 That concludes General Questions. The next item of business is First Minister's Questions. At question number one, I call Douglas Ross. I thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Today, it has been revealed that senior European Union officials said this about the SNP's plan to rejoin the EU. This is a direct quote, no Euro, no membership. That is not what Nicklas Surgeon's economic paper from last week said. Merdwys i'r stylu? Rwy'n bobl, Merdwys i'n unrhyw gyrfa i ni. Rwy'n bobl, Merdwys i'n unrhyw gyrfa i ni. Rydw i'n bobl, mae'r gitions gyrfa i'r gysylltu i effigio, Ond maen nhw'n enghraff y Pныdd, Ond mae ddatblygu wneud â unrhyw gyft jotol, gyrtaf i'n unrhyw gyffreidiau a'r unrhyw gyffreidiau. Ond maen nhw'n gyrdd i'n unrhyw gyffreidiau. any credibility whatsoever on matters European from here on in. I read the article in The Times this morning with interest, good journalism as always in, as would be expected, but based on, I think, four unnamed sources, not saying they have no legitimacy, but I am going to give some named sources in the words of Douglas Ross direct quotes. So here's the first one. Not all countries in the European Union will join the Euro. Former Prime Minister David Cameron. They are not going to force us to join the Euro. Highly respected former Labour MP David Martin. No country has ever been obliged to join the Euro. Graham Avery, former senior adviser at the European Policy Centre. Just yesterday, here is the deputy director at the Centre for European Reform. I'm not a Scottish nationalist, but Euro membership doesn't get forced on member states. And lastly, well, here we go. Douglas Ross doesn't want to listen to any of that. I know he often flip-flops on whether he agrees with Tory leaders or not, but clearly he's now disagreeing with David Cameron as well. But here is another one, Presiding Officer. There is, and I quote, I'm quoting here, no intention of forcing countries to join the Euro if they are not willing or not able to do so. That was the former president of the European Commission itself. Now, if quotes are not enough, how about hard evidence, Presiding Officer? Many countries in the European Union still use their own currency. Sweden. Well, name them. Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden. A member state since 1995 still uses its own currency. So there you are, Presiding Officer. Direct quotes and hard evidence. Finally, though, if Douglas Ross wants to have this debate I welcome it. So here's my challenge to Douglas Ross. Let's have a referendum and have these debates with the Scottish people. Douglas Ross, desperate, desperate stuff from Nicola Sturgeon. Because, of course, what she didn't quote, well, they're all applauding that point that it was desperate stuff from Nicola Sturgeon, because they know she didn't quote that it is a criteria for countries entering into, not currently in the European Union, to join up to the Euro. Because Nicola Sturgeon has been pretending that her plan to break up the United Kingdom would mean Scotland rejoins the EU. But that's not true. The reality according to these multiple European Union officials is a Scotland separated from the United Kingdom would be refused entry unless it agreed to join the Euro. So the First Minister's big plan is actually to break Scotland away from by far our biggest trading partner, the United Kingdom, with nothing to show for it in the middle of a global inflation and cost of living crisis. And she wants to put families and businesses through that in the next 12 months. First Minister, how can that possibly be your priority right now? First Minister, what Douglas Ross refers to as global inflation just happens to be higher in the UK than in most of the rest of the globe right now because of the economic and financial incompetence of the Conservative Government. But let's return to the matter at hand. The criteria that he refers to, which is actually the Maastricht criteria, was actually in place when Sweden joined the European Union 27 years ago. But Sweden, kind of proving the point... First Minister, if you could just give me a moment please. I'd like to be clear that I would wish everyone in the chamber and beyond to hear the First Minister and indeed whoever should be speaking at any point. Douglas Ross is from a sedentary position shouting, but what about the euro? It is the euro position I'm talking about. Sweden is not in the euro and of course the president of the European Commission when he said, and let me quote it again, there is no intention of forcing countries to join the euro if they are not willing to do so. That was in 2017, not 27 years ago. Unfortunately the direct named quotes of the people that I have quoted today and the hard evidence from other EU member states disproves the point that Douglas Ross is seeking to make today. It is utterly pathetic and desperate. But if he wants to put it to the test, if he wants to put it to the test, let's allow the Scottish people to look at all of these things and make a decision in a referendum. That, after all, is the democratic thing to do. And let's not forget, Presiding Officer, that the future, the vast majority of people in Scotland want, which is one inside the European Union, is now only available to Scotland if we become independent. Douglas Ross, what is utterly pathetic and desperate and she's fiddling away through her folder, so if she can find this, this will be great, is a quote from someone that says that a country seeking to enter into the European Union doesn't have to join the euro, because all