We will now turn to First Minister's Questions, and we start with question 1 from Jackson Carlaw. Can I ask the First Minister whether, with hindsight, she now accepts that holding private meetings with her predecessor? If she accepts that holding private meetings with her predecessor to discuss allegations facing him was a mistake, and if so, when did she reach that conclusion after the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth time they met to discuss them? First Minister. I say this to Jackson Carlaw. Questions have been raised about these matters. I think that questions have legitimately been raised. I have set out an account of the decisions that I took. Beyond that, I now intend fully, as First Minister, to respect the work of the various investigations that have now been established. Jackson Carlaw, last week at First Minister's Questions, asked me to support a parliamentary inquiry into these matters. I have done so. The parliamentary bureau discussed this issue earlier this week. Last week, Richard Leonard asked me to make a referral of my own conduct to the advisers on the ministerial code. I have done that. In addition, the Scottish Government will establish a review. I can tell the chamber today that that will be externally led. I will have no role in that, any role I would have performed in the establishment of that. I have asked the Deputy First Minister to perform instead. Of course, there is an on-going police inquiry. Let me say to Jackson Carlaw into the chamber that I will answer any question to the fullest extent possible. My Government will co-operate fully with all and any inquiries. However, I think that other members in the chamber now need to recognise that having asked for these investigations, they are also now obliged to respect those investigations. Jackson Carlaw. She can't hide behind an inquiry and likely forthcoming police inquiry without answering the obvious questions of who knew what, when and how. Those are not my words. Those are the words of Nicola Sturgeon in 2007, when, as Deputy First Minister, she was demanding answers of Wendy Alexander over donations to the Labour Party. By Nicola Sturgeon's own definition, we have both the right and the responsibility to ask questions now. First Minister, we also have the right to answers too. Since we last discussed this at First Minister's Questions, we have learned that there were other contacts beyond those that the First Minister revealed to Parliament last week. We have learned that her chief of staff met a former aide of Mr Sammons not once but twice prior to the first meeting in April 2. It has been reported at one of those meetings that the First Minister's chief of staff, to quote Mr Sammons' team, tipped them off. She said that she suspected that an investigation was under way. Two inquiries will get to the bottom of all that, but surely the First Minister does not need an inquiry to realise that if that is indeed what happened, it was just plain wrong. First Minister. If Jackson Carlaw takes a view now that respecting inquiries that have been established constitutes hiding behind them, then it begs the question, why did Jackson Carlaw ask for such an inquiry to be set up last week? That was his challenge to me last week. Support a parliamentary inquiry. I have done that. The challenge from the other side of the chamber was to refer myself to the advisers on the ministerial code. I have done that as well. There will be a Government review of the process and, of course, there is an on-going police inquiry. I have set out an account of the decisions that I took. I have also corrected inaccurate claims that have appeared in the media. Beyond that, it is time to respect those inquiries. The inquiries that Opposition members have called for and the inquiries that I and my Government have supported. I think that that is the right thing to do. The inquiries that I have spoken about, as well as the course of the work of the information commissioner, which the Scottish Government is fully co-operating with, I think that it is fair to say that the decision-making processes involved in this matter may turn out to be the most scrutinised of any decision-making processes in the lifetime of this Parliament, and that is right and proper. However, it strikes me that you cannot call for inquiries and then refuse to respect the work of those inquiries. I will respect the work of those inquiries. The question is, will others across the chamber? Jackson Carlaw. As I have pointed out, First Minister, that is precisely what you did. The problem is that you seem quite happy for advisers to be briefing the media on those questions as they are arising, but reluctant to answer them here in Parliament. The problem here is that we have two completely contradictory versions of events. In Mr Salmond's version, the First Minister's team knew about the complaint before 2 April. In the First Minister's version, she and her team were completely in the dark until they all met at her house on that date. Both simply cannot be right. Will the First Minister put it on the record today? That is something that needs to be clarified now. Contrary to what is being alleged, neither her chief of staff nor indeed any other Government's special adviser had any knowledge of a complaint before 2 April. First Minister. I have already set out the account of when I first became aware that we have corrected inaccurate claims in the media this week relating to my chief of staff. That has all been done. The issue now—Justine Carlaw said, and perhaps this is a point that I can go somewhere to agreeing with him on, that there are differing accounts of this. That is why it is important now to allow the scrutiny of the inquiries that have been established. Having called for those inquiries, having got the agreement of myself, my Government, my party to support the establishment of those inquiries and to co-operate fully with them, it is incumbent on all of us now to respect those processes. That is what I am going to do. The question for Jackson Carlaw is whether he is really interested in getting to the heart of these matters or whether he simply wants to continue to make party political points over them. Jackson Carlaw, I am interested in asking questions about the matters that have arisen since I last questioned the First Minister last week. Clearly I am concerned that her advisers are briefing the media in response to inquiries of this nature, but she seems reluctant to respond to inquiries here in the chamber. If nothing else, that has shown why the parliamentary inquiry, which we did request, is necessary and why we must all hope that it can begin as soon as possible. Numerous questions beyond those that I have asked today are outstanding. What did the First Minister and Mr Salmond discuss? What did the First Minister continue to meet the former First Minister as late as July last year, despite subsequently telling us that she could not get involved? Did the permanent secretary approve of that final meeting in advance, or was she only informed of it afterwards? All of us are asking, what on earth did she think that she was doing? The First Minister will have to answer those questions sooner or later. For the avoidance of doubt, will the First Minister confirm today that she will make herself available personally to appear before the parliamentary inquiry, not just as she did in her answer to me last week, to say that she would be prepared to supply information to it, but that she will be prepared to appear personally before that inquiry? Does she accept that this tawdry business and her handling of it in the past seven days has fundamentally undermined trust in her Government? First Minister—I think that I heard Jackson Carlaw correctly when he asked, am I prepared to personally appear before an inquiry? Yes, I am. As First Minister, I do not consider it optional for me as to whether I appear before parliamentary committees. That is part of my job and part of my responsibility. I cannot believe that Jackson Carlaw would have doubted that for a single second. The question that Jackson Carlaw has posed today—I understand why he is posing—is exactly the question that the various inquiries will now look at. I simply say to him again that it is incumbent on all of us to respect those inquiries. I think that perhaps more than anything right now, given that at the heart of this whole issue are women who brought forward complaints, it is incumbent on all of us to respect the on-going police inquiry into this. I would call on everybody to do that. Jackson Carlaw said that he wanted to ask me what on earth I thought I was doing. I think that I know what Jackson Carlaw is doing today in raising this issue, not with standing the fact that I have opened myself to complete scrutiny on all of these issues. I think that Jackson Carlaw is trying to avoid talking about the mess of the Brexit negotiations that his party is making. He talks about a tawdry affair. The tawdry thing happening in Scotland right now is that we are being taken out of the European Union against our will by the Tory Government. Our country faces untold damage because of the chaos and mess that his party is presiding over. What on earth do the Tories think they are doing? That is the tawdry business, and that is what people in Scotland want to hear answers about. The establishment this week of a special committee of inquiry into the Government's handling of serious allegations made against Alex Salmond is an unprecedented step, but a necessary one. It is the right thing to do to rebuild trust and confidence in a system that has been badly dented. However, what also counts is how we conduct ourselves, MSPs, Parliament and Government. Is the First Minister willing to accept that her Government has not conducted itself in a fit and proper way this week by using vocabulary such as vendetta and smear in connection with the case? I have corrected inaccurate claims that were made and I think that that is important. As I said last week, I believe that I and I believe that my Government have acted appropriately in this matter. However, as I said at the weekend when I took the decision to refer myself to the independent advisers, I also believe that it is important to convince the Parliament and the wider public of that. Therefore, I agree with Richard Leonard about the reason for the importance not just of the parliamentary inquiry, but of the decision that I took as well. That is the process, or those are the processes that I think are now necessary. I hope that Richard Leonard will agree with me in the