First Minister’s Questions (Party Leaders) (BSL) - 10 September 2026

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. That ends general questions. The next item of business is first minister questions for party leaders. Question one, Jackie Bailey. Presiding officer Rash Hashana, the Jewish New Year starts tomorrow. And I want to wish everybody in the Jewish community a happy new year. Presiding officer, today the campaign against the dangerous downgrading of neonatal services was at the petitions committee in this parliament. Its message is clear. Mothers and their children should not be put in danger due to SNP centralization. But this is just one example of how the SNP are failing on women's health. Statistics show that women in Lannshire are facing weights of over four years for hyctomies and thousands of women across Scotland are currently waiting over a year for gynecology treatment. But what was John Swinn's answer to this crisis in women's health? He scrapped the role of women's health minister. That's simply not good enough. So, can I ask the first minister, does he know how long on average women in Scotland have to wait for an endometriosis diagnosis? First minister, >> first of all, Professor, let me associate myself with Jackie Bailey's comments in relation to Rash Hashana and to express my good wishes to the Jewish community at the celebration of Rash Hashana. Can I also take this opportunity present officer to indicate that tomorrow we will mark the 25th anniversary of the 911 tragedy and I will represent Scotland at a service of commemoration at St. Giles Cathedral uh to commemorate those whose lives were changed irreparably by the 911 incident. Jackie Billy raises significant issues in relation to women's health and uh I expect these issues to be taken forward by my all female health minister team. Uh I have three health ministers. They are all women and I know from the leadership that the health secretary will give to that team that all of these issues will be prioritized. And women wait too long for treatment for endometriosis in Scotland. And the government, as Jackie Bailey knows, is working very hard to ensure that waiting times are reduced so that treatment can be delivered in a credible and acceptable time scale to everyone involved, especially to women who suffer from endometriosis. >> Jackie Bailey, presiding officer, the answer the first minister was looking for was 10 years. It's got worse on his watch and that was when there were two female health ministers. So 10 years of waiting in pain and having your struggle dismissed or diminished. But women with endometriosis are not the only ones being let down this way. After previous miscarriages, Elizabeth Kramond was a high-risisk pregnancy. But when she experienced bleeding and pain, she tried to contact the early pregnancy unit in Kakotti. She asked for help 60 times but wasn't seen. Elizabeth was so desperate she had two private scans. But nine days later when she was finally seen by the NHS, she was told she had miscarried. Nine days. The government miscarriage care framework states that women who are high- risk or have complications should be able to self-reer to the early pregnancy assessment service. So can I ask the first minister why was this support not available for Elizabeth Kramond? >> First minister >> sir I'm aware that Elizabeth Kramond has been in dialogue with uh Jackie Bailey on this question and that Jackie Bailey has written to the cabinet secretary for health on this particular issue and we are exploring the circumstances that affected Elizabeth Karland. The most important thing I can say at the outset is to express my sympathy to Elizabeth with Karland at the experience that she had. She should not have had that experience and I state that clearly to parliament and we have we'll have to get to the bottom of exactly why that was the case because it is so important when there is any vulnerability whatsoever in relation to a pregnancy that the earliest possible intervention is provided. That's what the maternity framework is designed to offer. It has clearly not delivered that in this case. We must understand why that is the case and provide a remedy. I appreciate that that will be of little consolation to Elizabeth Kramond, but it is part of what we have to do in uh in in in transparency and openness when things do not go as they should go uh to make sure that all steps are taken to ensure that that situation is not repeated in the future. Jackie Billy, >> can I thank the first minister for his response? Elizabeth feels failed by NHS FIF and NHS TAI and it's left a devastating and lasting impact on her and her family. But her experience isn't unique. There are lots more women in this situation. Katy Lion was pregnant following a previous miscarriage when she noticed spotting on the 23rd of December. On Christmas Eve, she had to go to A&E because her condition had deteriorated and because there was no capacity to see her in the maternity service. While Katie waited anxiously for news of her baby, the staff struggled to coordinate with gynecology and maternity care. When she finally got a scan, no heartbeat could be found. It was another 7 days before her miscarriage was confirmed. only after she had two further scans. Both Katie and Elizabeth are in the chamber today to demand change. As Katie herself said, families should not have to endure repeated loss before their concerns are taken seriously. The framework for miscarriage care is not working. So will the first minister do the right thing and ensure that miscarriage care is urgently reviewed and women's voices are heard? >> First minister presiding officer Jackie Billy has raised with me two particular cases. Um first of all the case of Elizabeth and now the case of