her selective quotes have been about countries that are already in the EU. But when we need the focus on funding on our front line here in Scotland, the Scottish Government has poured resources and taxpayers' money into an economic paper that the EU rubbish in less than a fortnight. So let's just run through the facts of that flimsy plan. The First Minister has no idea how to tackle the deficit, not a word on all of the taxes she'll have to hike, silent on all of the public services. Mr Ross, have you just given me a moment? I'd like to hear Mr Ross, please. Well, they don't want to hear this, so let me start again. Let's run through the facts on Nicola Sturgeon's flimsy plan. The First Minister has no idea how to tackle the deficit, not a word on all of the taxes she'll have to rise, silent on the public services that will be cut, and she wants to separate Scotland from our biggest trading partner, bringing in, in her own words, a hard border, risking 500,000 Scottish jobs that depend on UK trade, abandon the pound, has no plan to pay for pensions and no security for people's mortgages. So let me ask the First Minister this. Why does the First Minister... Sorry, Mr Ross. Mr Ross. Allowing this behaviour to continue, we will hear each and every member who is entitled to be heard. All voices should be heard in this chamber. I'm sure we would all wish to afford one another that Curtis. Please continue. So with your flimsy plan and the disaster it's going to create for Scotland, why, oh why, do you insist on dragging our country through this when you should be uniting us to deal with the challenges our country faces? First Minister, all I'd say, Presiding Officer, I think Douglas Ross should perhaps reflect in the fact there that people across the chamber were not laughing with him. However, it is extremely serious. So let's just take point by point. Douglas Ross says we want to abandon the pound. Douglas Ross is from the party that over recent times has wrecked the pound. He talks about and he has the nerve, the nerve to stand up in this chamber and talk about security for mortgage payers. From the party that over recent weeks brought mortgage funds to... security for pensions that brought pension funds within hours of collapse. He calls on security for mortgage payers, the party that because of its incompetence has sent mortgage rates soaring through the roof. That is the reality of Scotland within the United Kingdom and then he's also got the nerve to talk about deficits. Remember, deficits right now are created as a result of Westminster decisions and we are about to find out later in November the price Scotland is going to have to pay in the form of another wave of Tory austerity, probably in the form of tax rises to see how the Tories are going to deal with the deficit they have created. Independence is an alternative to the economic mess that the Tories have created. Finally on the euro, I note that when Douglas Ross doesn't like the quotes and we doesn't like the countries that form the evidence here, he just calls for other quotes and for other countries. The fact of the matter is that this is where Douglas Ross also has a nerve because we are getting close to the point, again because of Tory incompetence, where the euro may soon be worth more than the pound. Another example of Tory fiscal and economic mismanagement and incompetence which independence gives us the only real alternative to. Douglas Ross. This is a First Minister who has the biggest ever block grant for the United Kingdom Government, £41 billion to spend and criticises every element on it. But the First Minister's plan to escape the temporary issues of the past month is to create permanent chaos with mortgages, pensions and public services. Drishi Sunak is fixing recent mistakes. The First Minister would wreck our economy for good. Nicola Sturgeon wants permanent austerity, Nicola Sturgeon wants permanent higher taxes, Nicola Sturgeon wants permanent economic chaos and if she ever gets her way we've heard today from European officials that she would leave us permanently isolated. Even if she won't admit it, the truth is that there is no economic case for the referendum she wants to hold in just 12 months time. First Minister, Scotland rejected your plans for separation in 2014. Now your new proposals have been torn up by the EU. Isn't it time to drop your obsession and focus on people, businesses and communities right across Scotland? First Minister, it is because I am focusing on people, businesses and communities and what is best for them, their wellbeing and their prosperity that I want to see Scotland become independent in charge of our own affairs and our own destiny, not continuing to be dragged down the wrong path by Westminster governments. That is the reality. Yes, I do want to have a referendum to give the people of Scotland that choice, because it is interesting that Douglas Ross is happy to come to this chamber and debate these matters, but he is not prepared to go and debate them with the people of Scotland. If Douglas Ross really believed that the Scottish people were going to reject independence, he would be clamouring for a referendum. He wants to block one, I think speaks volumes. I am not sure that we should put much store at all on anything that Douglas Ross has to say. Let me reflect on the last few weeks in the life of Douglas Ross leader for now of the Scottish Conservative Party. He called on Boris Johnson to resign, then he U-turned, then he called on Boris Johnson to resign again, then he U-turned again. He demanded that I follow at the mini-budget, then he applauded Liz Truss for scrapping the mini-budget. He voted for fracking in England. Now I think he welcomes the fact that the fracking ban has been reinstated in England. Just last week or the week before he said that Liz Truss would win the next general election and days later he welcomed the resignation of Liz Truss. Today he backed Rishi Sunak. Who knows what Douglas Ross's position will be this time next week. Question 2, Anna Sarwar. Presiding Officer, across Scotland our hospital should be preparing for winter, but they are having to deal with a crisis right now. We have seen record-breaking waits in our A&Es, but freedom of information requests reveal the scale of the problem. The number of people waiting more than 24 hours in A&E over the last year is a shocking 4,069. 