Official Report 367KB pdf
Our first item of business is a debate on motion S6M-20721, in the name of John Swinney, on a motion of condolence for Jeane Freeman. We are honoured to welcome Jeane’s partner Susan and members of Jeane’s close family and friends to our gallery today.
I was privileged to work with Jeane outwith and in Holyrood. In my spokesperson roles on health and on social security in the previous session, I worked with Jeane on a number of occasions in both of her Cabinet positions. Jeane was always professional, kind and determined. Her commitment to public service was clear.
It was a tremendous shock and sadness to learn of her death. On behalf of all at the Scottish Parliament, I send our deepest condolences to Susan and all of Jeane’s family, friends and colleagues. She will be very sadly missed.
14:01
Jeane Freeman was a remarkable colleague, a woman of principle and a woman of courage. She was dedicated in all that she did, selfless in her actions and unfailingly compassionate. Scottish politics and public life in Scotland have lost an outstanding individual who leaves for us all an incredible legacy.
Working alongside her both here in the chamber and in Cabinet, I valued her counsel, her wisdom, her solidarity and her care. Jeane gave her counsel freely and openly to support the common good. She always offered wise thinking when we wrestled with difficult questions. Whenever I faced political challenges, Jeane would offer support. At moments of personal difficulty, Jeane would offer care and kindness.
For those outside of Government, Jeane will always be remembered, first and foremost, for the pivotal role that she played during the Covid pandemic. That was one of the greatest public health crises in history, one of the greatest challenges that our national health service has ever seen and one of the greatest challenges that our society has seen. There was no blueprint or precedent for us to draw on during that period. All of us—politicians, citizens and community leaders—were in uncharted waters. Jeane, as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, was one of the people who provided selfless leadership to help us to steer our way through it.
Thankfully, Jeane was the right person for the job. I remember well her leadership, her pragmatism and her determined commitment to evidence-based and, necessarily often, brave decision making. Every single day, with exceptional dedication, grace and selflessness, she threw herself into her work to keep people healthy and safe without a thought for her own health, and to support our health services, in which she took such pride and to which she gave such commitment.
She was the first to accept that she might not have got everything right, but Jeane made a terrific difference to and for us all. Although she will always be remembered for what she did then, it is only one highlight in a long and distinguished career that was built on social justice, care and service to others.
Jeane will always be remembered for the moral values that she brought to all that she did. She said that she learned those moral values from her parents. Her mother worked 12-hour shifts as a sister in a psychiatric hospital. Her father was a trade unionist and served in the Royal Air Force during world war two. He spoke to Jeane of the social contract between a Government and its people and of the inequality that he saw when he came home after the war ended. He taught her the need for fairness and compassion—that everyone in our society deserves equal opportunity.
Jeane took those lessons to heart. They were values that she practised in her politics, in her career and in her life: when she became the first woman to chair the National Union of Students in Scotland; when she trained and worked as a nurse; when she founded Apex Scotland; when she was a member of the Parole Board for Scotland; and when she was a member of the Scottish Police Services Authority board and the NHS national waiting times centre board. Jeane was living the lessons that she learned from her parents: a commitment to social justice and improving people’s lives.
In 1996, Jeane received an OBE for her service to the rehabilitation of people with experience of the criminal justice system. Jeane also worked as a senior civil servant and then as special adviser to the then First Minister, Jack McConnell. In that role, she was heavily involved in the purchase of the Golden Jubilee hospital in Clydebank. She could see the benefits of ensuring that that significant asset was better used for the benefit of all in Scotland.
Jeane’s political journey demonstrated a willingness to think afresh about the world around her. She was a founding member of Women for Independence and one of the faces of the yes Scotland campaign. She was a calm voice of authority to persuade others of the benefits of independence. In the 2016 election, Jeane was elected as MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley and became a tireless advocate for her constituency.
