Plenary, 01 Nov 2007

Meeting date: Thursday, November 1, 2007

Official Report 678KB pdf

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Environment and Culture

The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-739, in the name of Michael Russell, on the environment.

I wish to indicate at the outset that I regret that I cannot accept the Labour amendment. Members should know that the motion was e-mailed to spokespeople in every party a week ago, with an invitation to discuss the debate. I would have liked the opportunity to discuss the matter with representatives of the Opposition so that we might have agreed on an amendment.

I am prepared to accept the amendment in the name of Mike Rumbles. I do so because, as many people know, my wife is the headteacher of a primary school and she tells me that we should adopt an attitude of positive reinforcement towards those who are not doing very well. The amendment proves that point.

The Scottish Government has five clear strategic objectives, and I want to talk about the way in which they come together in the subject that we are debating today.

Our landscape and the cultural life that it supports have a powerful contribution to make to our strategic objectives for government. Our cultural industries are major earners and employers in their own right, and they help to support our global reputation as a nation to visit and in which to live, work and do business. Our tourism and food and drink industries in particular draw great strength from our well-deserved reputation for the beauty and grandeur of our countryside, coastlines and townscapes. The sense of identity and belonging that we derive from our land and culture supports our sense of well-being, helping to make us healthier and our communities safer and stronger.

Landscape and culture together help us to deliver our objectives for a smarter and greener Scotland. They enable us to discover and explore our history and environment, how they have made us who we are and how we and future generations depend on them. They encourage us to value and enjoy our environment and, importantly, to acknowledge our responsibilities towards it, for our own sake and for that of future generations.

Bringing together culture and environment is not abstruse, but central to achieving our strategic objectives. The work that Linda Fabiani and I hope to do on the issue demonstrates not only joined-up government but a joint commitment to meet our strategic objectives. However, it does more than that. As I said, landscape has made us and we go on making landscape. We have interacted with what is around us in this country for at least 11,000 years, and the signs of that interaction are all around us. Who is here and what is here help us to understand why we are here and, more importantly, what we need to do to remain here and to retain an environment that is healthy and sustainable.

That is a general point, but there is a particular point to be made. I suspect that, in this debate, each one of us will reflect for a moment on what we particularly value in our culture and landscape. I pay tribute to the work that has been done on landscape issues by the Scottish landscape forum, which informs this debate.

As a child, I was much influenced by a book called "The Hill of the Red Fox". To show the co-operative nature of this debate, I freely acknowledge that its author, Allan Campbell McLean, was a chair of the Scottish Labour Party. It was an inspirational book—a spy story that took in the island of Skye. It is what first excited me, as a child growing up on the Ayrshire coast, about the Highlands and its landscape. Of course, Allan Campbell McLean had a great fondness for the Highlands and Gaelic. The book was atmospheric and had an effect on me as I grew up. Later on, I was gripped by the poetry of Sorley MacLean when learning about the Highlands and Islands as I lived in the Western Isles. I am not the only person to have been so gripped. The great poem "Hallaig" was translated by the Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney. His translation starts:

"Time, the deer, is in Hallaig Wood
There's a board nailed across the window
I looked through to see the west
And my love is a birch forever
By Hallaig Stream, at her tryst".

Sorley MacLean's poetry, never more than in "Hallaig", is a poetry of place: it places individuals in a landscape and makes them relate to it, not in the past but in the century that we live in. One can go further and look at the work of the Scottish colourists on Iona, and be inspired by their vision, the brightness of the things that they saw in Scotland and the way in which they made Scotland sing on canvas. We can look at the poetry of Duncan Ban MacIntyre, which has inspired a musical work composed by Ronald Stevenson—who will be 80 next year—that will be performed at next year's Celtic Connections festival. It will celebrate "Ben Dorain", and will truly be a landmark achievement.

I turn to the work of a failed Hebridean: James Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, who attempted to establish a sheep farm but found the journey by ferry so unpleasant that he never went back. He was born in the Borders landscape—I am sure that we will hear that again from Jim Hume—and he celebrated that landscape. Indeed, his first book was a treatise on the diseases of sheep. He showed contempt for the society he lived in because, having been encouraged to apply for a ticket for the coronation of George IV, he discovered that it coincided with the sheep sales at St Boswells, and as he always went to the sheep sales he went there instead of the coronation.

I could go on about individuals who have been inspired by the landscape and have reflected that inspiration. Each one of us has been moved in that way. The question is, what have we been moved to do? We have been moved to think about where we live, whether in town, city or countryside, and I hope that we have also been moved to do some other things. The modern purpose of what Linda Fabiani and I are talking about today is the urgent need for each one of us to remember our place in the world and the landscape, and to change our lives as a result. That is the imperative in this debate. We live in a world in which we face the biggest challenge that any generation has faced. If we do not care for, love and nurture the landscape, and change the way that we work within it, we will destroy our planet. Even on a small scale, unless we take action to maintain rural and urban communities in a truly sustainable way, we will have little to pass on.

As was confirmed to me last night by one of the chief environmental advisers to the United Kingdom Government, the links between biodiversity, language and culture are well understood throughout the world, and now need to be understood in this country.

The motion, which I have pleasure in moving, is about celebrating creativity, and the fact that we in Scotland have a wonderful environmental inheritance and it is our responsibility to keep it that way. If we can learn from those who have celebrated it, have made it and who go on making it, we will do well. I hope that members feel as passionate about the subject as I do, and I hope that they will support the motion and the joint working that will take place between the environment and culture departments that will lead to new things in the coming weeks and months.

I move,

That the Parliament notes the important relationships among Scotland's natural and built environment, culture and history, which together make us who we are; recognises the achievements over the centuries of artists such as Sir Walter Scott, James Hogg, Alexander Naysmith, Robin Jenkins, Sorley MacLean, Joan Eardley and Ian Hamilton Finlay and, continuing those connections today, Angus Farquhar, Alasdair Gray, Andy Scott and Frances Walker among many others; is glad that so many artists from Scotland and from elsewhere have taken their inspiration from Scotland's people, landscape and natural resources and the ways of life which they support and continue to do so, and recognises the need for the Scottish Government to work closely with cultural and environmental organisations, local authorities, community groups and individuals to celebrate, explore and reveal the diversity and ever-changing nature of Scotland, its people and its place in the world.

In a week when the leading environmental scientist Professor James Lovelock said,

"We are at war with the Earth and as in a blitzkrieg, events proceed faster than we can respond",

the environment motion that is before us might be considered somewhat esoteric, even pretentious. I anticipate that the Government will bring forward as a matter of urgency its detailed proposals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that reducing carbon consumption will be integral to the budget proposals that it will produce in a fortnight's time. If not, Labour will challenge the Government's priorities.

In the meantime, the minister's motion—which is most definitely not a civil service concoction—reminds us of the importance of natural landscape, not just as a resource but as an inspiration to poets, writers, musicians, dramatists, architects, planners and the many thousands of ordinary people whose enjoyment and appreciation of Scotland's landscape and natural environment is a key ingredient of their quality of life.

We are sitting in a chamber designed by Enric Miralles, the Catalan architect, who drew his inspiration from its unique setting, with the juxtaposition of the built environment at the foot of the High Street and the natural splendour of Holyrood park dominated by Arthur's Seat. He wanted our Parliament to reflect the character and aspirations of Scotland, and to be at one with the distinctive Scottish landscape.

