tens of thousands on council waiting lists, the homeless and the children who leave school each day with no home to call their own. I have welcomed the Government's commitment to build 50,000 affordable houses, 35,000 of which is social rented, but I say again we need a national house build strategy to ensure that it happens. We cannot allow this housing crisis to continue. That brings me to skills, apprenticeships and jobs. In near enough, every sector of our economy, we have major skills gaps. Our ambition must surely be a high-skill, high-wage economy. Yet we currently have 71,000 people on zero-hour contracts. There are 40,000 agency workers in Scotland with little security of work, a figure that is predicted to rise significantly unless something is done. We will work with the Government on the measures that they have announced today, but it must be more than warm words. Will she listen to us and consider Labour's proposal for an industrial strategy for Scotland? Action speaks louder than words and it is action we need. Taking talking of action, we have worked with the Government on its child poverty bill. I do hope that it will establish an independent statutory poverty and inequality commission for Scotland. Setting child poverty targets is one thing, but it is action that is needed to tackle child poverty. Again, listen to Labour. Use the powers of this Parliament to increase child benefit by £5 a week and lift over 30,000 children out of poverty over the next three years. Action speaks louder than words. Listen to Labour. Drop the proposal for the 50 per cent cut in air passenger duty. That would cost Scottish tax payers nearly £190 million. Drop that idea and invest it on tackling the unacceptable levels of poverty in Scotland. Presiding Officer, there are positive measures in the Government's programme today, but there are still huge challenges facing Scotland that are not addressed. We will work with the Government where we can, we will hold them to account where we can and we will bring forward the ideas to tackle the big challenges facing communities up and down Scotland in 2017. Thank you. Patrick Harvie Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I thank the First Minister for the advance copy of the statement? Can I take this moment also to offer a word or two about Kezia Dugdale? I've already offered my best wishes in person, but when someone steps down from a role that is service not only to her party but also to Parliament, I think it's appropriate to say so on the record as well. I'm sure I'm not alone in members to the future. The statement today allows us to move on somewhat from the rather symbolic stories of the summer silly season on to a little substance. We've seen people thawning over a clock in London and thawning over a bridge in Scotland. And now, without taking anything away from the workforce who've done the work on either projects, I'm not sure. I particularly want to fawn over military infrastructure either. But we now have the opportunity to move on to the issues of substance from a Government that seems to have been proposing the idea that it's ready for a reset. If that's what it's aiming at, then it's perhaps inevitable that every other political party in Parliament will say, look, they're stealing our policies, those were our great ideas. I want to hear that line coming from a Conservative who's also tried to talk about affordable housing and energy efficiency all of a sudden to claim that others are pinching policies. But notwithstanding that, the Greens will of course welcome many of the measures that are remarkably familiar, not just from our 2016 manifesto, but from many manifestos that the Greens have published over the years. It's clear though that if those policies are now on the Government's agenda, it's because of green presence in this Parliament and Greens will be necessary to put pressure on the Government to turn paper commitments into real changes. Let's take the climate change bill for a start. We need to go beyond simply the track that we're on and the targets that the Government has currently floated will simply make a continuation of our current level of emission reductions. A commitment to net zero carbon emissions in 2014 would be the spur that is needed to ensure investment in the new low-carbon industries that will create long-lasting jobs for the future. On clean energy, the Government's main commitment is on carbon capture and storage, which remains at the moment a speculative technology and will not help us in the immediate years ahead, even if it has longer-term prospects. A deposit return scheme, very welcome, and if the Government cracks on and gets that done quickly, then it might even be in place a mere decade after the enabling legislation was passed by this Parliament. As for our commitment to phase out petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032, we welcome this but what's needed alongside it is a commitment to the end of their use, not just the end of their sale as new vehicles onto the market. We've been calling for some time for more than just the one pilot low emissions zone that the Scottish Government has so far supported, so I welcome the commitment to have four of them. The commitment to have one pilot was clearly inadequate in the first place and this is where we should have been some time ago. As for more investment in walking and cycling, there is ground to make up from earlier cuts in that area and this increase must be sustained for the long term if it's going to make a real difference. I had been hoping that we might have had an advanced notice of the decision on fracking, which is due by the end of this calendar year. It would have been very welcome to hear a commitment to a full and permanent band today, because that is the only decision that I think not only the Greens but many in the First Minister's own party will tolerate. I do welcome the commitment to give support or at least a fair wind to my colleague John Finnie's member's bill proposal on giving children equal protection from assault. That, I'm sure, will be one example of many constructive Green ideas which I'm sure the Government will continue to welcome. Citizens' income is perhaps the most radical of long-standing Green policies that the Government of today has given a signal of interest in. A fund to help local authority pilots has been green councillors and local authorities who have been amongst the forefront for pushing for those schemes. The case for citizens' income or universal basic income, I believe, has never been stronger. There's always been a principled case for saying that we all create collectively the wealth of our economy and we all have a right to share in that wealth. A citizens' income would achieve this as well as recognising the value to our economy of unpaid labour and particularly the deeply gendered imbalance of who does that unpaid and unremunerated labour in our society. As we anticipate another wave of automation, the case for citizens' income grows all the stronger. It may well be that Ruth Davidson is sleeping cosy in the comforting knowledge that that basic level of safeguard for people will never be achieved. I have no doubt that those responsible for the near destruction of our social security system are sleeping easy. I have no doubt that those responsible for on-going poverty pay and exploitation in our economy are quite unbothered in their comfortable slumbers. I'm sure that she's more comfortable in this area than she is spending time in the company of some of our own local councillors. Those among us who want a society on a level of respect to which all human beings are entitled will want to see more progress on the issue of citizens' income. On education, the responses to the Government's consultation on governance from teachers, parents, pupils, expert bodies, academics and unions have been almost universally hostile to the Government's proposals and the Government's response seems to have been well, they didn't want any change anyway, a rather dismissive and meaningless response. Parliament will inevitably challenge the Government on its divisive proposals and I think that we have a right to expect a more meaningful response than the consultees have received. We do welcome the review of initial teacher education. This is something that was clearly needed and our particular priority has been in ensuring consistent high quality education for additional support needs. One in four pupils have those identified needs, so it cannot just be specialist staff, a reducing number of specialist staff who know how to provide them. But what we can't countenance is the Government using this review of teacher training to force through teach first in Scotland. This fast-track scheme risks putting unqualified and unprepared individuals into classrooms and it has a lower retention rate than traditional routes into teaching and the Government has proved itself to facilitate secretive dialogue on the issue via the lobbying through the royal household. We will continue to challenge the Government on those issues as well. There is a great deal more that I would like to see in this statement. Support to fight child poverty with a £5 top-up to child benefit and support for carers with increased allowances. Last year in the programme for government debate the First Minister indicated support for the green proposal for an additional young carers allowance. This year is still the paper commitment. Let's make sure that by next year it's a reality, not just words on the page. Let's see support from the Government from my other colleague Mark Ruskell, his member's bill proposal on 20-mile-an-hour limits, safer streets in all our residential communities. Let's see real movement on progressive taxation. The time is right, says the First Minister, for a discussion paper. A years after we've known that the devolution of income tax powers was coming, and a year after we began our first debates on what the Scottish income tax rates and bans should have been, it's way past time that we have a discussion. I do hope that the discussion is more meaningful than the discussion that we've already had on local tax reform which so far has led to nothing except more willingness to debate the options. We need to go further. I would also, Presiding Officer, finally like to have seen rather more on the issues where the Government has so far developed a poor track record. Even the UK Government on animal welfare is looking at mandatory CCTV in abattoirs, and the Scottish Government has resisted that. We also need to see action on fox hunting, which goes beyond the stated intentions of Lord Barnaby who said that the goal of his review is to find a way to ensure that hunting can continue. There's so much more to do on the animal welfare agenda. In closing, Presiding Officer, where we have common ground we will continue to work with the Government and that certainly includes opposing the destructive and incompetent approach of the UK Government on Brexit. This Parliament represents people who voted by a huge majority to remain European. We cannot let them down. Where we have constructed what to do with the Government, we'll do so. But where they need to be challenged, either to go further beyond their comfort zone