
Over the next financial year, the Scottish Government will spend a record £58.7 billion of taxpayers’ money. On the 4th of December the Cabinet Secretary for Finance delivered the budget. She spoke for thirty minutes. That’s a rate of spend of almost £2 billion per minute.
At the end of the 30-minute statement the principal opposition spokesperson was granted 3 minutes to comment and ask a question. There followed one hour of questions. After a 2pm start, the parliamentary day was drawing to a close by 4.30pm.
Most people would expect our politicians to spend at least a full day at this stage, discussing the key components of the new budget and the ramifications of the suggested tax changes. But this is the Scottish Parliament, so they moved on to a pressing members’ business debate about Scots language at the Open University. Because that’s what happens on a Wednesday.
Six weeks are likely to pass between the budget statement and the first formal consideration of its content in the chamber. When debate eventually happens, it will be the usual procession of reading of scripted speeches. Debating it is not.
Members do not get enough time to speak. Not to develop an argument. They are actively discouraged from taking the interventions which would create debate and interest because if they did, precious time is taken away from their already teeny window.
This needs to change.
We must start transforming our Scottish Parliament into the place it has the potential to be and the place the electorate deserve.
Debating and asking questions are the principal functions of MSPs in the chamber. But both are stymied by moribund procedure, insufficient spontaneity or topicality and regular episodes of cravenly obsequious kow-towing from the government benches.
We have settled for mediocrity.
The procedures, formulated with the best intentions, have been found in practice, to be deficient.
So, it’s up to the members of the parliament, whether for self or national interest, to change this.
We need more theatre and drama. But parliamentary question sessions to ministers are a soulless and near content-less experience. And because they are dedicated solely to answering formal questions lodged by members a week in advance, there’s absolutely no scope for topicality. It is quite possible for an important topic which, say, has broken in the past seven days be completely ignored because it doesn’t fit into the subject matter of any of the lodged questions on the order paper.
First Minister’s Questions is deeply frustrating for backbenchers. Why should party leaders have the right to ask spontaneous topical questions but other members rarely if ever get to do the same? And why should the Presiding Officer, well-intended as she is, be the sole arbiter of what subjects are raised in FMQs? It’s just all
too stale and generally unwatchable.
This may all sound like an insider’s view on an insider’s issue but consider that the Scottish Parliament is meant to be the cockpit of the nation, answerable to the nation, the place where everything that matters to how Scotland works is considered. And then ask in all honestly if that is what we have actually created?
Our parliament should be a confident, steely institution that the Executive fears to cross. What we have is a lame surrender-poodle that does what it is told and never barks or bites, not even when it is seriously neglected.
60 minutes to ask questions about a newly unveiled £60 billion budget? And a budget statement leaked in advance to a national tabloid? That shows how little regard the SNP Government has for the parliament.
The members of that parliament should be up in arms. But instead, they stick to the script, watch the clock, and loyally discharge their share of the cumulative 10 hours spent in the parliamentary chamber each week. The result is an Executive that is wildly out of control and a country that is weaker for a shameful lack of democratic oversight.
The Scottish Parliament needs to be reformed.
If this set of MSPs want to leave a valuable legacy for our successors, it is now or never. I dare my colleagues to join the debate to upgrade how we do things in our parliament.
I’m in.