I am sure that members will be delighted at the success enjoyed by the National Theatre of Scotland's production of "Black Watch" in New York last week. However, they may not be aware that two of the new flagship productions that are being put on this season at the New York Metropolitan Opera are Verdi's "Macbeth" and Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor". Both draw on Scotland's colourful history, its distinctive buildings and, of course, its unique scenery. Walter Scott, on whose story "Lucia di Lammermoor" is based, is regarded by the great Hungarian philosopher and literary critic George Lukacs as one of the key figures in the pantheon of modern European literature. Lukacs's view is that a great work of art is derived from within man and from nature, but is not purely reflective of that reality. Rather, the writer or artist, in capturing the essential characteristics of the world portrayed, is giving more universal expression to the relationship between man, nature and society.

Although Scott is recognised as the inventor of the historical novel, his profound contribution to Scottish culture—not least in bringing together themes of Scottish history, Scotland's landscape and the culture of its people—is nowadays not widely known. However, I am sure that Mr Russell is well aware of Sir Walter Scott's role in organising the visit of George IV to Scotland in 1822, which was extremely influential in creating and adapting symbols of a distinctive Scottish identity within the union, to which he was strongly committed.

We can, of course, all be proud of the natural and cultural heritage that we have inherited. Our wild places, our spectacular scenery, our iconic species, our literary and artistic heritage, and our regional and local differences in culture and speech are all part of our identity as Scots. The natural environment and its resources are fundamental to our social well-being and our economic success. The landscape is crucial to the success of our tourism industry.

Scotland's scenery is a splendid legacy that has been left by previous generations. It is vital that we exercise good stewardship. The previous Administration set up the Scottish landscape forum to take forward the European Landscape Convention. Although the protection of Scotland's wild landscapes—which are renowned throughout the world for their beauty—is a key aspect of the work of the forum, the European Landscape Convention is concerned with not only spectacular landscapes but all landscapes, whether in good or bad condition, in rural and urban areas.

I hope that the minister will recognise the need for continued support for Scottish Natural Heritage to protect sites of special scientific interest and nature reserves. That work requires to be properly funded. He should consider extending environmental stewardship schemes, which allow farmland to be managed in a way that adds to the diversity and beauty of the countryside.

The motion fails to recognise that too many of our people, especially in some of our older industrial areas, live in degraded environments. There is significant evidence that a poor environment affects the health of some Scottish citizens and blights the life chances of their children. Frustration is evident in many communities, where contamination, dereliction or the poor quality of housing and other infrastructure has not been rectified. Labour's amendment reflects our belief that it is vital that resources continue to be made available for upgrading urban environments, as well as for protecting and preserving Scotland's scenic landscape. All our people are entitled, culturally and environmentally, to the best that our society can offer.

Art, architecture and design can play a crucial role in transforming places such as the Clydebank waterfront, Inverclyde and Irvine, which the previous Administration made regeneration priorities; places in Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Dundee, West Lothian and elsewhere that benefited from the vacant and derelict land fund and the environmental justice fund; and the towns in Scotland that stood to gain from Labour's manifesto commitment to a town centres fund.

Local authorities, housing associations, Communities Scotland and local enterprise companies have in the past contributed—sometimes substantially—to upgrading dilapidated or degraded areas. Labour's commitment is to environmental justice and to a system of cultural entitlement that ensures that a quality environment and cultural excellence should be available to everybody.

Throughout Scotland, regeneration has been successful when it has been properly co-ordinated. My experience is that results are significantly better when there is an agreed master plan and significant input from artists, architects and urban or landscape designers, and when local people are properly engaged in the creative part of the process. Art, regeneration and the environment are part of everybody's entitlement in Scotland.

Will the member give way?

Sorry, but I think that I am in my last couple of seconds.

I will allow the intervention, provided that it is brief.

Does the member agree that although Labour's architecture policy was welcomed when it first came out, it has not made as much progress as many people would have liked? Would he recommend it to the current Government?

I would be very happy to recommend it and, of course, to welcome Robin Harper's support for our amendment.

We are not at odds with the minister over much of what he said, although, as I made clear at the beginning of my speech, the overriding priority for environmental policy—and not just environmental policy—is tackling climate change. However, we need to balance that with valuing and paying attention to our climate, our scenery and the urban environments in which many people live.

I move amendment S3M-739.1, to insert at end:

"further notes the involvement of artists, architects and urban designers with housing associations, local authorities and others in efforts to regenerate urban as well as rural environments; notes the importance of the Environmental Justice Fund and the Community Regeneration Fund in enabling communities that have suffered from degraded environments to gain support to regenerate their communities, and calls on the Scottish Government to do more to protect and enhance Scotland's landscapes, particularly in light of the challenges brought by climate change, and to link together cultural entitlements with environmental justice."

Unfortunately, Mike Russell has a history of using what he considers to be witty personal insults while he is addressing members, so I was not surprised by his opening comments that were directed towards me. However, I was surprised to hear that the Scottish National Party accepts my amendment, which emphasises Scotland's place within the United Kingdom and the wider world. Mike Russell sometimes surprises us all.

Scotland's diverse landscapes are celebrated around the world, and they make an important contribution to the economic and social well-being of the nation. The previous Executive led the way on protecting and enhancing Scotland's landscapes by introducing the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, establishing the Scottish landscape forum, tightening up the planning system and initiating the revision of planning guidance on our natural heritage and historic environment. It also delivered successful agri-environment schemes through the Scottish rural development programme.

The Liberal Democrats believe that our landscape can be the unique responsibility of no single body, and its care can often be overlooked. We need to invest in managing our landscapes and to ensure that everyone in Scotland has access to them.

The Liberal Democrats are concerned about the way in which the Administration is causing confusion over the future of Scotland's rural and environmental agencies. The SNP manifesto pledged to merge Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, but since then the Government has been vague, to say the least, about its plans. Indeed, on 19 June, Mike Russell praised the work of the agencies and their staff. So the SNP appears to be backtracking on its manifesto pledge and will not say clearly what its plans are for both organisations. In a parliamentary answer on 7 June, Richard Lochhead said that their futures will be considered in the context of the review of public sector delivery.

The SNP manifesto also committed the Administration to merging Historic Scotland with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. However, it now seems to be unclear about that and admits that it might not be the best plan, as Linda Fabiani said to the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee on 27 June.

That confusion at the heart of Government is causing serious uncertainty over the future of the environmental protection and management of Scotland. The Government has to ensure that there is no diminution of environmental effort, whatever plans it finally produces for those agencies.

It is only Mike Rumbles who is confused.

The minister says, from his sedentary position, that the Government is not causing confusion, but I assure him that it most certainly is. Many representations have been made to me and others on the very issue.

The SNP has asked nine environmental organisations that work on rural affairs and the environment to draw up proposals to deliver a single rural and environmental service within a year. Is the Government really asking those bodies to streamline themselves? Is it abdicating responsibility for Scotland's natural resources?

Will the member take an intervention?

I will in a moment. I have a lot of questions for the minister. I hope that he can answer them.

How is the Government going to ensure that there no loss of environmental effort when those disparate organisations are merged?

In the spirit of co-operation, I am sure that Mr Rumbles will be pleased to know that the chairs and chief executives of those organisations are happy with the arrangements. I have chaired two meetings with them and they are very happy with how well things are going. Given those circumstances, I am sure that he will welcome the efficient delivery that is going to take place.