or to turn paper commitments into real world changes, we'll be here to push them. Willie Rennie to open for the Liberal Democrats. Thank you, Presiding Officer. On Saturday afternoon, my colleague Alex Cole-Hamilton and myself joined a group of breast cancer survivors called the Port Edgar Dragons. We were on their magnificent dragon boat, Isle of May, on the River Forth. There are a wonderful group of women who show gutsy human spirit to improve their health. We had an alternative view of the Queen's Ferry crossing whilst thousands of others were able to cross it above us. But we saw from there the magnificence of that bridge. The engineers and workers should be proud of their achievement. Those who argued that it was not necessary only need to cast their mind into the winter of 2015 when the old bridge was forced to close or a little further back when it was discovered the main cables were corroding. Let's not have a revisiting of history. This bridge was necessary for the east coast artery of this country and I'm pleased that it's been built. The recess should have allowed us all to reflect on one of the most turbulent periods in politics for some time, with nine sets of elections and referendums in the last six years. People have had their fill. People want elected politicians to deliver real improvements to their lives. They are fed up with the endless focus on independence. To give credit to the First Minister she recognised that in June when she signalled she was cooling on independence. I was sceptical at the time and will always be suspicious but for now we have a chance and today's announcement on the presumption against prison sentences of 12 months or less is a start. We have been calling for this for some time. We also support the same-sex activity pardons and after opposing it twice I'm pleased to see the SNP are now prepared to raise the age of criminal responsibility and Frank's law is something we support too. Yet those are few bright spots in another wise rather dull statement. The First Minister has today confirmed what the former ministers were saying in the papers this morning. The SNP has a lack of ideas. The fire has gone out and they are stuck in an ivory tower. The flat reaction of their backbenchers today shows that the fire has gone out there too. It was 14 whole minutes before those one round of applause for anything that the First Minister was saying. 14 minutes. In fact most of the applause of the First Minister was for the announcement to implement other party's ideas that the SNP had previously opposed. I have to say that I love the moment that Patrick Harvie criticised the other parties who claim credit for policies being announced in the programme for government before spending the rest of his speech doing exactly that. Meanwhile, look at where we are in Scotland. The waits for mental health treatment are far too long. Today we hear that more young people are waiting for longer than the last period. This situation is getting worse, the international standing of our education system is slipping. The fallout from the botched centralisation of the police continues. The recruitment of sufficient nurses, doctors and teachers is posing real issues in their schools and NHS. The expansion of offshore renewable energy is lagging behind. The First Minister talked about the economy. The last time the Scottish Government said that its flagship was a £500 million Scottish growth fund that would pay out guarantees and loans to Scottish business. No loans or guarantees have been paid out. In fact, the promise changes to parliamentary procedure to allow those to happen haven't even been tabled over a year later. The Scottish Government switched some of the scheme to funding equity in June. Equity funding is something that Scottish Enterprise has been doing since it was set up in 1991, so I'm not sure why it needed a nine-month delay to make it happen. That was supposed to be an urgent response to the economy. Something post-Brexit to deal with that issue, so we will scrutinise today's proposals to see if they amount too much this time, because they didn't work well. My party was in Government. We implemented the Macron agreement for teachers. The deal and paying conditions valued the work of our teachers. We need a new McGrone agreement to address the workload and recruitment issues of today. That would be one of the important steps that we could take to reverse the decline in our international education standing. With the budget ahead, there is a chance to inject investment in roll-out, schools and colleges, especially for women and mature students. We have proposed a £500 million to be paid for a modest penny on income tax, using the new powers that this Parliament has. It is good to see that the Government has abandoned its manifesto promise to implement the national funding formula for schools. It is good to see that the pupil equity fund is still in place, something that ministers have opposed for years. On health, we have to treat mental health as the answer to the long-term problems in the NHS and its sustainability. To make the strategy work, funds must follow though. The strategy is insufficient without resources to make it work. We should value the workforce and offer in particular good careers for staff in remote and rural areas. The problems that I highlighted about Caithness General Hospital need adequately addressed. It is no point just shuffling off because it is miles away. We need an answer to the problems of the rural NHS. We need to address the recruitment problems in the NHS too. Today we have heard about nurse shortages but there are major problems with GPs too. People are waiting for weeks to see their GP and many GPs are handing back their practices to the health board any more. There is little point in the SNP Government boasting about staff numbers when the NHS is short of what is required. With the departure of the chairman of the Scottish Police Authority, we believe that there is an opportunity to inject democracy back into the police. The appointment of the new chairman should be with the agreement of this Parliament just like the appointment of the Children's Commissioner, and the other commissioners in this Parliament. That would inject democracy back into our struggling police force. At the general election we propose to lift the public sector pay cap. The UK proposal was to boost the pay of teachers, nurses, soldiers and care workers as well as many others by £780 by 2021. That would be a welcome change after years of effective cuts in pay. Of course we need to work within the recommendations of the public sector pay bodies and within Scottish resources but believe that the Scottish Government should take the initiative to lift the pay cap. Our plan is based on using investment to deliver reform, investing in the talents of our people to achieve great things, to lift the economy, decentralising power and bringing back democracy. I am afraid that the Conservatives' reckless gamble on Europe means that the houses of Parliament will be dominated by that subject for some time. We remain of the view that Brexit will be damaging. You only need to visit the fruit farms of North East Fife to realise the economic impact of losing thousands of seasonal pickers from Europe, a direct result of Brexit, the exchange rate and the perception of greater hostility to foreigners. When the consequences of Brexit become clear, we believe that there should be an exit shoot. Even those most ardent Eurosceptics on the Conservative benches did not vote for Brexit to make us poorer. The Conservative MSPs, just like everyone else, should have the right to turn back if it is going to damage our country. It should be the British people that decide what is next, which is why I am sceptical to veto on Brexit. That is not a Scottish-English battle, it is about the economic and social wellbeing of the whole of the country. We will talk to the SNP Government about how to handle Brexit in this Parliament, but we are not interested in driving a wedge between Scotland and England. This parliamentary term is a new opportunity to deliver change now that there is a possibility of putting the divisions of independence behind us. We have put forward constructive proposals. The big question is this, will the Scottish Parliament and will this Government seize that opportunity? Thank you. Thank you. We now move to the open debate. I would ask all members to wish to speak to press the buttons and to call Kate Forbes to fall by Adam Tomkins. Six-minute speeches please, Kate Forbes. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Like others, I have just returned to meeting the people who put me here in the first place and who put each of us here in the first place and who expect us to work with courage, creativity and ambition to make Scotland an even better place to work, live, invest and do business. As I listened to the First Minister set out the programme for government for the coming year, always with a thought as to the impact on the people of my own constituency I heard a vision for a fairer, more prosperous and innovative country prepared to embrace the challenges of the future and there are two additional aspects that struck me. Firstly, the programme for government recognises that there is so much academic, entrepreneurial and creative potential in the people of Scotland. The people of our communities are our greatest resource with their ideas their families and their commitment to collaboration. I see it every day as I work with the people of my constituency and government's role is to create the environment to enable people to be the best they can be by closing the attainment gap by expanding early years education and childcare by offering intensive support to the most talented and ambitious entrepreneurs to help bring their ideas to market. All of those policies and many many more will directly support the people of Scotland who then themselves can shape a better, more prosperous and more equal society. Secondly, this is an agenda that does not forget any community with its coherent, ambitious vision for our future. The programme for government may have been announced today in Edinburgh but its contents are for every community in this nation. Previous action by the SNP and government has focused on empowering Scotland's communities but the plans announced today for the coming session go even further so that our communities can lead the nation in terms of homegrown enterprise, attracting investment and nurturing talent. I want to see our communities flourish and thrive, particularly those that feel empowered either geographically or economically, because I believe that the nation only flourishes when every community has a stake in our collective future and is able to contribute to the common good. Those are nice ideas, I imagine all of us agree, but in this programme for government there are actual clear, tangible, doable solutions which deliver precisely that. Not just talk but action. Action like enabling communities to control 1 per cent of council budgets or providing a framework in the Crown Estates Bill so that local communities benefit from managing assets and devolving power and that applies in urban and rural areas. The programme also connects the