00:00Hello, welcome to the Scotsman's Politics Show.
00:03For another Thursday, we're here to wrap up First Minister's Questions.
00:08Now, for another week, it takes place while the voting for the Hamilton by-election is
00:15in progress at the moment.
00:16And Alistair, I know we're going to touch on that a little bit later, but proceedings
00:21in the Chamber did go ahead, albeit there's none of the usual committees, et cetera, afterwards
00:26today.
00:26And there were some interesting exchanges, and Russell Finlay, off the top from the
00:31Tories, he went in on a subject very close to his heart about organised crime and challenging
00:37John Swinney over it.
00:39Yeah, exactly.
00:40A subject very close to Russell Finlay's heart.
00:42He's a former investigative journalist who specialised in organised crime.
00:46It's something he knows a lot about.
00:48He's written a lot about.
00:49And he was accusing the Scottish Government of failing to tackle organised crime.
00:53This is obviously on the back of the recent shootings that have been all over the news
00:57in the Corsa del Sol of two gangsters from Scotland, essentially.
01:02And Russell Finlay was pointing to various issues.
01:05He was talking about the decline in frontline officers.
01:08He was saying that there was a dangerous complacency within the Scottish Government about the extent
01:12of this issue. He was also bringing up the fact that he was saying that young people are being
01:17coerced to carry out crimes on behalf of organised crime groups because of sentencing rules for those
01:24under 25 and the perception that young people under the age of 25 will be treated more veniently
01:30and will not get prison sentences, whereas someone older than them might do.
01:34So he was saying that organised crime gangs are taking advantage of this.
01:38John Swinney very much defending the Scottish Government's record in this.
01:41He was saying that our prisons are full of people who are involved in organised crime.
01:46That's part of the reason we have some of the overcrowding issues that we've spoken about loads
01:50on there before at the Scotsman.
01:52And also saying that, you know, it's wrong to say that those who carry out these crimes
01:56don't face consequences. He was saying that they very much do, and that the courts,
02:00who are obviously independent from the Scottish Government, deal with that.
02:03But as you say, something very close to Russell Finlay's heart.
02:06I don't think we got very much further forward in terms of the news lines from that exchange today,
02:11but it was interesting to see a brought up of First Minister's questions.
02:16And Ellis, there's something that we had on the front page of the Scotsman a bit earlier this week,
02:21about the downgrading of a neonatal unit and maternity services in Wishaw,
02:26and just the distance that would require parents to travel subsequently.
02:31Ellis, how are some pertinent questions about this hand-in-the-back player?
02:37Yeah, so this is something that David Ball, the Deputy Scottish Political Editor,
02:41the Scotsman, wrote about earlier this week, as you said.
02:44It's essentially the downgrading of the Wishaw neonatal unit,
02:48which has been a lot of concerns about from parents who have used that service in the past,
02:53saying that because of the pressures in Glasgow and Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland,
02:57it could leave mothers of babies who have complicated conditions
03:03or who are very premature, having to travel huge distances to get the care they need,
03:07potentially up to Aberdeen.
03:08There's also the case of one mother, Amanda Todd, from South Lanarkshire,
03:11who in 2021 faced the prospect of having to travel to Ireland,
03:15having to actually travel to Dublin to get the care she needed.
03:17It was only the night before her operation that she actually got to confirm
03:22that she had a bed in Scotland, essentially.
03:25So Anna Sarwar raising concerns about this, First Minister's Questions,
03:29essentially saying that this is an award-winning neonatal unit,
03:32and asking John Swinney why it's facing closure.
03:35John Swinney saying that these recommendations are as a result of advice given by an expert clinical group
03:43that included figures in NHS Forth Valley, a nursing group that's involved in neonatal care,
03:49and that this is essentially a plan that they recommended.
03:52So it's not something, in his words, the government have conjured up,
03:55but that they have taken advice from.
03:57And quite often in Hollywood, you know, we hear questions about why the government hasn't listened to outside advice.
04:02So he's saying that this is very much a case where they have.