4,069 people waiting more than 24 hours. It gets worse. 859 people waiting over 36 hours and 243 people waiting over 48 hours. That is two whole days waiting in A&E. First Minister, I have come here week after week asking you to take this crisis seriously. So do not point to announcements made last year. Do not tell us how much you care. Do not repeat how unacceptable you think it is. Tell us what you are going to do to fix it and by when. First Minister, the situation is challenging in accident emergency, but it is because of the actions that we are taking to employ more staff to put more money into the national health service, the £50 million urgent unscheduled care collaborative, for example, that we will see progress in A&E waiting times. In terms of the last week's figures, for example, we saw a 14 per cent reduction in waits over eight hours. We also saw the numbers waiting over 12 hours come down and performance against the four hour waiting times target increase. There is much, much work to be done. We are going into a very, very challenging winter period, which is why hospitals across the country, health boards across the country are working hard to plan for winter, and this government will continue to support them. Anna Sarwar is absolutely right to raise those issues, but what is always missing from Labour's contribution on those matters is any suggestions about what should be done differently, because we are taking the actions that are required to be taken, and we will continue to do so to support our national health service now over this winter and beyond. Anna Sarwar is taking the actions. The situation is getting worse. A year ago, when the First Secretary was appointed, 86.6 per cent of people were seen within four hours at A&E. Today, that figure stands at 65.3 per cent. That is simply not good enough. The truth is that A&E waiting times are only one part of the picture. Thousands of people every week are seen in acute assessment units. Those are people amongst the most sick and have been referred straight to hospital by their GPs. They wait hours for treatment, but many of their waits are not recorded. At the Queen Elizabeth in one unit, in one night this week, 48 patients spent the night on trolleys, in waiting rooms, in side rooms, in corridors, and some even had to sleep on chairs. None of them, not one of them, will be captured in waiting time statistics. First Minister, will you start recording all waiting times, including acute assessment units, so that waits like these are no longer hidden by this Government? First Minister, we will always look at how we report figures in a way that is most transparent as possible, but also in a way that reflects the changing pattern of care. For example, as part of the Urgent and Unshelled Care Collaborative, we are looking at more scheduled appointments for accident and emergency. Of course, how figures are reported always have to take account of that, but we have not changed how accident and emergency waiting time statistics are reported. I will be corrected if I am wrong on this, but from memory I do not think they have changed since we took office. Of course, we report them weekly, which is different from other administrations across the UK, where I think they are only reported on a monthly basis. There is transparency about this, and we will always look at how we improve this. It is a challenging situation, but if we look at the most recent weeks statistics, and those will fluctuate week on week, but in the most recent week that have been published, there were fewer people waiting over four hours than had been the case at any point over the last month. We also saw the numbers of waits over eight hours and over 12 hours come down, and that is a result of the hard work of those in the front line, but also the actions we are taking to support their efforts. As I said earlier on, if other parties think there could be taking that we are not taking, we will always listen to that. We never hear that from Labour, and they put forward a motion in Parliament yesterday, a motion about the health service that did not even mention the fact that we have been living through a global pandemic. I am not sure when I listen to Labour that they are really interested in the health service, rather they are interested in just making political points. The First Minister should reflect on the fact that we are talking about people's lives here. Lives are being lost because of the failure in our A&E and the failure of this Government. The First Minister says that she will look at the acute assessment stats and how they are reported. She said that back in 2018, long before Covid impacted on this country, so it is time to not always have the single transferable excuse