The Scotsman Politics: FMQs Review

The Scotsman

21/12/2023

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 - Good afternoon.

00:09 We're here on the Scotsman's Politics Show

00:11 to do the wrap of the final First Minister's Questions

00:15 for the year.

00:16 My name's Dale Miller, I'm Head of News at the Scotsman,

00:18 and I'm joined by our political correspondent,

00:21 Rachel Armory.

00:22 Rachel, Humza Yousaf was back in the chair

00:25 answering questions today, and no great surprise,

00:29 it was all about the budget,

00:31 and there was plenty of spirit.

00:32 I'm not sure whether it was festive spirit,

00:34 but it was certainly spirited exchanges.

00:37 - I definitely think it would be a spirited exchange.

00:39 That's definitely a good way to put it there.

00:41 There's a lot of back and forth there

00:42 between Humza Yousaf, Douglas Ross, and Anna Sarwar.

00:45 Lots of cheering amongst the MSPs.

00:47 The Presiding Officer had to stop proceedings

00:49 quite a few times to tell people off

00:51 and tell them to calm down a bit,

00:53 particularly referencing the front bench of the SNP as well.

00:56 So yes, spirited is definitely a good word

00:58 for what happened today at FMQs.

01:00 But it was mostly focused on the budget today,

01:02 as you said, we predicted that

01:04 because it's what all anyone's been talking about this week.

01:07 Both are criticising the government

01:09 for increasing income tax rates

01:11 and potentially the impact that that will have

01:13 on higher earners.

01:14 We had something in the Scotsman today

01:16 suggesting that higher earners in this new income tax band,

01:20 that's between 75,000 pound and 125,000 pound in earnings,

01:24 may move to Northern England

01:26 or choose to live there instead of Scotland

01:27 because of the high tax rates.

01:29 That's something Douglas Ross brought up today,

01:31 suggesting that people in the NHS,

01:33 or nurses, doctors, specialised staff,

01:35 may choose to leave the NHS or cut down their hours

01:39 to try and pay less tax.

01:40 So that was something that he was very keen to point out.

01:43 Palace News' response, of course,

01:44 was saying that we've avoided doctor strikes in Scotland,

01:49 I think there's one in England right now, actually,

01:51 and that nurses are better paid here

01:53 than elsewhere in the UK as well.

01:54 So he was very keen to point that out in the budget.

01:57 Anna Sarwar is going down a very similar route,

01:59 suggesting that people will not be happy paying more tax

02:02 when NHS services are not up to scratch.

02:05 People will not be happy with their rates going up

02:07 when waiting lists are not going down.

02:10 And it was also quite interesting as well,

02:11 because we were talking beforehand,

02:13 will there be some festive anecdotes put in the mix here?

02:16 And there was a little one,

02:17 with Humza Yousaf saying that Anna Sarwar

02:20 should ask Santa for a backbone this Christmas,

02:21 which I thought was pretty funny.

02:24 - Rachel, we've had a couple of weeks

02:26 where Humza hasn't been in the chair,

02:28 he was missing through illness last week,

02:31 and then we know a couple of weeks ago he was at COP28,

02:33 and Shona Robison had to stand in on both occasions.

02:37 Did it feel different today with him back in the driving seat

02:40 in terms of how he was pushing SNP messaging

02:43 in particular around the budget?

02:45 - I think so, because it's where he's comfortable.

02:47 We know that Shona Robison, while Deputy First Minister,

02:50 that's not her day-to-day job to do FMQs.

02:52 So it was good to see Humza Yousaf back in the chair there,

02:54 and definitely, as we were seeing earlier,

02:57 lots of them backing for us, lots of them,

02:59 lots of cheering and cheering.

03:01 So I think he was definitely comfortable

03:02 being back in the position.

03:03 It was good to see him back there as well

03:05 after a few weeks off

03:06 and having Shona Robison in his place.

03:08 - And rail fares, some of our readers

03:12 would have picked up on this late yesterday.

03:14 There was an announcement that an 8.7% rise

03:19 in line with CPI to May of this year would be brought in.

03:22 That's for all ScotRail services from April next year,

03:26 also all Caledonian sleeper services from January.

03:30 That basically means your average ticket at the moment,

03:33 if you were travelling Edinburgh, Glasgow,

03:35 given that we have the peak fare suspension in place,

03:38 goes up from just under 14 pounds day return

03:42 to about 15 pounds, 50 roughly.

03:47 It is a significant rise.

03:49 We do know that they've extended

03:51 the peak fare suspension trial for three months,

03:54 but Rachel, I believe Humza addressed that post FMQs.

03:59 - Yes, it's quite interesting actually.

04:00 You mentioned this, I get the train into work

04:02 from Perth to Edinburgh each morning,

04:04 and both yesterday and this morning,

04:07 the person at the ticket desk was very keen

04:09 to point out what's happening with rail fares.

04:11 It's clearly a big, big hot issue amongst people,

04:15 particularly those who use the trains regularly.

04:17 It was something that we stopped Humza Yusuf

04:19 to talk about after FMQs on his way out,

04:21 basically trying to defend the Scottish Government's

04:24 decision here, saying we're still scrapped peak fares,

04:27 it's still going to be cheaper than had it been otherwise.

04:30 So plenty to talk about the trains too,

04:33 but I'm sure there'll be plenty of people

04:35 a bit disappointed to see it going up by so much.

04:37 - Is public transport in Scotland affordable?

04:40 - Public transport in Scotland is affordable,

04:42 and that's why, of course, what we're looking to do

04:45 is of course make it even more affordable.

04:46 That's why, of course, we have a pilot

04:48 scrapping rail peak fares, and of course,

04:52 any fare increase is going to be unwelcome,

04:54 but I hope people understand, because of 13 and a half years

04:56 of Westminster austerity, we are having significant

04:59 pressures on our budget and we have to respond accordingly.

05:02 But look, the budget outlined, of course,

05:04 further extension to that pilot in terms of rail fares,

05:07 peak fares, but also, of course, our commitment

05:09 to bus travel, concessionary travel.

05:12 - Are you worried that it could discourage people

05:13 from using public transport, though,

05:14 for the increase in fares?

05:15 - We'll continue to do what we can

05:17 to try to make it affordable, and that's why

05:19 the removal of peak fares for a pilot

05:22 has been extended for the further couple of months.

05:25 - I know Aslef, the union brand,

05:27 and then an outrageous slap in the face

05:29 to go up by that much.

05:31 Clearly, it's the CPI rate that they've used,

05:33 the inflation rate having now dipped just below 4%,

05:37 but when you hear about a rise of 8.7%, it is a shock.

05:42 Rachel, thank you very much for joining us.

05:44 A Merry Christmas to you when it comes,

05:46 a Merry Christmas to all our readers and viewers as well.

05:51 You can, as always over the festive period,

05:55 tune into scottsman.com for all your latest news.

05:58 We will still be running a regular daily news service.

06:02 You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram,

06:05 and go out and buy a copy of the paper tomorrow.

06:06 Thanks for joining us.

06:08 - Merry Christmas.

06:09 (upbeat music)

06:13 (upbeat music)

06:15 [MUSIC]

The Scotsman Politics: FMQs Review

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