Scotland politics LIVE: Douglas Ross stands for general election and rebuffs claims of 'betrayal' at FMQs
Douglas Ross has called an emergency press conference ahead of today’s First Minister’s Questions.
Don’t miss a moment by keeping up with our daily blog right here.
Scotland politics LIVE
Forbes update on 'case-by-case' North Sea licences
New oil and gas licences in the North Sea must be considered on a “case-by-case basis”, the Deputy First Minister has said, in a further sign the SNP’s position on fossil fuels has shifted.
Kate Forbes said further offshore extraction, which is reserved to the UK government, “must be consistent with our climate obligations”. She was put under pressure over the issue while standing in for John Swinney, who is attending D-Day commemorations, at First Minister’s Questions in Holyrood.
Our columnist Euan McColm gives his take on the Ross decision
As McColm writes:
“The facts of the matter are these: Ross - who had a dual mandate as both an MSP and MP until Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the July 4 General Election - had previously declared he would not be standing for re-election to Westminster. His priority was taking on the SNP inside Holyrood.”
Read McColm’s full column here.
Back at FMQs...
...Scottish Lib Dems leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has raised the FAI report that found Lamara Bell would “probably have survived” had she been rescued on July 5, 2015 – the day she and her partner, John Yuill, were involved in a serious road traffic accident on the M9.
Cole-Hamilton asks: “The fatal accident inquiry system is so broken that it has taken nine years to report on the deaths of John [Yuill] and Lamara, with final conclusions only published last week.
“Will the Deputy First Minister accept that her Government has failed on two counts: first, the botched centralisation that contributed to this tragedy in the first place, and second, the intolerable wait for answers the families have had to endure?”
Our full coverage of that damning report can be read here.
Labour's Jackie Baillie targets SNP spending
The comments from the Scottish Labour deputy leader are economic related - an area that should be comfortable ground for Forbes, as former finance secretary.
Baillie questions Forbes by describing it as a "scandal" that £500 million dedicated to addressing poverty across Scotland will be handed back to the EU by the Scottish government.
Forbes responds by saying the final outcome for expenditure will not be known until the programme formally closes in 2025. And the SNP minister points out that to "have spent all the money in advance would raise questions itself".
Baillie calls it a “desperate” response from Forbes - but it was far from the worst performance from John Swinney’s right-hand minister.
Other topics to close out FMQs
Forbes is asked questions on national parks and domestic abuse victims. Her delivery throughout today’s FMQs has been an assured performance - if we were grading how she’s gone for the first time since stepping into the Deputy FM role, it’d probably be an A-
In Forbes, John Swinney has a very able politician in debates
Kate Forbes and her political background
Feels like time to take a step back, and remind you of Forbes’s political and personal background, and how she has reached the post of Deputy FM.
You can bring yourself up to speed right here.
Short-term let restrictions are up for debate now
Tory MSP Miles Briggs wants the legislation around short-term lets, that was introduced across Scotland on October 1 last year, to be suspended, pending a wider review.
Forbes says she is “actively involved” in the issue. Many business owners in the backyard of her own constituency have expressed their anger over it, so the comments from Forbes align with that.
Expect more developments on this issue over coming weeks.
Away from the entertaining exchanges at Holyrood...
Labour has dropped its legal claims against five former staff members who denied leaking an internal report about antisemitism in the party.
The quintet, including ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn’s former director of communications Seumas Milne and former chief of staff Karie Murphy, had previously said they would “vigorously defend themselves” in a High Court action.
An 860-page report on Labour’s governance and legal unit, which found “no evidence” of anti-Semitism being handled differently from other complaints, was leaked in April 2020.
Mr Corbyn’s time as leader was marred by complaints of anti-Semitism and accusations that senior officials were slow to crack down on members who promoted it.
And here comes the expected attack from Forbes
The Deputy First Minister uses the word “betrays” for Ross choosing to stand in the general election at the expense of deselected candidate and former UK government minister David Duguid.
“If Douglas Ross wants to back the north-east, there’s some big questions for him at this very day, on a day that he betrays a Conservative candidate in the north east who the Conservatives trusted to be a minister in the UK government, who is currently recovering from ill health, who was planning to stand and who was supported by local members,” Forbes says.
