Seòmar agus comataidhean

No—I would like to make progress.

The UK Government’s approach has taken a number of forms. We can point to the legislation that it has passed irrespective of this Parliament withholding consent—as the Scottish Government’s motion correctly notes, the Conservatives passed the UK Internal Market Act 2020 even though the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Senedd withheld consent. Members will recall that my party—the Labour Party—voted against that legislation here in Scotland and in Wales. We also opposed it at Westminster—that makes it all three Parliaments—because of the implications for devolution and concern about the market access principles.

We recognise the economic and wider importance of maintaining consistent standards and safeguards across the United Kingdom, but the Conservative Government’s approach to that is deeply flawed. We are clear that maintaining free trade across the UK is critical to Scotland’s national interest. I know that the SNP and the Greens might be slightly less concerned about that than we are, but it is crucial to our businesses, our workers and Scottish consumers.

Donald Cameron mentioned statistics. According to the Scottish Government’s figures, in 2020, 62 per cent of Scotland’s exports went to the rest of the UK and 67 per cent of Scotland’s imports came from the rest of the UK. We trade far more with the rest of the UK than we do with the rest of the world combined—basically twice as much.

I am sorry, but I have taken quite a few interventions and I want to make some progress.

However, we do not need change only at a UK level; we need it here, in Scotland, too. Yes, we have a Conservative UK Government that has no respect for this Parliament, having so casually undermined and disregarded the significance and value of it, but we also have an SNP-Green Scottish Government that too often hides behind the recklessness of the Tories to avoid criticism and accountability. That Scottish Government too often has its own lack of respect for the powers of this Parliament, which is demonstrated by ministers bypassing statements that should be made in this chamber and by the Government ignoring votes in this chamber.

This debate is certainly not the big event of Scottish politics this week; that will be the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election on Thursday. I have been in the constituency a lot, listening to the priorities of local residents and speaking to the people in that constituency, as well as those in my region. It is fair to say that, despite the merits of this debate, the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 is not the issue that everyone is talking about. In fact, to the extent that the issue of the powers of this Parliament is coming up, people are not protesting about what Scotland cannot do; they are asking what the Scottish Government is doing with the extensive powers of this Parliament.

Powers should not be sought for their own sake. Scotland today, after 16 years of SNP rule, is stagnating, our ambition is chained and our people are held back. On almost all measures of success, this Government is failing, betraying the powers that it has to achieve better ends. We have children who are missing out on education as school staff take strike action. We have councils that are forced to make impossible decisions because of underfunding, and the Government is showing them disrespect. More and more of the one in seven Scots on the NHS waiting list is having to go private, and islanders are just looking for some ferries. In addition, as has already been mentioned, the Government has hung the creative sector out to dry by breaking its promises on funding.

The Labour Party, which legislated for and delivered devolution, will defend, protect and enhance it if we have the opportunity to serve, but we also want to use the powers of this place to help to deliver the changes that people in Scotland need.

I move amendment S6M-10703.3, to insert at end:

“; agrees that the people of Scotland are best served by both the UK and Scottish governments working together cooperatively, and calls on the UK Government to develop a more consensual means of preserving common standards and safeguards across the UK that does not undermine devolution in any part of the UK.”

I welcome the chance to speak in the debate. First, I must declare an interest. I love football, which is why I am leading the debate for Scottish Labour. Secondly, I must declare that, sadly, I am not any good at football, which is also why I am leading the debate for Scottish Labour.

Of course, I am not alone in my passion for football. It is not just a sport in Scotland; it is woven into the very fabric of our society. In his book on football, the legendary sports journalist Hugh McIlvanney quoted Arthur Hopcraft, who wrote that football

“is built into the urban psyche, as much a common experience to our children as ... school”

and extended family. Hopcraft went on to say:

“It is not a phenomenon; it is an everyday matter.”

This week, in a match between Scotland and England in Glasgow, we celebrated 150 years of international association football. Football has been central to the life of our communities over the past century and a half. As other members have said, it is our national game and a force for good. It is important that we recognise that anniversary, as it makes us reflect on just how much the game has grown and evolved. Today, we should celebrate football and debate what more we can and should do to support it.