of Covid and instead take some responsibility. This week, an email sent to doctors from management at the Queen Elizabeth hospital said that there is currently no space to assess any new patients in the medical receiving areas or in the emergency department. It went on to say that we are all being asked to perform the impossible in extremely challenging circumstances. Staff being asked to do the impossible, patients being asked to accept the unacceptable by this Government. Over 4,000 people waiting more than 24 hours in A&E in one year, 859 people waiting over 36 hours and 243 people waiting over two days in A&E. This is the worst it has ever been. How bad does it have to get? How long do people have to wait? How many lives have to be lost before this First Minister admits that this health secretary and her Government have no idea what they are doing? First Minister? Yr accident emergency units, while under significant pressure, are still of course the best performing by a significant margin of any across the UK. Second point, I deeply appreciate the efforts of staff, which is one of the reasons that we pay our staff in the health service more than in any other part of the UK, and are offering a higher pay deal for this year than any other part of the UK. Next, it is because this is so serious, because whenever we talk about the NHS, it is lives that we are talking about. It is important to take this seriously and to look at all of the factors here, which is why it is reasonable to say that when Labour comes to the chamber and tries to debate the NHS and pretends that the pandemic did not happen, and that that is not one of the main reasons why we are seeing so many of these pressures, suggests that they are not taking this issue as seriously as they should be. We will continue to take the actions around staffing, funding and redesigning of care to support our health service through this. We will focus on that each and every day from the health secretary, me and the entire Government. That is what people have put their trust in this Government to do, and that is what we will get on and continue to do. We move to general and constituency supplementaries, and I call Emma Roddick. Under the Tories, inflation has run out of control, mortgage rates are at their highest since the financial crash and energy bills have more than doubled. New figures from the ONS have clearly set out the stark pressures that this crisis is having on households across Scotland, showing the cost of basic essential goods have skyrocketed with the price of budget food in supermarkets rising by 17 per cent in the year to September. That is particularly stark in the Highlands and Islands, where many areas already faced a higher cost of goods and services. People need help, and they need it now. Does the First Minister agree that it is urgent that the UK Government uses its upcoming fiscal statement to rule out a return to austerity, confirm an inflationary rise in social security benefits and provide the Scottish Government with an inflationary uplift to the 2022-23 budget to enable the Scottish Government to take further steps to support people with the cost of living crisis? First Minister. Yes, I do agree with that, and I would be shocked if it was not the case that everybody across the chamber agreed with these points. I am really suffering from the impacts of inflation, and the ONS statistics earlier this week really laid that bear in terms of the detail beneath the headline inflation figure. So it is really important that action is taken. This government is taking the action we are able to take within the powers and resources we have at our disposal. I very much hope we see more action from the UK Government, and I made this point directly to the new Minister when I spoke to him earlier this week. So just to recap on the points that Emma Roddick made there, and I hope that there is support for these across the chamber. There should be no further austerity. Our public services are still dealing with the legacy of the last period of Tory austerity and dealing with the impact of inflation right now, so no further austerity. Inflation increases for benefits. I think that that is something that is morally right and should happen. Yes, inflationary increases for the budget of this Parliament, so we can pass those on to public services as well. I would certainly hope that that is what we will see from the UK Government. I fear, though, that what we are going to see is another wave of austerity and further tax cuts, but I certainly hope to be proved wrong on that and tax rises rather than tax cuts, I should say. Jamie Greene. Yesterday our blue light services spoke to the Justice Committee about the very serious and dire consequences of what a real-terms cut to their budget might look like. Up to 4,500 police staff and officers lost, up to a quarter of our firefighters, police stations closing, fire stations closing, the consequences of that, First Minister, are dire. The only real winners in this are criminals and the real losers in all of this are the general public. Before the First Minister talks about this year's budget constraints, Audit Scotland have been perfectly clear that this is a decade-long chronic underfunding of blue light services. Does the First Minister now seriously regret breaking her own manifesto commitment to our police force to protect them and protect their budget? First Minister. This Government will always, as we have done throughout all the years we've been in government, protect our public services to the maximum that is possible. Within a budget, the size of which is largely determined by Westminster. That is the reality, and that commitment can be seen in, for example, the fact that right now Scotland has a higher number of police officers at any time during the previous administration. We've got more police officers per head of population at 31 per 10,000 in Scotland compared to just 24 in England and Wales. We similarly see that when it comes to the fire service. We've got more fire officers per head of population than is the case in England and Wales. 