First Minister's Questions Scotland: What we learned at FMQs today, including independence, the Northern Ireland protocol, police anger and nuclear power

Following a First Minister’s Questions dominated by the independence debate, here is what was discussed, including the Northern Ireland Protocol, police pay anger and nuclear power.

Shots were fired from both the Conservatives and Labour over the recent Scottish Government campaign focus on independence after October 2023 was revealed as the time the Scottish Government is planning to hold a second referendum.

However, other issues were also at play in the debating chamber such as the Northern Ireland Protocol’s impact on Scotland and the Government’s views on fusion energy.

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Here are some of the main points which were honed in on during FMQs.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during First Minister's Questions at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood (Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire).First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during First Minister's Questions at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood (Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire).
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during First Minister's Questions at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood (Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire).

‘Divisive’ Independence

Conservative leader Douglas Ross said, under the SNP Government, issues such as the Covid recovery and closing the attainment gap are “playing second fiddle” to an independence referendum.

Mr Ross said the First Minister cannot focus on such issues in the country "when she is trying to divide it” through “bad bar charts”, making reference to the recent paper published on the vision for independence by the Government on Tuesday.

The First Minister said the case for independence is not “distinct or separate” from the “big challenges” Scotland is facing right now and offers an “alternative” to a “failing” UK system.

Ms Sturgeon said: “Instead independence is part of a solution to these challenges. It’s not the distraction Douglas Ross thinks it is.”

Mr Ross also said the FM could not say whether "ferries would float" by next October. It comes as Jim McColl, the former director of Ferguson Marine, told Holyrood the two delayed and over-budget CalMac ferries were now "obsolete".

Covid recovery

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar focused on Audit Scotland's pandemic funding report, which said it was not clear how some Government financial decisions had been made.

Mr Sarwar accused the Government of a culture of contempt and of leaving billions of pounds of Covid recovery money in its reserves.

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Audit Scotland said more than 300 funding announcements have been made at Holyrood in response to Covid.

Yet the report said it was unclear how some financial decisions were reached.

Mr Sarwar said: “It’s the equivalent of taking a pay day loan and putting it in a current savings account.”

However, Ms Sturgeon said Mr Sarwar “did not do his homework” as she hit back, saying the Government does not set the budget of Audit Scotland.

The First Minister said the report was a good one and recognised the "Government managed its overall budget effectively".

Police pay anger

Scottish Labour MSP Pauline McNeill said the £565 annual pay increase for Scotland's police had been described as derisory.

Police officers in Scotland are considering what industrial action they could take after rejecting the offer.

Ms McNeill asked what the First Minister was doing to make sure police officers do not feel undervalued.

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Ms Sturgeon said she wants to see “all public sector workers get the fairest settlement possible”.

She says police pay is negotiated through the Police Negotiating Board and the process is ongoing, adding it would not be appropriate for her to cut across that process.

Northern Ireland Protocol

Asked about the potential risks to Scotland’s economy if the UK Government overrides the Northern Ireland Protocol, Ms Sturgeon said this risks a “hugely damaging” trade war.

The First Minister’s comments come as the UK Government has been defending its plans to scrap parts of the Brexit deal for Northern Ireland – known as the protocol – which it negotiated with the European Union.

Ms Sturgeon went on to say that she would warmly welcome a protocol for Scotland.

The FM said: “As First Minister of Scotland, if I could get a protocol that would allow Scotland to continue to trade freely across the single market, I’d take that in a heartbeat, so that is the reality.

“The Northern Ireland Protocol was negotiated and signed by this UK Government. It is also a protocol right now that is benefiting Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland’s economy right now is doing better than the economies of the other countries in the UK."

Responding to a question posed by Greens MSP Maggie Chapman on the potential risk to Scotland if the deal is scrapped, Ms Sturgeon said: “The UK Government is risking sanctions like targeted tariffs that would deeply harm Scottish businesses who are already dealing with an uncertain and unnecessarily bureaucratic environment thanks to Brexit.

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“We have a government that is showing no respect for the international rule of law, for the basis norms of our democracy.”

Nuclear fusion energy

Conservative MSP Craig Hoy asked the First Minister for an update on nuclear fusion technology as he said Ms Sturgeon had given a “non-committal” answer to her interest in fusion energy due to the “anti-science dogma of the Greens”.

Ms Sturgeon said it would be “irresponsible” if she was anything other than non-committal as she said there was “a long way to go” to understand fusion energy.

She said she was aware of the increased interest in fusion energy as she said the Government should never “close our minds to new technology”. However, she said the Government’s view on “traditional” nuclear energy “has not and will not change”.

She added: “We do not support the building of new nuclear power stations in Scotland and therefore that will not feature as part of our wider strategy on energy due to be published this year.”

Locum NHS staff increase

Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie asked about the increased use of locum staff in the NHS. The cost of temporary staff use has risen to £423 million in 2021/22 – an increase of 30 per cent.

Ms Sturgeon says the use of temporary staff in the NHS – locum, agency or bank workers – is a very small fraction of NHS staffing as she stressed every health system has to make some use of temporary or agency staff.

She acknowledged this was over the Covid pandemic, but said most of it was down to the increased level of vacancies in the NHS.

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Ms Baillie said nurses were quitting the NHS to work for private agencies, which then provide staff for the NHS.

The First Minister said there were a record number of staff in post in the NHS in Scotland.

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