point that I have been making to Jackson Carlaw that it is also important for all of us now to respect the work and the decisions that those inquiries take. We all understand that it is very difficult for the First Minister's party, but that cannot be allowed to overshadow the very serious question of how the First Minister's Government has handled those grave allegations. The First Minister told me last week that, if there is a parliamentary inquiry, we will, of course, make all appropriate information available. Can she confirm today that all appropriate information includes not only all internal Government correspondence but also all internal SNP correspondence? The inquiries will be able to request whatever material they want, and I undertake today that we will provide whatever material the inquiries request. That is the meaning of full, thorough, open inquiries. It will not be for me to decide what material the parliamentary inquiry, when it gets under way, wants to request. My commitment is that the Government and I will co-operate fully with that, and I think that that is appropriate. Richard Leonard talks about difficulties. None of that has gotten the way of me, the Government and my party doing the right thing this week in agreeing to and supporting the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry. It has not gotten the way of me doing what I consider to be the right thing in the referral to the advisers on the ministerial code. I do think that this is a point that Richard Leonard has made, and it is a point that I agree with at the heart of this. It is the part that is more important. It is the part that leads me mostly to regret the error in the Government's process that was made. At the heart of this are women who brought forward complaints, and it is important that we respect the processes in terms of the investigation of those complaints. That means all of us respecting the fact that, as well as the inquiries that we have been talking about today, there is also an on-going police inquiry. I hope that all of us will respect that and how we conduct ourselves over the time to come. Richard Leonard. The First Minister is right that we should not forget that two women have been badly failed by the system, and they are entitled to answers, which is why the parliamentary inquiry must be as thorough as possible. That means applying and following the seven Nolan principles of public life—openness, honesty, leadership, selflessness, accountability, integrity and objectivity. The committee must meet in public. There should be no limit on how long it sits for and how many sittings it has. I hope that the First Minister will agree to that when she replies. However, there is a further issue. According to parliamentary precedent, the position of committee chair is due to be offered to the SNP, but this is an unprecedented situation. This inquiry is about restoring trust and confidence, so will the First Minister's party do the right thing? Will she step aside and ensure that an MSP from another party chairs this inquiry? I think that Richard Leonard, with respect, misunderstands my role in the establishment of this inquiry. It is not me that is establishing the inquiry. It is not me that is deciding who conducts the inquiry, when it sits, how long it sits, what its remit is, who chairs it, who is on the inquiry. Those are decisions for the parliamentary bureau. What I am making very clear is that I will respect whatever decisions the parliamentary bureau makes around that. There would be something deeply wrong if, having supported an inquiry into those matters, I then started to try to dictate—even if it was in responding to questions from Richard Leonard—that I started to dictate the terms on which that inquiry was to be conducted. Those are matters for Parliament. The commitment that I give to Parliament is that I and my Government will co-operate fully whatever the terms Parliament decides on. We have a number of constituency supplementaries. The first is from Mark McDonald. Stony Wood Mill, in my constituency, has been producing paper for 250 years and employs nearly 500 people. This week, the business was placed into administration after a takeover deal collapsed. Those are clearly worrying times for the workforce and their families. I have spoken with the company and union representatives and will continue that dialogue this week. The resolve to secure the future of the business is strong and is shared by all. The Scottish Government has indicated that they and their agencies stand ready to support the business. Can I ask the First Minister if a task force will be established as it has been in other areas, bringing together agencies and stakeholders to look at how best to support the business and help to generate investment, find a new buyer, safeguard highly skilled jobs and secure a positive future for a vital employer in Aberdeen. I thank Mark McDonald for raising this important issue. I was also very concerned to learn of the situation with Argyll Wiggins, which is based in Aberdeen. I can tell the chamber that the Minister for Business has already spoken directly with the managing director of the company and the general manager of the Stony Wood Mill and communicated our full support. He also spoke to United Union this morning. Our focus at this stage is on supporting the business to find a new buyer and on doing all we can to try to minimise the impact on the workforce. Scottish Enterprise has been in contact with the management to support the company in its plans to try to secure a new buyer. In response to the specific question about a task force, we look at whether that kind of approach is appropriate in all of those circumstances. I will ask the Minister for Business to consider that specifically and to correspond or to discuss directly with Mark McDonald how best to bring all the key individuals and organisations together here to make sure that we have the best possible response. BBC social highlighted the practice of gaming by a so-called male pick-up act artist in Glasgow, including footage on Maryhill Road. Although I make no further comment of that specific matter, given that it is now subject to a police investigation, does the First Minister agree with me that it would be a timely opportunity to encourage the public to participate in the Scottish Government's hate crime consultation, which is currently seeking, among other things, the public's views on recommendations around potential changes to the law on gender hostility and the stirring up of hatred? I thank Bob Doris for raising the issue. I am sure that everybody in the chamber would, like me, have been shocked and appalled by the BBC's investigation into so-called gaming. I watched the BBC social film and can say that I was utterly sickened by what I saw. It did indeed, as Bob Doris said, highlight why there is such a clear need for action to be taken to tackle gender-based prejudice and gender-based violence. Lord Bracadale's view in his report on hate crime was that there are patterns of offending, which relate particularly to hatred, based on prejudice towards the victim's gender and which should be addressed through reformed hate crime legislation. The current consultation seeks views on how best to tackle misogyny and gender-based prejudice in Scotland, and I would certainly encourage everyone who has an interest in the area, which should be all of us, to make their views known through the consultation process, which runs until 24 February. The First Minister will be aware of the plight of young people who attended the new school, Butterstone, who were forced out of their specialist boarding school two months ago and have been completely out of the education system in the eight weeks since. What message can she give to the families that are now faced with alternative options, which fall way short of what the new school was providing? And how can councils be better resourced to ensure that there is enough specialist and mainstream provision for pupils with extreme special needs? I thank Matt Ruskell for raising the issue. As I know he and others are aware, the decision to close the school was one taken by the board of the school. It is a sad event, and I have no doubt about the impact that this will have on the whole community, but especially on young people who attended the school. Since board made its decision, all seven local authorities have been working closely with families to identify the appropriate care and support for young people who attended the school. Every family has been offered support in education by the local authority, and for most of the young people, alternative places or interim provision have now been agreed. Of course, the work recognises that challenging individual circumstances of each child or young person have to be taken into account, and that is why local authorities are working closely with families involved. The Deputy First Minister met parents and staff in November last year and listened to the concerns that they have, and he will continue to receive regular updates on progress, and I am sure that we will be happy to leave and discuss again with parents and staff if that would be considered helpful. Jamie Greene, to be followed by Neil Bibby. I have been contacted by the concerned family of a 90-year-old lady who lives alone on the Isle of Arran. They have asked that I do not name her publicly in the chamber today, but I am happy to provide details and private. She suffers from macular degeneration, memory loss and mobility issues. Her family requested social care at home, and it was told that this is not possible due to staff shortages on the island, despite having been assessed as requiring it several times a day. Are you confident that this is an example of a Government that is delivering its flagship policy of free personal care people in Scotland? Whatever happened to the commitment to island-proof access to public services? Jamie Greene will appreciate that. I do not know the details of this individual case. It certainly raises concerns in my mind. I know with the health secretary as well. I completely understand why he has not named the individual, but if he wants to pass, as he indicated, he would, the details to me and to Gene Freeman, I can give an undertaking that we will look into that as quickly as possible and then reply to him. I do not want to assume that that suggests that there are wider issues here, but if there are any wider issues that this case suggests, I do not play here. That is something that the health secretary will discuss with the local health