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The constitutional questionpublished at 13:04 Greenwich Mean Time 24 November 2022

13:04 GMT 24 November 2022

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

The SNP used its backbench questions to tee up Nicola Sturgeon to repeat her speech from yesterday about “denial of democracy” and to press the UK government to back an independence referendum.

But FMQs was perhaps a reminder that there is a lot going on in Scottish politics beyond the constitutional question.

Opposition leaders chose to broadly steer clear of the Supreme Court ruling – perhaps for party political reasons, but also because there are pressing questions about the future of the health service as well as of the union.

There are bread and butter constituency issues of vital importance to local communities, like the questions about flood defences in Brechin.

And there are big policy issues like the government’s planned reforms of the Gender Recognition Act, and practical ones like its work to house Ukrainian refugees.

Much of the debate and indeed the headlines will be coloured by the big issue of independence.

But the questions they put to the first minister underlines that MSPs have plenty of other topics on their minds and in their in-trays too.

Tory MSP Craig Hoy says the first minister said voters should vote for her, even if they did not want independence.

Hoy asks why the SNP are now saying these voters support independence and he asks if this is the "same deep-seated duplicity that we can expect to see in any de-facto independence referendum at the next general election".

The first minister hits back saying if the Tories are now reduced to suggesting the people of Scotland didn't know that she supported a referendum, "then the Tories are even more desperate than I thought they were".

Sturgeon says the Tory message in that election could not have been clearer as they said the only way to stop a referendum was to vote Tory.

"And guess what, the SNP won the election it's time to have a referendum," she adds.

The judges ruled the Scottish government cannot hold an independence referendum without the UK government's consent.

Nicola Sturgeon had wanted to hold a referendum on 19 October next year.

But the court ruled unanimously that she does not have the power to do so because the issue is reserved to Westminster.

The UK government has refused to grant formal consent for a referendum.

Read more here

The SNP's Stephanie Callaghan returns to her question, asking for the Scottish government’s response to yesterday's Supreme Court ruling - that Scotland cannot legally hold an independence referendum without Westminster's consent.

Ms Sturgeon says while she is disappointed by the ruling she accepts the court’s judgement.

However, she says it demonstrates beyond any doubt that the idea of being part of the UK voluntarily "is not, if it ever was, a reality".

She says it remains open to the UK government to "respect democracy" and reach an agreement for a lawful referendum.

Ms Sturgeon concludes that unionist Westminster politicians want to silence Scotland's voice because they are "scared of what Scotland might say", adding that the ruling raises profoundly uncomfortable questions about the future of the UK.

The SNP's Stephanie Callaghan's question was interrupted following a brief disruption in the chamber.

The presiding officer suspended business while the issue was dealt with.

The Scottish government has committed to make it easier for trans people to have their gender legally recognised.

It has been a hotly-contested issue, with critics voicing concerns about the potential implications for women of allowing people to self-identify their gender.

• What are the plans for gender reforms in Scotland?

A survey conducted for the BBC, external suggests a general sympathy towards trans people accompanied by uncertainty and hesitation around the details of the changes.

On almost all the questions there was a clear age divide, with the under 35s much more inclined to take a position more sympathetic to reform.

Read more here.

Conservative MSP Pam Gosal raises claims from a UN expert, that the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill could allow violent men to access women-only spaces.

She asks whether the FM agrees that the bill should be postponed.

Ms Sturgeon says the people responsible for violent attacks on women are the perpetrators and in most cases, violent men.

She adds she doesn't believe we should further stigmatise the trans community for violent acts committed by violent men.

"Violent men who want to access female only spaces don’t need a gender recognition certificate to do that," she says.

The FM says the government will respond to the UN rapportuer and parliament will have an opportunity to discuss the bill at stage three shortly.

Some pump stations to remove surface water did not start automatically in an Angus town during Friday's floods, the council has said.

Heavy rain caused severe flooding in many areas of the country.

Angus Council said an issue had emerged with Brechin's flood prevention scheme.

The local authority said two of three pump stations aimed at removing surface water from the town's River Street did not start automatically when water was detected.

The council said the Angus area had experienced "extremely widespread, heavy and persistent rain".

Read more here.

Image source, Police Scotland

Tory MSP Tess White raises the issue of flooding in the north east of Scotland.

The first minister says: "My thoughts are with the family and friends of Hazel Nairn who remains missing after the recent flooding."

Police searching for Hazel Nairn, who is feared swept away in the floods in Aberdeenshire, have said the body of her dog has been found.

Ms Nairn, 71, was last seen in the water in the River Don, near Monymusk, last Friday afternoon when an amber weather warning was in force.

Sturgeon under concerted attack over NHS meetingpublished at 12:41 Greenwich Mean Time 24 November 2022

12:41 GMT 24 November 2022

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Health has been a popular topic at first minister’s questions for weeks now, and opposition leaders spied a fresh line via this week’s leaked minutes of a meeting of NHS bosses.