most remote or disempowered communities first to each other and then to the wider world. The first phase of the £3 billion dueling project of the A9 is about to open in my constituency. We have waited years for that but it is great news for the Highlands that the Scottish Government will not rest on its laurels but will go even further and make the A9 the first fully electric enabled highway. I was already pleased that the Scottish Government intends to ask broadband to 100 per cent of premises but it will be immensely welcome that the First Minister has just put rural Scotland right at the front of the queue in our digital revolution meaning that the most remote communities will be the very first to reap the benefits of comprehensive fibre broadband coverage. But this programme for government also links those small communities with centres of international markets to international investment hubs now in London, Dublin, Brussels, Berlin and Paris. The significance of international connections cannot be overestimated in transforming our local communities. Take food and drink exports, for example, not just a major contributor to Scotland's economy with exports now at a record high of £5.5 billion but so much of it is sourced from the shores, from the farms and from the distilleries of rural Scotland, creating jobs and providing sustainable incomes. Central to any ambitions for economic growth is the critical urgency of building more homes across Scotland and the programme for government is packed full of bold and innovative policies and among them is one on housing which intends to bring vacant properties back into use and across this nation are numerous buildings which once served a useful purpose and now sit idle from an abandoned croft house on a highland hill to a derelict building in the heart of our cities. In short this programme for government does not just pass legislation to empower communities it actually does it by devolving power and investing in communities it believes at its heart unless every single one of our communities is moving forward and it tackles the challenges of our future head on with creativity, ambition and an absolutely relentless determination to unlock Scotland's potential. Thank you there's a little time enhanced so if there's interventions I can make up the time to members I call Adam Tomkins followed by Christina McKelvie thank you we all know that education plays a key role in contributing to the future prospects of Scotland's children so let's start with two grim facts on the SNP's watch the number of P7 pupils from the most deprived communities in Scotland performing well in numeracy has fallen to 54% and the figure for writing has fallen to 56% that is the reality of the SNP's decade long record in government the attainment gap getting wider the scale of the problem is huge we're not talking here only about the 5% or 10% most deprived communities we're talking about the bottom third in Scotland today if you're a child growing up in the poorest third of households you have barely a 50-50 chance of being able to read to the required standard or count properly by the time you leave primary school now I'm sure that every member of this Parliament thinks that this is completely unacceptable but the sad truth is that not every member wants to use our lawmaking powers to address it we know that there is a direct link between educational under attainment and child poverty and we know that right now we have before us in this Parliament a child poverty bill I welcome that bill and have sought during its passage through this Parliament to make it stronger, no but we need in our law clear binding and effective requirements on Scottish ministers to take steps not merely to address the consequences of child poverty but to tackle what drives people into poverty in the first place and we tried to amend the child poverty bill at stage 2 to address the shocking reality of the Scottish Government's education record as it penalises children growing up in our poorest communities but we were blocked and we shall try again at stage 3 now I agree with the First Minister that we need to tackle the attainment gap and I support her Government's child poverty bill in this silo over here and child poverty in that silo over there without addressing the direct link between the two is frankly for the birds let me turn from something that the SNP isn't doing but should be doing to something which they are doing but shouldn't be in one of the very first debates I took part in in this chamber I had the audacity to ask John Swinney a question about named persons instead of answering it he screamed across the chamber that I should be ashamed of my intervention barely a month after that exchange and the United Kingdom Supreme Court unanimously ruled on precisely the same point that I had raised with Mr Swinney that the SNP's named persons scheme is illegal it's illegal it's violative of fundamental rights it's disproportionate and it's back instead of being consigned to the dustbin of legislative history where it belongs Mr Swinney is seeking to breathe fresh life into the condemned scheme but Mr Swinney's children and young people information sharing bill is hopeless Presiding Officer in its submission to the education committee the faculty of advocates no less makes it clear that a number of the defects with the named persons scheme identified by the Supreme Court will still apply if the bill is passed in its current form meaning more litigation is all but inevitable but we can avoid it Presiding Officer if the SNP listens to its critics the person's scheme is fundamentally flawed and uses the new bill not as a means to fight again a battle it has already lost once but as a way of fixing things for the future if the SNP takes its fingers out of its ears we can avoid the prospect of yet another nationalist defeat in the UK's highest courts but I suspect that that won't happen Presiding Officer I suspect that the SNP would rather fight the battles of the past than confront the problems of the present one problem of the present that clearly needs to be addressed is housing in 2007, a decade ago Nicola Sturgeon conceded that far too many people in Scotland were unable to satisfy what she called the basic aspiration of home ownership but in the intervening years the SNP's commitment to build 35,000 new homes a year has dwindled to less than half of that with key development decisions caught up in the conjections Please sit down Mr Dorn and please sit down he doesn't seem to be taking intervention I've stood down No Mr Dorn was on his feet Mr Dorn was on his feet at the same time as yourself Mr Tomkin It's simply not good enough when we're faced with a housing shortage on a scale potentially unseen since the second world war so this is our call to action it is incumbent on policy makers of all political colours to help people fulfil their ambition of owning a home we urgently need to revitalise debate on this issue and why we've laid the foundations for a housing strategy which seeks to address this challenge head on not only by increasing the housing supply but by tackling the reasons why it's been depleted to start with we want to see a new national housing and infrastructure agency and a housing and infrastructure minister in the cabinet we've called for 100,000 new homes to be built over the course of this parliament and for 30,000 empty properties across Scotland to be refurbished and brought back into use expand simplified planning zones and we want to look at building a new generation of new towns this is ambitious thinking but it's the kind of thinking that we need to overcome a defining challenge of the coming decade in Scotland we are not short of challenges and we're not short of new political thinking designed to address and combat them but it's from these benches that that thinking is coming not from the government this isn't a programme for government it's a programme for drift thank you I call Christina McKelvie do we follow by Lewis MacDonald Ms McKelvie please thank you very much and I thank the First Minister for setting out what is a bold, ambitious and reformative programme for government today Hubert Humphrey, the lead author of the Civil Rights Act 1964 and the creator of the Peace Corps said it was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of their life the children who are in the twilight of their life the elderly and those who are in the shadow of life the sick, the needy and those with disabilities this programme for government passes that moral test for me this programme will be transformative this programme will be outward looking it already is but this programme will be dignified and above all this programme will be inclusive in its approach and leave no one behind Presiding Officer the pursuit of equality is what binds most of us within this chamber that as of yet includes of quality that places every woman man and child in parity regardless of their race their background or their wealth our pursuit of equality before the law and pay and conditions and opportunity will be at the central core of this government's agenda and I welcome that over the past year we have seen immense strides in our pursuit for equality as you are becoming the 900th living wage employer with the Scottish Government on track to deliver the living wage to over 1,000 employers by the autumn of this year to our continued work to encourage equal 50-50 gender representations on boards our public sector Presiding Officer the beating heart of a society has long wore the brunt of Tory austerity workers have for too long been subject to a cap that was not there doing what started in Westminster but now ends here in Hollywood but that is not the only thing that this government has called time upon the passage of time can act as closure as we all know and some instances time can be a healer but for some their time has come our time has come to right the wrongs of government's past in Scotland we are very proud to lead the way in pardoning those whose only supposed crime was to love with this step we show Scotland as a nation that celebrates her diversity her pride, her culture and her colour the time has come to celebrate our inclusivity this Parliament as representative of our people has achieved remarkable steps over the past year the working group and LGBTI inclusive education is tangible process speaking to some of the young people yesterday they're excited about what's to come a symbol that this Government alongside our partners in Stonewall LGBT Youth Scotland and the barrier breaking tie campaign will make inclusive education a reality a welcome reality this government is manifest this is the purpose of a role indeed the role of government to protect, uphold implement and progress the rights of all to integrate equality and understanding across all of society actions speak louder than words and this government will take action from supporting equal protection from assault I welcome that greatly and support John Finnie in his aims to raising the age of criminal responsibility for children, yes children let's never forget that this government continues to uphold and understand human rights for all I'm incredibly proud of that an understanding that has been criminally