board and the local authority. We are very happy to look into this and take whatever action is considered necessary. Neil Bibby At a time when council budgets are under pressure and teachers are raising concern about workload, SNP-led Renfrewshire Council will this afternoon consider increasing primaries to class sizes from 25 to 30. Is this not another example of the impact Scottish Government cuts are having on local communities, including in the finance secretary's own back yard? What does that say about the First Minister's statements both that local councils are getting a fair funding deal and that education is her number one priority? In the draft budget, we offer to local government a real-terms increase in the funding that they have for day-to-day services like education. We also have seen in the last couple of years a rise in the number of teachers working in our schools. Obviously, we will have discussions and votes in the chamber on the budget over the next few weeks. I repeat the offer that I have previously made to Richard Leonard to Neil Bibby. If Neil Bibby's view is that the Government should be making additional resources available to local government, then we are very happy to listen to suggestions from Labour about where those resources should come from. There are no unallocated resources in the draft budget, but we remain happy to discuss with other parties. If Labour ever gets round to bringing forward any constructive suggestions, we will be happy to engage with those. To listen to the opening questions from Labour and the Conservatives, we would be forgiven for thinking that the country was not facing the biggest political crisis for generations. Perhaps that tells us something about why a Parliament dominated by those two parties has brought us to a situation in which the word omni shambles sounds like timid understatement. I recognise the First Minister's position that extending or revoking article 50 is necessary and that a people's vote is necessary. Those options clearly must be taken, and both Maze deal and No Deal have clearly been rejected. The UK Government must be under pressure to accept that. However, the First Minister has also said for a long time that the case for Scottish independence depends on a material change of circumstances. Given the level of chaos, there is no single aspect of those circumstances that has not changed beyond recognition since 2016. The First Minister has spoken to the Prime Minister this week. Can she confirm that she explicitly raised independence during that discussion and make the case for Scotland's right to decide about our own future in that conversation with the Prime Minister? I think that the Prime Minister is very well aware of my views on independence. I support independence and I think that the sooner Scotland is independent, the better for all of us. On the issue of Brexit, I think that Patrick Harvie is absolutely right. The Prime Minister right now is in the process of driving the whole of the UK off of a cliff edge, but right now Jeremy Corbyn is sitting in the passenger seat of that car taking the UK off that cliff edge. It is disgraceful the way in which both the Government at Westminster and the official opposition have failed to stop this catastrophe developing. Obviously, there is some water to go under the Brexit bridge over the next few weeks, but let me be very clear about this. As Patrick Harvie has said, I think that the case for independence and support for independence grows with every day that passes. I think that it is essential, given the catastrophe that Scotland faces to our economy, to our society, to living standards, to prospects for the next generation, to our reputation in the world, that that option of independence must be open to people in Scotland. When people in Scotland have the ability to choose independence, I believe that the country will opt to be an independent country. Patrick Harvie. It is extraordinary that, two and a half years since the EU referendum, there is no more clarity within the mind of the UK Government about the future than there was at the start of the process. With just 10 weeks to go until the UK Government's self-imposed Brexit deadline for which they are completely unprepared, surely nobody except the disaster capitalists of the Brexit extremists can think that the time can be simply allowed to tick away. At the very least, extension of the process is surely inevitable now. Yesterday, the First Minister said that she will have more to say about the timing of an independence vote in the coming weeks. In the face of this incompetent misrule from Westminster, that clarity is absolutely needed. Can the First Minister confirm that that timing of information in the next few weeks will be the case even if article 50 is extended? The First Minister. Yes. I will expand on that, because I enjoy talking about those things. Patrick Harvie is absolutely right when he says that extension of article 50 is essential now. Theresa May has wasted time. It seems to me that her tactic has been to run down the clock to try to hope that she can panic people into backing her deal, the one that was rejected in a historic defeat in the House of Commons this week. It seems to me that Jeremy Corbyn is quite happy to almost collude with her in doing that. That cannot be allowed to happen. Article 50 should be extended. Across the UK, the issue of EU membership should go back to the electorate. Of course, it could be that the extension of article 50 is simply a reprieve from Brexit and not a solution for Brexit. Yes, there is water to go under the bridge in the next matter of weeks. When it is done so, I will make my views on the timing of a choice on independence clear. It is then, of course, for all of us who support independence—and that certainly includes me and Patrick Harvie—to get out there and make the case. I believe that that case has been strengthened by what has happened in the past two and a half years. If we get out and make that case, people in Scotland will choose to be an independent country and we can get on with building a better future than the one offered to us by the chaos and incompetence of Westminster. A further couple of supplementaries. The first is Julian Martin. Thank you, Presiding Officer. We know that Theresa May's proposed deal is finished. A confidence vote to force a general election has failed and a no deal Brexit is unthinkable. For any progress to be made to the end of Brexit still made, does the First Minister agree that we need a second EU referendum and call on Labour to join us in that demand? It is time for Jeremy Corbyn and Labour to get off the fence that they have been sitting on for so long on this. Labour's position was that they wanted to try and have a general election, first to force a general election. There was the debate and vote of no confidence in the Government yesterday. SNP MPs voted to have no confidence in the Government. We backed Labour in that attempt, but that did not pass. There is not going to be a general election right now, and therefore the time is right, and the time is urgent and pressing for Jeremy Corbyn to say whether or not he backs a second EU referendum. I call on him today to do so without further delay, because the longer he prevaricates, the more he becomes just as responsible as the Tories for the disaster that the UK is now facing. Cancer touches us all, so as the co-convener of the cross-party group on cancer, today I am pleased to be part of publishing the report into the implementation of the Scottish Government's cancer strategy. This was led by experts, professionals, charities and campaigners. This report supports the ambition of the Government strategy, recognises where progress has been made but also highlights areas of concern, which will ultimately mean that the strategy will not be implemented in full by the end of the Parliament as promised. Does the First Minister recognise the impact of workforce planning issues and high vacancy rates in undermining the ability to diagnose early, to treat quickly and therefore improve survival rates? I welcome the implementation report that has been published by the cross-party group on cancer. It says that real progress has been made. The report, as Anna Sarwar has said, marks the halfway point in the strategy's five-year lifetime. It finds that 47 out of 54 of the strategy's actions and investments have been completed or are on track. It does raise concerns around staffing, and we recognise that there are challenges in recruiting the right specialist staff for some services, which is why the Scottish Cancer Task Force is already feeding into the development of our integrated workforce plan, which aims to address workforce needs right across Scotland. I would simply say in passing that, of course, the challenges of staffing are going to be exacerbated by the prospect of Brexit. I think that that is something that all of us should keep in mind. I know that the health secretary met the cancer coalition earlier today to discuss how we continue to drive forward the strategy. However, the implementation report that has been published by the cross-party group will be a helpful contribution to making sure that we do exactly that. Gordon MacDonald The UK Government this week announced using Brexit as a smokescreen that pensioners living with a younger partner would be forced to move to universal credit rather than pension credit, costing couples up to £7,000 a year. Does the First Minister agree that this shameful approach to our pensioners should be ditched immediately, and will she join me in once again demanding a halt to universal credit? The First Minister It is interesting that whenever universal credit is raised to look across and see how many Conservative members are studiously looking at their phones rather than engaging in the discussion, the decision is absolutely shameful. Basically, it says to pensioners that, in future, if one pensioner's partner is under pensionable age, they will require to apply for universal credit. That may not sound a particularly big thing until you consider that that will cost some of the poorest pensioners in the country up to £7,000 a year. It is absolutely disgraceful, and yet another reason why universal credit should be halted in its tracks. I repeat again today the call that I have made many times for the UK Government to do just that, but I also repeat the call that I have made many times in the past for responsibility for those matters to come to the Scottish Parliament so that we can take our own decisions and not be at the mercy of the