Who won? Head-to-head draws angry exchanges – Daily Business

John Swinney and Anas Sarwar at last night’s debate

Scotland’s political leaders clashed over immigration, energy, independence and the NHS in the first televised leaders’ debate, with the economy – normally an election decider – barely mentioned.

First Minister John Swinney was unusually reserved on the independence issue apart from repeating his earlier claim that an independence referendum could be held in 2028 and that it would give Scotland the opportunity to cut energy costs, an asserttion disputed by experts.

Reform UK’s Malcolm Offord was the only other leader to offer Mr Swinney any hint of support for another referendum, suggesting a vote could go ahead, but only if the polls showed at least 60% support.

Greens co-leader Ross Greer told the audience in Paisley it was “profoundly anti-democratic” for Westminster to deny Scotland another referendum, noting the comments earlier in the day by UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting who said the UK Government would not agree to another vote.

Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the Scottish government should be focused on fixing the NHS, providing good jobs, building more homes and bringing down the cost of living.

He put Mr Swinney on the spot over waiting lists and kept count of the number of times the First Minister blamed Westminster for the Scottish government’s shortcomings, including a failure to approve a £1.5 billion Chinese investment in a turbine factory.

Mr Sarwar said there had been security issues around the investment, though Mr Swinney noted that other Chinese projects in England were going ahead.

The SNP leader drew one of the first audience applauses by promising to take control of Scotland’s energy, though he was put on the defensive when an audience member reminded him that his party abandoned plans for a publicly-owned energy company.

While immigration is reserved to the UK government, it drew the most heated exchanges of the evening with Mr Offord stating that Scotland was traditionally a welcoming country and insisting his party wanted “cohesive” communities.

However, he said that in recent years there had been influx of people who were arriving to claim benefits and were “jumping the queue” to the detriment of local people. He said Glasgow had become the asylum capital of the UK.

Tory leader Russell Findlay broadly agreed, saying: “People in Glasgow and other communities are seeing a system at breaking point with too much pressure on local services.”

Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton accused Mr Offord of “trying to win an election based on dividing the people of Scotland”.

Mr Greer said immigrants are needed for the NHS, social care and rural communities. He made a coruscating criticism of Mr Offord, accusing him of being a “chancer” and was the only one who spoke of raising taxes, arguing that the wealthy should bear more of the burden for financing public services.

There were more pledges of free services from Mr Greer who wants Scotland to follow countries like Malta and Luxembourg with free bus services, without mentioning they have far smaller land masses. Mr Findlay said “none” of the “free stuff” is actually free and that it is paid for by higher taxes.

Mr Findlay, Mr Offord and Mr Sarwar all pledged to cut “waste” in the public sector, cutting bureaucracy, including a reduction in Scotland’s 130 quangos.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said there were “warning lights blinking across the dashboad of public policy”. Mr Sarwar challenged Mr Swinney’s waiting times record and accused Mr Swinney of failing to take responsibility for the queues.

How did they do?

John Swinney (SNP): Defensive, coy, failed to land enough blows (5/10)

Russell Findlay (Conservative): Pressed the case for people retaining more of their earnings, but appeared too cautious (5/10)

Anas Sarwar (Labour): Put Mr Swinney on the spot with his arguments on the NHS, made too many interruptions but looked the most confident (7/10)

Malcolm Offord (Reform UK): Came armed with data to support his policies on immigration and income tax, but looked a little battle-weary (5/10)

Ross Greer (Green): Love or loathe him, he gave an assured and articulate argument for his “alternative politics” which the others failed to challenge – and his party is on the rise (7/10)

Alex Cole-Hamilton (LibDems): Focused on specific NHS failings, but struggled to make an impact (4/10)

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