lacking from the UK government this is a conservative government that deliberately discriminates and renails across the rights of others if you're disabled you're subject to a UK welfare system that systematically violates your human rights you're at the mercy of Tory austerity that has caused a human catastrophe the UN has accused that government of a human catastrophe never ever forget that if you're a woman you have a UK Government that condones a rape clause and by the grace of God help you in this chamber if you happen to be a gypsy traveller under the Tories who according to Douglas Ross would rather crack down on your rights than uphold them a disgraceful comment which the Tories should be rightly shamed for Presiding Officer our commitment to equality and fairness is transposed into the world of work and as the world of work changes so must we we've heard this this government modern and focused on its purpose maintains its pledge to work both fair and equal that's why it's no surprise to see in Scotland the gender pay gap is closing falling to 6.2 per cent compared to the UK-wide 9.4 per cent now whilst we're not quite there this government continues to transform the structures that uphold the gender pay gap that is precisely why in the history of this Parliament no government has done more to expand free early learning and childcare given parents all parents the available opportunities to return assured and confident today we have gone further and secure in multi-year continuous funding I'm sure we'll be more than welcome when people return to employment we've now got the highest records employment that means jobs and that means a possibility and above all it gives hope hope can move mountains and for some people only need a little bit of hope this government offers exactly that hope that if you find themselves in disadvantage you will not be downtrodden you will not be demonised and they will not be sanctioned I'm proud of a government that will not sanction their people I'm proud of a government that designs a social security system based on dignity I'm proud of a government that commits to end child poverty I'm proud of a government that commits to tackle the tragedy of rough sleeping and I'm proud of this government will lead by example first person I call Lewis MacDonald to be followed by Gillian Martin Thank you very much First Minister describes her programme for government as ambitious and that claim has to be judged in the context of what more could've been done much of which was set out in detail by Alex Rowley and also in the context of the bigger picture in the last part of my time I sat on the devolution for the powers committee gwnaeth the outcome of the Smith commission. We interrogated Scottish and UK ministers and we also heard a good deal from civil society. The sense from many of those witnesses was of the transformative potential of those new powers. SNP ministers and committee members lost no opportunity to argue that more devolved powers would enable Scotland's devolved government to take more of a lead in meeting the challenges lying ahead. That was all before the EU referendum in June of last year, in which the vote put yet more powers up for grabs and made the need for leadership from ministers in this government all the greater. The SNP has been in office now for more than 10 years. This is the second programme for government that is brought forward since the re-election as a minority government after the Smith commission and since the EU referendum. Yet transformative this programme is not. As in 2016, the government has brought forward a raft of measures, some of which are welcoming themselves, but which is a package fall short of a bold turn away from austerity and which do not address some of the key issues that matter most to my constituents. Twelve months ago, when we debated the last programme for government, the Scottish economy was flirting with recession. Yet the government then had failed to produce any comprehensive response to the downturn in the oil and gas industry. Now we are told that there is to be a new approach to manufacturing, but there is still little sense that this government has come to terms with the nature and scale of the impact of the oil downturn on the Scottish economy. I was, of course, pleased to hear the First Minister's promise funding for feasibility studies for the Acorn carbon capture and storage project at St Fergus in the north-east, albeit funding not of millions but of £100,000 to underpin substantial funding already provided by the European Union last May. The First Minister was right that the North Sea does indeed have great potential as a store for sequestered carbon, but it is disappointing that the existing productive industries in the North Sea do not merit even a mention in the First Minister's statement today. She knows that the oil and gas sector has contributed more than any other industry in recent years to maintaining a manufacturing base right across the Scottish economy from Ayrshire to Fife. The wider impact of the downturn in low growth of the Scottish economy over the last two years is plain for all to see. It is also visible in the thousands of people who have lost their jobs directly or indirectly over the same period, especially in the north-east. The Government's response to that crisis was to set up an energy jobs task force, which, after a slow start, was able to provide help to some of those who put out of work, but which has now been told that it is not needed anymore. It seems to me quite remarkable that such an important Government decision taken only in the last few days was not even mentioned by the First Minister today. Regional industrial officer Tommy Campbell of United Union has expressed the disappointment of many. People are still losing their jobs off and on shore, he says. On that basis, the task group still has a job to do. The press and journal described the decision from a business perspective as premature and wondered why the Government was in such a hurry to upsticks and move on. Even by the Government's own figures, support and advice have been provided only to a fraction of those who have lost their jobs, and I know that ministers know that there are more job losses to come. With offshore Europe delegates gathering in Aberdeen this week, there is already talk of a fourth industrial revolution offshore, which is code for more automation, more remote operations, greater alliance on big data and a future with fewer jobs. If ministers are serious about their high ambition for an industrial future, that is surely the wrong time to end a targeted intervention in a sector of the economy where existing jobs are still at risk and much of the pain for workers and their families still lies ahead. The other big risk that we faced a year ago and still faced is from Brexit, and there I hope that we will see a continuing change of emphasis from the First Minister. In the first part of this year, the SNP's response to the Brexit strategy of Theresa May was to promote an exit strategy of its own. Leaving Britain to stay in Europe was not a policy proposition likely to attract broad support. It cost the SNP many seats at the general election. More importantly, it distracted attention from the urgent task of protecting the benefits of our relationships with the rest of the European Union. India Ref too has not quite gone from today's script, which is a pity, but we have clearly moved into a new phase in the Brexit process, still with precious little evidence that ministers in the UK Conservative Government have any rational strategy for achieving their objectives in the short or long term. It is all the more important then that Scottish ministers concentrate on the task at hand. I welcome their efforts to work jointly with Labour ministers in Wales to define and protect the scope of devolved powers arising from the EU withdrawal bill at Westminster, and I look forward to working with them where we can agree on shared objectives in the period ahead. The priority must be to get the best outcome for all the nations and regions of the United Kingdom within the context of the referendum result. I hope that that can be the focus of our debates on Brexit to come. This Parliament is empowered in ways that already go even further than the ambitions of its founders 20 years ago. The return of powers from Brussels means that it will be empowered still further in the next two years. The challenge now for ministers is to go beyond today's plans to be bold and to use all those powers to deliver for the people of Scotland. I am aware that I understand the plot somewhere behind me that is not operating to tell you the times. That is being remedied, but the side clocks are telling you the speaking times if you are able to catch them, but then there is always my pen that tells you one minute to go. Gillian Martin, followed by Liz Smith. Today, the Scottish Government is pledged to deliver changes that will be instrumental in the lives of families and young people. Significant announcements will positively impact on women and girls across the country. It was little more than a year ago that my friend and colleague Julie Hepburn and I successfully put forward a resolution to the SNP's National Council calling for the introduction of an S card, a card that would allow women and girls to access sanitary products freely from designated locations. Since then, I have pushed for more to be done to wipe out period poverty in meetings with the Cabinet Secretary for Community, Social Security and Equalities, Angela Constance, to resolve the issue that so many of us have campaigned on for years. I would like to point to the work that I did with my friends and colleagues in women for independence to do research into the issue to help inform that work and that of the Government. I want to thank in particular Julie Hepburn and Victoria Heaney and Margaret Young for women for independence for all their help this past year and for all the women's groups who have assembled this year in Edinburgh to bring more focus to the issue from their own perspectives. I also want to thank Angela Constance and her officials for their can-do attitude when I sat in her office all those months ago. I am delighted to say that our determination and that of other parliamentary colleagues in this place and in civic society has now paid off. Like that of my colleague here in the Scottish Parliament, who is not in the chamber at the moment, Monica Lennon, who has worked so hard to draw more attention to this issue in her work in period poverty. I am sure that Monica will join me today in celebrating the effective hard work across the political spectrum on this issue. I agree that it is now firmly at the top of the Government's agenda. Good things happen when tenacious women work together. The Scottish Government, as you will have heard, has agreed to further build on the pilot scheme that was rolled out in Aberdeen in July, which has been working with Seafine. The pilot will gather the evidence that we need to identify those who are affected. I am delighted that Seafine is also collaborating with Women's Aid on access to period products. I think that it is rather unpolite to laugh rockously during a member's speech. I think that you