Before I turn to that, though, I want to welcome the halting of the traffic commissioners’ proposed guidelines. The draconian proposals, which included restrictions on arrival and departure times and guidelines on pick-up points and reporting to a dedicated police officer, were set to punish football fans in Scotland. The proposals were completely unnecessary and would have interfered in people’s lives when they were merely trying to watch the game that they love. That is why we completely opposed them and will support the motion today.

César Luis Menotti, Argentina’s former world cup-winning manager, said:

“football belongs to the working class and has the size, nobility and generosity to allow everyone to enjoy it as a spectacle.”

I agree that everyone should be able to enjoy it. Of course, we should expect football fans to behave appropriately and responsibly, but—let us be honest here—there is often a snobbery on the part of the establishment towards working-class football fans that is not felt by fans of other sports. We in Scotland know what happens when the Government fails to listen to fans and overreacts. The prime example of that was the pushing through of the discredited—now, thankfully, repealed—Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012, which again unfairly targeted football fans and treated them as second-class citizens.

The Scottish Government should reflect on its own track record because, sadly, many fans do not view the Government as a friend and an ally of football, which is regrettable. In fact, the Government should be the game’s biggest fan and champion. Just as the Scottish Government has recently stated its intention to reset its relationship with businesses, perhaps it should also reset its relationship with football fans and clubs.

The GMB trade union, supported by parties from across the chamber, has made the Government aware of an impending deadline for placing an order for a new plating line at Ferguson’s. Workers and management are clear that the investment is essential to improving efficiency and securing a future for the yard. Failure to do that urgently will result in many more months of delay.

The Inverclyde task force was established because the former finance secretary believed that it could make the case for levering in funding to Inverclyde. Recent job losses make the need even greater. Will the Government commit today to investing in facilities at Ferguson’s and to providing additional cash to kick-start the Inverclyde economy? If it will not do that today, when will a decision be made?

I agree that we should be celebrating football and the force for good that football is, and I want to pay tribute to all our coaches and players, especially those at the grass roots who give up their time for their teams.

We invest in football because we recognise that it can reach people who Government and the authorities often cannot. There are numerous examples of great charitable work done by our clubs on issues such as employability and tackling obesity. One example that I want to highlight is the fantastic street stuff initiative, a partnership programme run by Renfrewshire Council, St Mirren FC and the police, which provides free weekly activities, primarily in the evenings and weekends, to young people throughout Renfrewshire. Since 2009, street stuff’s approach has contributed to a reduction of 65 per cent in reported youth disorder and antisocial behaviour. Such initiatives provide evidence to show the multiple benefits that football brings to our communities and society, and that is why investment in the game is vital.

Although we celebrate 150 years of international football this week, we must also remember the disgraceful banning of women’s football between 1921 and 1974. It is hugely welcome to see women’s football grow and thrive in recent years, and we must recognise that that has not happened by chance; it has happened because of the pioneering work of many inspirational women—inspirational not only to girls but to all of us—across Scotland, including those at Glasgow City FC, who I recently met. They told me of a time when they were forced to use car headlights in place of floodlights in order to play. That reinforces the need to reverse cuts to playing fields and to invest in sports facilities in order to make them accessible to everybody who wants to play the game.

Finally, we also need to see positive reform to support the game and to ensure that the interests of the fans are always at the heart of the game. Independent research by the Scottish Football Supporters Association has revealed a disconnect between supporters and those who run the game. Scottish Labour therefore welcomes the publication of the fan-led review by the Scottish Football Supporters Association. We are carefully considering all the recommendations in that report, and we urge the Scottish Government to publish its own response to the review as soon as possible. We should also have a full parliamentary debate on the issue.

Football has played a crucial role in our society for 150 years. With a reset in relations with fans, a reversal of cuts to facilities and reform of the game, we can and should make our national game fit for the next 150 years.

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it will provide to support the work of the Inverclyde task force, including in relation to investment in facilities at Ferguson Marine. (S6O-02512)

Of course, we want fans to behave responsibly. I was just going to come on to the issue of relationships between clubs, because, although I have called for a reset of relationships between Government and fans, I also think that there needs to be reset of relations between our clubs, as opposition fans continue to receive limited or no allocations at away games.