decisions taken by an uncaring, unfeeling Conservative Government. What progress has been made in reaching a deal over teacher pay? Negotiations are on-going and progress is being made. The Scottish Government has made an enhanced proposal to the EIS and has asked COSLA to also agree that. That proposal would mean that all teachers would receive a minimum 9 per cent increase between January 2018 and April 2019, with a further 3 per cent in April 2020. That is a clear indication of our commitment to recruit and retain teachers, and it is the best offer in the public sector anywhere in the UK. I urge COSLA to adopt that proposal as a formal offer, a necessary step to resolving the dispute, and if it does so, I also urge the teaching unions to consider that favourably so that we can bring discussions to a positive conclusion. Clare Adamson, I thank the First Minister for that answer. Can I ask her to confirm that the funding for the pay increase will come from government in addition to the enhanced local government settlement for the coming year? What timescales are going ahead for finding agreement out of all parties involved in the process? First Minister, yes, I can confirm that any additional budget allocation to fund a negotiated agreement will be met by the Scottish Government and that that will be in addition to the enhanced local government settlement for the coming year. It will not come from the education budget. On timing, teachers' pay negotiations of course are a matter for the Scottish negotiating committee for teachers. However, the next SNCT pay meeting is scheduled for 28 January, when we hope that all parties can reach agreement on an offer that can be put to the teacher union's membership, hopefully for ratification. Tavish Scott Why does the First Minister believe that teachers are contemplating strike action? Teachers want to see a good pay rise. I believe that they are being offered a good pay rise. I believe that they were being offered a good pay rise, but the enhanced offer underlines that fact. I stress that point again. If the enhanced offer that is made by the Scottish Government is firstly agreed to by COSLA and then agreed to by teachers, it will mean that in April this year teachers' salaries will increase by 9 per cent compared with what a teacher will get in their pay packet this month. That will be the best pay rise for any public sector worker anywhere in the UK. It is a good offer and I really hope that we can, over the next few weeks, get to a point where it is accepted. It is fair to teachers. It is also affordable, and that is a key consideration for the Government. It means that we will resolve a dispute over pay, and that absolutely is in the interests of young people across the country. Miles Briggs To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to a letter signed by all stroke clinicians in Scotland calling for urgent introduction of a thrombectomy service. The First Minister Thrombectomy for stroke is a relatively new clinical intervention. We recognise that it can significantly improve outcomes and quality of life for people who have suffered an ischemic stroke. That is why the directors of planning thrombectomy advisory group have produced a national planning framework for the provision of this intervention for Scotland. The framework will be presented to the national planning board at their January meeting and will then provide the basis for the implementation and spread of thrombectomy provision in Scotland. Miles Briggs I raised this issue with the First Minister in September. I know that she is aware that the NHS England's long-term NHS plan makes a commitment to invest further in thrombectomy services in England. That is expected to not only improve care but also to deliver in long-term care costs reductions. As it stands, Scotland has no thrombectomy service whatsoever in NHS Lothian having withdrawn that service last year. Will she guarantee today that stroke patients in Scotland will be able to receive a thrombectomy this year? What we are working towards is the provision of a service. Of course, as I understand it, similar work will be under way in England. This is a relatively new clinical intervention, so it is important to ensure that services are safe and that they deliver high quality to patients that the proper work in planning is undertaking. As I said in my initial answer, the advisory group has produced a national planning framework that will provide the basis for developing a service in Scotland. That framework will be presented to the national planning board this month. At that point, we will be able to take decisions about how we are going to roll that out. That is something that the health secretary will keep the chamber fully updated on. Monica Lennon Can the First Minister confirm whether the commitment to thrombectomy in NHS England's long-term plan comes with equivalent Barnett consequentials and by how much? Will she guarantee that any such consequentials will be invested in supporting the further development of thrombectomy to make sure that we do not fall behind the rest of the UK and Europe? I will get back to the member on whether there is a specific provision in consequentials flowing from the decision in England. I suspect not. I think that decision came after. The budget decisions are often rolled up and are not specific to what particular lines they flow from. As I have set out, we are determined to see a service rolled out in Scotland, but it is vital that that is done on the basis of proper clinical planning. That is why the process that I outlined in response to the previous question is so important. As I said earlier on, decisions will be able to be taken after the national planning board this month, and Jeane Freeman will keep members who have an interest in that fully updated. Alex Rowley To ask the First Minister what impact reduction to local government budgets could have on the national performance framework. Despite a reduction to the Scottish Government budget as a result of UK Government austerity, we have maintained the overall funding for local government as a share of overall spending at around 27 per cent. We have also provided a real-terms increase in both the revenue and capital support that we provide to them in our most recent budget. The national performance framework sets a clear purpose to create a more successful country with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish. Providing local government with a real-terms funding increase reaffirms our commitment to a strong partnership with local government and will allow us to meet our shared ambitions for the people and the communities that we serve. Alex Rowley That is good and well, but the reality for the majority of people is real cuts to local services in communities up and down Scotland, and £5 million is being cut from front-line school budgets. In Clackmannanshire, a council on the brink of claps and Edinburgh, a bins line uncollected because of cuts. In Highlands and in the Borders, closing public toilets, closing leisure facilities, right across Scotland, libraries, music lessons, swimming pools, education, social care, cuts, cuts, cuts. When is the First Minister going to wake up to the reality of, yes, fail to a rhiasterity, but also the failure of her Government when it comes to protecting vital public services? Will she agree to personally meet council leaders and hear first hand the desperate situation that councils are in as a direct result of successive SNP budgets? I am sure that Alex Rowley would recognise that the Scottish Government's budget over this decade has been cut in real terms. That creates a significant problem for the Scottish Government. Notwithstanding that, the draft budget that Derek Mackay put forward before the end of the year offers a real-terms increase to local government. We do not suggest that that makes life easy. I come back to the point that I have made several times in the chamber. We have allocated every penny available to us in that budget. We have given £700 million more than £700 million extra to health services, a real-terms increase for local government. If Labour wants to propose alterations to that budget, it is not enough to say where they want to spend more money, they have to also set out their suggestions from where that money comes from. Labour thus far, unless the finance secretary is going to tell me that he has had something very recently, Labour has not yet made any budget proposals to the Scottish Government. Alex Rowley asked me about personally meeting people. If Labour wants to come forward with suggestions for where we take money in the Scottish budget to give more money to local government, I will personally meet Richard Leonard and anybody else, but I am still waiting on those proposals. Maybe they will come this afternoon. Maybe they will come next week. Let's wait and see. John Scott The First Minister will be aware that, in South Ayrshire, there is a £17.1 million budget shortfall. With regard to social care performance indicators, the First Minister should also be aware that around 60 hospital patients are awaiting discharge from hospital because South Ayrshire Council is unable to provide packages of care for those patients, as there is no funding. Will the Scottish Government consider further support to South Ayrshire Council to deal specifically with that problem? Those are really important issues that John Scott is raising, but the lack of self-awareness of Tory MPs is quite staggering. He talks about shortage of resources. Can I remind the member that the Scottish Government's budget has been reduced in real terms by decisions taken by his party at Westminster over this period? Can I also gently remind the member that, if we were to follow the budget proposals that were put forward by his party in this chamber to give tax cuts to the highest earners in Scotland, we would be faced with taking an additional £550 million out of budgets for schools, hospitals and other public services. The Tories really have no shame at all—cutting our budget, calling for tax cuts that would cut our budget even further, and yet calling for more money. Maybe when the Tories get their own sums to add up, they will be taken seriously when they ask questions like that in this chamber. Thank you. That concludes First Minister's questions. We are going to move on shortly to members' business in the name of Edward Mountain on fairer hospital TV charges, but we are just going to have a short suspension while the public gallery has time to change and ministers and members to move seats.


