FMQs live blog: Scottish Budget, education results & NHS Scotland set to feature
First Minister Humza Yousaf is set to take questions from opposition parties from noon onwards - join The Scotsman's politics team to keep updated with the cut and thrust of the debates.
FMQs: Thursday December 7th
Good morning!
Good morning from a dreich Edinburgh, where the Scotsman's politics team is prepping to bring you live updates of today's FMQS.
We're due to start at noon, as always.
Any tips or observations: [email protected]
Humza Yousaf set to hold special Cabinet meeting amid budget struggles
Humza Yousaf is set to hold a special meeting of his Cabinet later on Thursday as the Scottish Government struggles to plug a £1 billion budget black hole.
The First Minister and his deputy, Shona Robison, have yet to conclude discussions with SNP and Green ministers ahead of the Budget on December 19. Insiders say it is proving difficult to “square the circle” amid a grim financial backdrop.
More on that story here:
Early Christmas for the Tories
The Conservative Party’s election war chest has been boosted by a £10m bequest from the former boss of Sainsbury’s.
The donation from Lord John Sainsbury, who died in January 2022 at the age of 94, took total donations to the Tories to £15.4m between July and September 2023.
It is also the single largest donation to the Conservative Party this year, with Electoral Commission figures published on Thursday showing the party has raised more than £37m in 2023 so far.
Areas the Scottish Government must tackle in Budget
The Scotsman's political editor, Alistair Grant, has cast his eye over the challenges the Scottish Government faces as it decides its budget.
Insiders say it is proving difficult to “square the circle” amid a grim financial backdrop, and in a highly unusual move, a special Cabinet meeting is being held this evening in a bid to thrash out the details of the £60 billion tax and spending plans.
Read more here:
FMQs gets underway....
Douglas Ross is up first, goes in on Scotland's dire education results.
The performance of Scottish pupils has plummeted in maths, science and reading in new Pisa world rankings.
Results from tests taken last year by a sample of 15-year-olds have been branded “dismaying” after they showed an ongoing decline in standards.
Since the last Pisa assessments in 2018, the nation’s youngsters have dropped 18 points in maths, 11 points in reading and seven points in science.
Ross asks: "What does Humza Yousaf have to say t the generation of young Scots that have been failed by the SNP?"
Yousaf responds by saying he "does not dismiss nor take lightly" the Pisa results. He also says "there is no doubt" that Covid has had an impact, as Pisa has acknowledged.
"They are a poor set of results", Yousaf says, but that much of the criticism around Scottish education is "unfair".
"Rishi Sunak has no challengers but leadership crisis still devouring party"
The Scotsman's Westminster correspondent, Alexander Brown, writes:
"Rishi Sunak came in to steady the ship, but instead it’s crashing on the rocks".
Read his analysis of the Prime Minister's woes here:
Covid getting the blame
Yousaf repeatedly saying that although "the results weren't good enough", they occurred against the backdrop of the pandemic.
However, Ross says the director of Pisa said "attainment was declining long before Covid" and that other UK nations have performed comparatively better than Scotland.
Rabble rousing
Some MSPs are getting boisterous in the chamber, taking umbrage with Yousaf's defence of Scottish education:
Labour's turn
Anas Sarwar on his feet now, says this weeks Pisa results "demonstrates 16 years" of declining standard in "maths, science an reading".
Adds Scotland's international standing is falling and this has "serious consequences for Scottish children".
Yousaf says the Scottish Government has made "record investment" in teachers in Scotland, "despite UK austerity".
"We have the best paid teachers in the UK, this is a government that values teachers," he adds.
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