Mr Rumbles, you are into your last minute.

Oh, right. Was that three and a half minutes?

Turning to tourism, in a statement on the enterprise networks on 26 September, John Swinney announced that he intends to cut the number of VisitScotland hubs to just six, thereby renewing concerns about the loss of local control. There has been no genuine consultation with the tourism industry. Jim Mather admitted that the only members of the tourism community who were invited to discuss the proposals were those who put themselves forward. Does the Government realise the value of Scotland's landscape to the tourism industry? It does not seem so.

Rather than waxing lyrical about our natural and built environment and our cultural history, as Mike Russell has done, I take this opportunity to outline some of the many concerns facing our communities.

The Liberal Democrats will support the motion, but it can be improved. I must therefore take the opportunity to address the straightforward amendment in my name. I could not agree more with the terms of the motion. It is fine, and there is certainly a real

"need for the Scottish Government to work closely with cultural and environmental organisations, local authorities"

and the rest, to explore the real

"diversity and ever-changing nature of Scotland, its people and its place"

not only in the world but, as my amendment states,

"within the United Kingdom and the wider world".

I am pleased that the SNP has decided to accept the place of Scotland within the United Kingdom. The Liberal Democrat amendment is entirely within the spirit of the motion, and simply recognises the reality, as I can hear Mike Russell acknowledging from his sedentary position. We are a nation within the nations of the United Kingdom, and we are, of course, part of the wider world community.

I move amendment S3M-739.2, to leave out "in the world" and insert:

"within the United Kingdom and the wider world".

The broad terms of the motion allow us to examine some key aspects of our heritage and our future, but, when many serious issues threaten our natural and built environments and those who work to preserve them, I think that our fellow countrymen would probably prefer us to address some of their immediate concerns, rather than spend our parliamentary time on a debate such as this. That said, I cannot disagree with the terms of the motion.

We live in a country that is renowned throughout the world for its beauty. Its coastline, its mountains, its rural landscape and much of its built environment have inspired the arts over centuries, and people from across the globe come to experience and enjoy their beauty.

I feel particularly privileged to have spent my life in the north-east of Scotland, with its rich mix of rural, urban and coastal landscape, and its heritage of farming, fishing, educational excellence and, more recently, the development and global export of ground-breaking technologies, following on from the discovery of North Sea oil and gas and evolving now into expertise and innovation in the emerging field of renewable technology.

Lewis Grassic Gibbon's "Sunset Song" gave us an unforgettable portrait of bygone rural life in the Mearns. Landseer's paintings captured the beauty of some of our iconic wildlife. Joseph Farquharson depicted the essence of Deeside, and Eric Auld is still producing fascinating work showing the granite city and rural Aberdeenshire. George Washington Wilson has left us a wonderful photographic record of 19th century life in the north-east, and musicians such as Mary Garden, Evelyn Glennie, Annie Lennox and Lisa Milne have developed and exported their talents from a north-east background.

If we have a fault in the north-east, it is that we are too reticent about our heritage and achievements. We do not talk enough about our castles, our golf courses, our excellent local produce, our festivals and much else. For instance, I have drawn the Parliament's attention to the unique Aberdeen international youth festival, in which I have an interest as a trustee and friend. However, after 33 years, the festival still has to find its place on the national stage. I ask Linda Fabiani to help us with that.

Early next year, I hope to bring a taste of Grampian's produce to the garden lobby, because we need to broadcast our culture and our food. We need to bring more UK, as well as international, tourists to our region.

However, we also need to ensure that we do not lose the very environment that is so important to our heritage. We must not blight our landscape with inappropriate and unsustainable development, be it housing, industry or wind farms. We must protect our rural communities by encouraging the development of affordable housing, and we must support bodies such as the National Trust for Scotland in their efforts to preserve our best buildings and estates, such as Mar Lodge in the Cairngorms national park.

The bureaucracy and red tape that currently cripple rural businesses must be tackled, and organisations such as SEPA and SNH need to be thoroughly reviewed to ensure that they are genuinely working in the interests of the people whom they exist to serve, as we proposed in our manifesto.

Our farmers, many of whom are struggling for survival because of high feed prices, low farm-gate prices and the knock-on effects of foot-and-mouth disease and BSE, need help. Well-thought-out agri-environment schemes that help to support our farming industry and to secure the rural environment for the public to enjoy must be properly funded—now, before good work that has already been done is lost through lack of appropriate finance. In addition, as we said in a recent debate, resources must be available to tackle crime against our wildlife.

To sum up, I quote directly from the RSPB Scotland briefing for today's debate:

"Scotland's environment has an inherent value to us all that cannot be measured or under-estimated. The Scottish Government must work with farmers, crofters and conservationists to ensure that the landscapes, habitats and species that have served as such an inspiration in the past are available to benefit future generations. Rhetoric must be supported with action, resources and funding."

We move to the open debate. Speeches should be of four minutes.

I assume that you were as dismayed as I was, Presiding Officer, by Nanette Milne's expression of Conservative philistinism at the outset of her remarks, which I found rather unfortunate. It contrasted with some of the other speeches that we have heard today and on previous occasions.

I was struck by comments that Sarah Boyack made in the debate on wildlife crime a few weeks ago. She said:

"Biodiversity is good for our environment and our tourism industry and it is part of what defines our country—it is part of our culture."—[Official Report, 4 October 2007; c 2499.]

Not to put words into her mouth, I say that it is also part of who we are. Who we are is about a great deal else—it is about our land, our history, what we see around us in our towns and cities, the backdrop to our lives that we so often take for granted, the animals and birds that we are so proud of, the inventions, the sea and so on.

I notice that, in its briefing, RSPB Scotland rose to the spirit of the motion by resorting to poetry. That was fantastic and I hope that its authors enjoyed producing it. Many of us could doubtless do the same. Sir Walter Scott's poetry enthused me when I was still a child and helped me to develop a crystal-clear identity as a Scot, even though I was 12,000 miles away from Scotland. Scott describes Scotland as a

"Land of brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood,
Land of my sires!"

Even when he was writing those words, they probably offered a fairly romanticised view but, nevertheless, as a writer, he had an enormous influence on how Scots saw themselves and how people in England, the rest of the UK and the rest of the world saw Scotland. For me, being Scottish came to be about the physical fabric of the land itself.

Land is important, but there are other factors. I have mentioned Sir Walter Scott, who is obviously key. Other poets and writers are important, as is our music, some of which works best when one hears it outside, in the environment. The desk and floor in my office are littered with pieces of information—I guess that all members are in the same position—but if we want examples of the interaction between environment, history and culture, some of those pieces of information are highly relevant.

For example, some members might have noticed the leaflets that the SCAPE Trust issued a week or two ago, which highlight the significant losses that will occur if we do not deal with the problem of coastal erosion. Those losses would result in the disappearance forever of ancient settlements and the interaction of environment with history in ways that we would not want to continue.

People from SCAPE have been giving evidence to a variety of bodies. The coast at Baile Sear is retreating by 5m a year, with the result that much of the ancient heritage of that place and other places is being destroyed. It is absolutely right that we should be concerned that action be taken quickly. I commend the member's concern and hope that it is shared by members of all parties.

You have one minute left.

I draw the Presiding Officer's attention to his predecessor's willingness to add time on for interventions.

You have one minute left.