Great it looks like we are live Awesome. Hi everyone. Welcome to another product school talk. I was very excited to be here with all of you Just want to make sure that everyone can see us and hear us I'm checking in and it looks like we're good If you can hear me type book in the comments and you're going to get a free copy of the product book So you guys can type that in and it looks like we Awesome. Hi everyone. Welcome to great Okay, so as as you guys know we teach product management coding and data there's six campuses and we host these talks every week Today's guest is going to talk to us about different challenges that are faced in product management So let me introduce you to Sanjay He was previously the VP of product at Motorola and now he's the VP of product and engineering at Y Y City Y Tri City Welcome Sanjay. How are you doing today? Awesome? Thank you. Thanks for the introduction Great now, I know you have a presentation set up So if you if you want to take a second to screen share that and just letting everybody know that following his Presentation we're going to take Q&A and you can type in your questions in the Facebook comments and we'll take them from there So Sanjay, I'll let you take it from here for now Well, thank you Cassandra. Really appreciate that and and glad to be here and thanks everyone for joining and Really, you know, what I wanted to do was Share my experiences product managing Products that had you know a component of I would say hardware software for where everything and I think It's typically a little bit different than products that are just software So let me start with a little story I used to have a partner who I used to go visit and at the reception in the soft as there used to be a little Plack with hardware is hard and this was clearly a company That was building hardware and they used to take pride in hardware is hard and I always used to think why is hardware hard hard There's no reason why hardware should be hard hardware should be well soft and easy, right? So really what I will do today is I'll talk to you about my philosophy of product management and how product management of hardware products that have a hardware component is Is a little bit different and unique and what you need to do based on my experiences and my learning My only regret today is you know, we only have 30 minutes. So really I think What we will have the opportunity to do here today is to kind of expose you to a lot of differences We're probably you're gonna say, hey, you know, you left us with a lot of questions Certainly reach out to me and we could probably have a follow-up session at a later date where we can dive into More in-depth and it's certainly a topic that we can you know go on for for hours in this so, okay An interesting story and I think you know product management is never taught in school, right? You know, you can go to the best colleges and they don't talk you how to build products So what I thought which was very interesting is I can probably start by sharing my story of how I got into product management, right and Just so you know, I started out my career as being a geek I take a lot of pride in being a geek and I had this little pet program that I was working on the side To really build a Phone that had Wi-Fi on it and could make calls over Wi-Fi using voice over IP and this is I'm talking, you know early 2000s and Today it seems like okay, we all take it for granted but in those days This was like Sanjay. It makes zero sense.  I've overcome all of them So I had a you know a senior VP and GM of the business for the GSM Smartphone business it was actually just phones in those days. He said Sanjay, you know what? I'll give you I think there's something here. Let's maybe try and create a business and So he said Sanjay here is an engineering team for you.  Let me give you a full engineering team and let me go find you a Business executive who can work with you to make this happen So I said build that's a deal done. Let's go do it. I You know, I got my team I started working on it to try make this into a product and he bill came back to me three months later and says Sanjay I've tried very hard and Really, I cannot find any Anybody who's willing to sign up to doing this and commercializing this thing that you're working on it. I just can't find it So he said Sanjay, there are only two options you have Either we shut this thing down because clearly I'm worried there is no business here. Nobody believes in this thing or I Know you are passionate about this thing.  So, you know, what I'll do is I'm going to Stop my story for a little bit talk about product management and we'll come back to the story. So this story is a very interesting story It's really about how you bring to market disruptive products and how you manage products that are new and different But anyway, so this is how I got into product management. This was my first product trying to bring to market Industries first vice over IP phone with Wi-Fi on it, right? so Let me just start with my My theory that I've come up with myself, you know, Stu How do you do product management since certainly I did not have The benefit of the product school and somebody telling me how to do it in a systematic way. So I learned it the hardware and So the first thing is, you know, which I want everybody to remember is hardware products are still at the end Just products, right? so All of the product management that you learn here and the wisdom that, you know, your colleagues can offer Still apply, right? So when in doubt go with your gut go based on what you know and my Product management the way I try and look at it. It has really, you know You're trying to have balance a lot of different things And there are three very fundamental things that you need to manage and everything else probably falls into one of these three buckets And since I'm an engineer, I'm a geek. So I'm gonna start with the feasibility, right? Whatever you do, it better be technically feasible if the best engineers in the organization come and say it's not feasible You can build up all the business plans and say I've got a great market It counts for nothing if it's not if you can't build it in a realistic time frame and bring it to market, right? So once you can build something or you believe you can build something it doesn't mean you go actually build it You really have to answer the question who is going to buy this product, right? So are you really satisfying a need that a customer has? Right or a consumer has you really have to dig in deep and ask and convince yourself That yes, there is a need, right? So this is really the the customer slash consumer part and Then the third part which is equally important is there's no point building something and yes I can find some customers, but if you can't make any money selling it or You know, whatever the appropriate success metric is for the business whether it's the number of subscribers make money revenue margin Whatever it may be right, you know your CFO and your CEO is going to define Hey, this is what the business objectives are for us and your For you, right? We have to make sure that we can actually satisfy Those business requirements and I kind of put them in the bucket of return, right? And it's never a process that you say I have a feasibility I verified the needs Now I can go show business and let's go build a product It's really typically what I find it being an iterative process you have a rough idea as to what you can do Then you say, okay, does it satisfy the itch for the consumer? And by the way, how much is the consumer willing to pay for a product and does it make sense here, right? So I want to go back to my voice over IP Phone story again for a second because it's very important because when I got handed over this business and this big task and I was clearly You know in deep water myself or at least felt that way to me was I have only technical feasibility and now I have no idea Well, how to go make a business and the best people in the organization. I said they don't want to touch it When I proved a little bit deeper. I found out the reason why nobody wanted to have anything to do with this was because Motorola worked with all the cellular customers And the cellular customers like T-Mobile and Verizon and AT&T And they're equivalent in those days Said we are paying money for spectrum And suddenly if You can take our services and move them to unlicensed spectrum It's not good. You're cannibalizing my business. So we are not willing to sign up for this. You guys just go away They all got thrown out of the room right So I'm scratching my head and saying, okay, if I really believe in this what am I going to do? So I said, okay, let me look at people who don't have spectrum But who still want to offer mobility, right? And I found The cable companies, right, you know, Comcast and cable vision and so on and you know, there are equivalents in Europe Who want to offer mobile services, but they have fixed line big fat pipes to your home But they really can't offer mobility And then there was an interesting upcoming operator in those days T-Mobile Who had some cellular licenses, but really did not have a lot of spectrum Right, so they said, yes, Angie, you know, we're we're willing to sign up for something like this. This is very attractive So you can see, you know, our traditional customers didn't have the needs So I really went to find the customers who would actually have a need So it's not our established customer that who were we were doing business with But I really had to go work very hard to find actually the customers who actually were be willing to pay for something Like this in the case the return the cost of the phone itself wasn't actually a big issue for us You know, they were more than happy to pay whatever I was going to ask them But talking about needs I only had one small part of the puzzle so So this phone actually my first customer was noof in France, which is channel 9 and They loved the thing and they're ready to launch in two months six weeks before the launch Suddenly it occurred to them and clearly I was kicking myself. Why did I not probe them on this was Sunday, we are a cable company. We offer video We're gonna launch this device which does voice Doesn't have any video. We need a streaming video service of this Right shame on me for not having figured this out earlier That there's a customer who is going to have a need of course, you know, that wasn't my research area That wasn't what I was working on But as a product manager, that was my job to have sorted that out so Luckily, you know, I was doing product management and also engineering if you remember earlier, I was doing the whole thing I said fine. I got my engineering team together and said guys We're going to have to build a streaming video solution in six weeks we had the video solution working on as well and we launched the device and And you know, it was actually we made a lot of money on this product and That was really the start of I probably don't want to get into the story But when you see how voice over IP and how voice is done over 4g lte today The way I did this phone is actually exactly how it's done today This has now become the industry standard that I actually take a lot of pride in which is pretty awesome in terms of The legacy That is left behind But I also want to talk a little bit about you know for success in any job It's very important to know all the stuff that can be written in books and we can you know say Hey, this is the recipe you do your spreadsheets You balance your needs and technical feasibility and return for the business and you can do all all of that stuff The one thing that I have learned Is behaviors are especially in the product management context are absolutely essential for success Right and the one skill that I find myself Having used the most Is your ability to sell? right What is a product manager selling at the end a product manager is selling his vision of the product at the end Right and you have to convince all the different constituencies Right You have an engineering team. You have your cfo. You have your gm. You have to convince customers, right to everybody to sign off And agree and work to making your vision of the product happen and at the end it becomes Your ability To sell successfully, right? So if there is one skill that you need to succeed and by the way product management Is is the ability to sell your ideas your vision? It's not just reserved for the guys who have sales on their business card, right? Each one of us to succeed in a corporate career You really need to perfect the art of selling the art of influence and And I really like to say, you know, you really have to learn to sell without requiring PowerPoint At the end, you really have to be able to deliver and communicate In a very quick easy way What you're trying to get done and you know, I think Everybody should at least read the selling one-to-one Book if you haven't I think it will really help you in your in your product management roles Okay, so so let's talk a little bit about what makes hardware A little bit different and why do most people say hardware is hard, right? I think everybody by now realizes right, you know, nobody gets a product right in the first time it does take iterations The challenge when you're building hardware is each iteration takes time Right unlike software That you can build and roll out and test, you know, even potentially every day if you so desire to Hardware iterations usually take time, right? Even if you throw a lot of money at it It probably takes you A minimum of two weeks if you had everything in your own building Your by chance you're working with somebody in Asia. It may take you actually four weeks or so, right iterations take time and that limits How fast you can move in some and how you do your planning and iterations The second thing is iterations are expensive Right, not just the fact that the iterations take time. It actually costs money Right and a lot of money. It's not just hey the few engineers who have to work an extra day or so this is really about You know, your PCB is getting fabricated your parts getting shot Shot new tools may have to be defined and so on right. So all of this takes time and money And it's really the constraint is really around how many dollars is somebody willing to give you and say you can spend on