would concur. If I could just get back to the subject of domestic abuse, it has been an issue in part— Yes, Ms Martin, continue. Thank you. Period poverty can be an issue for women with controlling partners, women who do not have access to their own money. Co-efficient control is a hidden and distressing side of period poverty. I am visiting Seafine in the next couple of weeks to see how its pilot is going. The work carried out in the pilot project will help to inform further work by highlighting the additional groups of women in need but who might be missed from any initial assessment. The pilot is, of course, in addition to the significant commitment today by the Scottish Government to give free access to sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities. We all know that there are many girls who miss school because they cannot leave the house during the period for lack of access to products—a situation in which we cannot allow to continue as we try to close the attainment gap. I must also say at this point that Mr Tomkins would not take an intervention from me. The biggest impact in closing the attainment gap is hunger and deprivation. That is not caused by anything other than money that has been taken away from families on the bread line. I think that we all know who has done that. Types of stories about period poverty are horrifying to hear but they illustrate why those measures are so important. The Scottish Government has shown a willingness to lead the way in this important issue of health equality and social equality in our society. I am proud of the work that so many people have done in this issue and to be able to stand in this chamber and welcome the steps that we are taking rather than articulating the reasons once again. When we say that access to period products is our right, never the luxury, we mean it and today's announcement proves it. The world is watching us on this and already we are being hailed as one of the world's most progressive countries on this issue. However, this is not the only measure that the Scottish Government is taking to help women. New measures have also been announced for childcare provision. Childcare is a family issue, not just a woman's issue and I spend a lot of my life railing against the fact that caring responsibilities are still seen by many as a sole preserver woman. They are not, but the fact remains that the economic impact of free childcare will have the greatest immediate effect on women who can, if they wish, rejoin the workforce without the sometimes prohibitive cost or availability of childcare being a determining factor. The impact on the income tax take will be significant as a result of that. I look forward to the promised reports and debate into income tax structures. The 1,140 hours that each child will receive of childcare is a huge challenge, however, and there are two practical aspects to meeting this challenge that I welcome in the First Minister's speech. The multi-year package of funding for local authorities to support the recruitment and training of staff and the delivery of new premises to make sure that communities begin to benefit from the life-changing increase in childcare ahead of 2020. Providing rates relief for childcare businesses will assist those providing childcare and nurseries into sustainable businesses, businesses that will be able to attract highly qualified staff with salaries that are worthy of their experience and attract talented people into the childcare sector. The programme for government is bold. It is also very busy. In so many aspects of this, many more that I do not have time to mention in my time today, it is leading the way and building on a record of achievement, not just in the 10 years of an SNP government but also in the 20 years of devolution that we should all be proud of. The irony is when I leave time for interventions, none of you are making them or taking them. Remember, we still have a little time in hand to liven the debate a little. I look forward to some interventions, not on me personally of course. I call Liz Smith to be followed by Ben Macpherson. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I begin my contribution to this debate about the programme for government with some reflections, about the recent information on teacher vacancies and the very recently published Education and Skills Committee report, which I think has set several key schools' issues in context. Issues on these benches, we believe, should be at the very core of policymaking for the foreseeable future. In the first instance, those relate to the teacher workforce, to the available supply, to supporting and enhancing the quality of the workforce, to the attractiveness of the profession and retention rates and, as such, they lay the basis for taking up the challenge that was set down by the OECD when it said that, despite the strong ethos and basic principles of Scottish schooling, the current system is not allowing us to reach our full potential. We entirely agree with that statement and we believe that the evidence to support it is incontrovertible. As a result, the start message in the committee's report is this, if we cannot attract the right people into our classrooms and retain them, we have little hope of achieving all the other crucial elements of policy, most especially raising standards in literacy and numeracy, narrowing the stubborn attainment gap and improving the delivery of the curriculum for excellence. The report notes that those problems are not Scotland's alone. That is true, but that acknowledgement will bring little comfort to parents whose children are in schools currently without the necessary number of teachers, or schools where it is proving impossible to attract teachers in some key subject areas, or parents of children whose subject choice might be compromised because vacancies cannot be filled. Of course, it all comes on top of the concerns that we heard just before recess about teacher training courses. Specifically, whether enough attention is paid in learning how to teach literacy and numeracy, about whether there is adequate support for ASN, and whether the classroom practice aspect of the teacher training course articulates sufficiently well with the more academic and theoretical aspect. We should acknowledge that teacher workforce planning is not easy, and no one should pretend that it is. However, what the committee found in its evidence was that there were significant blockages in the system that are preventing better recruitment patterns, whether that is the lack of accuracy in some key data, the ability of supply stuff, teacher training inadequacies, or local authorities that are still trying to tie the hands of head teachers when it comes to recruitment and to a significant number of other aspects of school policy. It is for that reason that the blockages in the system that stop teachers getting on with a job that they are trained to do, that the Scottish Conservatives have long believed is the reason why we need some fundamental reform. I do not doubt for a minute that it is also the reason why the cabinet secretary wants reform too. However, as things stand just now, we have some grave concerns about the nature of the proposed SNP reform. Let me be very clear about the Scottish Conservative position, which has been reinforced during recess following careful consultation with representatives of local authority, with parents, groups, head teachers and elected councillors. The reform that is necessary is one that frees up schools to make their own decisions about how to run their own school but without the straight jacket of a one-size-fits-all approach from central or local government. Schools want rid of the tiresome paperwork, and I know that the cabinet secretary acknowledges some of that, which in many cases had very little meaning and which in some cases was never devised by teachers in the first place. They want to know that they are fully supported and trained in the profession, and they want to know that it will be their choice and their choice alone about how to spend that pupil equity fund. As the highly experienced Frank Lennon said, the problems in our schools are not all about money, otherwise the greater spend over the last two decades taken in block would have yielded much better results. It is about the specific lack of autonomy that denies heads, the ability to do so much more. We agree with him when he says that that part of the autonomy should lie in teacher recruitment. For far too long, local authorities have strongly influenced who is recruited in each school, and, sad to say, they have often been responsible for moving around weak teachers from one school to another. Let me turn to the cabinet secretary's proposals to impose an additional regional structure that will be accountable to him, which I am convinced is the main reason why many councillors and many local authority officials are unhappy. The cabinet secretary says that it is not his intention, what he intends is merely to set up formal collaboration to share best practice. However, if that was the case, surely that is something that does not require another board and a layer of government, which by definition would be overseeing strategic decision making, all of which, as I understand it, means that local government is wondering about where it stands, about where local democracy really lies. In other words, far from devolving more powers down to the schools, that is more about centralisation. The first observation that I want to reflect on is that Liz Smith argues for reform, and then her default position is to criticise the reform agenda that is brought forward, which I ask her to reflect on that particular conundrum that she puts in front of Parliament. However, the object of the reforms that I have put in place for the regional collaboratives are to follow exactly what the OECD asked us to do, which was to motivate greater collaboration that they thought was absent within Scottish education. I will not have any more power out of that as a consequence, but I will be driving a process of collaboration that is exactly what the OECD asked us to do and which Liz Smith has just said that she believes is the agenda that she will pursue. Liz Smith, if what you said is true, then specifically the professional development that you are so keen to develop within the teaching profession, that should be built from within. It does not lead another layer on top of what we already have, which is imposing, as I understand it, a structure to which local authorities will be entirely accountable to you in the way that it is structured. Therefore, the devolution of power to the schools that we all want to see is being undermined by the structure that you impose. To be absolutely clear, cabinet secretary, I am not in any way undermining the principles of the reforms that you want to achieve after all the hours, but what I am saying is that nobody can argue in this chamber that it has not been the Scottish Conservatives that have been arguing about that for a very long period of time. It is about the structure, cabinet secretary, that we have such grave concern, and it is on that basis that we are going to challenge you all the way on the scrutiny of this bill. Too late, Mr Rowley, but