I do not accept the premise of what Mr Mason has said. It is often said that people who attend other sporting events are impeccably behaved and that it is only football fans who misbehave. I do not accept that at all. As I said earlier, football is a force for good.

Renfrewshire Council has been found to be incompetent, arrogant and amateur. The cabinet secretary has heard from parents directly that they have lost all confidence in the council. Some £160 million has been wasted, but nobody has been held accountable.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that there must be accountability for the Dargavel debacle and that only a full and independent investigation of it will command public confidence? Will the minister also seriously consider the request from parents to consider fully the case for independent and robust oversight of Renfrewshire Council’s future delivery of Dargavel education provision?

Okay. I will take an intervention from the minister.

We believe that there should be a change in the Government at Westminster and that we need a Labour Government to bring about the social, economic and political change that Scotland and the rest of the UK need. We look forward to setting out our plans for the general election in the coming weeks and months.

SNP members are being asked not to ask any hard questions about an abysmal record in public services and a failure to make a credible case for Scottish independence that can command the support of fellow Scots. I presume that the Government knows that it is failing to make that case.

At the weekend, Humza Yousaf shifted the goalposts—so much so that independence can, apparently, now be achieved without a majority of people voting for it or the SNP. The previous plans for a de facto referendum lacked credibility with the public and many inside the SNP, but the new plans are, frankly, ludicrous, and the Government knows it. The paper is not a game changer, and the strategy has not been thought through. For example, a special envoy to the EU was announced at the weekend, but the EU has already indicated that it will not speak to them. There are many other questions that I could ask about the inconsistencies on thresholds, which a bowling club’s constitution would not have, and other issues, but doing so would be completely pointless.

Back in the real world, in its document, the Government is promising people basic rights in the future, but it is failing to get the basics right for people today. Scots are no longer falling for the SNP’s empty promises and just accepting what it says.

We already have legislation on climate change targets and on homelessness, but climate progress is off track and homelessness is at a high. The SNP claims that it wants to protect the rights of islanders, but the Government cannot even sort out the ferries. The SNP says that it wants to defend and enshrine local government, but it and the Greens have cut a combined total of £6 billion from council budgets over the past decade. The SNP says that it wants to protect a right to healthcare, but it has broken the treatment time guarantee—a law that it passed—more than 500,000 times. We do not need Police Scotland to tell us whether this is a Government of lawbreakers.

The cabinet secretary tells us today that we need a written constitution for an independent Scotland to tackle such issues—when what people need is competent government, focused on their priorities. Let us contrast that with another announcement last week. While the First Minister, Humza Yousaf, was unveiling his imaginary constitution for an independent Scotland, there was another political speech in Scotland. Keir Starmer—[Interruption.] Keir Starmer, the man who most Scots—in fact, most people across the UK—want to be our next Prime Minister, was setting out a real plan to secure our energy supply, green our economy and create jobs here in Scotland. The SNP promised and abandoned plans for a publicly owned energy company, but Labour will create a publicly owned Great British energy company, headquartered here, in Scotland.

While the SNP manages a divided party and plays fantasy politics, wasting taxpayers’ cash on papers described by the Minister for Independence as campaigning tools for SNP activists, Labour is getting down to the real business. We have a plan for real change—a plan to fix the mess that our country is in by tackling the everyday problems facing Scotland.

The next general election will not be a de facto referendum; it will be a general election. The latest poll suggests that Labour is gaining more and more support in Scotland. Whether people voted yes or no, the Tories need to go. While members of the SNP talk to themselves about themselves, we will seek to offer Scotland the economic, social and political change that it needs.

I move amendment S6M-09711.2, to delete from “welcomes” to end and insert:

“notes the publication of Creating a modern constitution for an independent Scotland; considers that, rather than theoretical future plans, the focus of the Scottish Government should be on the priorities of people living in Scotland, and calls, therefore, on the Scottish Government to deliver a real recovery plan for the NHS to reduce long waits, fix lifeline services for Scotland’s island communities, ensure a fair local government funding settlement, and take measures to improve living standards and tackle the cost of living, with a £100 water rebate, a freeze to rail fares and a revamped mortgage rescue scheme.”