building this product And then the one other thing which is not necessarily unique to building hardware But certainly in hardware it does become A lot of your challenge is the amount of regulatory safety and how long testing takes right And regulatory environment, you know, you may have to do EMI testing. You may have to make sure it doesn't You know shock something and kill it No kid is going to choke over this product There's a whole bunch of requirements that you have to satisfy which You know, it's largely software only products do not have to Deal with right and these are some of the challenges which make hardware difficult And you know, you look at these these challenges are really engineering challenges But these engineering challenges really end up impacting how you do product management and how You have to drive decisions from a product management perspective Right But let's take You know, engineering is just one part of product management. The other important aspects are You have to launch this product, right? And when you're dealing with hardware, unfortunately It gets really really challenging because unlike software that you can roll out and if you don't like it You can do an update to it, right? You know, you've seen apps that get updated literally every week even today, right? So people are Perfecting things on the fly a software app can remain in perpetual beta in some cases You really can do this with hardware, right? You know, just imagine how much money it takes to launch a hardware product Just to have one in every store so that people can touch and feel your hardware product You have to spend billions of dollars and just building that much and we're not even trying to build inventory yet, right? Uh So the amount of investment you need Is very high and for that reason your appetite to take risk goes down Now today, yes, you know, there was a time when we could not do OTA in terms of former you have that capability now But still the fundamental challenges haven't gone away that you have to be a lot more Part through and think through before you actually invest in launching from a product management perspective a product That requires you just can't sense a bit over a cable and it shows up and you say i'm happy with that, right? You know, you're literally going to have ship somebody a box Right. The other thing is and you know, you look at okay What is the cost of getting it wrong? Maybe Well, if you get it wrong you end up with a whole lot of inventory Right, and i'll tell you having worked with so many vcs. No vc likes to invest money in inventory They're very happy to have you a lot of patents. They'll invest in everything but inventory right because inventory Does not appreciate like fine wine. It's not it value is not going up inventory of product sitting in a warehouse It value only goes down every day, right? So really what it means is you as a product managed Management executive you have a lot riding on the success. You really have to be very very deliberate And part through and think through everything before you actually launch Launch the product Let me tell you about uh, I know you probably have a bunch of questions. We'll get to them in a second What have I learned? How have I learned to manage the complexity of uh, products that have a significant Hardware component and the first thing is, you know, this is something that I learned very early in my life Even before I started doing product management. We as engineers kind of learned to embrace complexity We need to do exactly the opposite learn to simplify everything There is no better friend of yours than simplicity if you think something is too complex for you to be able to explain to somebody In two or three sentences. Maybe you're doing something wrong, right just rethink Kind of taking a problem and taking a product and dividing it into its component pieces Uh, kind of modularizing the larger product actually helps Something that I typically try to do is to separate to the degree that's possible The mechanical from the electrical and hardware and the software and firmware, right because they all three of them Have their own time scales in which they need to move at Right. So what you really need to do is to work with your program manager and really understand what decisions need to be made at what time and But they all have to come together now this strategy actually Works 99 percent of the time There's only one product that I did where I actually regretted having modularized this But probably that's more of an exception rather than a rule. So I'm going to keep it aside But something that I want every product manager to think about, you know, be very deliberate think about is this problem Can I modularize it? Can I separate my mechanical design from my electrical design? From my firmware software design and to what degree can I separate them? The other thing is decision making you as a product manager are going to have to make lots and lots of decisions right You really have to understand What decisions you need to make when you don't make a decision too early or you make a decision too late You know, both of them have its challenges, right and you're going to be making a decision always with Without having all the data that you wish you had unfortunately and especially when you're launching A completely new product that is more than just an iteration of something that has been done before You really don't have a lot of data to go Make your decisions on right so you really have to Develop a level of comfort With being uncomfortable, right? So, you know, if I walk into my office in the morning And I don't have little my stomach churning a little bit. I always worried about that day. Okay. What's going on today? There's something I'm missing today, right? And then the last thing is You know as a product manager, you will always have to learn to be in the spotlight, right? You get to enjoy the spotlight But also the harsh spotlight when you make maybe sometimes, you know bad decisions and and everybody will make them There's nobody who's going to bat You know, 1000% all the time, right? You're you're going to make mistakes You really have to learn To enjoy the spotlight being on you, right?  You have to learn to perform and enjoy Right what I really enjoy about building Kazima products is you get to You know consumers are very unforgiving you get to Compete every six months launching a new product and showing that you can you still got it You can still do an awesome awesome product, right? So you really learn to enjoy and embrace it, right? Don't be shy. Don't run away from it You have to really own on the product Okay, I think we probably may have taken kassandra more time than I probably should have I know people probably have a lot of questions here Uh, so I think we'll probably take a breather and then answer any questions that the team has Sure, absolutely. Um, we can we can take a few questions here. Definitely. We've had some questions come in So but first I want to thank you for their great presentation. Um, and and really inspiring points at the end um Guys also just a reminder to if you if you typed in book earlier There was a slight delay. I feel free to type it in again and um, and we'll get that over to you So the first question comes Let's see. I'm going to scroll through here and and and pick out one. So the first one is from francisco um First he said thank you for the presentation sanjay um How do you distinguish product managers and project managers responsibilities or what advice can you give to a junior product manager? Great question francesca, right so A project manager and sometimes I also call them program managers are Folks who manage the schedule Right, they are not the people making trade-offs with features is this feature in and out What is the value proposition of the of the product? How am I going to sell it market it? Right, how do I communicate value proposition? That's not what a project manager does right a product manager is the one Who articulates at the end? What is the vision for the product? What is the product going to do and very importantly? What is the product not going to do right? If I say one of the most important decisions For a product manager is is the definition of the product, right? You let the program manager or the project manager own the schedule The engineering lead can own the schedule and his job to execute to whatever was agreed to you Right, but the most important function of a product manager is To own the feature set and the product definition Great awesome. Thank you. Um our next question is from anthony Is there any way to develop hardware in an iterative agile way or is hardware really locked into a waterfall development model? Just given all the challenges that you presented and was there ever a version 2.0 of your iPhone You know great great question. So one is I and maybe I should have clarified this Hardware I develop hardware using an iterative methodology, right? I have never advocated I never will to do anything in waterfall until unless you're building the next jumbo jet or whatever, right? Or the cost of failure is so high that That really there's no other easy way. No, I actually follow a strategy Which is build and fail fast even in hardware, right? How can you reduce the time of each iteration? Right, and this is where dollars and cents come in depending on how much budget may be at your disposal There may be ways And and we can talk offline if needed as to how you can do iterations faster, right? Really, I'm a big fan of that. The other thing which I actually do when you do any hardware product At every iteration even if the earliest iterations I actually Put it in the hands of real Consumers right be it my family be it my colleagues people who have zero hand And zero emotional attachment to the product as it is defined or as they've built it, right? So this way I can get the unadulterated feedback early in a safe and secure way Right, and then I can use that feedback to do my next iteration typically And I'm just talking typically based on my experience when I build a hardware product I usually plan for at least three iterations that I'm going to have to go through Before I can get it right. I am not expecting Anybody to get a hardware product right in the first iteration and if somebody says they can then I'm probably challenging them They're maybe doing something else which is wrong like sandbagging the schedules and a whole bunch of other stuff Okay Awesome. Well, we have we have just a couple minutes left. So I'm going to take this last question here. Um, this is from Mehmet, uh, thanks for the great presentation Sanjay again My question is what software or tools do you use for your daily work that are specific to product management? Okay, that's that's an interesting question. You know, I am a person who is very light on process personally, but that just me My own personal biases Typically, you know, when you're capturing product requirements and feature sets and so on You can use a tool built for capturing requirements even an excel spreadsheet does the trick Sometimes I've even used powerpoint to be able to communicate and get sign off so that people are in agreement, right? So I'm less about The tools per se, but what is the content of what you're trying to get done, right? I want to make sure That the tool doesn't become more important than what the tool is supposed to help you with right And what's supposed to help you what you really need is a very good shared definition Of the product that everybody can align Right and a process to make sure that as you evolve the definition of the product as time moves on Everybody has a way to make sure they can all stay aligned right every product as it changes and we talked about doing iterations Inevitably, there'll be some feedback. Hey, I need to change the color. I need to move the buttons from a to b I need to change the camera resolution. I need to do 20 other things Right there has to be a clear way when everybody's running yet supersonic speeds Everybody can stay on the same page in terms of what were the latest changes Agreed to on a product right and for that purpose. I absolutely insist on having a meeting with every stakeholder For the product to sit down and make sure we can all align in a 30 minute meeting standing only meeting that we can All agree changes made Changes suggested but rejected whatever happened, but everybody's on the same page and we can all go back to doing our work So so hopefully that helps mammoth Yeah Definitely he said so art is more important than the science exactly Great. Um, well, thank you again. Sanjay really appreciate you taking the time to hang out with us today I did want to ask you before before we let you go If you could offer up any advice to aspiring product managers What would you know in terms of a recipe? I did read the book Cassandra that you give out For the for the few people who followed your instructions. I would say read that book You know product management is a very very new Discipline it's not something that is taught in any school any university Trust me. I spent more years than I actually want to now in school And nobody ever told me How to build products, right? And I think this is the first time I've actually seen something That tries to boil down The folklore about product management and how to build products into something That you can learn and follow the other thing and this is you know something that I have experienced Uh Product management is a very fulfilling job, right? When you have contributed and led a product and when it starts to ship and your kids can see it on the shelf or your Family and friends can see it on the shelf and they know You led The realization of this product that is an incredible high, right? You know, there is no high that equals the pleasure that you derive from Your product being on amazon or best buy or target or wherever, right? You know that makes it all worth it in a way all the The sweat and the tears that go into building a product really worth it for me Great awesome. Thank you. Thank you again. I see we have a few more people typing book in there as well so You guys will all get a free copy and thanks to everyone for joining us and and sanjay great presentation and Thank you. Really great advice Thank you my pleasure. Thanks everyone Awesome. Well, great guys.