Closer to home for me is the Roman fort at Ardoch, which is just outside Braco in my constituency. I have mentioned it before and there continue to be problems with the site. An uncontrolled rabbit population poses dangers for ancient monuments because their tunnelling causes significant damage. That is another example of environment and history interacting in ways that we do not want.

However, there are many examples of positive interaction. Crieff's annual walking festival, which is based on the droving history of the area, accesses the beauty of the whole of Strathearn. Money is brought into the town from the combination of history and the landscape—one would not have the same impact without the other. It is also possible to do a William Soutar walk in Perth: the life of a locally born poet provides the inspiration for experiencing the city in a way that combines appreciation of literature and the environment.

If all that is too high-flown, what about the artworks in the grounds of the community school of Auchterarder? With the help of national lottery money, play areas were designed by artists. The works that were produced are not surrounded by "Keep Out" notices; instead, the children play in, around and on them. Art has become part of the environment for a generation of children in Auchterarder.

I could go on for another 30 minutes—

I would not, if I were you.

—but I have cut back my speech to fit the time available. I hope that we debate the issue again.

As Mike Russell said, the motion is rather unusual and Des McNulty was right to say that it was clearly not drafted by civil servants. The motion reflects Mike Russell's artistic and theatrical side. At one level, that is entirely unexceptionable.

I happened to spend last weekend in the Borders, where I was brought up. I took my now elderly parents to Scott's View, in Jeremy Purvis's constituency, the outlook from which—down to Ruberslaw and the Minto hills, with the Eildons before us and the Tweed meandering its way below us—was simply stunning. As a boy from Hawick, it is difficult for me to allow my gaze to dwell on Galashiels at any time, but it is a magnificent environment. On an autumn day, with the trees turning, one can see how it inspires and shapes people. Not far from there, in the hills that I walked as a boy, is the monument to the Ettrick shepherd. One can see how that inspires, influences and shapes all of us.

People have often regarded the Gaels as not respecting their environment, but in significant part ancient Gaelic writings are a celebration of the environment and of interaction with the wild creatures of the area.

I hate to interrupt such an excellent advertorial on my constituency, but I would like to cheer up the member, who is originally from Hawick. He will be aware that a couple of weeks ago Hawick beat Melrose 30-22.

Our dominance is maintained.

The motion is unexceptionable in what it says about the visual arts. We have spent all of humankind's time bringing the external environment into our homes. That is true of both comparatively modern landscape painting and of the first paintings by cave dwellers, which portrayed our environment and the wild creatures in it.

Although the motion is unexceptionable in many ways, it falls into a number of traps. First, it states the obvious. Art in all its forms is the expression of our relationship and interaction with the environment. Without that relationship, there is no art. That is true not only of Scotland, but of all nations. Each nation draws inspiration from its environment, in various ways. We should be very proud that Scotland has some of the key creative exponents of that process, a number of whom are listed in the motion.

Secondly, the motion is in some ways invidious, because it mentions some artists but, inevitably, cannot mention most of them. I was puzzled that Mike Russell did not pick people from my part of the world such as Hugh Miller, George Mackay Brown, Peter Maxwell Davies or his old sparring partner from the Uists, Angus Peter Campbell, who is now one of the foremost Gaelic poets and writers.

The third trap into which the motion falls is that it is largely a rural description of Scotland, although our urban environment is crucial to the mass of our people. It also inspires architecture, the people and the condition of the people in urban communities. The motion reflects a largely romantic view of the landscape and environment, but the reality for too many Scots in their communities is unromantic. Des McNulty made points about our degraded communities, which do not have access to a good pristine environment or to the arts. Those communities require environmental and artistic justice. The motion fails to see them, let alone to recognise that, which is why the Labour amendment is so important. People in such communities require not theatrical parliamentary motions but access, equity, action and entitlements to arts experiences, as Des McNulty set out.

Scotland's artistic community needs help to develop the arts in all our communities. As well as the artistic elite, rural Scotland—the part of the world that I represent is Scotland's largest rural area—needs particular support. [Interruption.] Presiding Officer, if you are telling me to be quiet, I will be quiet. Like Roseanna Cunningham, I could talk for many more minutes on the issue, but I will defer to your authority.

Thank you.

I want to concentrate on one important aspect of the motion. There is a real environmental need to reunite our urban population with a love and knowledge of the rest of Scotland, their country. Matt McGinn's 1960s song "I Have Seen the Highlands" makes my point:

"I was born in dear old Glasgow, in a Gallowgate tenement,
When people spoke of my bonny land I didn't know what they meant.
But then I took to travel, I moved far and wide,
Now when I speak of my native land I speak with loving pride:
For I hae seen the Hieland's, I hae seen the Low,
And I will brag o' my native land wherever I may go."

He, like many urban people, had not experienced what the rest of his country was like. I will argue that that is often still the case today.

Will the member take an intervention?

No, I would rather make some headway.

In a Herald article in 1999, Kenneth Steven urged our young Parliament to address the situation that I just described. He cited how Norwegians who live in towns are far more in tune with Norway's coasts, mountains and wild places than Scots are with those parts of their country, which should not be the case. He suggested that the disparate parts of Norway are welded into a nation by Norwegians' love of their land and the practical developments that have been undertaken through such organisations as folk high schools, which acquaint young people from the towns with countryside living and skills. There is also the involvement of many young Norwegians in skiing, sailing and walking, which are far more widely practised in Norway than they are in Scotland.

The average Scot regards a holiday as being a short budget flight to the sun. They turn their backs on the wealth and wonder of our rural and island places. Considering Scotland's tragic history of rural clearances and self-eviction in the pursuit of progress, it is little wonder that the alienation of most urbanites came about. Underlying that outlook is the stark fact that "we", the vast majority, live in towns, while "they", the vast minority, own the countryside; 1,250 people own two thirds of the privately owned rural land—it is "them and us".

The Scottish view of the countryside, therefore, is weakened through a lack of family connection with it, in contrast with the situation in, for example, France, Italy or Norway. However, this environment debate allows us to place the emphasis on the cultural inspiration of our landscape and its scattered communities, and it is a great chance to celebrate our huge output in the arts and in traditional music and song, whose riches are of world stature.

Bagpipes, which have been mentioned already, may be seen by some as an instrument best suited to the outdoors. Ironically, bagpipe music gained its popularity through pipe bands, which developed in our towns and cities, with their large populations. Anyone who has heard a pipe band playing in the street cannot but be moved. The world pipe band championships that take place on Glasgow green in August take rural and urban folk music on to an international plain.

Some of our finest examples of artistic inspiration involve humans in the landscape. Norman MacCaig's poem "A Man in Assynt" is a classic of the kind, which all Scots should read, then visit the places that MacCaig wrote about.

The motion allows us only a little time to debate great details, but it opens the account and tries to dig beneath arguments about regeneration funds and about whether we should be thinking about British literature, song, painting or whatever, which is a spurious concept.

At the heart of the motion is the idea of our rural and urban areas coming together in the imagination, so that old and new experiences of our shared Scottish environment can be tapped into by this generation.

As Peter Peacock said, the law of unintended consequences means, by definition, that when we list who is in, we imply who is out. I appreciate that it is not possible to list in any motion all Scotland's important artists and literary figures. However, I am a wee bit surprised, if not astonished, that there is no mention in the motion of Burns. Andrew Cooper, the secretary of the Mauchline Burns Club, said to me this morning that we can walk down any street in any city of the world and we will find someone who can quote at least a couple of lines from Burns's works.