Her work as the first ever Minister for Social Security in Scotland was arguably one of the landmark achievements in her life. In that role, she managed the devolution of new powers and the creation of Social Security Scotland. Our social security system is built on dignity, fairness and respect, and that is because of Jeane. Those were her values. They were values that she embodied and put into her politics; they were values that were passed down from her parents; and they were values that were put into the law of Scotland.
I was fortunate enough to see those values practised up close. Jeane contributed so much to the Government, to this Parliament and to the lives of people across Scotland. For Jeane, that contribution was her life’s mission, which she carried from her childhood throughout her life and up to the very end, even volunteering to support members of the public at the Beatson cancer centre by assisting with the tea trolley.
Her death was a terrible shock, coming just weeks after her cancer diagnosis. On behalf of the Scottish Government and the people of Scotland, I express my deepest condolences to her partner Susan and her much-loved family, who join us today in the gallery.
I always welcomed Jeane’s wisdom, her considered opinions, her advice and her kindness. Like so many others across the chamber and across the country, I express my gratitude for all that Jeane did over the course of her life—for her service, her dedication, her compassion and her humanity. I am grateful for the example that Jeane set for us and the legacy that she leaves behind.
I pay tribute to Jeane Freeman, a woman of principle who lived out her values, shared them with us all and made Scotland a better country as a result. [Applause.]
I move,
That the Parliament expresses its shock and sadness following the death of Jeane Freeman; appreciates her long contribution to public life and politics, including as the MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Minister for Social Security, where she established Social Security Scotland, and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport during the COVID-19 pandemic; recognises the high esteem in which she was held by civic society and colleagues in all parties, and offers its deepest sympathy and condolences to her partner, family and many friends.
14:08
I associate myself with and commend the First Minister’s remarks.
On behalf of myself and the Conservative Party, I send our deepest condolences to Susan and all of Jeane’s family, friends and colleagues, and her wider party.
I am touched that Susan asked me to say a few words this afternoon about Jeane. I apologise if these words, in part, repeat some of the remarks that I made in the Parliament shortly after we heard of her passing.
It fell to me to welcome Jeane into Government when she first became a minister, which was a happy duty. I look back on what I said then and notice that Jeane’s mother’s tribute to her daughter was that she had a voice “that could sell coal”. Coal was not what she went on to sell, but she always spoke with tremendous authority and vigour, which was deeply impressive. She brought to the job considerable experience of the outside world, which the Parliament recognised and appreciated.
People will know that I used to do those welcome speeches for ministers, and I must say that I relished the prospect. I enjoy good parliamentary performance and I used to love how Jeane would sit—very still and quiet. She did not allow herself to be noised up. There would be these—probably from me—very theatrical performances from elsewhere in the chamber, with members thinking that they were lambasting her. She would stand up quietly at the end and would always begin by saying, “So…”, and then she would eviscerate every argument that those members had made. I quite often looked across just to exchange a twinkle in the eye, because I knew what she had done. She did it with tremendous effect because she was supremely well briefed and very committed to the job that she did—never more so, in my experience, than in the way in which she engaged directly with the women who were affected by transvaginal mesh.
The Transvaginal Mesh Removal (Cost Reimbursement) (Scotland) Bill was Jeane’s bill, which Humza Yousaf was to take into legislation at the start of this session of Parliament. It provided for the transport of women to the United States, so that Dr Veronikis in Missouri could surgically remove the mesh that, in many cases, they had been told had already been removed. That opportunity was not extended to women anywhere else in the United Kingdom. It was a bill that Jeane embraced and took forward.
I remember one constituent, Lorna Farrell, who went to the steps that Sylvester Stallone ran up in the “Rocky” movie. She got out of her wheelchair, free of mesh, staggered up those steps and stood at the top, thanks to Jeane. Jeane made a difference, and there are women all over Scotland, and their families, who will be forever grateful for what she did.
Let me finish with this final reflection. Decades ago, I sat at a private dinner for the then Prime Minister during the height of the Falklands war. I was sitting next to Alec Douglas-Home and asked him what it was like to lead in a crisis. He said:
“Well, the first thing is the duty of others to offer constructive support.”
