Latest news with #FMQs
STV News
7 days ago
- Health
- STV News
Swinney faces questions after Scotland's cancer waiting times worst on record
John Swinney is set to face questions about cancer waiting times hitting the worst level on record. A report from Public Health Scotland on Tuesday revealed that waiting times in Scotland are at an all-time high, with nearly a third of patients with an urgent suspicion of cancer waiting longer than 62 days to start treatment. Only 69% of patients started treatment within the 62-day national target in the first three months of 2025, compared with 74% in the previous quarter and 84% at the end of 2019. One of Swinney's ministers later admitted that people may be dying as a result of later cancer diagnoses. Public health minister Jenni Minto said the situation is 'not where we should be' and admitted that the Scottish Government could do more, while speaking to STV News. The figures are expected to be raised at First Minister's Questions on Thursday, and Swinney will likely be forced to defend his SNP Government's record on health care. It's also the last chance for opposition leaders to question Swinney before the Scottish Parliament breaks for summer recess. FMQs will be streamed from Holyrood at noon on Thursday. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Herald Scotland
21-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Alison Johnstone to stand down from Holyrood ahead of 2026
She told The Times: "I was elected in 2011 and it was always my intention that this would be my last term in Holyrood. 'I came from a wholly non-political background and got involved in a campaign to save a school playing field. Read More: 'I was not in a political party but campaigned for the creation of a Scottish parliament and I then worked as an assistant for Robin Harper, the first-ever Green parliamentarian in the UK elected to the first-ever Scottish parliament.' She was elected unopposed as presiding officer in May 2021, the second woman to hold the role and the first Scottish Green MSP. Ms Johnstone was recently involved in a row with Douglas Ross, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, after she ejected him from the chamber during First Minister's Questions. Here is the moment Douglas Ross was kicked out of the Chamber today during FMQs @heraldscotland — Hannah Brown (@HannahMargBrown) May 29, 2025 The MSP was warned over heckling before being excluded by the presiding officer. The former Tory leader accused Ms Johnstone of constitutional bias, suggesting she treats pro-union parties more harshly than those who supported independence in the 2014 referendum.
Daily Record
19-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
John Swinney did 'nothing' to save bus maker Alexander Dennis, says Anas Sarwar
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the First Minister's claims that he found out about the issues facing the firm only weeks ago were 'not true'. John Swinney has been accused of doing 'nothing' to save jobs at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis despite being warned by the company a year ago that it could move operations to England. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the First Minister's claims that he found out about the issues facing the firm only weeks ago were 'not true'. Up to 400 jobs have been put at risk after the manufacturer announced plans to move operations in Falkirk and Larbert to a single site in Scarborough in North Yorkshire. During FMQs Sarwar said: 'Last week, John Swinney claimed that he became aware of issues facing Alexander Dennis a few weeks ago and was doing what he could to help the company. 'But that is not true. John Swinney received a letter almost a year ago directly from the company setting out how his decision to buy buses from China, instead of from Scotland, was putting the company and jobs at risk. 'He did nothing for the skilled workforce. But, last week, as usual, he tried to find someone else to blame for his own failure by talking about UK procurement laws, laws that did not stop Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from buying Scottish buses, but somehow stops this SNP Scottish Government. 'Since that warning almost a year ago, how many buses has the SNP Government ordered from Scottish companies?' Sarwar said that since the letter in August, the Scottish Government had ordered zero buses from the company as he accused Swinney of 'waffle'. The Scottish Labour leader previously said Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham had ordered nearly five times the number of buses from Alexander Dennis than the Scottish Government. Swinney dismissed that suggestion, saying 360 vehicles had been secured through Scottish Government funding programmes, compared to the 160 orders for Manchester. Swinney acknowledged the letter which he said was followed by a meeting in September. 'As a consequence of that interaction, we established work for Scottish Enterprise with the company to support the company in securing its future,' he said. 'That work was taken forward as a consequence of that dialogue, and obviously, the company then contacted us in the course of the past few weeks with their more immediate situation.' He said Alexander Dennis had 'expressed their appreciation' with Scottish Government support, including £58 million for zero emission buses. He added that discussions with the company to save the jobs are ongoing.
