Media questions for John Swinney after his acceptance speech
Media questions for John Swinney after his acceptance speech
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00:00 [Music]
00:12 Thank you all very much. Folks, we'll now move on to some questions from the media.
00:17 So we'll take James Cook from the BBC first. James.
00:21 Thanks very much, Mr Swinney. I've watched you for many years from the Press Gallery in Holyrood.
00:29 Barracking your opponents, giving them a hard time, shouting at them.
00:34 Do you take some responsibility personally for the polarisation of politics which you have described?
00:41 I've obviously contributed to that, James, yes, of course I have.
00:44 And I look at politics today and I think politics is in the worst state I've ever seen it in my lengthy involvement in politics.
00:52 So I'm here to do something about that, to change that, so we can have an open and honest and respectful dialogue in Scotland
01:00 about what the future holds for us, what the future should be.
01:03 And I'm very clear of what I think the future should be.
01:07 I'm also equally clear I won't get that by shouting at people. I'll get that by persuading people.
01:12 And that's what I'm committing myself to do. Now, of course, you will all be able to observe.
01:17 You've all heard these words. You'll be able to hold me to what I've said today. But I intend to stick with it.
01:23 Right, STV. Vanessa, hello Vanessa.
01:29 Many of the predecessors have tried and failed to deliver on their commitments.
01:33 What makes you think that you were going to be the First Minister and you were going to be a part of the political?
01:38 I think what the position we're in just now is that support for independence is at a stronger level than it was in the referendum in 2014.
01:47 So we've got many, many more people believe in independence.
01:51 And I recognise, as I've said over the course of the last few days, there needs to be greater levels of support for independence
01:58 to make that a compelling proposition that can be delivered within Scotland.
02:02 So the work of persuasion is necessary. It's an essential requirement to win people over to the arguments for independence.
02:11 To see why independence is the solution to avoiding the real difficulties people are wrestling with just now in the cost of living crisis.
02:20 Or to address, for the businesses I speak to, the huge impediments in their business activity from Brexit.
02:28 So we've got to persuade people that independence represents that best solution.
02:34 And I think of all the things that I'm perhaps most renowned for is that I'm a persuader.
02:41 I believe and engage persuasion and dialogue in Scotland.
02:45 And that's why I think I've got the strengths and the capabilities to do it.
02:48 But there's also something else.
02:50 At this moment, the Scottish National Party needs to be brought back together.
02:55 And that's what is my strength.
02:58 And the fact that party members have decided that I should be the candidate, the sole candidate to come forward for party leadership,
03:05 I'm going to make no apology for that.
03:07 I think it's wonderful that party members say, "We want John Swinney to, well, nurture us on this journey.
03:17 Steward us as we go on this journey together."
03:20 It's an enormous privilege for me to take forward and I'm looking forward to it enormously.
03:24 David Haynes.
03:26 Mr. Swinney, are you a change candidate or are you about continuity?
03:31 If it is about change, what is the continuity that you're getting at?
03:35 Well, I'm looking forward, David.
03:37 I'm looking forward to everything.
03:39 I'm looking forward to being SNP leader.
03:41 I'm looking forward to hopefully parliamentary support tomorrow to become the first minister of my country.
03:46 And I'm looking forward to leading a government that will change lives.
03:50 So I'm looking forward. I'm not looking back.
03:52 I'm looking forward.
03:54 And in terms of, I don't think I could have been clearer in all I've said in the last few days.
04:00 But I recognise things have got to change.
04:03 We've got to do things differently.
04:05 We've got to behave differently towards other political parties.
04:08 We've got to behave differently within Parliament.
04:11 We've got to behave differently with the people of Scotland to find the solutions to the complex, difficult problems that we face in our society today.
04:20 And I'm ready to embrace that challenge.
04:22 Conor Gullis.
04:24 First of all, congratulations.
04:26 You said in your speech there that you won't properly listen to members.