at least it livened up a bit. Ben Macpherson, Annas Sarwar, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am obligated to remind the chamber and in case the Opposition parties have forgotten that I am a parliamentary liaison officer to the First Minister. I have said several times in this chamber now that, as MSPs, like the people that we all have the privilege of representing, we share a unified hope of a better Scotland. We share challenges that we all want to overcome, such as poverty in our communities, economic vulnerability as a result of recovering from the financial crash and the challenges that Brexit poses ahead, and climate change. While some are to blame for those situations, all of us are responsible and we share hopes, hopes for social justice and a fairer society, hopes for greater productivity and international competition, sustainability in our economy and our environment. Let us collaborate constructively, given all that shared aspiration, to make the most of this year and collectively see this programme for government as an opportunity, a collective opportunity for all parties to constructively put the next generation before the next press release, tweet or even election. This ambitious programme for government with 16 bills and a range of initiatives covers so much of what we'd hoped for the future. Continued investment in our young people with continued investment, for example, in the pupil equity fund, which, when I visited schools over the recess in my constituency, is making a lasting difference not only closing the attainment gap, but also the aspiration gap. Commitments to expand apprenticeships and other initiatives putting education as the number one priority. A commitment to lift the public sector pay cap is welcome. To take forward Frank's law is welcome and builds on good work and commitment from many MSPs around the chamber. I am particularly glad to see that the Government is committing to working with the TIE campaign and I pay tribute to its campaign and everything that it has done. I also welcome a discussion on how we responsibly and progressively use our taxation powers to strengthen our economy and build a fairer society. There is so much that I could say about everything that is in this document, but what I want to focus on principally is how this programme for government will build a more innovative Scotland, a fairer Scotland and a more sustainable Scotland. In terms of innovation, the introduction of increased investment in businesses for research and development up by 70 per cent, £300 million, will benefit organisations and businesses like NOVA innovation in my constituency, a pioneering tidal wave energy company based in Leith, ready to export its tidal technology and also expertise across the globe in the challenge of climate change. The initiative to take forward the national manufacturing institute for Scotland will benefit organisations like the Blake group in my constituency, who I visited last week, engineering in Leith for nearly 80 years, whose fabrication of steel helped to build the remarkable Queensferry crossing that was formally opened yesterday. The establishment of a national investment bank will make a sustainable and lasting difference to the economy. I absolutely welcome the ambition for Edinburgh to become one of the top 10 global ffintech centres. Providing an industry-led body that will champion, nurture and grow our ffintech community should be welcomed by all, and as an Edinburgh MSP I particularly warmly welcome it. In terms of building a fairer Scotland—this is really important—I welcome this programme for government for a range of reasons. The commitments that have already been in place and that we are taking forward in the social security committee, for which I am a member, around the social security bill are absolutely vital in terms of how we use those powers well and responsibly to make an important difference in our communities. The openness to looking at a citizen's basic income—I warmly welcome it as well—is something that academics and, practically on the ground, individuals are looking at across the globe, particularly in the European continent. We looked at that in the social security committee and there is a lot of innovative thinking, and it is something that we should be open to in terms of building a fairer Scotland. I also welcome the tackling child poverty fund of £50 million. Having gone through the stages so far of the child poverty bill, I know how much of a difference that will make. I particularly welcome the commitment from the First Minister to do all that we can as a Parliament and from the Scottish Government to try and eradicate rough sleeping. With the Cyranians, the Bethany Christian Trust, Street Soccer Scotland and the potential of a social bike village in my constituency, this is something that is particularly pertinent in the constituency that I represent in terms of stakeholders, but also in terms of the surgery cases that are coming to me on a weekly basis. There is absolutely no doubt that Westminster austerity and welfare cuts are taking their toll in all of our communities and searing worrying signs of increases in homelessness and rough sleeping, and it is great to the sea that the Scottish Government, while opposing Westminster austerity, will take forward initiative in itself to tackle homelessness in the streets of Scotland. Lastly—I know that I am running short of time, Presiding Officer—I want to touch on how I think that this PFG is so important towards building a more sustainable Scotland. Particularly in terms of low-emissions zones, this is something that Edinburgh City Council and the SNP group there is committed to in Edinburgh, and the doubling of active travel spend, but also particularly in terms of constituency organisations that I represent, I welcome the deposit return scheme. The Boda bars in my constituency, who own bars across Edinburgh, have pioneered a deposit return scheme in recent months. I made a real difference with that, so they will welcome it from a practical recycling perspective. The First Minister rightly said that tackling litter on the streets is important, but also on our beaches, and the wordy bay beach watch will welcome that for this reason. There is so much more, Presiding Officer, but I will wind up there by saying that this programme for government is filled with new initiatives, bold ideas, hope and aspiration, so I hope that we will work together to make the most of this opportunity to improve Scotland for all we serve. Today was an opportunity for the SNP Government to unveil the progressive radical programme for government that Scotland needs. Today was an opportunity for the Scottish Government to show genuine ambition for our country. However, just because the First Minister repeatedly uses the word ambition does not mean that it is true, because she is right. We are a nation with ambition, but we have a government without ambition. Today was an opportunity to tackle the crisis in our hospitals, tackle inequality in our classrooms and tackle inactivity in the workplace. Sadly, once again, the SNP has let Scotland down. After a decade of SNP incompetence, it is now clearer than ever that we have a government out of original ideas and a First Minister who has taken her eye off the ball desperate to play catch-up. Strong on rhetoric but weak on delivery. A First Minister who claims that education is her number one priority one week and the NHS the next, but in reality she is driven only by one obsession and that is trying to fix a way to have another referendum. The First Minister said in her speech that she wanted to refresh and refocus her government. The question surely has to be asked. Can the ministers who created the problems be the ones to fix the problems? It is now more than a decade since the SNP came into government, so they have to take responsibility for the crisis that we see in our NHS and our workforce. Today, nursery and midwifery vacancies are up from 2,500 this time last year to 3,200. I am pleased that the cabinet secretary of health finds that amusing, but Scotland's patients do not. Consulting vacancies up to nearly 500. There are hundreds of cancelled operations due to insufficient capacity. 40,000 bed days lost from delayed discharge in July alone. This is a day of shame for the First Minister and her failing health secretary. Today's programme for government is not even a highlight in a decade of mediocrity. Instead, this is a government that has taken mediocrity to a new level altogether. We can have no confidence in this First Minister even delivering what she has announced because this Government has not even delivered what it announced last year in its wafer-thin programme for government. As the damning health statistics today reveal, things in our NHS have actually gone in reverse from this time last year. However, let there be no mistake. As we have done over the past year, those benches will again hold this Government to account and make the argument for progressive policies to make a difference to the lives of Scots. I am delighted that Labour has won the argument on public sector pay, and I pay tribute to all our trade unions right across the country, and I am also glad that our arguments won on the organ donation bill. It is interesting that SNP members laugh on the public sector pay cap. Let us not forget that the SNP aided— I would like to hear Mr Sarwar, please, if you want to intervene. Well, the Deputy Presiding Officer, you can tell from the reaction on the benches that they know that they are in a squeeze. The SNP aided and abetted by the Tories presided over workers' pay restraints, seven years of pay restraint, and perhaps members should reflect on the impact that has had on public sector workers right across the country. The value of pay packets driven down by this Scottish Government with the wrong priorities, but we on these benches made arguments to scrap the pay cap while every single SNP member remained silent. Where were they when the nurses representatives were outside lobbying Parliament? Where were they when we were claiming that we want to scrap the pay cap outside? Where were they in the protests? Instead, earlier this year, I put down a motion to this Parliament to scrap the public sector pay cap for NHS workers, and every single SNP MSP from the First Minister down voted against it. The SNP's own submission to the public sector pay review body was to keep the staff in place. Mr Sture, your persistence is going unrewarded. Please sit down. Deputy Presiding Officer, while they shout, actually, frankly, they should be hanging their heads in shame, because they have denied workers a pay rise this year instead of talking about next year. While they shout, I am sure privately that they must be really angry with the First Minister, because they know that she has failed. They know that she has taken their cause backwards. However, while we recognise the failure for them to deliver a pay rise this year, I welcome the nationalist new turn of public sector pay cap. I want to hear, as the public does, what Mr Sarwar has to say. I say to the members directly in front of me that it is no use heckling from a sedentary position. Could you please continue? The education secretary might want to play the classroom bully, but I promise he cannot bully me. I want to thank individual staff members and trade unions for their support and their tireless campaigning on the pay cap. I thank Unison, the RCN, the GMB and all trade unions that represent public sector workers. