On Tuesday, the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee continued to take evidence from stakeholders on the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill, hearing from one panel on the behaviour change that will be required to achieve the targets in the bill and one panel on governance. In the discussion with the first panel, Dr Rachel Howell, a lecturer in sustainable development at the University of Edinburgh, observed:

“As far as behaviours are concerned, one sector that needs to be focused on is food, because I think that one of the least-understood aspects is the link between diet and climate change. In that, again, there could be fantastic co-benefits, because that focus would mean not having to rely on a narrative that is all about climate change, which not everyone is connected to.”

She continued:

“I am always astonished to hear my students saying that it is more expensive not to eat meat. I can only think that they are substituting meat with expensive processed alternatives such as Quorn, or are using recipes that involve very expensive ingredients such as cashews and pine nuts, and that they do not realise just how plentiful and cheap pulses and so on are.”

The member for Ayr, John Scott, a farmer and a strong advocate for rural areas, was exercised by what he saw as the implication of what Dr Howell was saying—

“that rural areas would be disadvantaged for the benefit of the majority”—

and put it to her that

“You are painting a fairly grim picture of a meat-free, livestock-free landscape where we are encouraged—if not forced—to eat pulses. That is not a future that I would welcome.”

Dr Howell responded thus:

“I did not say that everybody needs to have a meat-free diet; I said that we need to reduce the amount of meat and dairy that people eat … I certainly do not feel that rural areas should be disadvantaged, but no policy can be brought in without some disadvantage to some people. We have to try to mitigate that disadvantage”.

On Wednesday, the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee took more evidence on the Transport (Scotland) Bill, looking first at the proposals on double and pavement parking, before hearing from a panel on the proposals relating to road works. An element of controversy arose—albeit in a good-natured exchange—when the Scottish road works commissioner, Angus Carmichael, noted that Openreach had always resisted sharing information on details of works on the commissioner’s vault system, a decision that he said

“is more commercial than anything else, and Openreach is playing a game.”

The response of Elizabeth Draper of Openreach was that

“commercial concerns are not the primary driver—I have discussed that with Angus Carmichael before and I will get him to believe me at some point. The concern is risk based”.

Among the more prominent topical subjects considered in the chamber last week were Tuesday’s urgent question from Jenny Marra on the proposed closure of the Michelin tyre factory in Dundee and Thursday lunch time’s short but moving debate on a motion of remembrance, in which all the party leaders spoke.

 

On Tuesday morning, the Justice Committee continued its post-legislative scrutiny of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, hearing from Chief Constable Iain Livingstone of Police Scotland and Susan Deacon, chair of the Scottish Police Authority, while the Health and Sport Committee took evidence from NHS Dumfries and Galloway as part of a series of sessions with health boards on their performance against local delivery plans.

Justice Committee post-legislative scrutiny of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (30 Oct 2018)

Health and Sport Committee scrutiny of NHS boards (30 Oct 2018)

On Tuesday evening, Mairi Gougeon, the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment, responded on behalf of the Government to a well-subscribed members’ business debate on Colin Smyth’s motion on a ban on the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening.

Members’ business debate on the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening (30 Oct 2018)

Ms Gougeon was again representing the Government in Wednesday evening’s members’ business debate on restoring the Caledonian pinewood forest, which was led by Joan McAlpine, the species champion for the country’s national tree, the Scots pine.

Members’ business debate on the Caledonian pinewood forest (31 Oct 2018)

A subject of great interest to north-east members was Thursday afternoon’s statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson, on the Aberdeen western peripheral route. The chamber was told that defects in the crossing over the River Don, already known about for several months, were to take longer to rectify than first thought, meaning that a late autumn opening date would no longer be possible.

Ministerial statement on the Aberdeen western peripheral route (1 Nov 2018)

 

On Tuesday, the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee held its first evidence session with stakeholders on the Climate Change (Emissions Reductions Targets) (Scotland) Bill, hearing from representatives of ClimateXChange, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Committee on Climate Change. Representing the Committee on Climate Change was its chair, Lord Deben, probably better known to slightly older readers as John Selwyn Gummer, who, as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food during the time of the BSE crisis, famously fed his four-year-old daughter a burger in front of the watching press.

Lord Deben had a number of interesting observations to make. Looking back on his time as a minister in Margaret Thatcher’s Government in the 1980s, he spoke of his realisation of the need to understand the science:

“I remember having a discussion with the other person in the Government who took that view, Mrs Thatcher, who said to me, “If you and I are the only two people who believe this, we are in a majority,” which was a typical example of her attitude to such things … By the mid-1980s, I was clear that climate change was happening and that human beings were causing it.”