The National
19-06-2025
- Business
- The National
Scottish Government accused of 'sidelining' climate action
Under former first minister Humza Yousaf, the Scottish Government announced plans to abandon the interim target of reducing emissions by 75 per cent by the end of the decade, accepting the goal was 'out of reach', but remaining committed to reaching net zero by 2045. Instead, ministers pledged a five-yearly cycle of carbon budgets, which aim to wind down emission more steadily and be more resistant to outside forces like unseasonable cold snaps driving up heating demand. Climate Change Secretary Gillian Martin stressed Scotland will not 'sacrifice people's health or wealth' to reach net zero. READ MORE: John Swinney tears into 'weak man' Anas Sarwar at FMQs However, climate campaigners criticised the move and said ministers were 'slowing down' action to tackle climate change. The Scottish Greens also criticised the announcement, and said the SNP were 'shying away' from taking action. According to the Scottish Government's proposals, between 2026 and 2030 emissions should be 57 per cent lower than the 1990 baseline – 18 points lower than the initial target. The target between 2031 and 2025 is a 68 per cent reduction from the baseline, and 80 per cent for the following five years. By 2041 to 2045, the final years of the plan, emissions should have reduced by 94 per cent, with the aim remaining for Scotland to reach net zero by this time. (Image: Andrew Milligan) The Scottish Government has said the remaining 6 per cent would amount to around 24 mega tonnes of carbon emissions. 'Scotland is now halfway to our 2045 climate change target and is ahead of the UK as a whole in reducing long-term emissions,' Martin said. 'These carbon budgets will set clear limits on emissions for the coming decades in line with the independent advice of the UK Climate Change Committee (CCC). 'When we publish our draft Climate Change Plan later this year, it will set out the policies needed to continue to reduce our emissions and meet our first three carbon budget targets.' Martin added that the plan 'will not ask the impossible of people'. READ MORE: Israeli strikes kill 72 Palestinians, 29 waiting for aid trucks 'While we welcome the UK CCC's advice on how to stay within these limits, as they make clear, it is always for Scotland to decide whether those policies are right for us,' she said. 'This means, for example, that we will chart our own path on forestry, going further than the CCC suggest.' She added that the Scottish Government won't adopt the CC recommendations on agriculture and peatland and instead 'meet our targets in a way which works for rural Scotland, including supporting and protecting our iconic livestock industries'. The budgets will be voted on by MSPs and, if passed, will be used to inform the plan. The announcement was welcomed by WWF Scotland, but the group urged the Government to commit to 'strong action' to meet the targets. Claire Daly, the group's head of policy and advocacy, said: 'Future generations cannot afford any more missed climate targets, and this carbon budget must be set for success with strong policies to reduce emissions.' Climate campaigners Friends of the Earth (FoE) Scotland said the Scottish Government's announcement showed ministers 'slowing down at precisely the moment we should be speeding up'. Caroline Rance, head of campaigns, said: 'The Scottish Government is in this dire position because of years of insufficient action by Ministers to tackle the climate crisis. 'The original climate targets could and should have been met. This lack of political will continues in Cabinet with a host of key plans and policies sidelined in the past year.' READ MORE: Why won't the BBC report on Israel's nuclear weapons? Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: 'This is a deeply troubling announcement from the SNP, and takes us another step away from evidence-based climate policy. 'We've known for years that ambitious targets alone aren't enough to tackle the climate emergency, but that means we should be ramping up action to protect our planet, not watering down the targets.' 'We are in a climate emergency, and we need to start acting like it, so that future generations don't look back and ask why Scotland abandoned them when we had the opportunity to fix things,' he added.
The Herald Scotland
19-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Harvie accuses Swinney of ‘drift' in farewell FMQs clash
READ MORE The intervention drew a sharp response from Mr Swinney, who claimed the Government was 'absolutely focused' on eradicating child poverty and insisted he would make 'no apology' for prioritising welfare reform. Mr Harvie's attack came in the wake of a Government decision to reject advice from its independent climate advisers — the latest in a series of moves that have angered the Greens since the collapse of the Bute House Agreement. 'He came into the job saying he wanted to build the best future for our country, and since then, he has watered down rent controls. He has stalled on the plans to help people get off expensive fossil fuels. "He has abandoned progress on human rights and equalities laws. He has ditched environmental actions like a new national park, and just today, he has rejected advice from his independent climate experts. 'And in place of the progressive green policies the First Minister has walked away from, I genuinely struggle to think of a single signature policy that shows ambition and leadership that he has actually delivered in his year in the job. 'In the face of the threat from the far right, a steady as she goes approach is a course to disaster. 'So does the First Minister understand that people need to see real progress towards a fairer, greener Scotland, and that failure to tackle inequality and justice will only benefit the snake oil sellers on the far right?' Brutal from Patrick Harvie at #FMQs. He says he genuinely struggles to "think of a single signature policy that shows ambition and leadership" from John Swinney after a year in the job. — Andrew Learmonth (@andrewlearmonth) June 19, 2025 Mr Swinney rejected the characterisation. 'I could not disagree more with Mr Harvie, to be blunt, and I appreciate this is his last First Minister's Questions as co-convener of the Green Party. So maybe this is the last hurrah — to say it all to me today.' He said it 'could not be clearer' that his Government had a strong record on tackling poverty, in contrast to the UK Government. 'There are two very different directions being pursued here,' he said. 'Scotland is seeing a falling level of child poverty, when the rest of the United Kingdom is seeing child poverty rates go up.' The First Minister pointed to the SNP's commitment to removing the two-child benefit cap — something he said had never previously been promised by a Scottish Government — as evidence of his leadership. 'That will help us to reduce child poverty while the Labour Government acts with the welfare changes announced yesterday to increase child poverty in Scotland,' he said. 'I am going to make no apology to Mr Harvie or to anyone else about being absolutely focused on eradicating the scourge of child poverty in our society. That is a curse in our society, and we have to eradicate it.'