I can give more examples of important Scottish artistic and literary figures, but I will restrict myself to a couple of contemporary favourites. There is Andy Goldsworthy who, like Mr Russell, was born across the border but who has nonetheless made Scotland his home. His work takes its inspiration, quite literally, from our landscapes because he uses the natural materials that he finds there to create new ways of looking at our environment. There is also the present-day poet, Rab Wilson, who worked with me on the Holyrood poetry link scheme, whose work in the Scots language follows in the tradition of Burns in drawing inspiration from people and places in his native Ayrshire. I am sure that everybody has their own favourite examples of such artistic and literary figures.

I want to concentrate on what the Labour amendment refers to, particularly on how public art can and does play a role in community regeneration. Members may have seen images this week on the BBC and STV of parts of my constituency in which derelict buildings were left to rot by their owners, who did not care about the local communities. Members will understand therefore why environmental justice is so important. The people who walked away from those buildings left communities feeling embarrassed that visitors should have to see derelict sites.

Members are welcome to come to Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley. I can put them on one of our excellent Coalfield Community Transport buses and take them on a tour of villages in the constituency, which would show them very different sights. Sometimes they would see—on the same streets that contain derelict buildings—high-quality public art, which was commissioned by the community to reflect its proud heritage. Members could start their tour with the Benno Schotz bust of Keir Hardie in Cumnock. They could look at the first statue of Jean Armour, in Mauchline. They could see the clock in Auchinleck that was designed to reflect the village's mining heritage, and they could see a memorial to miners in Drongan. They could see the larger-than-life statue of a miner in Muirkirk by accomplished sculptor Kirti Mandir. The unveiling of the statue by Jack McConnell, when he was First Minister, brought out one of the biggest crowds in Muirkirk in many a year. The initiative had been taken forward by the local enterprise company.

Members could see the gateway to Dalmellington, where a large artwork reflects local history as well as the village's more recent connections as a book town. They could see the gateway to Girvan—the red sandstone puffer sculpture, which has been controversial but has certainly attracted attention. The tour could move on to Dailly, the scene of perhaps one of the most graphic images in the BBC coverage, where the bridge at the end of the street was commissioned by the community council from internationally-renowned sculptor Steve Dilworth.

The important point is that such projects were community-led. People acknowledged that public art has a role to play in improving the local environment and in raising aspirations and expectations. It is perhaps no coincidence that the projects developed against the backdrop of industrial decline and dereliction, because in many ways they demonstrate how communities fought back and took control: they said, "We matter. We deserve better and we will make it happen." That is why funding for community regeneration and environmental justice is so important.

Many members quoted from songs and poems. I will finish with a line that my colleagues on the Labour benches will understand, which applies to communities who say that they want not just action on derelict buildings but public artworks:

"We want bread, but we want roses too!"

It is important that the member of the Scottish Parliament for Scott should follow the MSP for Burns. I am delighted that the Government has brought a debate that acknowledges the connection between land and people, past and future, and I am pleased that the motion headlines Scott and Hogg—two erstwhile constituents of mine, to whom I am sure my colleague Jim Hume, given his close family and historical connections, will refer.

My constituency also includes Melrose abbey, Thirlestane castle, Abbotsford house, Neidpath castle, and Glencorse kirkyard, where Burke and Hare found a good supply of bodies. It includes the High mill in Galashiels, which is to be reopened as the textile and design centre of Scotland and will buzz with students from every continent, who will want to come to the Borders and work in a mill that dates from the industrial revolution and was made famous by Bernat Klein and other designers. All those places are part of the warp and weft of the culture of the Borders—past and future. The castles represent a violent past, the abbeys represent our impact on faith and trade and the mills represent our industrial past, which is being brought to life through design and fashion. They are also part of the Borders' future in tourism.

At the heart of Borders culture is Abbotsford, the home of Walter Scott and the first stately home to be opened to the public, because of the sheer number of visitors who were keen to see that supporter of literature's home. In 1877 President Ulysses S Grant visited Melrose by train and went to Abbotsford. I am delighted that the United States ambassador has accepted an invitation from my colleague Michael Moore to retrace President Grant's steps and visit the house in two weeks' time—I regret that he will come by car, but the transport situation is one that we will rectify.

I support the trustees of Abbotsford house in their ambition to make the house a world centre for literature and I am delighted that the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture has agreed to meet me and the trustees to discuss the matter. We need only approximately £10 million from the spending review. I see that the minister is nodding—that is a mere drop in the ocean. When I saw the motion, with the theme of our history and future, I thought that there could be parallels with today's political world in Scott and Hogg. The irony of nationalists paying tribute to Scott in such glowing terms is not lost. When the First Minister claimed credit for abolishing several quangos that had already been abolished, I thought of Scott's "Marmion", which states:

"O, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!"

When I heard that the First Minister had written to the generals and dictators of the world's unsavoury nations, I recalled a literary description of Hogg's "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner", which called it

"A psychological case study of an unreliable narrator, and an examination of totalitarian thought".

I think that it was on the First Minister's reading list during the recess.

We should be wary about taking ownership of location. Scott and his counterparts in the Edinburgh enlightenment took elocution lessons so that they could sound less Scottish. Then, Scotland was North Britain. When Gladstone campaigned in Stow in my constituency in 1879 to 4,000 people—a sum that I tried, but failed slightly, to match during the recent elections—the reports stated that he spoke in Edinburghshire. Today, we have Scotland and we have the Borders. Scott played his part in recovering the honours of Scotland. In the Borders, we have the honours of Scotland—we rely on them for our culture, but also for our tourism industry and our future. As I said, the sum needed is only £10 million, which is a mere drop in the ocean.

Mike Russell chided me by saying:

"You usually twist economics into culture, Chris, and now you're twisting culture into economics."

That could perhaps be used against Nanette Milne's comments that culture and the environment are somewhat marginal to our main concerns. "Environment" is an unfortunate long French word, with too many syllables for Daily Record journalists. The Germans use "Umwelt", which is a handy and snappy word meaning "world around" and any primary school kid can understand it.

We are not very good at the environment, although the concept was coined by two Victorian Scots, Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin, and broadcast worldwide by two other Scots, John Muir, in America, and Patrick Geddes, in all the bits that are not America, and in America, too. Geddes came up with the evolutionary sequence of man in what he called the carbon age, which goes from the polis, to the technopolis, to the megalopolis and, ultimately, if we do not look out, the necropolis. That is pretty well where we are headed now—Alasdair Gray's "Lanark" ends at Glasgow's necropolis for good reasons.

The threat of environmental deterioration that is before us can terrify. Nicholas Stern told us how much coping with that deterioration would cost, but he was not encouraged by the Treasury and went back to academic life. We have not got much time, but there are encouraging signs and they are, largely, here in Scotland. When I was on the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee's visit to Inverness, I had my C P Snow moment of understanding how a process works and how it can benefit us—I saw how wave power is actually air power, as it deals principally with compressing air to act in turbines. Air is far more steerable and storable than water. A product prototype is slated for Siadar in the Western Isles, which has, I noticed almost immediately, the power of the Voith Siemens company behind it. In other words, we are in the European big league on that. Once we grasp that and the illimitable swell surge of the Atlantic, we will see that the potential is as great as North Sea oil's and that it will stay.