When asked about climate change sceptics, he had this to say:

“If you want to tease the sceptics, it is always worth reminding them that the earth was too hot for animals and human beings until gradually the carbon was pulled out of the atmosphere into trees and bushes, and that was laid down as oil, gas and coal. What have we been doing over the past 200 years? We have been reversing the process. Frankly, if we reverse the process, we should not be surprised if that reverses what has happened, and if we think that it does not, we would need a jolly good reason to explain why it does not.”

He closed by succinctly setting out a compelling case for continuing to take action to tackle climate change:

“My son wrote what has become the standard book on the black death, and any of you who have been in the same position will know that, if you have a son writing a book, you are expected to read each chapter as it comes off the machine. I was busy reading my son’s book while I was doing fundamental work on climate change, and I was struck by a really frightening thing: although one in three of the population died in the black death, they had no idea why it was happening. As a result, they had no responsibility. Our problem is that we know what is happening, and therefore, we have absolute responsibility. Not only have we caused this, we know how to stop it—or at least how to pull it back and then reverse it. Because we know that, the responsibility is ours. All of us should recognise what a high calling we have and that we have to do this.”

You can read his evidence, and that of the other witnesses, in full here.

Last week’s business in the chamber began with a motion of condolence following the death over the summer of the Parliament’s former Presiding Officer, Sir Alex Fergusson. With members of Sir Alex’s family watching from the public gallery, the current Presiding Officer and all the party leaders spoke warmly of their former colleague.

Motion of condolence on Sir Alex Fergusson (2 Oct 2018)

Tuesday’s topical question time was on the thorny issue of the proposed arrangements for the Scottish League Cup semi-finals, with the Scottish Professional Football League’s scheduling of the Aberdeen v Rangers and Hearts v Celtic games at the same venue—Hampden park—on the same Sunday at the end of October having attracted much public criticism.

Topical Question Time (League Cup semi-final arrangements) (2 Oct 2018)

Thursday afternoon’s debate on women and girls in sport week, in contrast, was an altogether more positive affair, with many members citing the recent success of athletes including Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan at the European championships, the achievement of the Scottish women’s football team in getting to the 2019 world cup finals and the memorable performances of many Scottish female athletes at the Gold Coast Commonwealth games.

Plenary debate on women and girls in sport week (4 Oct 2018)

In committee, the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee heard from the keeper of the registers of Scotland on regulations dealing with a new register of information on people with controlled interests in land, while the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee continued its pre-budget scrutiny by talking to Derek Mackay, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work, and Jamie Hepburn, the Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills.

Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee evidence on register of persons holding a controlled interest in land regulations (2 Oct 2018)

Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee pre-budget scrutiny (2 Oct 2018)

Last week, while the Justice Committee continued its look back at the creation of single police and fire services under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012—hearing from, among others, the Auditor General for Scotland and the chief inspector of constabulary—the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee looked ahead to next year’s budget, focusing on Clyde and Hebrides ferry services.

Justice Committee post-legislative scrutiny of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (25 Sept 2018)

Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee pre-budget scrutiny (26 Sept 2018)

Meanwhile, the Finance and Constitution Committee’s discussion of common frameworks, which it had been on a trip to Brussels to find out about the previous week, was closely related to Tuesday afternoon’s plenary debate on Scotland’s role in the development of future UK trade arrangements.

Finance and Constitution Committee common frameworks (26 Sept 2018)

Plenary debate on Scotland’s role re future UK trade arrangements (25 Sept 2018)

This was the first in a series of chamber proceedings in which Brexit was again the focus of attention. Wednesday afternoon’s statement by Fergus Ewing on the common agricultural policy, in which he set out the Scottish Government’s intention for farmers to continue to receive their current payment entitlements “largely as they currently are” until 2022, was followed by a members’ business debate, led by David Stewart, on the implications for cancer patients of the UK leaving the European Atomic Energy Community—Euratom.

Ministerial statement on the CAP (26 Sept 2018)

Members’ business debate on impact of UK leaving Euratom (26 Sept 2018)

Away from Brexit, health was the subject of two ministerial statements: the new Minister for Mental Health, Clare Haughey, herself a former mental health nurse, made one on mental health (specifically, the mental health strategy 2018 annual report), while Jeane Freeman, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, addressed the chamber on paediatric services at St John’s hospital.