Both Douglas Ross and Anas Sarwar came armed with statistics about the increasing use of private healthcare in Scotland. They say the evidence shows a “two tier” health system is already emerging in Scotland.

And both parties were on the same track – saying services are on the slide under the SNP, and calling for Health Secretary Humza Yousaf to resign.

The question is whether this concerted attack is enough to actually make any difference to a majority SNP-Green government.

Ms Sturgeon is very happy to debate both parties on the question of health service privatisation, pointing to the Conservative-run system down south and how Labour did things back when it was in charge at Holyrood.

And she can also fall back on the responses we’ve heard week after week, about the impact of the pandemic on the health services and about performance relative to other parts of the UK.

Ultimately, what might make the difference is how voters at home experience the health service, and whether they feel that chimes with the picture painted by the different parties at Holyrood.

Mr Sarwar says the pandemic is not an excuse “to say it’s ok to go for private treatment”, adding that 40% of all hip and knee replacements were carried out privately.

He says the NHS is at risk because of the government’s choices and “there is no-one else to blame”, citing problems such as hospital bed cuts, nursing and midwifery places being cut and poor A&E figures.

Ms Sturgeon responds by saying there are record numbers of people working in the NHS - significantly more than when the SNP came into power and more than other UK nations.

She agrees the pandemic not an excuse, “but nor can it be ignored” in terms of the impact on the NHS.

Image source, Getty Images

Sticking with the NHS, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar claims there is already a two-tier healthcare system in Scotland.

He says more than 39,000 people were treated privately last year with people forced to borrow money or re-mortgage their homes to afford treatment.

Ms Sturgeon says she doesn’t accept Mr Sarwar’s claim, reiterating that the SNP government “will always act to protect the founding principles” of the NHS.

One thing missing from Mr Sarwar’s figures, she says, is reference to the Covid-19 pandemic – this is why there has been an increase in private procedures, she adds.

The first minister says that as the NHS recovery plan progresses we will see the benefits of healthcare free at point of need.

Douglas Ross accuses the first minister of being in denial about her health secretary and the NHS in Scotland.

The Scottish Tory leader says the minutes of the meeting show that "Humza Yousaf is divorced from reality".

The first minister refutes this and says there is higher funding for the NHS in Scotland than there is in England.

She adds that there is also higher staffing per head of population in Scotland and NHS Scotland is performing better than other parts of the UK.

Image source, Getty Images

The Scottish Tory leader again says someone gave the green light within government.

Ross adds that there is clearly a complete breakdown in communications between NHS leaders and the SNP.

He asks: "Is this not just another confirmation that Humza Yousaf is out of control with Scotland's NHS?"

The first minister replies "this is a pretty lame and pathetic line" from Douglas Ross.

Sturgeon says there is already a two-tier health service in England where the Tories are in power.

"There will not be a two-tier health service while this government is in office in Scotland," she says.

"We are committed to the founding principles of the National Health Service and always will be."

Douglas Ross says private treatment is up by 84% in Scotland since the start of the pandemic, compared with the rest of the UK that is half of that.

The Scottish Tory leader says the minutes said "health boards have the green light from the leadership to come up with and present their ideas for reform".

He asks what areas of reform are now on the table.

The first minister says none of these ideas are being discussed or remotely considered by this government.

Ms Sturgeon says statistics here in Scotland are better than the NHS in Wales and England.

She says: "This government will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to privatising the NHS.

"This government will take no lessons from the Conservatives on the NHS full stop."

NHS leaders in Scotland have discussed abandoning the founding principles of the service by having the wealthy pay for treatment.

The discussion of a "two-tier" health service is mentioned in draft minutes of a meeting of Scotland's NHS leaders in September.

They also raise the possibility of curtailing some free prescriptions.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the principles of the NHS were "not up for debate".

She acknowledged the "very significant pressure" facing health services worldwide but added that the process to "redesign and reform" would "take place - for as long as I have got anything to do with it - within the confines of these founding principles".

Read more here.

The first minister hits back saying it is "bold" for a Conservative to ask about privatisation of the NHS.

Nicola Sturgeon says she did an interview on Monday where she did not deny the conversation took place.

There were conversations not plans, she insists.

Ms Sturgeon says NHS leaders do not make government policy.

She adds: "The government makes government policy and the founding principles of the National Health Service, that this government has done more than any to protect and enhance, are not, and as long as I am first minister never will be, up for discussion."

Image source, Getty Images

The Scottish Conservative leader says that on Monday minutes obtained by the BBC showed that NHS leaders had held "secret talks about privatising parts of the NHS".

They discussed a two-tier health system where people would have to pay for treatment and prescriptions, he adds.

Mr Ross says: "These plans are completely against the founding principles of our NHS."

He asks if the first minister is denying this conversation took place.

• Read the BBC's Scotland editor James Cook's exclusive report

The first minister is in her seat and now Douglas Ross gets to his feet to begin this week's FMQs.