11.8 per 10,000 population in Scotland, in England that is just 6.2 and Wales 10. The budgetary position going forward is really difficult, and that is because of decisions that are not in my hands or in the hands of the Scottish Government but in the hands of the UK Government. If the Conservatives or any party across this chamber want, as we all want, to see more money invested in our public services and they have to see where they think we should take that money from or they should join us in asking for much greater financial independence for this Parliament so that we're not dependent on decisions taken elsewhere. Colin Smyth. Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, dozens of women representing the hundreds of survivors of Farnethy House residential school are in Parliament today to highlight their plight. Every share with MSPs is a traumatic, awful experience of physical, mental and in some cases sexual abuse at the hands of staff at Farnethy in the 1960s when those women as young, vulnerable children were sent, supposedly, for respite. Because they were in short term residential care, they were ignored by the Government's redress scheme. Today not one of the perpetrators of this abuse has been brought to justice and no one from Government has yet publicly acknowledged that the abuse at Farnethy even took place despite the fact that hundreds of women have now publicly come forward. All they want is someone to listen to them. Myself and Alec Cole-Hamilton wrote to the First Minister in August asking if he would meet representatives of the survivors group. Can I ask the First Minister if she will do so, not necessarily today but soon and more importantly, will she listen to the plight of those brave women? First Minister, I am aware that some of the Farnethy survivors are visiting Parliament today and I welcome them here, although I do not underestimate the difficulty in being here to press the case that they are here to press. In terms of meeting, I of course will consider any request for a meeting, but I think that it is important to tell the chamber that the Deputy First Minister met them in June of this year, and continues to engage and listen to the concerns that the group is raising about eligibility to the redress scheme and wider matters relating to justice and support. The Deputy First Minister has responded to a request from the Public Petitions Committee, which is considering a petition from the Farnethy survivors, outlining the rationale for the eligibility criteria. The circumstances in which individuals came to be at Farnethy will vary, so it is not necessarily possible to determine eligibility for the group as a whole, but we will continue to listen and to respond and to do everything that we can to address those concerns. Beatrice Wishart. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The First Minister will be aware of the major telecommunications failure in Shetland last Thursday, as the emergency resilience plan kicked in, supported by emergency services, to whom I extend grateful thanks, along with engineers fixing the problem. Islanders face the prospect of being cut off from the world for several days, noble by the signal no internet or digital landlines, banks shut, cash machines useless, and residents asked to flag down an emergency vehicle where needed. All this points to the fundamental vulnerability of island communications infrastructure, something I and many others highlighted during the now junk proposals for centralised air traffic control. We need guaranteed connectivity and reliability. Will the Scottish Government agree to reviewing what happened to ensure these vital communication connections that most people take for granted are resilient? First Minister. Thank you, Beatrice Wishart, for raising this issue, which I know was a matter of profound concern to islanders last week. Obviously, the Government was very involved in making sure that all efforts were made to reconnect services as quickly as possible, and, of course, thanks to the dedication of everybody working on this, it was not the case that power supplies were interrupted telecommunications and power were interrupted for several days. In fact, all supplies and services were reinstated around four o'clock on the same day. Throughout the Scottish Government's resilience room was monitoring the situation and lasing with partner agencies. The points about wider resilience are legitimate and important to make. I will give a commitment that we will review all of that in light of this incident and consider what other steps may be required. I will undertake to keep the member updated on that work. Pam Gossel. Thank you, Presiding Officer. This week, while most politicians have welcomed Rishi Sunak as the first British Indian Prime Minister, an SNP MP chose to attack him over his race and suggested that he is the wrong type of Asian. Can I ask the First Minister? Does she think that these types of comments are acceptable? Will she wholeheartedly condemn this