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What is going on guys welcome back to the channel critical overlord here in this beat I'm just gonna be sharing my thoughts on the theory that's been making its way around the internet It's actually been a theory that's been around for a few years now. This theory originates from to the year 2013 I got this from Screen rent and we got this covered they took a took a theory from a blog This original theory comes from a blog back from 2013 Talking about the fact that Michael Myers might not be our actual villain in the Halloween franchise But he while he's a bill. He's a villain. He's also a villain that started off as a as a victim So the theory basically is elaborating on the fact that Michael Myers was manufactured and created by his own doctor Dr. Sam Loomis while they were Together during those 15 years while he was still at Smith's Grove before he broke out It also goes into details about Michael having assistance from getting getting out of Smith's Grove by Loomis himself how Loomis is basically was Before I get ahead of myself, I'll just I'll just Preface what I find interesting about this this whole entire theory. It's interesting to consider this now Knowing what we got in the 2018 film because we got something that almost mirrors it mirrors this theory exactly a doctor that is very fascinated in the in the mechanisms of a Patient who is virtually insane. There's no help for this person. Do you everyone has deemed Michael as a lost cause? He's the embodiment of evil Starts dr. Sartain basically is fulfilling this this theory in a way Because of the fact that in Halloween 2018, we know that dr. Sartain. He's the reason that Or it's implied that he's the reason that Michael got out. He's also the one that set Michael Set Michael on track to have a final clash with Laurie strolled because he was just fascinated of While Michael was his patient as to why Michael went after her what made him tick what made him kill Judith all these years ago We don't specifically know what went on during that time Sartain spent with Michael between 78 to 2018 but it's just very very Coincidence it's such a coincidence to me. I find it very odd and ironic that What happened with Sartain almost mirrors exactly what this theory is talking about when it comes to dr. Loomis And what happened in the 1978 film? So the theory again is reiterating that We we don't know what happened in between 19 the 60s when Michael killed Judith to 1978 all we know is brief details and What dr. Loomis has to say because Michael hasn't spoken for 15 years at this point? Michael hasn't spoken apparently since the night that he killed Judith but an important thing to remember about the night he killed Judith and that brief moment Where we do see his face at the end of the 1978 film. There's almost like this confused innocent Innocent child look on him like he doesn't know any he has no idea or Comprehension of what he's doing and he he feels some type of remorse for it But he just for some reason he can't stop something is making him do these things and he the look on his face After he kills Judith and his parents find him to the look He has when Laurie removes his mask for a brief second in the 1978 film Both of those expressions are very similar in the fact that Michael looks stunned and shocked and horrified at these actions He's committing and he's almost childlike like he he looks like he he doesn't know What to do he doesn't know how to ask for help. He doesn't actually look satisfied with the work he's done but for some reason he can't seem to stop and a lot of people have talked about this in the past but this particular theory again from a blog from 2013 states that what if dr. Sam Loomis basically Manifested and contributed to everything that we got in the 1978 film in a not in a Not in a way that he of course He purposely Well, he did he purposely let Michael out, but he didn't tell Michael to go after any specific person he purposely Came up with a came up with the idea and was very fascinated with Michael and deemed him to be The embodiment of all evil He said he met this six-year-old child with his blank pale emotionless face in the blackest eyes the devil's eyes Now that expression that he's describing is one of the best quotes out of any horror film In cinema history, that's a quote that a lot of people go back to in reference from the original movie and just film in general Dr. Sam Loomis is description For his patient Michael Myers that description though does not match the look We see on a young young six-year-old at the end of the at the at the beginning of the first movie after he Kills Judith that look is not blank pale and emotions that look is What have I done help me? What did I just do? I I don't know what just happened. I'm disgusted with what I just saw I know I did it, but I don't know why I have no comprehension of why I did that Someone please help me. It looks like a child who's confused and they need help That's what Michael looks like at the end or at the beginning of the original movie and at the end when Lord removes his master brief second So Loomis's description almost sounds as if What this theory is saying because this is the theory on this blog It's almost as if Loomis just came to believe that that's what he wanted to believe and so Loomis himself also does have a few Toxic traits to him that are developed of course in the later sequels and Halloween 5 is like one of my least favorite portrayals of Dr Loomis he is almost antagonizing Jamie for the fact that she doesn't want to speak up as if James he's almost forgetting that Jamie is innocent and all this. He's like a crazed man at this point He's not being fair to Jamie. He's acting very toxic towards Jamie But some of those traits could have been let's just say he acted that way towards Michael when he was trying to reason with Michael and He was trying to get to Michael understand him What doesn't dozens of failures?  You're just pure evil You killed your sister for no reason because you're just that's just how sick you are Maybe Michael was talked down to from Loomis while he was in Smith's Grove and Loomis was Manipulative towards him and he just gave up gave up on Michael the same way that everyone else had his parents The town of Haddonfield everyone who deemed Michael to be a lost cause and then you have his doctor who already From the movies it does Loomis on from the later sequels and the original He does come across a bit as if he he hates humanity in a way I I kind of got that vibe. He it's it's almost as if he wanted to save Michael Not necessarily because he wanted to save Haddonfield, but because he wanted to Save Michael for himself and put him back in Smith's Grove and do some type of He realizes that what he did is wrong in the end because again the theory the theories expressing that Loomis basically set Michael loose his arrival with Marion Chambers Michael Supposedly found a way out the night that same night when they were going to pick him up So he can be transferred But he found a way out and he let all these other patients out the theory Just is a spec is just speculating that maybe dr. Loomis was the one who Assisted him in this maybe dr. Loomis did something prior to picking up Marion Chambers Or he did something a few nights ago that set that led to Michael escaping the next night when he was Meant to be picked up and transferred to another facility for his court hearing or something. I believe that's what they were going to pick him up for uh I like the theory I know i'm not really getting into much details because i'm going to leave a link to it down in the comment section For everyone to read this it's just when you sit down and you think about it How much of a coincidence this is that this very theory is actually how Dr. Sartain was portrayed in the 2018 movie just a psychiatrist who has a Separate agenda. He wants to know what makes michael tick, but he's willing to sacrifice a few lives in the process and that's what this Blog user is theorizing when it comes to dr. Loomis and his relationship with michael And the fact that we don't know much of what went on in between the 60s back to 1978 those 15 years Outside of what dr. Loomis is telling us because he's the one that can speak michael For one reason another just stopped speaking he ceases to speak he hasn't spoken a word since he killed his sister So it's very possible that yes michael was abused by loomis mentally Verbally and loomis gave up on him the same way Everyone else had and he just came to accept that michael was evil He wanted to see what made michael tick just so for his own sick game to see Uh if his own psychotic creation was actually as evil as he envisioned it to be But let me know what you guys think about all this down in the comment section below again My rough synopsis of this theory probably isn't what you'll actually be reading in this blog That's just a few tidbits of it But let me know what you guys think about that down in the comment section below if you haven't already make sure you subscribe Turn on post notification that never miss a video in the description I have links on my social media accounts on my facebook twitter and instagram You can message me there to let me know if there's any movies news or reviews You let me to cover in the future with all that in mind guys. I will see you in the next video


Let's go through sea about a hundred times and my shoulder would be dead. We've got time. There's no need to rush the door. As soon as it takes that static line, drop it immediately to the reserve parachute. You see the S-bundles? We're going to load the aircraft from the front up here. So follow me and we'll get out there. Right now we're going to do a few planned exits. The first one we're going to do is S-plan. The next one we'll do. All aboard personnel stand up. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Let's go.


