JOHN SWINNEY claimed “fresh leadership has just arrived and I’m right here to deliver it” as he faced his inaugural First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.
Just 24 hours after being sworn-in as Scotland’s seventh First Minister, Mr Swinney was taken to task on the SNP Scottish government’s record on teacher numbers.
The party had pledged to boost numbers by 3,500 at the last election, but numbers have fallen and a recent decision by SNP-led Glasgow City Council to shed 450 teachers over the next three years has thrown light on financial predicament of Scotland’s councils.
Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar took the opportunity of his first question to challenge both the government’s record and Mr Swinney.
Accusing Mr Swinney of being “trapped in the past,” Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar said: “As finance secretary he broke local finances and slashed the budget for local services.
“As education secretary he abandoned teachers, standards declined, the attainment gap widened, Scotland fell in the international league tables and shamefully he downgraded the results of working-class children during the pandemic.
“Continuity won’t cut it. To give our young people the education and opportunities they deserve, and to unlock the huge potential of our nation, Scotland needs fresh leadership, new ideas and change.”
To echoes of laugher in the chamber, Mr Swinney replied: “I’ve got good news for Anas Sarwar, the fresh leadership has just arrived and I’m right here to deliver it!”
It was Mr Swinney’s nomination of Kate Forbes as his deputy — one of just two “fresh” picks he was to later put to Parliament for approval as ministers — who Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie chose to focus his question on.
He challenged the suitability of someone “who has opposed LGBT people’s legal equality, expressed judgemental attitudes on abortion, and who has expressed the view that people who have families without being married are doing something wrong.”
Mr Harvie added: “Is this the Scottish government’s vision for the future of Scotland — taking us back to the repressive values of the 1950s?”
Mr Swinney responded: “No, it is not the direction of the Scottish government.
“The government will be led from the moderate left-of-centre position that I have always occupied and is the policy position of my party.”