Ministerial statement on the mental health strategy 2018 annual report (25 Sept 2018)

Ministerial statement on paediatric services at St John’s hospital (27 Sept 2018)

“Do members ever speak in Gaelic in Parliament and how do you report it when they do?” is a question our readers often ask, I imagine. They do, and you can see in the Official Report of Wednesday’s members’ business debate on BBC Alba how Gaelic appears in the OR.

Alasdair Allan, Ruth Maguire, Angus MacDonald and Rhoda Grant spoke to the motion in Gaelic in whole or in part, and their speeches were interpreted into English at the time for the non-Gaelic speakers in the chamber. The OR carried both the Gaelic original and the English interpretation. A point to note is that what appears in the OR is not a translation of the Gaelic but a transcript of what was heard by members at the time; any mistake or omission in the interpretation would be left uncorrected.

Although the OR includes the text of any Gaelic that is spoken, it doesn’t contain a Gaelic translation of speeches that were made in English. However, last week, for the first time, a Gaelic translation of an entire debate was published: the debate on the “Gaelic National Language Plan 2018-2023” that took place on April 24. This is the OR and this is the Gaelic language version.

You may have noticed that, in both examples discussed above, the debate not only included speeches in Gaelic but was itself about Gaelic. Alasdair Allan has certainly spotted that pattern, and he finished his speech on Wednesday by giving notice of his intention to change it and to make speeches in Gaelic about any subject he chooses:

“Dìreach mar a tha cuilean son na beatha agus chan ann dìreach son na Nollaig, chan eil a’ Ghàidhlig ann dìreach son a bhith a’ bruidhinn mu dheidhinn na Gàidhlig. Tha BBC Alba a’ tuigsinn sin. Anns an spioraid sin, tha mi cìnnteach gum bi mi fhèin a’ cleachdadh na Gàidhlig anns a’ Phàrlamaid, chan ann dìreach airson a bhith a’ bruidhinn mun Ghàidhlig mar a tha mi an-dràsta, ach bidh sibh gam chluinntinn bho àm gu àm a’ faighneachd cèist mu sheirbhisean slàinte no mu Bhrexit anns a’ Ghàidhlig cuideachd.”

“Language, like a puppy, is for life and not just for Christmas. Gaelic is not just there to be talked about in Gaelic—BBC Alba understands that. In that vein, I will certainly be using Gaelic from time to time in Parliament and not just in order to talk about Gaelic as I am doing now. Members will hear me asking questions, perhaps about health services or Brexit, in Gaelic.”

It is fitting then that this week the Presiding Officer, in his foreword to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body’s new “Gaelic Language Plan”, outlined that one of the plan’s priorities is “supporting our MSPs and staff in developing confidence and enabling them to use Gaelic in their work.” Given that Michael Russell, who has previously given a speech in Gaelic in Parliament, is now the Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations, Alasdair Allan might even get the answer to his questions on Brexit in Gaelic.

If you’d like to find out more about Gaelic in the Parliament, why not try the Parliament’s Gaelic blog https://parlamaidalba.wordpress.com/ or follow the Gaelic twitter feed at @ParlAlba?

 

Health and Care (Staffing) and Transport Bills

Last week, two bills began their journey through Parliament, with the Health and Sport Committee taking evidence on the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Bill from two panels of stakeholders, and the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee hearing from three groups of Scottish Government officials with responsibilities in areas covered by the Transport (Scotland) Bill:

Health and Sport Committee stage 1 evidence on the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Bill (11 Sept 2018)

Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee stage 1 evidence on the Transport (Scotland) Bill (12 Sept 2018)

Brexit implications (justice)

Meanwhile, Humza Yousaf, the new Cabinet Secretary for Justice, made his first appearance before the Justice Committee to talk about the impact of Brexit on the justice system and policing in Scotland:

Justice Committee evidence on Brexit implications for justice and policing (11 Sept 2018)

Chilean-Scottish solidarity

At Thursday lunch time in the chamber, Linda Fabiani led a debate on the film “Nae Pasaran!”, which premiered at this year’s Glasgow film festival, the recent full cinematic release of which coincided with the 45^th anniversary of the Chilean military coup. Members heard how the film tells the story of the Rolls-Royce engineers in East Kilbride who, in 1974, showed their support for the people of Chile by refusing to repair jet engines for the Chilean air force:

Members’ business debate on “Nae Pasaran!” (13 Sept 2018)