I try to remember that and I tried to provide that support when the Covid pandemic fell.
He also said something that I never forgot:
“Other politicians may wish they occupied the desk. Other politicians might think it would all have been better if they had been in charge. Other politicians might lambast and say, ‘That was ridiculous,’ but, for the Prime Minister, the First Minister and the woman in the hot seat, they are making life-and-death decisions. Some of them represent a burden they carry with them for the rest of their lives. They do not walk away from it. It is something they feel, because they had to take decisions—very brave decisions—that had fundamental consequences. That is a real sense of duty.”
I say to Susan: Jeane made a difference. She had a sense of duty, and this Parliament—and everyone in it—should be grateful for her work, the job that she did and the legacy that she leaves behind. [Applause.]
14:12
I echo and enthusiastically support the comments of both the First Minister, John Swinney, and Jackson Carlaw. Listening to them made me think that simply thinking of Jeane puts a smile on many of our faces. That is a remarkable way to remember anyone.
Jeane Freeman was a tremendous public servant who dedicated her life to improving other people’s lives across our great country. I put on the record the condolences and best wishes of everyone in the Scottish Labour Party. In particular, I send our love and best wishes to Jeane’s partner, Susan, whom she was absolutely in love with and devoted to, and to all her friends and family. I send love and condolences because she was respected not just by those on the Scottish National Party benches, but by people across the political spectrum and by so many people outwith politics.
Jeane was a formidable public figure. She dedicated her life to public service and to social justice for our great country. She started her career as a student leader and went on to become health secretary during a global pandemic. She worked as a civil servant and as a Government adviser, serving a former Labour First Minister, Jack McConnell, and she was, of course, a member of the Cabinet. In every role, she brought the same work ethic, the same strong opinions and the same tireless determination to make our country better.
Jeane was a formidable human being and public figure. She was ferociously clever and was fired by a strong sense of justice and an enduring commitment to public service. Scottish politics and public life will be poorer without her.
I have already said this twice in the chamber, but I repeat again that I will always be personally thankful to Jeane Freeman for the steps that she took to get us closer to the truth on the Queen Elizabeth university hospital scandal. That goes for me, and I know that it goes for the whistleblowers and the families, who all appreciate the significant progress that was made in their fight for justice because Jeane Freeman was someone who was willing to listen, learn and act. She was willing to challenge institutions and to question her own.
She will of course be especially missed by her colleagues in the Scottish National Party, and my thoughts are with each and every one of them, but she will be sorely missed by people across the Parliament and the political spectrum. To Susan and to Jeane’s family and friends, I say: Jeane was loved, Jeane was respected, Jeane made a difference and Jeane delivered. You should all be so proud of the life that she lived and the legacy that she leaves, and I hope that you take heart from the fact that we all mourn with you.
14:15
I start by associating myself with the point that Anas Sarwar opened with—just remembering Jeane brings a smile to my face. That is tempered somewhat by Jackson Carlaw’s observation, as I have been at the receiving end of some of those eviscerations in the chamber, which was a usefully humbling experience for a first-time member.
I first met Jeane Freeman at a cocktail bar, Bluedog, on West George Street in Glasgow, where I was with Susan, Shirley-Anne Somerville and other former colleagues. It was an orange juice for me, although Jeane and Susan were having something much more sophisticated. I wanted to open with that because knowing Jeane at first through Susan was to know the incredible love that they had for each other, and that was a privilege to behold.
As Mike Russell noted in Jeane’s obituary, she started her party-political journey in the young communists. That was a proud tradition, and one that many of the leading feminists of recent decades started in. I mention that because I think that Jeane Freeman will probably be the last holder of high office in this country to have started out as part of that particular political movement, which means the end of quite a significant chapter in the political history of this country.
For the independence movement, which is how I got to know her, she was an incredible advocate of our cause, as someone who was serious, accomplished and a former senior figure in a Labour Administration. I had the privilege of speaking alongside her at a number of public meetings, including in places such as Bearsden, which were not exactly hotbeds of support for our cause, but where people were absolutely willing to listen to Jeane.