04:05And this wider plan, I think I'm right in saying,
04:06would see the eight of these services around Scotland reduced to three.
04:10I think there'd be one in Edinburgh, one in Glasgow, and one in, I think I'm right in saying Aberdeen.
04:15But Anna Sarwar saying that John Swinney is essentially listening to some experts and not others.
04:20He's hiding behind experts.
04:22And that this will have a human cost.
04:24And as I say, bringing up a couple of cases here, it's a difficult issue, this.
04:27And it bleeds into something that I think we're going to go on and talk about in just a second,
04:31that by-election in Hamilton that's going on today that we're expecting a result from overnight,
04:37because this is an issue that has been coming up in the doorsteps there.
04:40Just on the by-election, can you talk us through the timings of when we're expecting we might get a result,
04:48when polls close, et cetera?
04:49And I'm keen just to get your opinion on just the build-up to this by-election,
04:54how it's been marked and how you've found it and where you think it's going to leave the respective part.
05:00Yeah, so as I just said, people voting, people in Hamilton and the constituency voting in this by-election today,
05:08we're expecting a result maybe earlier hours of the morning, perhaps around 2 a.m.
05:12Historically, this has been an area of Scotland that's been very fast when it comes to counting the votes
05:18and getting that result out there.
05:19Having said that, the Rutherglen by-election that we had last year, I think the result was a bit later than many people expected.
05:28So potentially, hopefully, in the early hours of the morning, David Ball is going to be there at the count
05:33and I'm sure he'll want it to be wrapped up at a reasonable time.
05:36In terms of the build-up to this, it's been all over the news, as I'm sure people know,
05:40there's a lot at play here.
05:42It's being treated as a bit of a bellwether election ahead of the wider Scottish Parliament elections next year.
05:47This is an urban constituency that Labour would really hope to win if they want to break through in Holyrood next year.
05:54If Anna Sommer wants to become the next First Minister, this is exactly the kind of constituency they want to win.
05:59But it seems like the SNP are going to hold on to it.
06:02One of the problems here is that we don't really have much on-the-ground, well, any on-the-ground polling in the constituency itself.
06:08So we're going on the back of national polls and they're suggesting that the SNP will win with Labour coming second.
06:14However, there has been a narrative developing throughout this about the rise of Nigel Farage's reform UK.
06:21Nigel Farage was up in Scotland a few days ago.
06:24He was in Aberdeen before travelling to Hamilton and Lark Hall as part of this
06:28and was very much going about the streets, was getting the reaction to expect someone like Nigel Farage to get.
06:35There's a lot of interest in how well reform are going to do in the back of this.
06:39If they get second place to the SNP, that will be a huge deal.
06:44And if they win it, I mean, it seems improbable to use words than Nigel Farage used himself.
06:49But, you know, anything could happen, really.
06:52If they do win it, it will be absolutely extraordinary and would give reform the first MSP in the Scottish Parliament.
06:58Whatever happens, I think looking at how well reform doing this will be key to getting an insight into how well they might do in the Scottish Parliament next year,
07:08as it seems very likely they're on course to get quite a few MSPs in that election.
07:12So it's a fascinating by-election.
07:14I know by-elections can sometimes be a bit techie, maybe a bit boring for people who don't follow politics.
07:19But this really is one to keep an eye on, as it will say a lot about the state of politics in Scotland, I think.
07:24You can, as Alistair mentions, get all the latest coverage around the by-election result and the fallout, what it means, in the early hours of tomorrow morning and then through into Friday.
07:38If you're not up when we're expecting the vote result to be announced, then please tune in throughout those early hours of the morning.
07:456, 7, 8, 9 a.m. will be here to bring you all the very latest and to tell you effectively what the result means for the respective parties at the SNP, Labor and reform paramount.
08:01We're expecting a 1, 2, 3, but the order will be fascinating.
08:05Alistair, thanks to you for joining us.
08:07You'll be able to read our latest coverage from First Minister's questions as well on scotsman.com as well shortly.
08:14Thank you to you for joining us and pick up a copy of the paper tomorrow for all the very latest.
Be the first to comment