Scotland's Budget & SNP leadership race

1. The Scottish government will urge MSPs to vote for its tax-raising budget later
2. The budget proposals include an income tax rise for everyone earning more than £43,662
3. Both the higher and top rates will increase by 1p, rising to 42p and 47p respectively
4. John Swinney calls on MSPs to back the decision to channel "limited resources" where they are needed most
5. Opposition parties have criticised the plans particularly 'savage cuts' to council budgets
6. This budget comes amidst an SNP leadership campaign to replace Nicola Sturgeon

Scottish Budget: The headlines

MSPs voted by 68 to 57 to to pass the budget bill.

Here's a reminder of the headlines:

• John Swinney announced an extra £100m for local government
• The cash comes from extra funding from the UK government via Barnett consequentials
• The deputy first minister also announced a £6.6m uplift for Creative Scotland for 2023-24 and more cash for Scotland's ferries
• The Budget includes an income tax rise for everyone earning more than £43,662
• Scotland's income tax changes will see both the higher and top rates increased by 1p, rising to 42p and 47p respectively
• The Scottish government is proposing those earning £125,140 a year or more will pay the very top rate of income tax
• The Scottish Greens, who are in government with the SNP at Holyrood, said the budget "puts tackling child poverty and helping the most vulnerable at its heart"
• But the Scottish Conservatives said the SNP was taxing middle and higher earners much more
• Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie criticised the budget's impact on the public sector and said people were being asked to pay more for "worse services"
• And Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the budget was "just not good enough"

You can read more about the budget here.

Thank you for joining us.

SNP leadership race: 'A rollercoaster affair'

Philip Sim

BBC Scotland political correspondent

The SNP leadership race has been a rollercoaster affair already, but there could still be further developments in the coming days.

Kate Forbes is under pressure after losing a series of backers, and told STV News that she was committed to the race “at the moment”.

One of her key supporters - business minister Ivan McKee - cryptically told reporters that he was “going to talk to Kate about the campaign later on”.

Meanwhile, fellow candidate Ash Regan - who has conducted her campaign largely via Twitter so far - has promised to do some interviews “soon”.

The former community safety minister said she was “really keen” to answer the media bids piling up for her, and said “my team will be in touch with everyone soon”.

Meanwhile, Humza Yousaf has to face health questions at Holyrood tomorrow, and clearly has plenty to deal with in the day job given the listed queries about A&E waiting times, nursing vacancies and the National Care Service.

Nominations close at the end of the week, and there will be a break for a couple of weeks before voting starts - but it could be a breathless affair until then.

Read more about the contest here.

Cuts to arts funding body reversed to tune of £6.6m

Pauline McLean

BBC Scotland Arts Correspondent

There have been several campaigns against cuts to funding of the arts.

But the last few days have seen a record number of people make their voices heard.

The UK-wide campaign for the Arts and Culture Counts both called for urgent action over the 10% cut to Creative Scotland’s budget.

The arts funding body warned that the sector, already damaged by the pandemic, would suffer “significant decline”.

It also stressed that although the deficit could be managed in the short term by lottery reserves, it was not the answer.

Today, to the surprise of many, Deputy Minister John Swinney announced an amendment to the budget which would reverse the cut, and mean they don’t have to use that vital lottery reserve.

It may not be the increase the sector has long sought, and it may not be enough to prevent the problems anticipated through “the perfect storm” of Covid, the cost of living crisis and other funding cuts.

But it is being quietly welcomed by campaigners who feel that, for once, their voices have been listened to.

Scottish Budget: News summary

BBC

SNP MSPs applaud the passing of the Budget Bill

MSPs have backed the Budget Bill, which includes an extra £100m pounds for local councils to help with pay pressures for non-teaching staff.

John Swinney, the acting finance secretary, also found nearly £7m more for the arts and more cash for island ferries.

The budget includes an increase in welfare payments for families with children as well as a rise in tax rates for higher earners.

Additional grant funding from Westminster is being used to ease the pressure on council budgets, in addition to £156m announced last week to raise teacher pay.

The budget was passed, with SNP and Green MSP votes, but with criticism from Tories over the proposed National Care Service and from Labour over funds for social care.

BreakingMSPs back the Budget

MSPs vote to pass the Scottish government's Budget Bill.

68 voted for it, while 57 voted against.

Earlier Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced an extra £100m for local authorities.

During the final debate on the Budget Bill Mr Swinney also committed to fully funding inter island ferry costs, and to give Creative Scotland an extra £6.6m.