Scotland also stands well on coping with greenhouse gases. We now know that the capacity of the sea to absorb the CO2 with which we are poisoning ourselves is less than we had assumed. We need carbon capture, which involves burying CO2 and using it to force out more oil and gas. The process was being mooted back in 1992, when I was working on the book "Fool's Gold: The Story of North Sea Oil"—which is still, I think, the only major study of North Sea oil—but it has so far only been carried out by the Norwegians in the Sleipner field. The process enables the Norwegians to bury a million tonnes of the stuff a year. We could bury as much as the 15 million tonnes of CO2 that come from Scotland's three carbon-burning stations, so the sooner the Peterhead-Miller field scheme is up, reanimated and running, the better.

The CO2 traffic can be separated from power station discharges. We can find out what the building of new pipes will cost and, because Europe is desperate to get rid of the stuff, we can make money out of carbon capture. The equivalent of about 1 billion tonnes of oil has been taken out per decade—that is where we can put the stuff. We need a North Sea energy and environment policy. We need partnership investment on behalf of the Scottish people—a renewables equivalent of Norway's Statoil. We need specialised manufacturing and training provision. I am a natural pessimist of the Private Frazer sort, but since that Tuesday, watching the waves in an Inverness laboratory, I have become an optimist.

I echo Cathy Jamieson and Peter Peacock's comments when I say that I will support Des McNulty's amendment.

Bonarty, in Dunfermline East, is a fine example of regeneration funds transforming a pit bing from one of Scotland's worst scars, from an era long past, into the amazing Lochore meadows, which has become a tourist attraction, a site for bird observation and a source of education for the many schoolchildren who visit it.

I have the privilege of being the member whose constituency contains the north landfall of the two bridges—the Forth rail bridge and the Forth road bridge. We all know the great works both written and painted that have been inspired by those iconic pieces of our landscape, or seascape.

The member refers to the iconic Forth bridges. Am I being unfair, or do I recall that she called for one of those bridges to be knocked down because the paint was coming off?

That report was totally wrong; the member is being mischievous in what is an otherwise relatively friendly debate. That is a misrepresentation of what I actually said. Journalists will report anything. We report the facts; they report the fiction.

The regeneration at Lochore is a consequence of Labour's environmental justice agenda and the determination, skills and commitment of the politicians and officials at the former Labour-led Fife Regional Council. It has inspired local artists such as Jim Douglas, who has written eminent works on the human condition in mining communities and whose paintings hang in Buckingham palace. I hope that the new Government will accept that that justice work is vital and must continue. I also hope that the minister will commit his Government to transforming Westfield, which is the biggest blot on the European Union's industrial landscape.

There are other notable places in Fife where our heritage has been protected by the previous, Labour-led council, such as the Wemyss caves. Labour injected more than £6 million into protecting those special caves from the worst ravages of coastal erosion, and I am delighted that they have been protected.

We all accept that there has been a growing focus on the value of certain landscapes and the potential impacts on those landscapes; there has also been discussion of what constitutes appropriate development. As a result, landscape management methods are coming under increasing scrutiny. I welcome the fact that throughout the EU, the spatial planning agenda strives to secure co-operation from member states and achieve strategies and agreements that will result in firm action being taken by the most appropriate levels of government to secure the protection of those parts of our heritage that most need it.

In a recent report in the Sunday Herald, its environment editor, Rob Edwards, advises us that more than 10,000 of the most important ancient and historical sites around Scotland's coastline are at risk of being destroyed by climate change. On occasion, man-made developments on our coastlines have the impact of a scouring action. According to the article,

"New surveys for Historic Scotland reveal that the remains of communities up to 9000 years old could be lost for ever due to accelerating coastal erosion."

I hope that the minister will take particular note of the Crown Estate's exhibition in the garden lobby. It explains the marine stewardship fund, which is funding development of a new coastal defence system to protect against erosion. The system is being trialled at Dunwich in Suffolk. I hope that the minister will take an interest in that, because it will benefit the people of Scotland.

Most of us live in cities and many of us have little contact with nature. That isolation from the natural world has occurred only recently in evolutionary terms as technology has advanced. The close awareness of nature that earlier generations of Scots enjoyed is reflected in our rich linguistic and literary heritage, as a couple of Scottish sayings might suffice to illustrate. "He never lies but whan the holly's green," was said of an habitual liar, while, "Ye wad wheedle a laverock frae the lift," was said of somebody who was particularly charming and persuasive. One might think that some of these phrases could be revived for certain political use.

As climate change looms, we might ask whether the technology that distances us from nature is now bringing us face to face with our dependence on the natural environment. The importance of the natural environment is not limited to climate change. There is wide acknowledgement of the health, welfare and law and order benefits of introducing more nature into our lives.

Will Bill Wilson give way?

No, I am sorry.

Greenspace Scotland quotes a police officer as saying that

"quality community greenspace has a real role to play in … creating a safer and stronger community"

and that it is

"the latest weapon in the fight against crime!"

The appropriately named Dr William Bird, Natural England's health expert, says:

"The evidence that regular contact with the natural environment improves health and wellbeing is overwhelming particularly for children, the elderly and those living in deprived areas."

On that point, I congratulate Architecture and Design Scotland on recognising the importance of integrating nature and the built environment. Riverside Inverclyde—one of the key regeneration projects in which ADS is involved—will consider opportunities to reuse vacant or derelict land. Importantly, the options explicitly include the creation of natural or green spaces.

Having admitted that contact with nature is good for us, we are encouraging it back into the urban environment. Should we also change our attitude to nature in rural areas? We have channelled rivers, drained marshes and felled forests. Thankfully, we are now starting to reverse some of the damage that we have caused. For example, we have reintroduced capercaillies and sea eagles and established SSSIs.

Perhaps we should consider other reintroductions and changes of approach. The European beaver is listed in the European Community habitats directive and is recognised as a keystone species in the ecology of woodland and freshwater systems. According to Trees for Life, the European beaver builds fewer dams than the North American beaver. Its dams are usually breached by flood waters each year and do not normally pose obstacles to brown trout and salmon.

Given the difference in behaviour between the European and the North American beaver, reintroduction of the European beaver to Scotland would not cause a disaster of the sort that the North American beaver caused in Tierra del Fuego. In other words, there would be no need to introduce new beaver recipes.

Bill Wilson will be aware that the whole of the Highlands was once covered by the great Caledonian forest, which was removed by man's activities over 6,000 years. Does he agree—

Quickly, Mr Harper.

Does Bill Wilson agree that, if one puts aside the romantic view of the north of Scotland and sees it as a scene of utter devastation and desolation, there is a lesson to be learned from our own landscape for the future where climate change is concerned?

Yes.

I had better accelerate as I can see that I have little time. Presiding Officer, do I have a few seconds left? Am I in my last minute?

Well, you have a few seconds less every time you ask.

In that case, I will skip the next section of my speech and go quickly to my closing remarks. I noticed a request for Burns, so it would be a pity if I missed out my final section, which includes a short quote from him.

Robert Burns wrote in his poem "To a Mountain Daisy, On turning one down, with the Plough, in April—1786":

"Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flow'r,
Thou's met me in an evil hour;
For I maun crush amang the stoure
Thy slender stem:
To spare thee now is past my pow'r,
Thou bonie gem."