hate-filled rhetoric that seeks to divide communities across Scotland? First Minister. Presiding Officer, I am sorry, but that is a mischaracterisation of what the MP in question said. I do not think that it serves the anti-racist cause, which all of us in this chamber are utterly committed to, to try to manufacture divisions between us on these issues. The fact of the matter is that any decent person welcomes the fact that the UK has its first Hindu Prime Minister, but the point that was being made is that, notwithstanding that, we will continue to have political disagreements because I disagree with much, much of what Rishi Sunak stands for as a Conservative. I was pleased notwithstanding my political disagreements to congratulate Rishi Sunak personally earlier this week on his appointment as Prime Minister and I am sure that all of us do that. I also take the opportunity again here today and I hope that everybody, without exception across the chamber, will join me in saying that all of us should stand united and in solidarity against racism. That, I think, is what is called for and that is what I will always do. Question number three, Alex Cole-Hamilton. Presiding Officer, to ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet. First Minister, Tuesday. Alex Cole-Hamilton. I am very grateful for that reply. Presiding Officer, there is a dentistry crisis in Scotland. It has been getting harder and harder to see a dentist on the NHS even if you are registered with a practice. We have found people turning to DIY dentistry in pain and desperation. I have here a freedom of information request. It shows that one in ten dentists have stopped doing NHS work since the pandemic. That is 400 fewer offering NHS treatment. Dentists have been warning the First Minister that Government funding no longer covers the costs. They say that Ministers have their heads in the sand. Presiding Officer, the dead hand of ministerial disinterest is at large once again. The centrepiece of the Scottish Government's response to this crisis six months ago was the creation of a dental advisory group, but it still does not have any members and it still has not met. This is the group that was not there. Can I ask the First Minister when will it meet and what does she have to say to those patients still waiting in pain? We will continue to work with and support NHS dentistry. The facts of the matter are as follows. We have a record number of people registered with an NHS dentist in Scotland. More than 95% of the population are registered. We also see continued recovery in the numbers of people accessing NHS dentistry and getting dental examination. The statistics show that examination appointments have been increasing, an increase of 80% in examination appointments per month, on average compared with the period of January to March this year, which reflects the impact of infection controls being reduced and the reintroduction of payments linked to seeing and treating patients. We will continue to invest in NHS dentistry. In total, we have provided over £150 million in additional support to maintain the capacity and the capability of the sector. We, lastly, remain in a position of relative strength in terms of workforce numbers. The longer-term trend shows an increase of 32% in dentists providing NHS dental services. As with all parts of the health service, there are real challenges here, but we continue to support dentistry as we continue to support the NHS as a whole. Question 4, Kenneth Gibson. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the First Minister what impact recent changes within the UK Government will have on the Scottish Government's emergency budget review. First Minister. The chaotic series of UK Government announcements and U-turns on fiscal measures over recent weeks has led to economic turmoil, mortgage products being withdrawn from the market, the pound crashing and the Bank of England having to take emergency action to stabilise financial markets. Now we have another change in Prime Minister, another potential change in direction, along with the latest in a long string of U-turns just yesterday when the UK Government delayed its fiscal statement and independent forecasts from the OBR from 31 October to 17 November. In light of this unprecedented uncertainty and instability, it is prudent to review the timing of the Scottish Government's emergency budget review, which we will do. Kenneth Gibson. I thank the First Minister for that reply. This week's economist describes the UK as, I quote, a country of political instability, low growth and subordination to the bond markets blighted by regional inequality. Following the UK Government's screeching U-turn and policies, Tory MSPs supinally urged the First Minister to adopt only a month ago, does she agree that everyone, including society, will pay the price for Tory economic incompetence, necessitating the emergency budget review, and that with the Westminster system utterly broken, Scotland's prosperity can best be secured through becoming an independent country. First Minister. Yes. Whether it's through the Brexit impact including the impact of Brexit on food prices or the impact of the many budget on mortgages, it's people across the country right now for Tory economic incompetence. Households and businesses will bear the cost of the former Prime Minister's mistakes for months, possibly for years to come, and we don't yet know what the current Prime Minister will do in terms of tax rises and spending cuts. So that is the reality for Scotland right now and it's getting worse, not better. So yes, I entirely agree that Scotland's prosperity can best be secured and becoming an independent country. And I think it is because the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats also recognise that and recognise that the people of Scotland will see that, that they remain so intent on blocking the democratic choice of Scotland. Neil Bibby. