Scotsman Politics: FMQs roundup Thursday February 06 2025
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00:00Hi, I'm Jane Bradley, Assistant Editor of the Scotsman, and I'm here today for First
00:07Minister's Questions Roundup with our political correspondent, Rachel Amory. Hi, Rachel.
00:12Hello. So you're literally just out of the chamber
00:15after FMQs, so what has been happening today? Yeah, quite a diverse range of topics discussed
00:21at FMQs this week. The past few weeks, you've kind of been seeing the same things getting
00:25brought up time and time again. Parties continually asking the First Minister on the same question
00:30as well. That doesn't happen today, we've got a bit of variety today, so that was quite
00:33nice to watch for a change. Starting off with the Scottish Conservatives, they decided to
00:37go on the cost of the replacement of HMP Barlinnie. I think in today's paper, in fact, it was
00:43in the news that the cost of the replacement is now going to be almost a billion pounds,
00:48and so the Conservatives' leader, Russell Findlay, in the FMQs today was saying it's
00:51not valued for taxpayers, and comparing it to a five-star resort or a nature reserve
00:56is how he was describing it, and saying that people would rather see the money spent on
01:01hospitals and schools instead. Now, John Swinney's response was very much sort of trying to be
01:05practical about it, saying that the size of the prison, or the proposed prison, has almost
01:10doubled, and there's inflation to take account of as well, and the rising cost of construction
01:15as well. So all of those things are why it's going to be costing more money. The argument
01:19to the two did get a bit sort of heated then, which was quite interesting to watch. So John
01:24Swinney was saying that Russell Findlay's line of questioning was reprehensible and
01:29despicable, and also accused him of trying to pander to the voters who are leaving the
01:34Conservatives for reform. So that was quite an interesting back and forth to watch at
01:38the end of that one there. If we move on to Scottish Labour, they were going for the second
01:43question, and quite a surprise question from them, actually, about energy. We were quite
01:48used to seeing the Labour Party asking questions about health and healthcare, occasionally
01:52about justice as well. So it was quite a surprise to see the Labour Party going on energy this
01:57time instead. Basically, the questioning was about why the SNP are not more supportive
02:02of nuclear energy options. And it was basically a chance for Anas Sarwar to set out his party's
02:07campaign, I suppose, for the next general election, and what they would like to see
02:12done when it comes to energy policy, and setting out that they want to see more invested in
02:17nuclear, saying that millions is going to England and Wales, and there's jobs going
02:21to England and Wales because of the SNP's position of no nuclear energy. John Swinney
02:27very much not moving on that position, saying that they want to see more on renewables,
02:31and they're committed to investing more in renewables, and will not be changing their
02:34position on nuclear energy anytime soon.
02:37And what was the response across the chamber to this energy debate?
02:40Yeah, I think it was quite an interesting one, because we obviously have the Greens
02:44in the Parliament as well, it was quite interesting to watch their facial expressions and how
02:48they went ahead there too. But I think there was a lot of surprise that this is what Labour
02:51had decided to announce today. And I think a sort of agreement was in the SNP that there
02:57isn't any sort of desire to change that policy at all. So yeah, it was quite an interesting
03:01thing to watch to see how everyone reacted to that one.
03:04Yeah, and of course, Nicola Sturgeon, the former First Minister, was in the chamber
03:08today.
03:09Yes, we haven't seen her for months, actually. She's very, very rarely in Hollywood. And
03:14even then, we even more rarely see her in the debating chamber. So it was quite interesting.
03:19I was actually busy writing down my notebook, but I started to hear all this murmuring in
03:23the chamber. And it wasn't until I looked up that I realised the murmuring was because
03:26she had come into the chamber. And there was some questions today on the promise, and this
03:31was a policy sort of championed by her as First Minister. And so we were wondering,
03:35is she there perhaps to ask a question about the promise or take part in that part of the
03:39debate? But no, she didn't speak actually in the debate. But there's certainly a lot
03:43of interest in her in the chamber. We did try to speak to her afterwards on The Journalist,
03:48but she did not stop to speak to The Journalist. So we haven't got any further from her on
03:52that one, unfortunately. So interesting to see her in the chamber again today.
03:57Yeah, absolutely. And there was no indication, apart from speculation, that she might ask
04:01a question, and she didn't, as to why she's there today.
04:04Exactly. So it could be anything.
04:07Great. And were there any other issues discussed today?
04:10Yeah, grain shortage was actually discussed. Of course, a big hot topic issue, because people
04:15at the oil refinery site have now been issued redundancy notices. So that was brought up by
04:20Michelle Thompson, who is the MSP for the Falkirk area and covering that area, and she's been very
04:24vocal in the past about this issue there. So quite interesting to see that getting brought up.
04:30John Swinney, again, sort of pointing fingers at the UK Labour government,
04:34particularly about promises that have been made to support the workers there,
04:38and also saying that the UK Labour government should be more looking into doing carbon capture
04:42at the site instead as a sort of a viable alternative to it. Anna Sarwar, the Scottish
04:47Labour leader, was asked about this by journalists outside the chamber afterwards.
04:51But a quick clip from here, if you want to take a look at this.
04:54You would save the jobs of the refinery?
04:56This is a pipe-dome company, as you know, probably, but we have to get positive
05:01for that community.
05:05So far you've failed?
05:06Well, I look forward to being in government in May 2026 and proactively working to get
05:11deals done for Scotland and delivering for the people of Grangemouth and the whole of Scotland.
05:15So there we see Anna Sarwar and his questioning on Grangemouth after the FMQs today.
05:22Thank you very much for that, Rachel. And you can read more about FMQs today on our website,
05:28Scotsman.com, and please follow us on social media.
05:32And if you're out and about today, do buy a paper.
05:34Thank you very much, Rachel.