Katie and I am terribly sorry for the experience that these two women have had within our health services. Um the the whole issue to come back to some of the points I made in my response to Jackie Bailey's second question. The framework for the delivery of maternity care should address the circumstances that Jackie Bailey has put to me. It has clearly not done that and Jackie Bailey is putting two cases to me where that is very apparent. That is why the government has um commenced a whole series of inspections of maternity services that are underway around the country. Um the there is a a range of those inspections that have been carried out by um healthcare improvement Scotland. They are unannounced inspections and the government receives the reports on those and obviously from those h there are action points as we have rehearsed in the chamber before. When some of those reports come forward, there are significant reforms required, significant actions, and we must the health secretary is monitoring the implementation of those uh those examples. um on the I'm very happy to explore the specific cases that Jackie Bailey puts to me because it matters to me and to the government that there is person- centered care available for every single person who interacts with the health care service in Scotland regardless of this the the case and the details that um are involved to make sure that people get the best and the most appropriate care and the cases that Jackie Bailey has put to me today that clearly has not happened and I apologize for that and I will happily explore both those cases to provide as much information and as much response as I can to the to Elizabeth and to Katie to whom I express my my sympathy and my empathy of what they've experienced. >> Malcolm Wford. >> Thank you, presiding officer. While I was in the BBC studio on Sunday, getting wired up for my final interview of an eventful weekend, I was forced [snorts] to listen to the first interviewee, droning on and on and on for 15 minutes without answering a single question. To stop myself drifting off as the first minister talked himself into oblivion, I reached for the Sunday Times. And what did I see on the front page? none other than deputy first minister Kate Forbes her new column in the Sunday Times does the first minister agree with her common sense analysis excuse me let's hear the question please >> on North Sea Gas on defense on taxation I quote the less complex the tax system the better you cannot tax your way to growth does this sound familiar >> very >> so >> will the first minister look forward to reading her column in the weeks to First Minister. >> Well, I'm I I'm I'm always interested in lots of views that are expressed in the political debate. I have to listen to them all. And it's not my fault if the BBC wants to put me on in a prime spot spot instead of Malcolm Offford. Um that that uh that um that perhaps speaks volumes, but I'm sure for Mr. were offered listening down the line from the reform fest where members of the public were being assaulted in the reform conference. He would learn a lot from the dignity of the way in which I expressed my case on Sunday morning. [applause] Markford officer turning to serious matters. Mari McCallen has tried to dress up yet another disappointing PISA result as stability and competitive by international standards. While presenting officer Kate Forbes might say continue continuity won't cut it, but I say this isn't even continuity. This is disastrous for our young people and embarrassing for our nation. To fall so far behind England in education is a national emergency. Pres officer, we invented education. The Scots have had universal education since 1660. The English only got there in 1873. In August 2016 at Wesley Hills Education Center in Edinburgh, Nicholas Sturgeon asked to be judged on her on her record in education, especially on closing the attainment gap between the poor and rich postcodes. Well, presiding officer, 10 years on, the results are in. Scottish pupils are now a full academic year behind their English peers in science and Scotland has scored the worst results ever in maths and reading. Meanwhile, England scored a top 10 place in all three disciplines. This is shocking. And all the while honest John has been present. As finance minister, he presided over devastating college cuts. As education minister, he marked down 75,000 working-class kids during the pandemic. And now as first minister, he's reduced our great tradition in education from outstanding to average. >> The ruination of a once proud nation. My question is this presiding officer. >> Is a full school bag, a free school bag. The only gimmick left to this hapless first minister. First minister. >> I'll tell Malcolm offered what ruination looks like. It's people like him and Thomas K going around spreading racist filth in our society. That's what ruination looks like. [applause] Now, presiding officer, I accept the outcome of the PISA assessments, but there are but the PISA assessments are one part of the data set that looks at Scottish education. If we look at the achievement of curriculum ex for excellence levels data which is produced by the teachers of Scotland who Malcolm offered has just insulted shows that the proportions of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy or numeracy are at their highest level ever. We have the highest level of young people leaving school going to positive destinations at 93 and a half%. We have record levels of young people in Scotland going to university for the first time including record numbers of young people from deprived backgrounds according to UKCASS at national 5 higher pass and higher pass rates were both up compared to last year and pre- pandemic and the poverty related