She exuded authority and had extensive knowledge, but I do not think that that was why people were so willing to listen; it was because she was so obviously and deeply passionate. She was not just a policy wonk; she was someone who was driven by a vision for this country of a fairer and more just Scotland. That was a vision that she brought to Parliament. As the First Minister said, it is most obvious in the social security system that we now have—a system that Jeane designed and that was intended to give people dignity and to lift them up, rather than punish them for the circumstances in which they found themselves. She built that system by listening to and trusting the people who most needed its support.
Jeane always saw politics as being about people. She had a clear vision and was of a deep ideological conviction, but that did not mean getting lost in political abstracts. She certainly did not see this Parliament as a place for pontificating. This was a place to get stuff done for the people who we represent. She was unquestionably one of the most able and talented people ever elected to this Parliament.
My thoughts, prayers and love are with Susan and Jeane’s whole family. I hope that they can take some comfort today from seeing how widely respected and loved she was and still is across the chamber.
14:18
Occasions such as this remind us of the common humanity that we all share and the fundamental values that drive us in public service. However, there have been too many such motions in the course of this session of Parliament—too many towering and substantial giants of our politics and our Parliament have been taken from us far too soon, and Jeane’s passing in particular is a terrible blow.
I did not find it hard to reach for the words of this tribute. They came freely, because the news of her passing left me and my party with a profound sense of sadness. Although she was certainly our opponent and adversary, she always conducted herself with grace and purpose. She was a class act. We knew to trust her at her word and to never doubt the depth of the intellect that underpinned all the decisions to which she was party. We crossed swords—of course we did—but, although she never shirked from joining battle, she never lost the state of grace or decency with which she always conducted herself.
I remember one time when, on social media, she refused to be drawn on to the field of battle after I had posted a viral photograph of a cremated omelette that had been served to a patient in an Edinburgh hospital, but she had the matter dealt with quietly and with purpose.
That was in a simpler time before any of us had heard of Wuhan in China or Covid-19. I cannot remember a time in my life when I was more frightened than I was in those early days of the pandemic. We knew that the virus and lockdown were coming, but we did not know what any of it would mean for our nation or our people. Jeane was the first to strip away the artifice of political division and invite me and other health spokespeople into the very heart of Government decision making and thinking behind the response to the coronavirus emergency.
The weight of the responsibility and the ferocious pace of decision making must have been immense for her, but she always found time to respond to every text message, question and suggestion that I sent her, sometimes daily. When my daughter fell sick in the first wave of the pandemic, she asked me for updates every day. That was a measure of her humanity and decency as a person. She worked tirelessly and with a singular sense of purpose throughout the darkest days of that national emergency. She carried us with her and never showed any sign of the terror that gripped so many of us in those early days.
On hearing the news of her passing, I reached for the last exchanges that we shared by text message. It speaks to the affection and respect that I had for her that one of the last messages that I sent her, which followed her decision to step down from the Parliament, reads as follows:
“Genuinely sorry to learn of your news re stepping down. You have always been one of the brightest, nicest and best.”
I will keep her reply personal to me, but it was steeped in the warmth and grace that defined her, and I will treasure it.
On behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, I wish Susan, Jeane’s family and all her friends love, light, laughter and the promise of better days ahead.
14:22
I associate myself with all the remarks that have been made so far. I only got to know Jeane when I arrived in the Parliament in 2016. A year later, I ended up on the Social Security Committee as we took the Social Security (Scotland) Bill through the parliamentary process, and I got to know her very well over that year and a half. She often phoned me up and helped me to draft my amendments. What was striking every time was that, if she said that she would do something, it happened. We could trust her word completely.
She also had a very personal touch. I remember that, on a Friday morning, I was walking through Astley Ainslie hospital on my way to a meeting. She had heard that something was going on in my family, and she phoned not to talk about social security but to ask me how I was doing. That is a mark of the person that we remember this afternoon.