• Higher earners in Scotland to pay more income tax
• Scottish income tax 2023-24 - What might you be paying?
• SNP budget may go down in left-leaning history

Swinney urges MSPs to back his Budget Bill

John Swinney again urges MSPs to back his Budget Bill, as he delivers the closing speech to the Stage 3 debate.

The deputy first minister says the creative sector is facing a "perfect storm" and the government cannot intervene to address every pressure. He announced £6m for Creative Scotland during the debate.

He adds his tough decisions on tax will see £19bn spent on the health service in the coming year,

MSPs will now be asked to vote on the bill, which entails a brief suspension of the chamber.

Tory MSP calls for National Care Service to be scrapped

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Tory MSP Murdo Fraser says none of the candidates to replace Nicola Sturgeon have been in the chamber for this Budget debate.

Mr Fraser points out Mr Swinney has come up with an extra £125m from the UK government in Barnett Consequentials.

He says there is a record block grant for Scotland this year.

Mr Fraser points out his party would scrap plans for the National Care Service.

Baillie: 'Paying more for worse services'

Deputy Labour Leader Jackie Baillie opens by welcoming the additional money for Creative Scotland and teachers' pay.

She says the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said the SNP's claims of an increase to the budget only amounts to £71m extra once ringfencing is removed, which equates to a real terms cut of £304m cut.

The Dumbarton MSP echoes concerns raised around social care and says the budget does not invest enough in primary care or address the NHS crisis.

She claims Scottish Labour's alternative proposals to pay social care workers £12 per hour while fighting for £15 are costed and affordable.

Ms Baillie strongly criticises the budget's impact on the public sector.

"Scottish people are being asked to pay more, but they're getting worse services," she says.

Scottish Budget: Green MSP welcomes additional £100m for councils

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Ross Greer says he knows the additional £100m for local government will be warmly welcomed.

The Scottish Greens finance spokesperson tells the chamber: "Councils are under immense pressure at the moment."

He says agreeing a replacement for the council tax could be one of the key achievements of this session.

Mr Green says the IFS say Scotland will have the most progressive tax and social security system in the UK.

Scottish Budget: Key points

Now if you're just joining us we've been catching up on the SNP leadership race, but we'll now turn our attention back to the Budget debate ahead of the vote at 5pm.

Here are the key points so far:

• John Swinney has today announced an extra £100m for local government
• The cash comes from extra funding from the UK government via Barnett consequentials
• The deputy first minister also announced a £6.6 million uplift for Creative Scotland for 2023-24 and more cash for Scotland's ferries

BBC

• The Budget includes income tax rise for everyone earning more than £43,662
• Scotland's income tax changes will see both the higher and top rates increased by 1p, rising to 42p and 47p respectively
• The Scottish government is proposing those earning £125,140 a year or more will pay the very top rate of income tax

Forbes asked for views on children outside marriage

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SNP leadership contender Kate Forbes has faced further questions about her beliefs following her comments around gay marriage.

The SNP's Out for Independence tweeted it was "incredibly disappointed" with the "tone and language" directed towards the LGBTQ+ community during the leadership campaign. However, it said it could not "endorse or single out candidates".

Meanwhile, in an interview with Sky News, Ms Forbes was again asked about her beliefs - specifically on having children outside of marriage.

She told the broadcaster: "It's entirely up to them. It's something that I would seek to avoid for me personally."

The MSP said it would be "wrong according to my faith, but for you I have no idea what your faith is. So, in a free society you can do what you want."

She added: "But you're also asking me: do I think some of my family who have done that are wrong? Do I think that some of my friends who have done that are wrong? I accept them and that's choices that they've made.

"We either live in a tolerant society where I can celebrate the birth of children, irrespective of the family, or not - and I do celebrate those lives that have been brought into the world."

Unfinished business for the next first minister

Douglas Fraser

Scotland business & economy editor

PA

In the weeks before Nicola Sturgeon hands back the Great Seal of Scotland and boxes up her books at Bute House, there is unfinished business.

A lot of it has to do with, well, business. A budget to pass on Tuesday. And the economy.

And it's likely that the low profile given to growing the economy under Ms Sturgeon's leadership might be something Kate Forbes and perhaps others will wish to change.

When she's not being required to explain her Christian faith, that seems to be one part of the turf where the finance and economy secretary intends to pitch her leadership campaign tent.

Her main rival, Humza Yousaf, has less of a track record in economic roles, either as a minister or outside politics.