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Rissy Soonak was secretly recorded boasting how proud he was to have diverted the last Labour Government's investment and deprived urban areas to the well-faced communities. Would the First Minister agree with me that money should not be diverted away from the most deprived areas in either the UK or the Scottish budgets? And if so, can the First Minister therefore explain why the Scottish Government is taking educational attainment challenge funding away from Scotland's most deprived council areas? First Minister. On the first part of his question, yes, I do agree with that. On the second part of his question, it's a mischaracterisation of the position, perhaps evidence that his colleagues on COSLA supported the change that we made to educational attainment funding distribution, making sure that it supported more young people living in deprivation. Of course, the budget to tackle the attainment gap is rising over this Parliament and rightly so. Test White. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland's reported warning that the NHS Winter Resilience Plan will not be in place in time to prevent further harm to patients and staff this winter. First Minister. Well, as we have just been discussing, A&E departments are working under significant pressure exacerbated, of course, by the pandemic. Pressures are also driven by delays in discharge elsewhere in hospitals, and the £600 million Winter Plan includes a focus on social care and actions to encourage integration authorities to help alleviate delays. Our £50 million unscheduled care programme is working to reduce A&E weights, including by ensuring that people are directed to the most appropriate urgent care settings and scheduling urgent appointments. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine is a vital partner in this work and the Health Secretary will be meeting them in coming weeks to discuss how further improvements will be needed in the future. First Minister. The RCEM emphasised the urgent need to bolster the social care workforce to help with the discharge of patients from hospital this winter. This SNP Government is wasting precious time, money and resources on plans to centralise social care services in four years' time. Does the First Minister agree with the SNP, Kenneth Gibson, that the national care service is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Or Michelle Thompson, who said the proposals are screaming a huge risk. Will the First Minister abandon these plans and focus instead on strengthening social care ahead of the looming winter crisis in the NHS? First Minister. National care service is about improving social care and it is about better rewarding those who work in social care and it is about removing any postcode lottery in the provision of social care. I think that a national care service is the right way to go. Obviously the bill is in its early stages of parliamentary scrutiny. There are a number of different committees in Parliament that are scrutinising the legislation and as we always do we will listen very carefully to points made by views expressed in the course of that scrutiny. That is the right and proper way to proceed with any legislation. In the meantime, of course, while Parliament is scrutinising the national care service bill and as we are taking that forward we will continue with the steps we are taking in the hearing now to improve social care. Employing more people in social care investing more money in social care and increasing the wages of people who work in that sector. Of course one of the biggest constraints we have right now, one of the biggest barriers to getting people into the social care workforce is Brexit and the ending of freedom of movement, which I think from memory is something that the member supports. While I continue to listen to all points that are made, perhaps she would listen to people who say that we should reverse Brexit and restore freedom of movement to try to help her public services as well as our economy. Question 6 Jackie Baillie To ask the First Minister what assistance the Scottish Government is providing to those with complex disabilities to cope with the cost of living crisis. First Minister. The child disability payment and adult disability payment as well as the carers allowance supplement are part of the package of social security benefits that we are providing. We are also funding new forms of advice and advocacy to help disabled people and those with long-term health conditions access the financial support that they are entitled to. We have also introduced child winter heating assistance which is an annual payment to families with severely disabled children to help them to heat their homes. Like the carers allowance supplement this is financial support that is unavailable anywhere else in the UK. Another new benefit only available in Scotland will begin in February. The winter heating payment will help around many low-income households with their energy bills and we are also doubling the fuel in security fund to £20 million. Jackie Baillie First Minister for her response Freya Hunter is 12 years old and has cerebral palsy. She is