It is not too late for us to spare the wonderful natural heritage that we have in our beautiful country. We can and must heal many of the wounds that we have inflicted. After all, is it not the duty of each generation to pass Scotland on to the next generation in a better state than that in which it found her?

I welcome the chance to sum up on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. I congratulate Michael Russell on his motion, and I congratulate him even more on supporting the Lib Dem amendment.

My area—the Scottish Borders and, more widely, the south of Scotland—has long been a place of inspiration, not only because of its natural landscape but because of its passionate and, at times, fierce history. I come from one of its reiver families. Old habits die hard.

Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, has been mentioned. He might have failed in the Hebrides but he farmed more successfully at my neighbouring farm in Yarrow—Altrieve, which is now known as Eldinhope. He received little acclaim for his book on sheep diseases but, as Jeremy Purvis said, he received great acclaim for his publication "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner".

It is very good.

Yes, it is.

The main character is a doppelgänger, as the minister will know, which is a shape-shifting devil. There is some irony there—perhaps that Gothic novel is a wee bit like the SNP manifesto. Anyway, Hogg surely took inspiration from the Borders for his novel.

Sir Walter Scott, whom Des McNulty mentioned, is also linked with Yarrow. The last time Scott met Hogg, he stayed in my farmhouse in the Yarrow valley.

Are you that old?

I am getting hassle from the minister. [Laughter.]

Scott inspired Wordsworth to write three poems about Yarrow: "Yarrow Unvisited", "Yarrow Visited" and "Yarrow Revisited". Scott went on to strengthen the union by hosting the kilted King George IV here in Edinburgh. It was the first royal visit to Scotland for 172 years.

Liberal Democrats have always been at the fore of promoting the protection of the historic environment. Ross Finnie was the environment minister for an unequalled two sessions. We recognise the importance of nurturing people's appreciation and enjoyment of our historic environment, which is particularly important to the tourism industry. It plays a huge role in attracting tourists to the south of Scotland and Scotland as a whole.

However, perhaps we need to improve the ways in which we promote what Scotland has on offer. Recently, I was in Wigtown, which is home to the now well-known Wigtown book festival, of which you will be well aware, Presiding Officer. The festival has been immensely successful and has done much to regenerate the town recently—for example, by using the old county buildings to explain the town's history using original artefacts. The nearby Baldoon castle is said to be haunted by the ghost of Janet Dalrymple. The events surrounding her death, which remain unclear to this day, are immortalised in the unionist Sir Walter Scott's "The Bride of Lammermoor".

It is vital that we identify our untapped potential for tourism and work to develop further the excellent sites that we already have in Scotland. I hope that the shake-ups of VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise do not result in Scotland losing out, particularly regarding local tourism initiatives. I am also anxious about the SNP's intention to review the make-up of agencies such as SNH and SEPA. The position is unclear and it is creating serious uncertainty about the future of environmental protection and management in Scotland.

Nanette Milne mentioned agri-environment schemes. I hope that the Scottish Government will provide a continuation scheme as a matter of urgency, as the previous Liberal Democrat minister did.

We all agree that Scotland's excellent and historic built and natural environments are a massive boon because they provide both a good quality of life for those who live here and a valuable economic resource. The previous Executive made great strides in protecting and enhancing Scotland's landscape. I sincerely hope that the Scottish Government will follow that good example.

I enjoyed Peter Peacock's description of his day out in the Borders. I defy anybody who has viewed the Black Cuillin from Elgol in Skye not to have longed to be a painter, a poet, or at least a half-decent photographer. If ever a wind farm is allowed to intrude on that sublime view, Byron, Burns and the rest will all be birling in their graves—and no, Robin Harper, I have no time for any of your interventions. [Laughter.]

With so few big political ideas around, it is all the more important that we should try to identify what really motivates those who elect us. Bill Clinton was only partly right when he said, "It's the economy, stupid." Of course we all want to be better off, but even if Alex Salmond turned Scotland into the sixth—or is it the third?—richest nation in the world, would we really be that much happier?

Earlier this week, the Presiding Officer reminded the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association seminar that Andrew Carnegie, the then richest man in the world, said:

"No man can be truly rich unless he first enriches others."

We have been debating today what ultimately enriches us: our cultural inheritance—including the built environment that Des McNulty refers to in his amendment—linked with and inspired by our remarkable landscapes and seascapes.

Environment influences the cultures of all countries, but it seems to me that the culture of Scotland is uniquely shaped by its history and topography. The peoples of many European countries were forced into exile in the 19th century but, uniquely, the Highland clearances produced an outpouring of song and literature that is disproportionate when compared with that of countries where there were even greater diasporas. In the far corners of the world, the Gaelic word "cianalas"—longing for the homeland—is a powerful cultural driver to this day, and that has played a considerable part in the renaissance of the modern Highlands.

Today's debate has given contributors, not least Mike Russell, an opportunity to strut their cultural cred. My own literary icons, like Cathy Jamieson's, include Burns and Lewis Grassic Gibbon, who, as Nanette Milne pointed out, brought the speak of the Mearns to an astonished wider world. Even in translation, Sorley MacLean's poetry reminds us why exiled Gaels, though divided by "waste of seas", still in their dreams "behold the Hebrides".

Urban Scotland has been an equally important cultural driver, as Des McNulty and Peter Peacock reminded us. Before she produced her celebrated Catterline seascapes, Joan Eardley's reputation was already assured through her haunting paintings of Glasgow's slum bairns.

While we strut our cultural cred, however, we must avoid cultural cringe. Our environmental and cultural heritage is too rich and diverse to be viewed through tartan-tinted spectacles, if I can use that expression. The motion rightly talks about celebrating Scotland's place in the world, and Mike Rumbles's amendment sensibly talks about the UK and the wider world.

We have all heard Alex Salmond talking about the cultural cringe engendered by slogans such as "the best small country in the world", but equally cringe-making are attempts to impose a Scottish pastiche on our culture and artistes. We are at our best when viewed in a world context. As Burns wrote,

"From Scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs,
That makes her lov'd at home, rever'd abroad".

That was as true for Robbie Burns as it is for Robbie Coltrane today.

Edinburgh is home to the world's greatest arts festival. There could be no better example of culture formed from a uniquely Scottish environment. Scots are a gifted, out-going people; we thrive on competition. All that we seek is an even playing field; all that our renowned artistic companies seek is parity with their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

I look to Linda Fabiani—even in these fraught financial times—not to fall into the trap of settling back into a cultural kailyard. I look to her to honour her Government's commitment at least to retaining the current level of expenditure on the world-class arts here in Scotland.

This is an excellent motion from Mike Russell, and I commend him on lodging it, but it cries out for addition.

First, I have a minor point. Although delighted with the artists who have been mentioned, we all want to add one or two more. Cathy Jamieson understandably mentioned Burns and, echoing Nanette Milne and Ted Brocklebank, I will throw in Lewis Grassic Gibbon. More than any other Scottish writer, he evoked the power of the land as an almost animistic force.

More substantially, we could add that culture is not just about celebration but is an agent of change. Similarly, the environment is not always something to be celebrated and can be in drastic need of change. Both culture and the environment lend themselves to the concept of entitlement, which is no threat whatsoever to the highest cultural and environmental standards.