04:32 Is that an admission that Nicola Sturgeon and Hunter Hewson failed in that mission?
04:37 And just secondly, if you don't mind, you mentioned Kate Forbes there.
04:42 Is she the person in this government that you will lead with all of the authority and none of the responsibility?
04:48 In terms of the point about engaging with the party, I made clear in my comments.
04:57 I've had a lengthy involvement in the Scottish National Party.
05:00 I started off as the custodian of the party's internal democracy.
05:04 I know how it's run and how it should be run.
05:07 I held the office that Lorna now holds many years ago with great pride.
05:13 So I know how internal democracy in the party should operate and how we can have proper discussions where we engage people in addressing the difficult issues that we face,
05:24 the complex policy challenges that we face and how we talk through arriving at a solution.
05:30 Because once you do that, then people will accept that you've had a good process of discussion and agreement.
05:36 So that's what people will get from me in the period going forward.
05:39 And in relation to Kate Forbes, I want to make sure that I have a strong team that is able to lead the Scottish government.
05:48 I have made it very clear that Kate will have a big role to play in that, along with many other people.
05:55 So we'll all be individually and collectively responsible for the prospects of the SNP government, for the Scottish National Party and for the country.
06:05 And that's a great privilege and we'll all share it.
06:08 Right, who else? Yes.
06:10 John, congratulations. A lot has changed since 2021. Now that you've been crowned and you're with the SNP, you're likely to be the First Minister.
06:22 Don't you think an election is a democratic imperative? To put that into context, a good bit of democracy and a fast, core one, a Labour would back you.
06:33 Isn't that a democratic issue?
06:35 No, we operate in a fixed-term parliament. There's a five-year parliamentary term, the public go to the polls, they elect members of parliament, we sit for a five-year period.
06:46 And the arrangements of the Scottish Parliament envisage that there can be changes of leadership during that period of time.
06:52 So I think the right and proper thing to do is to follow the rules of our parliament and to ensure that we follow the democratic decisions of people in 2021.
07:04 We navigate our way through the parliament and crucially, that all parties work together for common good.
07:09 When Liz Truss stepped down, Nicola Sturgeon said it was a democratic imperative to call a general election.
07:19 And it was because the Tories were crowning new leaders. So is it not a democratic imperative? Was she wrong?
07:28 I think the issue that Nicola Sturgeon was raising at the end of the Liz Truss administration was that the economy had been completely and utterly trashed by the madness of Liz Truss.
07:42 So for me, that's what the problem was. The country had been wrecked by that madness, which of course I would just point out, the Scottish Conservatives wanted me to follow right in her footsteps, which thankfully I did not do.
07:55 But that was the democratic imperative. The people of this country today are paying the price for Liz Truss's economic mistakes in higher mortgage payments, in higher interest rates, in the fueling of the cost of living crisis.
08:10 That's why we needed a change of government in that particular moment.
08:14 Right, who's next? Jim Gibson.
08:17 Thanks John, congratulations. Can I ask you about your relationship going forward with the Scottish Greens? You said today that you obviously want to work across all parties.
08:26 Patrick Harvie today said that his party remains utterly committed to policies such as better rights for tenants and rent controls, transforming the way we keep homes and a watertight ban on conversion therapy.
08:39 Are these issues to which you will remain committed to as well?
08:44 I'm sure there will be a lot of common ground between ourselves and the Scottish Green Party. We've worked very collaboratively in the course of the last couple of years in the Scottish Parliament and in the Scottish Government.
08:56 And as I say, I want to work with all members of Parliament to chart the future of Scotland and to do that in a collaborative and co-operative way.
09:05 I don't intend to return to a Bute House agreement, I don't intend to return to the type of fixed arrangements that we had. We'll take it on an issue by issue basis.
09:14 Which means that on some issues I'm sure we will be aligned with the Scottish Green Party, but I'm sure on other issues we'll have to find support and agreement with other political parties.