attainment gap narrowed for national 5 higher and advanced higher. That is the full report card on Scottish education and I'm proud of Scottish education [applause] Malcolm. So presiding off let's talk about the attainment gap. Mara has been foolsome in her praise of recent exam results in Scotland but presiding officer in 2026 49% of the S4 student cohort were not even entered in that five maths. This compares with 41% in 2019 while student numbers have grown 12% in the same period. So the [snorts] SAP might claim success for half the pupils who sit these exams but this mass a systemic failure to narrow the attainment gap for all pupils. We must narrow the attainment gap by raising the floor, not by lowering the ceiling. And the bottom line is that standards are falling in Scottish schools. Now, during this week's education committee, Patricia Gibson argued it may be impossible to close the attainment gap as children are quote unquote starting from very different standpoints. Really, is this really the stark reality of S&P lack of ambition? First, destroy an internationally admired gold standard education and then give up. Presiding officer reform will never let Scotland's children down with this with this acceptance of mediocrity. So, uh, presiding officer, I'd like to know, does the first minister agree with Miss Gibson? Does he think that closing the containment gap is really impossible? Has he given up on Scottish children? >> First Minister, >> I think the only person that should contemplate giving up is Malcolm offered. the the government if if Malcolm offered had followed the program for government h presentation to parliament last week he would have seen at its heart the primary objective of the government to eradicate child poverty that is the stated aim of the government and that is what we are taking a variety of measures to to achieve that's why we have lower levels of child poverty in Scotland which I suspect is contributing to some of the achievements that we're making on narrowing the attainment gap within Scottish education. So the other policy measures that we've taken such as expanding more than doubling the availability of early learning and child care to make sure that children get the best start in life through their engagement with early learning. Uh some of the other measures that we brought in such as the um the the measures on book bug work for for babies and families to make sure that children and families have the opportunity to engage in literacy from the earliest possible stages. All of it h justified by international evidence. These are just some of the steps the Scottish government is taking to support families to make sure that we close the attainment gap and most of all to make sure that every child in our country has the best start of life. That's what children will get from an S&P government. [applause] >> Jillian Mai. Over the coming weeks, the prime minister is expected to travel to Aberdine to publicly announce the license for the Jack Dog gas field. After a summer of climate breakdown, after a summer of climate breakdown here in Scotland and across the globe, this is an act of sheer climate vandalism. We've had 72 separate wildfires here in the UK with over 700 households evacuated. Over 1,400 people have died in Nepal and Tibet after the recent glacier collapse with over 5,000 still missing. And across Europe this year, over 35,000 excess deaths have been linked to the backto-back heat waves. Every license we grant to drill more and oil and gas in the North Sea will contribute to more wildfires, more heat waves, and more loss of life for generations to come. So will the first minister join me in condemning the climate wrecking behavior of the UK government and say no to drilling at Jack Daw and Rosebank. First minister [applause] the first thing I want to say is that the government attaches the strongest possible importance to the taking of climate action and the fulfilling of our statutory obligations to achieve net zero. which is why the achievement of net zero is one of the one of the four principal priorities of the government's agenda as I set out to parliament in the program for government last week. Now the the United Kingdom government in considering decisions in relation to Jack Door and in relation to Rosebank have got to make an assessment of the climate impact of those proposals. That is the legal duty. That is why these applications have had to be re-examined because that was failed to be undertaken in the past. So I think that is a an absolutely fundamental assessment to be undertaken. It must be part of the decision-making process of the United Kingdom government and the UK and we also have to accept that as we undertake as we utilize oil and gas in the years to come the question the UK government has to uh to assess is whether the development of these fields will contribute more to the carbon emissions that would that would be realized as an alternative to the importation of oil and gas from other jurisdictions and that is the assessment that has to be made of In all of this, the Scottish government is absolutely focused on making sure that we make the transition to uh to clean fuel. I was in Aberdine yesterday to set out more grant funding to support the transition to net zero in Scotland and that will remain the focus of the Scottish government. >> Jillian Mai, >> the Scottish government used to have a clear position on this, a presumption against all new licenses for oil and gas fields in the North Sea. That would have clearly ruled out support for both Jack Daw and Rosebank. But the draft energy strategy has lain in a drawer for over three years now, never published or finalized. That's despite a majority of people responding to the consultation supporting