cared for at home by her mum and specialist carers. Her condition is such that she requires oxygen constantly relies on nebulisers and suction machines, a tracking hoist and a wheelchair. Her mum says that the level of care provided is on a par with what would be happening in an intensive care ward. The family are facing an energy bill from April of £17,000 to heat their home and to operate the life support equipment that Freya so badly needs. I'm sure the First Minister will agree that the UK Government needs to do more to provide targeted support for those with complex disabilities with their energy bills but so too does the Scottish Government. The cost of Freya's life-saving equipment is more than a third of the bill. She's not recompensed fully by the NHS or by social care. If her mum doesn't get help then she faces the impossible choice of placing Freya in care or in hospital because she can't afford to keep her at home. That is damning. Can I therefore ask the First Minister will the Scottish Government specifically provide assistance to help Freya and those people with complex disabilities to cover the full cost of running their life-saving equipment? First Minister. If memory serves me correctly I think I made a similar point to this in FMQs a couple of weeks ago before the October recess. We will work with the health service to ensure that anybody in the position such as that just narrated there does get help. It would not be acceptable for any child any adult to end up in care because rising energy costs made it impossible for them to use the equipment that supports them to stay in their own home. So we will work to ensure that that support is available as far as we possibly can. But it is the case and let's not gloss over this and Jackie Baillie was right to mention it. We do need to see the UK Government provide targeted help to people with energy costs and that is one of the reasons why we need to see increased budgets for this Parliament so that we can pass that on to public services like the national health service to help it deal with the inflationary pressures of which this is only one. But we will do everything in our power to help people in the kind of situation that we've just heard about. I'm going to return to supplementary questions and I call Stuart McMillan. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Energy costs are a huge concern for many, including businesses. Yesterday the local newspaper was going to tell you, reported that an award-winning restaurant in my kitchen is going to close at the end of the month. Thankfully, someone else is going to step in but that's not going to be the case in any country. I'd again encourage any business struggling to speak with Business Energy Scotland to see if they can offer any advice on how to lower energy costs. But can I ask the First Minister if she will again press the UK Government to fix their energy mess so that no business in my constituency or across Scotland needs to close as a result of the spiralling energy costs that they have little control over? First Minister. Yes, I will give that commitment. The urgent needs of Scottish businesses to the UK Government includes the rising energy costs faced by many across the country. I pressed this point on the new Prime Minister when I spoke to him earlier this week highlighting the pressure of the pain that is being felt right now by people and by businesses as a result of inflation and other economic pressures. I hope that we will see further help from the UK Government in the budget statement that the Chancellor will outline in the middle of November. The Deputy First Minister, on 19 October, wrote to Jeremy Hunt making many of these points and we will continue to make these points as strongly as possible. Ross Greer. Yesterday, the Dutch Government confirmed that they are launching an investigation into the existence of undeclared Chinese state police bases across Europe, bases being used to track and harass dissidents and pro-democracy activists. The report that prompted this investigation confirmed that one of these bases was targeted in Glasgow. This comes just days after the Chinese Consul General in Manchester dragged a protester inside the gates of the consulate where he and his staff then assaulted him. After reports of students in Edinburgh who come from Hong Kong being targeted and intimidated by those associated with the Beijing regime, can the First Minister therefore confirm what action is being taken about the subparant Chinese police base in Glasgow and the wider intimidatory tactics of the Chinese Government? First Minister. I agree that these reports are deeply concerning and I want to be very clear that we take them extremely seriously. Any foreign country operating in Scotland must abide by Scottish law. The Scottish Government fully supports individuals' rights to freedom of expression and that is also an extremely important principle. Obviously, these matters require to be fully and properly investigated and it would not be appropriate for me to go into too much detail but I do know, and I know this as a result of a conversation that I had just yesterday with the chief constable that the police are aware of these reports. Of course, the police are operationally independent and it is up to them to determine what investigations would be appropriate but they are aware of this and I would repeat that these reports do require to be treated extremely seriously. Thank you. That concludes First Minister's questions. The next item of business is a member's business report.