Scotsman Politics: FMQs Roundup for Thursday March 27 2025 #ChristinaMcKelvie

The Scotsman

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00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Politics Show.

00:03We're here to wrap up First Minister's Questions for another week.

00:08And Alistair, it was a very different mood to the traditional start to a First Minister's

00:14Questions as plenty of tributes were paid to a Scottish government minister who passed

00:21away earlier this morning.

00:23Can you talk us through?

00:24Yeah, very sombre and muted atmosphere at First Minister's Questions today following

00:29the death of Christina McKelvie, a Scottish government minister, the MSP for Hamilton,

00:34Markhall and Stonehouse, who died after a battle with breast cancer at the age of 57

00:39this morning.

00:40She was latterly Drugs and Alcohol Minister in the Scottish government, a very well-liked

00:44popular figure across the Scottish Parliament.

00:46You can actually see just behind me here, they've opened up a book of condolence, just

00:50in that area there that MSPs have been signing.

00:52I saw Nicola Sturgeon signing it just before I came onto this video.

00:57She had taken, Christina McKelvie had taken medical leave in August last year while receiving

01:01treatment for secondary breast cancer, and she'd already announced that she planned to

01:04stand down at the next Holyrood election to concentrate on that treatment.

01:09So very, very sad news and heartfelt tributes paid in Holyrood today, and I think notable

01:15that lots of MSPs were kind of choked with emotion.

01:18Alison Johnson, the presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, in tears as she paid

01:23tribute to Christina McKelvie.

01:25The flags just outside the Scottish Parliament have been lowered to half-mast as a mark of

01:30respect, and we've had words from John Swinney, the First Minister, who said that Christina

01:35McKelvie was one of the kindest, most generous people he'd ever met in his life.

01:38Nicola Sturgeon saying that her kindness, compassion, that she was full of life, and

01:44Alison Johnson saying that she was a passionate campaigner and an engaging politician.

01:48And I think notable as well, First Minister's questions, Russell Finlay, the Scottish Tory

01:52leader, and Anna Sarwa, the Scottish Labour leader, both paying tribute to her.

01:56So a very well-liked, popular figure, and it's a very, as you say, a very different

02:00mood that First Minister's questions today.

02:03And Alastair, it appears that both a combination of Neil Gray and one of the other ministers

02:09will continue to take over those ministerial duties moving forward as well.

02:14The tributes aside, it maybe wasn't as fiery a First Minister's questions as some that

02:20we've seen in recent weeks, but still there was some searching questions around a new

02:26report that was out this morning and highly critical of the Glasgow Health Board.

02:33Yes, so this is a review by Healthcare Improvement Scotland into NHS Greater Glasgow

02:38and Clyde that found a serious breakdown in relationships among staff and management and

02:43said that this was likely having a detrimental effect on patient care.

02:47Now, this review looked at the emergency departments in three hospitals in the health

02:51board. It was the Royal Alexandria and Paisley, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Queen Elizabeth

02:56University Hospital.

02:57And Scottish Labour leader, Anna Sarwa, in particular, has repeatedly raised issues about

03:02the latter, about Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, something that's come up time and

03:06time again at First Minister's questions, concerns around the management of that hospital,

03:10concerns around patient safety.

03:13And he was effectively bringing this up at First Minister's questions today, calling the

03:17findings of that review devastating and effectively saying, you know, asking John Swinney,

03:23when will the SNP address what Anna Sarwa said was this rotten culture?

03:29And John Swinney effectively saying that the findings of this review are, in his words,

03:33completely and utterly unacceptable, and that he will make that clear to health boards across

03:38the country, that this kind of culture, that this review uncovered is not acceptable.

03:43But he was also saying that a new management team have been put in place at NHS Greater

03:48Glasgow and Clyde and that they are committed to addressing the issues within this report.

03:52So quite damning findings, as I say, concerns in particular about Queen Elizabeth University

03:58Hospital, but also about the kind of leadership of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are not

04:03new at First Minister's questions.

04:05They're things that Anna Sarwa has been raising for quite some time.

04:08So there might be a sense of frustration that we're still talking about some of these

04:12issues and some of these concerns within that health board.

04:15And we're seeing as well that this review was sparked by kind of whistleblowing concerns

04:20that have been raised by doctors within the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital themselves

04:24about what they felt was problems within the management culture and concerns that they

04:30had about patient treatment and patient safety as a result of that.

04:33One of the things that this review was highlighting was what it said was a normalisation of so-called

04:39corridor care, that's people being treated in corridors because there's simply not room

04:42for them to be treated elsewhere.

04:45And that's something that we've, again, we've heard about quite a lot as a problem, both

04:50north and south of the border, lots of these problems when it comes to issues like corridor

04:53care are not specific to Scotland.

04:55But yeah, it's a real, an issue that I don't imagine will be going anywhere soon, but in

05:01this case, particular problems with the NHS Glasgow management team.

05:06And look, we also have the Institute for Fiscal Studies has released its analysis on the spring

05:11statement as well. Our Westminster correspondent, Alexander Brown, will be covering what they've

05:17had to say as well in the wash up to Chancellor Rachel Riggs standing yesterday.

05:23You'll be able to read that on Scotsman.com soon.

05:26We'll leave you now with some of the tributes that were earlier uttered in the Scottish

05:32Parliament chamber in tribute to Christina McKelvie, who passed away earlier today.

05:39Colleagues, I'm so deeply saddened by the death of our dear parliamentary colleague,

05:46Christina McKelvie, MSP.

05:50And on behalf of all at the Scottish Parliament, my most sincere condolences to Christina

05:56partner, our friend and colleague, Keith Brown, MSP, and to Christina's family and many

06:03friends, our entire parliament members, staff, all who work in this building, grieve with

06:11you. A determined and passionate campaigner for social justice and an engaging

06:18parliamentarian.

06:20I remember Christina's warm welcome when I arrived as a newly elected MSP in 2011. It

06:27meant a lot.

06:29Christina served the parliament as a committee convener and the government as a

06:34minister under three First Ministers.

06:38Christina sponsored the Wait at Pink campaign in parliament for many years and said how

06:44privileged she felt to be able to use her platform as an MSP to boost the work of

06:50others. She's expressed her gratitude to all the organisations who provided her with

06:57invaluable support as she went through her own treatment for breast cancer.

07:04The flags at Holyrood fly at half-mast today as a mark of respect for Christina. A book of

07:11condolence for members to sign will be available after First Minister's questions. We

07:16will honour Christina fully in parliament in the days to come.

07:22First Minister.

07:26Presiding Officer, today is an unbearably sad day as we all come to terms with the loss of

07:33our generous, kind, loyal and fun-loving colleague, Christina McKelvie. Members across

07:40the chamber all feel that loss, but my party is aching at the news today.

07:47Christina was a parliamentarian of the highest motivation and the finest nature. I was proud

07:54that she was a member of my government, giving her all to make life better for others, which

08:01was always her motivation. She served her constituents, her party and her country with

08:09the greatest amount of devotion that was imaginable. Today, I express to her partner and my

08:16deputy, Keith Brown, one of my dearest friends, and to her sons, Jack and Lewis, my profound

08:24sympathy at their loss and my gratitude for the benefit of having known such a magnificent woman.

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