FMQs John Swinney and Russell Findlay face off in the Scottish Parliament

Transcript

00:00Well, John Swinney, there's two things happening here. Either he's in a state of complete denial

00:07or he's a very good actor. I'm not sure which. The SNP focus on the issue of gender has harmed

00:13Scotland's public services. They've put their ideology before the rights of women and girls,

00:20but also before NHS waiting lists, before justice for victims, before our children's

00:25education. Anas Sarwar and the Lib Dem leader are just as culpable as the SNP. Their collective

00:32support for this nonsense confirms how utterly disconnected Parliament has become from the

00:38real world. My party believes all government, time and money, should be devoted to fixing

00:45Scotland's public services, not on radical fringe policies. And that's where we proudly

00:52stand. So what about John Swinney? Will he do the right thing and bin his gender ideology

00:58that is causing so much harm to our country?

01:02Again, Mr Finlay ignores the point I put to him about the significance of the Equality

01:11Act and the obligation and the underpinning of all legislation and its requirements to

01:17be compatible with the Equality Act 2010. Now Mr Finlay asked me about my priorities

01:22and my priorities are absolutely crystal clear. I'm in office to improve the lives of the

01:27people of Scotland by making sure that we eradicate child poverty, by making sure that

01:33we grow the economy, by making sure we make the transition to net zero and make sure that

01:38we strengthen the public services of Scotland. We've got a budget before this Parliament

01:43next Tuesday that will turn this into effect. The people who are standing in the way of

01:48that budget being approved to improve the lives of the people of Scotland—

01:56The people that are standing in the way of that budget being approved—

01:59Let's hear the First Minister.

02:01The people that are standing in the way of that budget being approved, the people that

02:05are not interested in improving the lives of the people of Scotland, are the Conservative

02:09Party and their parade in front of Nigel Farage, who support their courting in Scotland

02:17today. So I am going to take no lessons from Russell Finlay, who has no interest in the

02:32prospects and the future of the people of Scotland. He's only here to support division.

02:37I'm here to bring people together.