As transport secretary for two years, he was on the ministerial bridge while Ferguson shipyard was heading for the rocks, and his record on ScotRail was to shift the points in the direction of public ownership.

Read more here.

SNP leadership race: What is the Free Church of Scotland?

The Free Church of Scotland is an evangelical and Calvinist denomination of Christianity that believes the Bible is "God's Word and that it should be central in all that we do".

Its website says it has 100 local churches across Scotland, five in North America and one in London and claims to have 13,000 people attending services every week.

The church is often colloquially known as the Wee Frees - a term it dislikes - and was formed in 1900 by members of the original Free Church of Scotland who refused to be part of the merger with the United Presbyterian Church that formed the United Free Church of Scotland.

The church opposes same-sex marriage and abortion, with then-moderator Rev David Robertson predicting in 2015 that society would one day "look back with horror" on the "evil" of abortion in the same way that it looks back at slavery.

It has also traditionally believed in keeping Sundays as a day of worship and rest.

There is already talk of her campaign being on the rocks

Philip Sim

BBC Scotland political correspondent

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Kate Forbes has always been completely open about her faith, so it is not a surprise that she has spoken about it on day one of her campaign.

But it has not played out well for her in the immediacy, with a series of fellow ministers withdrawing their endorsements over the issue of gay marriage.

It might be worth questioning why her backers didn't see this coming when Ms Forbes has been open about her religious views in the past.

It is also notable that it was never seen as a bar to her becoming finance secretary, or indeed for others to hold high office in SNP governments - like Roseanna Cunningham or Fergus Ewing, who both voted against equal marriage legislation.

Ms Forbes says most people aren't on Twitter, where the "storm" is playing out. She is hoping that the SNP's membership will chew this matter over in a different way to the frantic pace of online discourse.

There are still five weeks to run in the contest, so there is plenty of time to turn things around - but there is already talk of her campaign being on the rocks.

Environment Minister announces support for Humza Yousaf

Environment and Land Reform Minister Màiri McAllan announces her support for Humza Yousaf to be the next leader of the Scottish National Party.

We turn our attention now to the SNP leadership race...

PA Media

We'll continue to bring you the best lines from the budget debate and will resume our coverage for the closing speeches and vote.

For now though we'll turn to the SNP leadership race where contender Kate Forbes has denied her campaign has been derailed by comments on gay marriage.

Key backers have announced they can no longer support the finance secretary, who said she would have voted against legislation on same-sex unions.

She is one of three confirmed candidates in the contest, alongside Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan.

Ms Forbes said she would not seek to overturn gay marriage laws if she succeeded Nicola Sturgeon.

• Kate Forbes would not have backed gender bill
• Will faith turn the tide for Scottish independence?

SNP finance convenor warns: 'This year isn't a blip'

SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson welcomes the budget and leads an attack on the financial track records of the opposition parties.

He says the SNP's budget "necessitated hard choices to help people though difficult times."

However he warns that this year "isn't a blip".

Mr Gibson adds: "We'll be here again this year and beyond as long as this parliament remains hitched to Westminster and as long as we cut ourselves off from our European partners."

'This budget is just not good enough'

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Alex Cole-Hamilton welcomes the commitment to ferry funding in island communities.

However the Scottish Lib Dem leader adds: "This budget is just not good enough."

He also tells the chamber the National Care Service Bill must be abandoned.

Scottish Labour urge MSPs to vote against budget

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Mr Johnson says the Scottish government needs to focus more on the NHS and the cost of living crisis.

He adds the SNP government has presided over a decade of social care cuts which need addressed.

Mr Johnson says delayed discharges are costing the NHS £150m a year and criticises the Scottish government for offering "just 40p extra an hour" to social care workers.

The Edinburgh MSP said intervention is vital for "preventing catastrophe" in the NHS.

He says the issue of public sector pay is "emblematic of this government's inability to deal with strategic issues because low pay is endemic in the public sector."

Mr Johnson calls on fellow MSPs to vote with Scottish Labour against the budget.

Scottish Labour says new leader will change budget

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Scottish Labour MSP Daniel Johnson says the budget decision is "faintly ridiculous" and won't last due to the race for the SNP leadership.

A new leader will inevitably make spending changes, he says.

He asks Mr Swinney to acknowledge analysis from the Institute of Fiscal Studies which says non-ringfenced funding for local government has declined by 2%.

The Edinburgh MSP condemns a lack of transparency on where funds are coming from.

He also criticises cuts to basic services including culture, housing and road budgets.