Scottish Parliament – Sept. 2, 2025 – 1

S6M-18671.4: As an amendment to motion S6M-18671 in the name of John Swinney (Priorities for Scotland), leave out from "welcomes" to end and insert "recognises that the Scottish Government has failed to take action on the priorities of taxpayers, like cutting NHS waiting lists, fixing crumbling roads and stimulating economic growth;

acknowledges that, despite repeatedly raising taxes, public services have not improved in Scotland;

laments that, increasingly, the Scottish Government has focused on its obsession with independence, as well as fringe issues like gender reform and subjects wholly outside its remit like foreign affairs;

notes with concern that Scotland continues to have a bloated public sector, with a huge number of quangos that often have overlapping functions and remits;

argues that public money would be better spent being diverted to frontline services rather than on the bureaucratic state, and calls for the Scottish Ministers to prioritise economic growth and improving public services rather than yet another push for an independence referendum."

Original motion(S6M-18671): That the Parliament welcomes the Scottish Government’s continued focus on its four key priorities of eradicating child poverty, tackling the climate emergency, growing the economy, and ensuring high-quality and sustainable public services;

recognises that the delivery of these priorities is within the significant constraints of a constitutional settlement that hampers achieving those priorities due to the policy decisions of UK Conservative and Labour administrations, and recognises that it is only by choosing independence that Scotland can get the fresh start that its people need and deserve.