Yesterday, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government laid out the Scottish National Party Government’s budget for the upcoming year. Thanks to a United Kingdom Labour Government getting rid of the Tories and ending the era of austerity, the Scottish Government has an additional £5.2 billion to spend. That was an opportunity to confront the challenges that our country faces and take us in a new direction—an opportunity that was, clearly, missed. [Interruption.]

Members!

Nowhere is that more important or clearer than in our national health service. Given that one in six Scots is on an NHS waiting list, why is it the height of John Swinney’s ambition that, by March 2026, Scots will not have to wait for more than a year just for an appointment?

As I explained to Russell Findlay, the Government is absolutely focused on improving waiting times, and the record financial settlement for the health service of £21 billion is a very significant contribution to enabling that to happen. Ministers will work with health boards, as I saw when I visited Forth Valley royal hospital on Monday, on initiatives to practically improve waiting times in our hospitals. Anas Sarwar has my commitment that the Government will do that.

I am interested in Mr Sarwar’s language about a “new direction”. If Mr Sarwar does not like the direction that we are taking on health service expenditure, shall I take that to mean that he does not support the increase to £21 billion? Does he want less than that? Is that the new direction that Mr Sarwar wants, with less investment in the national health service? [ Interruption .]

Let us hear the First Minister.

I say simply to Mr Sarwar that I welcome the investments that are being made in our public services and public finances as a consequence of the United Kingdom Government’s decisions. That is welcome. I have made that clear before.

Your MPs voted against it.

Mr Johnson!

What now matters is whether the Labour Party will support the Government by making sure that those numbers can be put into practical reality. Will the Labour Party support the Government’s budget to make sure that we can invest £21 billion in the national health service?

John Swinney has forgotten that he is not a bank manager and is meant to be running a country and delivering positive outcomes for it. All he does is what he normally does: the SNP Government focuses on the inputs, not on the outcomes for patients across the country.

Within the past week, we have had damning reports from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Audit Scotland. According to the IFS, despite having proportionally higher spending and more staff, Scotland’s NHS is “lagging behind England’s”; on almost every measure, performance is worse; and there are poorer outcomes for Scots. According to Audit Scotland, despite higher funding and more staff, fewer patients are being seen, there is no clear plan for reform, there is no delivery plan, and “greater leadership” is needed.

However, yet again, those warnings have been ignored. Why is the SNP Government squandering the opportunity of £5.2 billion of additional money and record levels of spending, which could take our NHS in that new direction?

On performance, there have been increases—for example, in the number of operations that have been performed in the national health service over the past 12 months and in the performance on waiting times in a number of disciplines. In cancer care, there have been improvements in performance in relation to the 31-day standard, so that more patients are being treated and are treated within a quicker timescale.

Mr Sarwar asked about the “squandering” of the opportunity. The only squandering of the opportunity will be if the Government is unable on 1 April to put the practical proposals in the budget into practice. That means that the Parliament has to pass the Government’s budget. We are very open to constructive discussion with political parties about the contents of the budget. However, Mr Sarwar will—to use his word—squander the possibility of strengthening our public services if he does not vote for the Government’s budget.

I remind John Swinney that SNP MPs voted against £5.2 billion of additional money coming to the Scottish Government.

John Swinney did what he always does: he read out a long list of inputs and did not address the issues that would improve outcomes for patients. That is the usual sticky-plaster approach, which is all about inputs and not about outcomes. [ Interruption .]

Let us hear Mr Sarwar.

I can understand why his blood pressure is high. Do not worry, Presiding Officer.

It is not just about how much we spend; it is about the quality of care that patients receive and the health of our nation. It is not just about how much we spend; it is about supporting businesses to thrive and grow. It is not just about how much we spend, it is about our children leaving school with the skills that they need.

On all measures, John Swinney and the SNP have failed. They just hope that they can spend more money in the same way and get a different result. Is it not clear that the Government has no plan, no leadership and no vision for Scotland?

I think that there is a big problem if an Opposition leader in the Parliament cannot change his script to adjust to the answers that I give. In a very basic exchange, Mr Sarwar said that I have talked only about inputs, but I have talked about the outcomes and performance of the national health service. It is not good enough, if Mr Sarwar cannot even step up to be a decent leader of an Opposition party, for him to aspire to do anything else. [ Interruption .]

Let us hear one another!

If Mr Sarwar is concerned about business, he should be concerned about the impact of the changes to employer national insurance contributions. He need only look at his UK Government’s data on that—the changes to employer national insurance contributions will not improve the standard of living of people in the United Kingdom over a five-year period. That is a rather gloomy outlook that Mr Sarwar has attached himself to.

I simply say to Mr Sarwar that I am interested in making progress for Scotland—it is what I have been about all my political life—and we have delivered big progress. I told Mr Findlay about the progress on early learning and childcare. Economic performance in Scotland has improved faster than it has in the rest of the United Kingdom. I want to build on that, but it will happen only if Mr Sarwar and his colleagues support the Scottish Government’s budget, which will repair the damage from the Labour Government’s winter fuel payment cuts and erase the two-child limit. Mr Sarwar should support the Government’s budget and deliver a good outcome for the people of Scotland.