Seòmar agus comataidhean

I thank Christine Grahame for bringing up this important issue. Thankfully, passenger numbers on the Tweedbank line have returned to pre-pandemic levels, but people in Hawick and Newcastleton feel left out by the issues with the connectivity to their areas.

The Conservative Government pioneered the Borderlands growth deal, which we all welcomed. When does the First Minister plan to meet the Labour minister, Lord Hendy, to discuss that very important issue and to reiterate the benefits of the Borderlands growth deal and the extension to Carlisle?

I return the compliment to Stuart McMillan by asking him to apologise for 17 years of SNP incompetence.

Let us scratch beneath the surface of this SNP incompetence, which is putting rhetoric over reality and consistently failing to bring forward any substantive plans. Those are not my views; they are the views of leading poverty charities. Save the Children has stated that plans in the programme for government—as I said earlier in an intervention to Stuart McMillan—do nothing that

“shifts the dial on child poverty.”

Not only has the SNP failed to bring people out of poverty but it has, through its own financial mismanagement, put the nation’s finances into a state of poverty.

The way to a fairer society after 17 years of SNP neglect is by boosting everyone up rather than dragging people down. As Conservatives, we believe that the best way to pull people out of poverty is by creating a positive vision through aspirational policies. As Russell Findlay stated, we will offer an alternative way forward to the high-tax, low-ambition Holyrood consensus by standing up for everyone who just wants to see their politicians show some common sense for a change.

Presiding Officer, I see that my time is short, so I will close. However, let us end on a positive note by recognising the role that volunteers and charities play in picking up the slack that is left by the SNP, as was articulated by my colleague Miles Briggs.

Save the Children says that the Scottish Government’s programme for government has done nothing to shift the dial on child poverty. Does Stuart McMillan agree?

I welcome the opportunity to close on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives.

Russell Findlay clearly touched a nerve—or perhaps members on the SNP and Labour benches are just embarrassed, because they are blaming everyone except themselves. They are talking about problems, but not about finding solutions.

I thank Paul O’Kane for that intervention. It just proves that he is entirely embarrassed about how his Government has behaved in the past three months.

John Swinney seemed to enjoy hearing my Conservative colleagues criticising Labour, because he finds himself in a unique position—but two wrongs do not make a right. Just because some of the heat has been transferred from the SNP to a completely incompetent Labour Government, that does not mean that the SNP’s dangerous policy choices are being ignored by Scotland’s pensioners and young people.

We want solutions, and we will support the First Minister’s motion today, because 240,000 children are in poverty. Patrick Harvie is correct. I cannot believe that I find myself agreeing with Patrick Harvie; in fact, I cannot believe that I am even saying that.

It is about choice and the SNP’s choices in this respect, and we need to unite around tackling poverty. Alex Cole-Hamilton and the Liberal Democrats have also ensured that we look to offer solutions—

I would be delighted.

I will not at the moment, thank you.

They are talking about problems, but not about finding solutions. I note that Alex Cole-Hamilton, and even Patrick Harvie, agree about that.

Let us take a look at Mr Sarwar’s party’s UK Government. He made no apology today, and he refused to answer Russell Findlay’s question about whether the Labour Party will conduct a risk assessment prior to cutting the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners. He was given two opportunities to do so. Paul O’Kane also refused to answer and instead deflected that question.

Heaven knows the chaos that has ensued with Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray resigning and his own freeloading faux pas. He is like the guy with the glasses, Victor Perkins, from “Despicable Me”. Not even the trade unions support cutting the winter fuel payment.

We find ourselves in a terrifying position, in which we have two completely incompetent Governments at UK and Scotland levels.

I completely agree with Patrick Harvie. That comment was taken out of context—some employers pay more than the minimum wage and are therefore giving more to people who are stuck on the minimum wage. The causes of poverty are deep rooted and, as we heard from members on all sides of the chamber, it affects many people and many communities—for example, in my constituency. [Interruption.]

I do not know what Maggie Chapman is laughing at. I am not sure whether she has ever actually employed anybody.

The causes of poverty are deep rooted, especially in Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire. The impact of poverty is usually generational, and it leads to unique challenges and inequalities. Poverty can affect anyone, no matter their age. More than 150,000 pensioners in Scotland live in poverty, and more than half of those are living in severe poverty.

Yesterday, I was out speaking with residents in Kelso, and the number 1 issue that came up was removal of the winter fuel payment by both the Labour and SNP Governments. Many were worried about how they will heat their home. It is estimated that 16,000 pensioners in the Borders are set to bear the brunt of reckless decisions by those parties, in the next few months. One resident told me that, without any support, they

“will have to choose to eat or heat”.

Another constituent summed up the impact that the decision will have on ordinary people, stating that it is a

“dreadful policy of Labour & SNP against the ‘just getting by’ Scottish resident pensioners like us who are dreading the winter bills and the cold.”

They—like many pensioners across Scotland, as we have heard today—are feeling unsupported and anxious about how they will afford to heat their homes.

The impact of fuel poverty has very real consequences for public services. One couple recently contacted me to share their anxiety as we approach the colder weather. They said that their health is not good and that they both “feel the cold” more severely than others. Stuart McMillan talked about Independent Age, but he did not mention that the charity has assessed the impact of fuel poverty and has highlighted that older people are most vulnerable to those impacts and are

“most likely to suffer respiratory and cardiovascular disease as a result”

of cold homes.

We know that deprivation is already a key driver of people accessing our stretched accident and emergency departments. With many health boards, including NHS Borders, already facing extreme pressures, the decision to remove the winter fuel payment will undoubtedly put our NHS into crisis this winter.

I have highlighted just one example of the real impact of those policy decisions in my constituency, but the situation will be similar across Scotland. Unfortunately, under the SNP examples of poverty have become the norm. Sadly, the SNP continues to be disengaged from and uninterested in dealing with the root causes of poverty. Instead, it chooses to occupy its time pushing constitutional grievances, as we have heard today, at the cost of ordinary people. It chooses to blame others for its incompetence and failures.

We have stopped looking ahead to a brighter and more positive future for Scotland by growing the economy.

I thank Maree Todd for that answer, but a freedom of information request revealed that the cost of agency locums in the Borders has tripled in the past three years and reached more than £7 million in 2022-23. Furthermore, locums make up up to a third of the consultant psychiatrist workforce in the Borders, with 75 per cent not holding their certificate of completion of training. That is concerning and precarious. Why has the Scottish National Party Government chosen to decimate mental health services for my Borders constituents?

No wonder the Scottish National Party dumped its hapless coalition with the Greens. Patrick Harvie and his colleagues passed the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023, which ensured a licensed approach. Furthermore, NatureScot has strengthened the licensing process, making it more difficult for packs to get a licence. Will the minister confirm how many times the licence conditions have been broken?