I say to Pam Duncan-Glancy that, by many indicators, the Scottish economy is performing better. If we look at the recent Royal Bank of Scotland report, we see that the Scottish economy is the stand-out performer of the United Kingdom. There is much to be commended about Scottish economic performance, but there is work to do. The issue that we have with migration and the labour needs of our businesses and industry relates to the point that I just made about Brexit and the harm that it is doing.

I turn to some newspaper reports that have been generated by senior Labour insiders’ admissions that a Labour Government would make “really difficult” and “pretty unappealing” cuts. Therefore, I think that there is a real issue with Labour not being straight with the Scottish people. Labour calling for more money for local government in its amendment to today’s motion cannot be reconciled with the cuts for local government that are being signalled by a future UK Labour Government. That is a fundamentally dishonest position to take, and it cannot be sustained.

I know that the financial situation remains incredibly challenging, but the Scottish Government will continue to prioritise spending effectively in order to ensure that our public services remain sustainable. For example, the medium-term outlook for our capital budget is particularly difficult. The latest forecasts show that our capital block grant is expected to reduce by almost 9 per cent in real terms between 2023-24 and 2027-28. That is a cumulative loss of more than £1.3 billion that we are not able to invest across Scotland to support our public services to remain efficient and effective.

Quite simply, if the incoming UK Government does not reverse the cuts to capital and deliver a meaningful uplift for investment in public infrastructure, it will have to explain why it has laid a path to greater austerity than the Conservatives caused. Without that change, there will be a significant impact on the capital investment programme.