the presumption against new licenses. And polling from earlier this year shows that that's still the case. Last week's program for government promises a refreshed energy strategy at some point down the line, but it also says that new licenses should be treated on a case-by case basis. First Minister, people who've had their homes destroyed by wildfires and floods, people who've lost loved ones in the recent heat waves, want to know what the government are going to do to not make this worse. So, does the first minister think new oil and gas fields in the North Sea will make the climate crisis better or worse? First minister, Presiding officer, there is there's no alternative to considering applications that are made within the legal framework of the United Kingdom on anything other than a case-by case basis. It would be it would be unlawful to do anything other than that. and what the Scottish what the Scottish government will do in reinforcing as I have reinforced already today the government's absolute commitment to taking climate action which has been reinforced by the commitments we've made in various budgets as I announced further measures on yesterday in the city of Aberdine to support the moves to the utilization of clean energy I was support announcing a project at a hydrogen uh related organization yesterday of ensuring that we invest in making that transition to net zero and that will be the focus of the Scottish government's agenda. >> Jillian Mai, >> this is a departure from the previous energy strategy which had that presumption in there and I'd be keen to know from the first minister what has changed to move away from the presumption that was in the draft energy strategy. Jack Daw is a gas field which would contribute just 2% to our current gas supply. Any argument that this will somehow contribute to energy security or making our homes cheaper to heat this winter is simply wrong. What would make a real and immediate difference is a rapid roll out of clean green heating for homes in Scotland. Replacing gas boilers with electric heating and insulating buildings will make our homes warmer and cheaper to heat and won't contribute to the rapid climate breakdown like Jack Doaw. When the Scottish Greens were in government, we published a plan to roll out clean heating to a million homes. Last week's program for government cut that plan by 90%. Has the Scottish government bought the line that Jack do and Rosebank will solve the crisis of high energy bills? Or do they intend to take real action to ensure every home in Scotland has clean, green, and affordable heating? >> First Minister, >> all of the measures that Julian Mai talked about are measures the Scottish government has taken forward. They're all part of the the the steps that were taken. Whether that's about home insulation, whether it's about alternative heating systems, whether it's about a community renewable schemes, all of these are part of the government's program for government. And we have taken these measures forward for some time. I'm grateful from the support from members of the Green Party for the measures that the government takes. But these are integral to the program for government that I set out to parliament last week, including right at the heart of the program for government, one of our four priorities, which will be disputed across this chamber because not everybody will agree with the fact that one of the government's four priorities is to make the transition to net zero because we've got people in this parliament that don't think we should make the transition to net zero. We've got people that don't agree with that agenda, but that's the Scottish government's agenda and I'm proud to put that and set that out to Parliament and to the people of Scotland. >> Russell Finley. Thank you, PL officer. I'd also like to wish all the best to Scot Scotland's Jewish community as they celebrate Ross Shashana. John Swinny says that Scottish education is essentially stable and the new PISA results confirm that he is utterly delusional. After finishing primary school, many Scottish pupils can't even read or write. >> Primary teachers are now teaching basic literacy at almost half of Scotland at Glasgow's secondary schools. And one of these teachers said they've get reading ages of maybe five or six years old. They can't recognize basic words. this a decade since Nicholas Sturgeon said she'd put her neck in the line to improve literacy in deprived areas of all the SNP's many failures is trashing Scottish education the greatest of them all >> first minister >> as I set out to Malcolm offered earlier on the I'm proud of Scottish education and I would simply say to Russell Finley that for S3 pupils the proportions achieving third level or better in literacy and numeracy are at their highest level ever and that's because of the investment the Scottish government has made in closing the attainment gap in delivering excellence and equity in Scottish education and ensuring that young people are supported to fulfill their potential and that will remain the focus of the government's improvement work which has been brought forward following the Pisa results in 2022 2 to make sure that we have the delivery of curriculum improvement to constantly strengthen the delivery of Scottish education and that's the focus of the government. >> Russell Finley failed education sector absolutely nothing to be proud of. >> Here are the facts. English pupils thanks to conservative policies are in the world top 10 for reading, math and science. And the same rankings confirm that Scottish pupils continue to decline. They are intelligent. They are ambitious. They're hardworking. But they are failed by this negligent, useless, and complacent SMP government whose only answer is a