I enjoyed Mike Russell's speech. I agreed with what he said and liked his quotations from Sorley MacLean, James Hogg and others. He paid tribute to the Scottish landscape forum, which was set up by the previous Administration. I point out to him that it reported earlier this year, with 21 recommendations. Perhaps, in summing up, the minister can tell us when the Government will respond to and act on those recommendations.

Peter Peacock, who has the most beautiful constituency in Scotland—apart from Edinburgh North and Leith—

Will the member take an intervention?

No, because I know what the member will say.

Peter Peacock pointed out that the motion was entirely unexceptionable but then proceeded to make several objections to it, including that it was largely about rural artists—

Will the member give way?

In a moment.

However, that is not entirely true. For example, the motion mentions Alasdair Gray, whose latest book I happened to read in the October recess. Although he votes SNP, I do not hold that against him and I can certainly recommend "Old Men in Love", which will appeal not just to old men, whether in or out of love.

I fear that this is a singularly inappropriate moment for me to intervene. [Laughter.]

Every Labour member has said that the motion does not address urban Scotland, but it contains a number of names that do. For example, the books of Robin Jenkins deal strongly with the urban environment and the problems that arise there. Urban Scotland has not been neglected in the motion.

I actually agree with the minister and was trying to make that very point to Peter Peacock, but I thank the minister for reinforcing the point. Alasdair Gray also has a strong sense of place—in his case, the west end of Glasgow.

We are very lucky, of course, to have with us as distinguished a cultural historian as Christopher Harvie. He gave us an historical perspective, from the sociology of Patrick Geddes to John Muir, Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin. Mid-way, he turned to his C P Snow moment, which involved wave power and carbon capture. We all agree that those are vital technologies that we must develop to combat climate change. I remind members—if I may have my C P Snow moment—that the Scottish scientist Joseph Black isolated and identified the properties of carbon dioxide.

Cathy Jamieson showed her expertise on artists. She emphasised environmental justice with a specific example relevant to her constituency and gave examples of modern art in Ayrshire, which is often community led. The Andy Scott who is referred to in the motion is such an artist, known for his "Easterhouse Phoenix".

The justice aspect was also emphasised by Helen Eadie. In addition, she mentioned coastal erosion, which is clearly an issue on which we must take action.

Roseanna Cunningham gave an excellent speech that highlighted the importance of Walter Scott and the enormous influence that he had on how Scots saw themselves and how others saw them. He was also mentioned by Jeremy Purvis and Des McNulty. Scott is an important example of how someone can be a cultural nationalist as well as a political unionist.

I was delighted to hear Ted Brocklebank begin his speech with a reference to the view of the Black Cuillin from Elgol, which is indeed the most superb view in Scotland and was, I think, captured in one of Sorley MacLean's poems.

I will not say too much today about cultural entitlements as we will have a statement on the issue next week, but I flag up our concern if that crucial concept is no longer to be central to culture policy. Environmental justice is conceptually similar to cultural entitlements, as it involves the right to live in a good environment. That is why we have emphasised that point in our amendment.

Clearly, the emphasis in today's debate has been on the beautiful landscapes of Scotland, but we must also emphasise how we will support and protect them. For example, will the Government implement the national scenic areas legislation that is contained in the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006?

Finally, we need to ensure that everyone has access to the beautiful environments of Scotland. That issue is partly about the access legislation that, as Sarah Boyack argued, badly needs to be strengthened. However, given the number of people in urban Scotland who—it saddens me—never see those beautiful places, there is also an issue about public transport and the provision of information. That is partly a personal plea to Stewart Stevenson—if he is present—from someone who has spent every summer visiting the north-west Highlands by public transport.

I call Linda Fabiani to wind up the debate.

It seems to me that Malcolm Chisholm has done my job for me, so I can just talk about what I want.

It was clear from the debate that some members well appreciate how important the connections are between the quality of life in our beautiful country and the natural and cultural resources that we enjoy. It was also plain that some members have a great love for their own part of the country: Nanette Milne for the north-east, Roseanna Cunningham for Perthshire, Jeremy Purvis for the Borders and Jim Hume for the south-east of Scotland. Helen Eadie, too, never wastes an opportunity to tell us how much she loves Fife—including the bridges—so I thank her for that.

Will the minister take an intervention?

That was very quick.

First time lucky.

It would be helpful if the minister would outline why she will not support the Labour amendment. She will be aware of the concern—I say this as a Hebridean who was brought up in inner-city Glasgow—that our environmental approach disregards the urban environment. I therefore ask the Scottish Government to consider looking again at the dilution of Scottish planning policy 11 on open space, which is under way. Will the Government also consider looking again at the merging of SNH and SEPA into a rural service agency, which the First Minister spoke about during First Minister's questions? Clearly, there needs to be a strong message about urban—

I think we have got the point.

I thought that Johann Lamont would rise to the occasion, but sadly I was wrong.

Des McNulty's speech included wonderful artistic examples of mankind, nature and society. Most of the speech was very much in the spirit of the debate that we proposed, but his amendment did not reflect that.

Next, we come to Mike Rumbles's amendment. We are, currently, in the legal reality of the UK—we accept that, which is why we are accepting the amendment. However, as internationalists in both politics and the arts—Mr Brocklebank will be pleased to know that—we recognise that when Scotland is no longer in the UK, we will still have some common heritage that can be celebrated with the rest of it.

We are a privileged people indeed. As the motion suggests, we are especially enriched in Scotland by the wonderful works of art—music, literature, painting, film, dance and every other art form—through which talented men and women across the centuries have sought to interpret for themselves and for us the reaction, emotion and sheer amazement that Scotland's scenery and environment have inspired in them.

Peter Peacock said that the motion states the obvious; in that case, I have to ask why so many of his colleagues misunderstood it. It was wrong to suggest, even for a minute, that the motion does not reflect urban Scotland, when it names people such as Alasdair Gray. Chris Harvie spoke about Alasdair Gray's wonderful work in Glasgow where, after the city's decline as a big industrial city, he led a revival of writing. The motion also mentions Andy Scott, who has put urban art all over the place.

Cathy Jamieson and Roseanna Cunningham have a particular interest in public art. The Scottish Arts Council is exploring how to maximise the value to community life of public art works, which are a tangible expression of identity and belonging. Scotland's urban places are remarkable, too. They are cityscapes with their own beauty, grandeur and world-renowned centres of creativity. Artists have always played an important part in reconnecting people with their environment, giving us a sense of place and identity. Roseanna Cunningham understood that very well.

It has been said that it is a bit invidious to single out certain individuals as we do in the motion. However, the motion is an expression of celebration and profound pride in the people that it names and the many others whom they represent. The motion mentions the creative legacy that influences how we relate to the landscape today. The landscape of Scotland bears the marks of every generation, as shown by its sites, its buildings and its impressive evidence of prehistory in the form of earthworks and standing stones.

We are celebrating something vital that all places—unspoiled countryside, which many members mentioned, or the gritty urban landscapes of Peter Howson and film-maker Peter Mullan—have in common; I refer to the communities that inhabit them. Rob Gibson, Ted Brocklebank and Bill Wilson all talked about how Scotland as a land is uniquely shaped. Rob Gibson also said that there was little time to debate in great detail what we would be doing.

I ask everyone in the chamber to take what we are doing today as a start. It is a celebration of creativity and of our people and our land—the wonderful environment that surrounds us. Let us rise to the occasion and say that the motion is pretty good. Let us celebrate it and agree to it today.