Desmond Swayne
Main Page: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)Department Debates - View all Desmond Swayne's debates with the Scotland Office
(3 days, 18 hours ago)
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Kirsty McNeill
I think I did hear something about the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) getting lost in Hamilton this weekend, and sculking behind the bins before he was sent packing by the good people of South Lanarkshire. Of course, the only local candidate in that by-election is Labour’s Davy Russell, who will stand up for his community against the division peddled by both the SNP and Reform.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Ian Murray)
The right hon. Gentleman will have heard me remind the House on a number of occasions that John Swinney said that education was the “defining mission” of his SNP Government, but earlier this year we got the news that standards of attainment in Scotland’s schools are declining across the board and, shamefully, outcomes for young working-class kids are getting worse. The attainment gap is widening. The Scottish Government have failed a generation; they cannot be allowed a third decade in power to continue that damage. Scotland’s teachers, parents and pupils all deserve better standards in our schools.
Sir Desmond Swayne
What has caused the system, which was once the benchmark for all others, to become such a disappointment?
Ian Murray
There is a simple answer to that question: the SNP Scottish Government.