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their campaigning over the last year on those very important issues. However, we have a chance to go further on progressive policies. I want to see the Government use its powers to deliver on a progressive tax system to scrap the unfair council tax, to address child poverty head on by increasing the levels of child benefit, to use the powers to tackle Tory austerity, not simply multiply it and pass it down to local government. I want us to focus on creating a country that fights inequality and fights injustice wherever we see it, not simple flag waving and trying to focus on creating divisions. That is the kind of country that we want to see here in Scotland if only the SNP shared that mission. Thank you, Mr Sarwar. If you will calm down, your next member may get a chance to speak. You are eating into Ms McAlpine's time. I call Joan McAlpine to be followed by Jackson Carlaw. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is pity Anna Sarwar did not take an intervention because I was keen to find out why Labour and Wales have not lifted the public sector pay cap. When they are in government, it would have been interesting to hear why inpatient day cases in Scotland show that 81.4 per cent are treated within 12 weeks under the SNP, but Labour in Scotland could not even treat that number of people within 18 weeks. That perhaps explains why he was not willing to take any interventions. I would like others to welcome the Government's announcement in the programme for government on the Turing law. I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to John Nicholson, the former MP who attempted to correct the great historic injustice in his private member's bill in the House of Commons, only to see it talked out by the Tory Government. Needless to say, the UK Government's own proposals are not as comprehensive as Mr Nicholson and campaigners wanted and they are not as far-reaching as the changes likely to take place in Scotland as announced today in this programme for government. I am delighted to hear that the proposed legislation will provide a pardon for those convicted under now repealed discriminatory laws and that, unlike the UK Government approach, individuals will not have to apply for a pardon. In Scotland it will be granted automatically and will apply to those who have died as well as the living. That is very much in keeping with the SNP's record on equality and tackling discrimination, whether it be in passing the Equal Marriage Act or in passing the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm Act, which has saw its first conviction for revenge porn take place this week. The proposed Turing legislation shows that this SNP Scottish Government is building on its record and showing itself to be more compassionate, more ambitious and more progressive than its counterparts in Westminster. Much of what we have heard today can be grouped around those three words, compassion, ambition and progressiveness, compassion in the proposal to extend free personal care below the age of 65, frankslaw, the vulnerable witnesses bill, the delivery of the best start grant and other benefits, support for young carers and a proposed additional work to tackle rough sleeping, ambition in the creation of the national investment bank, the expansion of childcare, the expansion of electric vehicles, the commitment to advance manufacturing and the fintech sector, progressiveness too in our commitment to distribute free sanitary products to schools, universities and colleges. Another bold example of this Government's widely recognised commitment to gender equality. Other progressive measures, the deposit return scheme and the increase in our rate of social house building. Frankslaw, if I can return to that, has quite rightly attracted wide support from across the political spectrum to extend free personal and nursing care to the under 65s suffering from dementia. However, as I understand it and I hope that the proposal today goes even further than that in the proposals extending free personal care to everyone who regards it regardless of age. I am particularly delighted about that because last year I campaigned with the learning disability alliance for a reduction in care charges because in my local area some people had experienced the hike in their care charges of up to 500 per cent. Those are people who need help to feed and wash themselves. Their charges were increased by the local authority, which has now changed, I am pleased to say, but that previous local authority increased those care charges even though the cabinet secretary had allocated additional money to reduce the charges. It is totally wrong that the most disabled people in our society are penalised in this way. The charges increased according to the level of their disability. It is a shame that the Scottish Government has to step in to legislate to force councils to do that. However, again, it shows that the SNP is building on its record of fairness towards the more vulnerable people. Just as we did when we mitigated the bedroom tax and when we stepped in to make good the council tax benefit cut by the UK Government. I also want to talk about ambition. The national investment bank for Scotland is a great illustration of that. It will help to address the challenge that is felt by many businesses, particularly those in rural areas such as the south of Scotland, where access to finance from private sector banking is more challenging for small and medium-sized businesses, even though those banks are owned by the UK taxpayers. The development of the national investment bank will complement the south of Scotland development agency, which the First Minister spoke of and which I am pleased to see is powering ahead. The need for a bespoke approach to economic development in the south of Scotland region that I represent is something that I raised with ministers repeatedly through the economy committee in the last Parliament, along with other stakeholders. I am pleased to see that it is progressing so well. I am particularly pleased that the objectives for the new agency include the need to sustain and grow communities with joined-up economic and community support, and that the agency will capitalise on people and resources developing skills and promoting assets and maximising the impact investment in the area. The south of Scotland, for those who do not know, faces similar challenges to the highlands and islands, such as an ageing population, the outmigration of young people, and it has a challenging physical and digital connectivity. A significant number of fragile towns and sectors with traditionally low wages and fewer high-skilled jobs. I am sure that this new south of Scotland agency will help to address all those issues, and I am very delighted that the SNP is delivering it. We have, of course, a very strong record of supporting small businesses, so it is extending the number that are supported through the small business bonus to £100,000. I could go on. It is a very extensive… No, you cannot. You are concluding. Thank you very much. I would like to just conclude there. Thank you. You will do indeed. Jackson Carlawd, Volubai John Swinney. Dazzling and futuristic. I refer, of course, to the new chamber lighting, and certainly and sadly not to the programme for government that was announced by the First Minister earlier this afternoon. A programme that, by reference to last year's, we might reasonably doubt will ever see completion with only three of last year's 13 bills now in the statute. Of course, there are measures that we welcome, just as we did in each of the previous parliaments led by the SNP and others. As someone who was on the Public Petitions Committee when Amanda and Frank Cappell first brought forward the Frank's law legislation proposal, I am delighted to see that embraced by the Government. I have also always supported the measured way in which they have approached the organ donation, and I look forward to the legislation that comes from that. In a perfectly personal basis, I look forward to seeing the substance of John Finney's bill as well. With a domestic economy failing to lead, with an education system descending into shambles, with a healthcare system groaning and struggling to provide, and a unitary police force in search of reliable leadership and purpose, this is no longer a Government that can spin rhetoric to mask its failings. It is a Government that has run its course, led by a First Minister, more polarising in Scotland than any national party leader in 30 years. We were promised a refresh by the First Minister when she made an apology of sorts to this chamber for her performance in June. We expected at the very least fresh faces, but alas instead, at least so far, same old, same old. Amid a record in Government, the true highlights of which now belong to parliaments long past, the new Queensbury crossing at least stands as a standard bearer of all modern Scotland can achieve. Jo Fitzpatrick, together with former Liberal MSP Hugh O'Donnell, sat with me in the fourth crossing bill committee in the Parliament before last. We saw off those who denied the need for a new crossing. We looked at tunnels in all manner of variants to cross the fourth refresh, and we settled on and recommended to Parliament the routes to and from and the new crossing itself, which we saw Her Majesty open yesterday. At the time, we remarked that it would lend iconic status to the fourth, both to our industrial past but also to modern Scotland. Three bridges representing three centuries of Scottish design, guile and achievement. I had my tribute to all concerned who made those paper visions a reality, and yes too to Scottish Government ministers. We did build in a significant contingency just in case, but even so completed within budget and more or less in time. Throughout the summer, Humza Yousaf has seemed to tweet every time a train has managed to run in time, demanding the congratulations of opposition politicians. So let us name check Humza Yousaf as the transport minister who inherited the bridge completion date. Long after all of us in this chamber are but dust and forgotten. Our arguments relegated to the sort of dull academic history only Adam Tomkins reads. This new Queensbury crossing will start as a proud symbol and reminder of our times and that we can all be proud of that. Presiding Officer, a programme for government needs an opposition to challenge it. Today, Ruth Davidson articulated an alternative vision and talked about bold initiatives on housing, as did Adam Tomkins. Liz Smith advocated again the sustained policy responses of nearly a decade we believe are required to restore the reputation, relevance and success of Scottish education. On Thursday, Miles Briggs will set out our approach to health, as will Liam Kerr on justice and Murdo Fraser and Dean Lockhart on the economy. Meanwhile, Scottish Labour is to have another of its perennial leadership elections. What