free school bag. >> Glasgow's education director, John McGee, says that Scotland's success depends on the skills of young people leaving our schools. The leading ex education expert, Professor Lindseay Patterson, says that Scottish young people face a competitive disadvantage in the jobs market. So why is John Swinny sabotaging the prospects of a generation of young Scots and Scotland's future prosperity? First Minister, >> I I I I don't accept the point about competitive disadvantage for Scots pupils because on the data that I set out earlier on, uh, young people from Scottish education are going into positive follow-up destinations at a rate of 93.5% when they leave school and that's going into education, work or training as a consequence of their education. And secondly, UKcast data shows that 97% of Scots who applied to a university got a place. Now that doesn't suggest to me a competitive disadvantage about the outcomes for young people. Now Russell Finley introduced a comparison to about the English system and he introduced and he said that was attributed to the Conservative government. Well, let me also tell Russell Finley what the Conservative government have given to us all. Because of his support for Liz Truss, the public finances of this country were absolutely absolutely and completely trashed. So I am not going to take any lessons about anything from somebody who thought Liz Truss was a good idea as prime minister. Alex Cole Hamilton. >> Thank you, presid presiding officer and presiding officer, may I extend the good wishes of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Scotland's Jewish communities on this most apicious of holidays. Um, presiding officer, when it comes to education, we can't just ignore international assessments. Education used to be up there with the best in the world, but not any longer. And if we are to confront that reality, then we need Scottish ministers to address their shortcomings and accept responsibility. But it's not just school pupils this government is failing. I have badgered the first minister about businesses who have suffered endless ferry disruption. And yet the SMP government repeatedly refused to compensate coastal communities. But this week, Parliament voted for a Scottish Liberal Democrat amendment that would see compensation heading to the very port towns that have suffered the most. the likes of Arden, Denoon, Malle, Oben and Alipool. So in the spirit of respecting the will of this parliament, will the first minister tell businesses in towns like these exactly which of them will qualify, how much they will get, and when that money might actually reach them. First Minister, >> sir, I announced during the summer the implementation of a support uh scheme, financial support scheme for communities affected by ferry disruption earlier on the year and that's a matter of public record and the information is available on the government's website. >> Alex Cole Hamilton, >> these communities are still suffering and not getting access to the cash promise. It's clear that this government presiding officer is simply all at sea when it comes to compensation and feries more generally. Yesterday in parliament, the transport minister and his director of feries were completely oblivious to a major BBC news story. 700 kilos of highly flammable gas was released into the Glenn Sanics with 82 passengers on board. A critical safety failure hidden for a year and only exposed by journalists for all to see. Presiding officer, this is the latest in a long line of ferry failures. The Glen Rosa now 8 years overdue, 20 million pounds for a shipyard in Turkey, while our own yard in Port Glasgow is shedding a quarter of the workforce. An election promised for four new vessels, but still no contract. And now and now a transport minister at a transport committee clueless about a transport safety failure. Now presiding officer, we have all heard the rumors that the first minister gave Mr. Flynn this job to set him up to fail. Did he really expect it to happen so soon? >> First minister. Well, it takes Alec Cole Hamilton some distance to get to the point. Um, let me just let me just pick apart a few of the things that Mr. Cole Hamilton said. The first thing is that his comment about the absence of a compensation scheme ignored the fact that I announced the compensation compensation scheme over the summer. So, all I would say to Mr. Cole Hamilton in the spirit of decent parliamentary exchanges is that he needs to pay attention to what the government is actually doing. And if he and if he and if he actually if he actually paid attention to what the government was doing, he wouldn't ask me questions about things I've already done. Second point is on Ferguson's and Mr. Hamilton is um essentially talking about the uh the the the Ferguson yard and the intervention of the government to safeguard employment there. Now when the government intervenes on these cases, his colleague next Willie Renie criticizes the government for so doing. He was criticizing the government for intervening in the DL steel plate steelard the other day there. So I simply point out that there is a level of inconsistency coming out of the Liberal Democrats on all of these issues. And what the government is doing on fairies is the government is investing in the ferry fleet. We have four new vessels coming from the yard in Turkey. We've got the Glen Rosa coming out of Ferguson's and the government is investing to strengthen our ferry services and that's exactly what we're going to deliver. >> Thank you first minister. That ends first minister's questions for party leaders. The next item of business is a debate on motion 114 in the name of Steven Geffins on Scotland's energy opportunity. Members wishing to speak should press the