We saw an explosion at Embakasi. Ya, very sad. I saw that, those sides of Embakasi. Very sad. I saw they said the gas company was illegal. But I don't believe in that. First of all, someone gave them permission. They had electricity, they had water. They had all these things that you need for factory to run. It's those guys of the county. They are the ones who give all these licenses. But maybe someone didn't follow the regulations. But I got to go to Saki Dogo. Then I came back to Sijali. And I saw guys around the place have been complaining that they can smell gas. It is unfortunate that the county government officials cannot take any action before that. I mean, we don't need people to die or to get injured. Property to get damage for them now to take action. Like I've seen the governor say that he water lippy appeals the hospital. What is that? What is that?  I mean, it's unfortunate. I hope the guys who are injured get well. And for those who lost their lives, it's very unfortunate. And necessary and maybe rest in peace. Pioneers in the entertainment industry of course. Champion, bro. Memua Mapaiano. Mapaiano na Bamba. Na Bamba say, so na Ipiga. Na Ipiga. If the fans like it, we continue. And we always appreciate their support. Actually, we are having one in Eldoret. And March 9th. So kabo jabaitiko. How was the journey? It's been long. But we are here now. We started during COVID. We have so far done 26 events. Yes. This one in March is going to be the 27th one. All right, we are here at the Sea of Hennessy. And tonight we will be experiencing an exclusive listening party of one of the best Nigerian icon. Yeah, yeah. Kamasutako say, of course, exclusive. It is what? Ianya. Ianya. Ianya. Ianya. Yes. All right, of course, once upon a time exclusive listening party. Once upon a cut. Once upon a cut. Fumokorada. Bayasana. Now. Yajanza. Yajanza. Ebunia mimi, have you got a chance to go through the songs? I have not heard the album. But I'm sure it's good. I mean, I have to give props to Nigerians, especially when it comes to their beats. I think their beats carry the songs.  There's a reason why Afro beats is on all the charts. There's an Afro beat artist who has won a Grammy. So, I mean, they've been keeping at it for a long time. So, we have to give props where props is deserved. Akuna ajiha kuchukia. They've been working hard. Naumefika malumefika. And they're making money at it, you know. So, big up to them. Yeah, in the right position to advise me maybe. How do you see when an artist all the way from Nigeria coming to Kenya just to promote an album? That means there's a market. That's an open market. I mean, there's no way someone can take, spend his money, his time to come to another country and they are not sure of the returns. And as we've seen from the past, Kenyans love Nigerian music. Actually Kenyans are open-minded Africans when it comes to music. It's a good thing and it's a bad thing. It's a good thing because they accept everyone. It's a bad thing because sometimes it affects the local music. If you go to Nigeria or Uganda, South Africa, they rarely play other countries. We are the only most accommodative country in Africa. I think we are the most because we listen to everything.  I was in SA last year for around two weeks and I promise you they are playing the same songs. I was in Cape Town. They are playing a bit of a ma piano and the dance and garage is very big there. So yeah, I think for him if it's a good investment and he wants to come to Kenya, why not? What's your opinion? Just to compare our music industry, of course, we've seen only a few individuals, the likes of BN. It's right now, he has a sold out event at London. We don't see often our artists traveling to push the album. What I believe is when it's your time, it's your time. Okay, that's my thinking. When you've done something and now it's time for you to rip the fruits, it will come. So for Kenyan musicians, keep pushing. Actually we have many, many, many good Kenyan musicians. The problem is they don't get the platform, they don't get the sponsorship behind them. We see like Nigerian music. We are really backed by rich people. They are helping them create studios, make videos. So we need people to conscientiously try to support music financially. You can support music, yes, by saying I like, I like, but you need to put some action. If you like a particular artist, Naukwana Pesa, I mean, invest in that artist, if you are sure Kutakwana Arohae, invest in that artist. So we need to invest in our artist, that's the key thing. We don't make music without money. That's life, yeah. I've gone through the album once upon a cut. I've not seen any single Kenyan artist being featured on the album. That's the reason why they're not here tonight. Maybe to learn from Iaia. Iaia. You know, that's his personal decision. I'd be very happy if there were Kenyan artists in that album. I mean, it's always good to be involved in someone's project. But at the end of the day, it's a personal decision. So whatever his management and him were thinking behind doing an album without maybe his Africans, I don't know. So I don't know. All right, actually today we saw an explosion at Embakasi. Yeah, very sad. I saw that, those sides of Embakasi. Very sad. I saw they said the gas company was illegal. But I don't believe in that. First of all, someone gave them permission. Someone gave them land. They had electricity. They had water. They had all these things that you need for factory to run. So it's those guys of the county. They're the ones who give all these licenses. But maybe someone didn't follow the regulations. But I got up at Saki Dogo. Then I came over to Sijali. And I saw guys around the place had been complaining that they can smell gas. But unfortunately the county government of Sijali cannot take any action before that. We don't need people to die or to get injured, property to get damage. For them now to take action. Like I've seen the governor say that he water lipee bills hospitalily. What is that? What is that? If someone cuts and then says he has a bandage. Anyway, it's unfortunate. The guys who are injured get well. And for those who lost their lives it's very unfortunate and necessary and may they rest in peace. Una wakenya mawa defraisho sana because to learn a government spokesman Isaac Mawura. Aki sama wakenya mawa changisha tu na biti economical hard times, you know? Sazad changisha ina onatumia 700 billion million, kuripia state house. State house is one of the most useless houses in the world. I've never seen anyone who benefits from state house. I mean, it's very unfortunate. Have you been to sweat house? No, to do what? I'm not a thief. Miss Mkora, I don't need to go to state house. All right, lastly, a message to your fans. Oh, I have fans. Sorry, sorry. I didn't know I have fans. Anyway. What do you have haters? I remember one question is that now yesterday we saw it KRG, and then Whisky River announced that having the last show. Is it that? What is happening to the entertainment clubs because they are closing down? Every club has its own story. Whisky River has been there for a long time. I don't know about Kastaveira. I don't like talking about things I don't know. And the other one is which one? There were three. There's another one that's closing. I don't remember. There's another one. Every club has a story. I can't say it's because of either the economy or people don't like the place. So it depends on what is happening. But as they close down, I wish them all the best. I know Whisky River is invested in another club. I don't know about Kastaveira, but they'll be fine, they'll be fine. Kenyans are resilient. We always work hard. How much will we survive COVID? There's nothing we can survive. What about this government? This government everybody knows. I don't need to say. Manajua too. Things are bad. And they need to do something. I don't know if they'll do something. It's unfortunate. Thank you so much for your time. Sawa.