a spectacle awaits. For before us now will sit Ms Dugdale, Mr Gray and Ms Lamont, who have all been leader, Daniel Johnson, who desperately wants to believe that one day he will be leader, Monica Lennon, who believes that she will be the leader after the next one, Mr Rowley, who was happy to be talked of as the next leader until the opportunity actually arose, Jackie Baillie, who could be the leader if she were not the only UK politician fatally wounded by the nuclear deterrent, Mr Stewart and Mr McDonald, who are both far too sensible to have her try to be leader, others who have tried and failed to be leader, including Neil Findlay, who we all know can be relied upon to actively campaign against the next leader. A Labour leadership contest to be held now between two privileged and wealthy public school boys. Indeed, if Mr Sauer, who has been campaigning for the job since May 2016, were to win and were Mr Yousaf to succeed in his thinly disguised ambition to succeed the First Minister, we would have the extraordinary triumph of two ex-hutchie boys competing to be First Minister with Buckhaven's finest state-educated Ruth Davidson. Progressive politics works in mysterious ways, does it not? Presiding officer, whenever the published programme for government, we all expect that much of our time will be centred on ensuring that we negotiate the best possible deal for Scotland as we exit the European Union. In the 15 months since the UK voted to leave, I have not yet heard arguments that would persuade me to vote other than to remain if that referendum on our membership still lay ahead. At times, it feels to me like extended discussion to replicate the arrangements already in place. I am not immune either to the failings of the EU nor to the opportunities that we must create if we are to make a success of our departure. However, I have always chosen to respect the decisions of binary choice referenda held during my adult lifetime, and I have been on the winning and losing side of those votes. This negotiation is not politics as normal. We will leave the EU, the single market and the customs union, and we need to work together to ensure that Scotland and the UK secure a future worthy of the name. I am disappointed that, in all this time, the approach of Mr Russell has been pejorative and partisan. Regrettably for Scotland, with UK ministers, he has earned a reputation not only of lacking authority, of having to refer back in any decision, but of rushing to posture before the cameras after every exchange. Scotland must now look to the Deputy First Minister, who is now thankfully involved directly in the process, to help to find the common ground that clearly exists on fishing, farming and our future population that can actually influence and secure a deal. When Mr Barney says that there are extremely serious consequences of leaving the single market, and it has not been explained to the British people, and that we intend to teach people what leaving the single market means, he is articulating a truth-sum wish to deny, that he speaks for the interests of the EU in those negotiations, that his success will not be judged on how accommodating he is to Scotland and the UK, but rather by just how little he concedes in any negotiation. Kissing our European partners, as did Mr Blair, and genuflecting before those who must secure what is in their interests and not necessarily ours, can only secure a deal that is fool's goal. Next week, members of this Parliament will meet Mr Barney in Brussels. We must not allow him to posture or teach us as he would have it. We must let him clearly understand that however we voted last year and whatever divides us politically as a country should not be misunderstood. It does not mean that we will do anything other than stand together in the interests of Scotland and the UK. There you must conclude, Mr Carlaw. Thank you very much. I am very happy to do so. I now call John Swinney, last speaker in the open debate. Presiding Officer, it seems at some stage that I must have offended Adam Tomkins because it prompted him to set out in his speech today a number of remarks about which I thought were required some explanation and exploration as to how they could be made coherently by a member of the Conservative Party. Adam Tomkins attacked the Government supposedly because we do not see a link between child poverty and education. A Conservative, making that accusation at us after the economic damage that has been done to people's lives by the actions of the Conservative Government, which we, by our persistent focus on closing the attainment gap, are determined to address and to establish and to recognise that link that exists between poverty and education and the solution of education that provides the means to individuals to be able to overcome poverty and to have a better life in the future. Mr Tomkins went on to say that we had to tackle with more zeal the challenges that exist within social and affordable housing in Scotland. Oblivious to the fact that the problems that we are wrestling with in housing today are created by the recklessness of the Conservative housing policy that sold off the housing stock of our country and did absolutely nothing to protect it for future generations. Our Government is now tackling with imagination and boldness the scale of the challenge that exists within public sector housing. The other Conservative that I seem to have offended today is Liz Smith, who, on the one hand, claimed that the reform agenda belongs to the Conservative party and then attacked the self-same reform agenda. I simply point out the inherent contradiction in that one remark that Liz Smith has made. Of course I will give way to Liz Smith. Liz Smith, I thank you for doing so. Cabinet Secretary, I think that there is a misunderstanding in what you think I have said. I am very much in favour of the principle of reform and we support you in that principle of reform, but the type of reform that you are trying to deliver at the moment, we are not prepared to accept, because it is the opposite of devolving powers down to schools. Cabinet Secretary? We will have the opportunity to vote in Parliament on the education bill, which will include a statutory provision to empower head teachers. If Liz Smith wants to vote against that, then good luck to Liz Smith in reconciling the hypocrisy of the positions that she has put to Parliament today with the substance of what I have said out to Parliament in the education governance reform. The boldness of the Government's agenda has been captured by the contributions made by Ben McPherson, Kate Forbes, Joe McAlpine, Gillian Martin and Christina McKelvie. On the strength of the measures to strengthen our economy and our economic performance, which is a strong economic performance, given the fact that the economic growth in the last quarter for which figures are available in Scotland is four times the level of economic growth in the United Kingdom. We have seen unemployment falling consistently within Scotland and employment growing. The bold agenda on the environment that is set out by the First Minister in the measures in relation to the ambitions on electric vehicles and the steps that have been taken to protect our natural environment and the measures to take forward the deposit and return schemes. The reforms in the public services agenda, whether it is about Frank's law, which, after the Government going through a due and orderly process that Jackson Carlaw paid tribute to us about in relation to organ donation, we have gone through the same process in relation to Frank's law to ensure that the detail of the implant of the proposals that we take forward can be effective to meet the aspirations and the needs of those advocating for this particular change. Coupled also to the bold social agenda that the Government has taken forward with my remarks earlier about tackling child poverty and the social reforms that we are taking forward in relation to the pardon for individuals convicted of same-sex offences in the past or the increase in the minimum age of criminal responsibility to ensure that our legal framework is appropriate and commensurate with the challenges of our times. That boldness of our agenda has been reflected in the contributions that we have heard in Parliament this afternoon. One of the other themes that has been significant in this debate has been the comments around Brexit. I welcome what Lewis MacDonald has said about the way in which the Government has taken forward our steps in relation to handling the very deep and serious issues that affect the powers and the responsibilities of this Parliament from the manner of how the UK Government proposes to legislate for Brexit. I am very pleased to be involved in the discussions with the United Kingdom Government along with my colleague Mr Russell on those questions. However, if Mr Carlaw thinks that I am the voice of calm, rational common sense in those discussions, I have to say to my agree entirely with the stance that Mr Russell has taken place because I have never seen a more barefaced attempt to grab power from this Parliament than that where it is captured by the European Union withdrawal bill. Mr Carlaw, I presume, made his remarks a moment ago because he knows that I carefully stewarded through the negotiations with the United Kingdom Government on the fiscal framework, which his side applauded me for taking forward, which were done in a fashion to protect the interests of this Parliament, and I come into those discussions with exactly the same sense. To protect the interests of this Parliament and the interests of this Parliament are under threat from the European Union withdrawal bill, and we have to make sure that the UK Government understands that, and that is exactly what Mr Russell has been doing, and I am delighted to support him in that effort. In drawing my remarks to a close, let me just say this. A Government that has been in office in 10 years has done a great number of things to improve the quality of life of people in our country. On education, there is a 30 per cent increase in the hires being achieved by young people in the course of this administration. 10 years on, we have the best performing accident and emergency system in the United Kingdom. 10 years on, we have a 42-year low in crime in this country, and our economic performance at 0.7 per cent in the last quarter is four times that of the rest of the United Kingdom. That demonstrates the strength of the achievements that this Government has got under its belt, and we are determined to build on those with an ambitious programme for government that will address the needs of the people of Scotland and ensure that we create a better and safer Scotland. Thank you very much. That concludes today's proceedings on the debate on the Scottish Government's programme for business for government. I remind all members that, if they have spoken in today's debate, or if they intend to speak tomorrow, that they should be here for the closing speeches on Thursday for the overall debate. I would just point out that there is no decision time this evening, so we will move on to members' business in the name of Alexander Stewart on Boys Brigade. I will just take a few moments paused before we do so.