“Now I am old enough to remember when Douglas Ross said he wasn’t going to stand again for Westminster because he wanted to focus on Holyrood in 2026.”
Ouch!
Meanwhile, the Greens have been riled...
Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie has said he is “really sorry” to see his predecessor campaigning for Labour in the general election.
Robin Harper, who was the first elected Green parliamentarian anywhere in the UK, has been volunteering with shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray as he bids to hold the Edinburgh South constituency.
Mr Murray tweeted a photograph of “former trailblazing Green” Mr Harper in his office, saying it was “lovely to have a new volunteer”.
He added: “Welcome aboard Team Murray, Robin.”
It comes after Mr Harper last year quit the Scottish Greens, the party he was co-convener of between 2004 and 2008.
Forbes makes a neat quip about Ross not analysing Liz Truss's mini-Budget properly
It’s a clever retort from Forbes, after the Scottish Tories leader admitted on Monday night’s STV leaders’ debate that “mistakes” were made in him backing the mini-Budget pushed forward by the former PM
And it's new oil and gas licences for Ross's first question
To remind you of what Kate Forbes had to say of this yesterday, here’s a recap:
Speaking to journalists on the campaign trail in Linlithgow on Thursday, Ms Forbes has said her party was “clear” that it was “not against” new licences.
“We’ve been clear that we’re not against new licences per se, but they have to meet a climate compatibility test,” she had said.
“We’re very serious about meeting our climate change targets and obligations. We believe it is one of the most pressing issues of our day.
“But we also believe that it needs to be a just transition, which means you can’t leave workers behind and we also need the talent, skills, infrastructure and resources in the industry to reinvest.”
She had said her party had “never said no” to further licensing, adding: “My position is that it has to be a just transition.
“We have to remember that that requires justice to be at the heart, not forgetting the workers like Labour will, with potentially 100,000 jobs at risk.
“That’s why I think this is about a process and the process had to be compatible with our climate change targets but, at the same time, it’s not about switching the taps off tomorrow.”
Ross covers safe territory first up by paying tribute to the D-Day anniversary
The Scottish Tories leader balances the tone nicely, as he pays tribute to the “sacrifice” of those involved in the D-Day landings, 80 years ago
Lest we forget
Douglas Ross about to be thrown into the fire of FMQs
It will be interesting to see how the Scottish Tories leader responds to the criticism that will be coming back his way - despite the fact it’s meant to be him asking the questions today at FMQs.
Deputy FM Kate Forbes will be in the chair today, instead of John Swinney - it’ll be fascinating as well to see how she performs.
Strap yourselves in!
More from Douglas Ross on his decision to stand for election
“I fully expect the SNP to throw absolutely everything they’ve got at me,” he said.
“They will mobilise teams from the Central Belt to come north and deliver leaflets.
“John Swinney will pay the area a rare visit, SNP headquarters in Edinburgh will pour money into Aberdeen North and Moray East.”
But, he added, if local people “come together”, the Tories can “keep the nationalists out”.
Thousands of body-worn cameras for police under new deal
Police Scotland have agreed a £13.3 million contract for 10,500 body-worn cameras for officers.
Technology giant Motorola has been awarded a contract to provide the kit and associated systems for the next three years.
Body-worn cameras were a key recommendation of former lord advocate Dame Elish Angiolini’s review of policing complaints, which was published in 2020.
Edinburgh city council chiefs set to back new concert arena
Partially away from politics, a major exclusive from our arts and culture correspondent Brian Ferguson, who reports’ Edinburgh’s ability to attract music superstars is set for another huge boost within days after council chiefs threw their weight behind plans for a new 8,500-capacity indoor arena near the city's airport.
AEG, the entertainment giants putting on this weekend's Taylor Swift concerts at Murrayfield, are expected to get the green light next week for the venue. It is hoped work on a long-awaited arena for the city will begin in the first half of 2025, with the aim for the venue to be up and running by 2027.
Read the full exclusive story here.
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