09:24 We're in a situation where we will be operating in minority government and it's important that we find common cause where we can find that on the issues that matter.
09:34 I think in terms of the question, I've seen some commentary about the political positioning of the government.
09:42 Again last week I set out that I will lead our government from the centre-left position in Scottish politics, the moderate centre-left.
09:50 That's where I come from, that's where my party's policy base is and that's how we'll take forward our policy programme.
09:58 Right, who's next? Yes.
10:01 You've spoken about how you want to convince more people to support independence. Is there a threshold for what you think support should be in terms of the yes or no question for what we should go ahead?
10:12 I think the point I'm making is that I think we've got to spend a lot more time talking about the persuasion of people and the arguments for independence
10:22 rather than the process questions that have absorbed a huge amount of consideration in this discussion.
10:29 Because I think when people think about, let's take the cost of living crisis, when they think through why are we experiencing this cost of living crisis,
10:39 it is plain as a pike staff to me that that is because of decisions taken by the Westminster government that have been damaging to the economic and social wellbeing of people in Scotland.
10:51 That's what the discussion has got to be about, to say to people if we want to avoid these type of situations happening again, we have to have the powers of a normal independent country to do that.
11:04 That's the arguments about persuasion and I look forward to making those points to the people of Scotland.
11:10 Now, who's next? Yes, Keir.
11:12 Thanks, John. Sorry, congratulations. You are now leader of the SNP, you'll be First Minister probably tomorrow.
11:19 You've talked a lot about bringing in ideas. I was wondering what was your one big policy idea that you will now put forward as you go into the future?
11:28 My principal policy interest, the thing I'm determined to do, is to eradicate child poverty in Scotland.
11:37 That will be, so observe what we do in the period going forward, because if I have the privilege to be selected as First Minister tomorrow,
11:47 I will start focusing the government on maximising what we can do within our powers to eradicate child poverty.
11:54 It is a curse and under my leadership, I want to eradicate it in Scotland.
12:00 Dan.
12:06 Thanks, John. Congratulations. Keir Forbes has said that in response to the last SNP budget,
12:12 a continuing increase in taxes is counterproductive because it ultimately reduces public revenue.
12:19 I just wonder if you could share the analysis that apparently the progressive taxation might have gone too far.
12:26 As part of his move back to the centre, which you've spoken about, would you look at perhaps cutting income tax in future budgets?
12:33 You'll forgive me if I don't craft the Scottish Government's budget at this podium this afternoon.
12:40 I think that would be just a bit on the rash side of things, even for me.
12:45 I think there's a crucial word in the question you put to me there, Dan, that was coming from Kate's point of view,
12:54 which is, or Kate's comment, is the word continually. Because continually you cannot keep on increasing taxation.
13:03 You've got to make the right tax judgments in the right context and the right circumstances.
13:08 That's what I think the Scottish Government has done, because what we've done is used the powers which were acquired
13:14 through the Smith Commission, which I was very much instrumental in securing for the Parliament,
13:19 to enable us to get to a position where people who are on higher incomes are able to make more of a contribution to the public finances.
13:28 We can lower the burden for those at lower ends of the spectrum, but that everybody benefits from the social contract
13:35 that we make available to people in Scotland.
13:38 Somebody who's on a high income in Scotland will be able, if their child comes to this university, to come here without paying tuition fees.
13:49 That's a huge benefit to people within our country, and that's available to people whether they're a low income household or a high income household.
13:57 The difference, of course, is that you pay more in reflecting your income.
14:01 So these are some of the sensitive judgments we've got to make, but what I'm certain about is that the effect that's been speculated about
14:13 about the tax changes that have been made in Scotland, as the evidence is now showing,
14:18 have not substantiated the opposition taunts that have been set out in this respect.
14:24 And that actually more people are coming to Scotland as contributors to our economy than are leaving Scotland as contributors to our economy.
14:34 And I think that gives you the evidence you need about the effect of tax changes within Scotland.
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