The thing that struck me most was the way that she could work with other politicians from other Parliaments. At the time, a number of negotiations were on-going with the United Kingdom Government. It is fair to say that the politics of the then minister in London were probably as far away from Jeane’s as they could be. However, I had the privilege of sitting in on a couple of those meetings and watching her not score cheap political points but consider what was best for the people of Scotland, which was a lesson that I learned and that we all need to learn when we do our politics. We can make cheap political points, but what effect does that have on the people of Scotland?
That was also her approach when she devised and took the Social Security (Scotland) Bill through the Parliament. Social Security Scotland is one of the things that she worked on that will continue to be in place. She designed it, drove it and, perhaps most important, worked with the disabled community and with members across the chamber to make it the best that she could.
I, too, pass on my respect and thanks for Jeane. I say to Susan and Jeane’s family how sorry we are for their loss. We have lost somebody who really made a difference to individual lives in Scotland. That is surely a legacy worth having.
14:25
I will open by taking the opportunity to talk about Susan Stewart. I thank Susan for asking you, Presiding Officer, to ask me to speak today—as a former Minister for Parliamentary Business, I know that that is the protocol. It means a lot to me, because Jeane meant a lot to me.
One of the things that I keep trying to remember—we must all remember this—is that, no matter how we all feel, Susan will be feeling this loss more than any of us. My heart goes out to her, because I know the loss that she will be feeling.
Jeane Freeman was a force of nature, an impassioned campaigner and a feisty woman who did not suffer fools, so, of course, I was drawn to her—have you met the women in my life? When Jeane liked you, she liked you. She was hugely loyal. If, for whatever reason, you found yourself on the wrong side of Jeane, the best thing to do was run—run for your life.
I was lucky. I loved Jeane and she loved me. We did not hug one another and tell one another that all the time—it was a very west coast of Scotland working-class love, but we had our moments. It was usually me who had the emotional outburst, but that will come as no surprise to anyone in the chamber.
Jeane had a brick in her office. I often wondered why someone would have a brick in their office. It was a brick from her school—from where she came from—because she had a sense of who she was and where she came from, and that brick represented that. That meant everything to me, because, as some members know, I feel great pride in my home town of Paisley, so I could understand Jeane right away.
Jeane would call me out if she thought that I was wrong, and she would tell me exactly what I had done wrong. Even as recently as last year, she texted me to tell me how stupid I was to do a certain thing. I am not telling anyone today what that certain thing was—people will need to work that out for themselves—but she used her time, even in her retirement, to tell me that. I also remember a recent conversation in which she questioned the logic of our First Minister in no longer having me in the Scottish Government, but, as I said, Jeane was a very good mate.
Sometimes, at the most inappropriate times, I would try to make Jeane laugh, because, when she laughed, her whole face would light up, her eyes would sparkle and we would hear her very throaty laugh.
When Jeane was the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, during Covid, the rest of the world saw the woman we knew. Constituents told me how much Jeane and Nicola meant to them during that very scary time in their lives. That period now seems like a bad dream, much of which we are still dealing with, but people saw what Jeane Freeman was all about.
As many members will be aware, Susan Stewart, Jeane’s partner, is football daft. Perfect for me, she is a St Mirren fan and a member of the tartan army, so we have a lot in common. Jeane—no so much. Even during her tenure as the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Jeane never really got our beautiful game and national pastime. She never understood what all the excitement was about. Susan and I firmly agree with the Bill Shankly quote: “People say that football is a matter of life and death. I say to them that it is a lot more important than that.”
However, during her time away from politics, Jeane started following the great game, mainly with Susan, for Susan. Jeane and Susan attended Euro 2024 in Germany, along with half the country. They followed St Mirren’s recent success in the league cup this season—they both attended the final and semi-final games. Jeane did that for Susan, because that is what Jeane was all about: looking out for other people and making everyone else feel good.
When I heard about Jeane’s illness, I was devastated, but, Jeane being Jeane, she managed to tell me in a very Jeane Freeman way—so much so that she nearly convinced me that she was not as ill as everybody else had told me and that there was a way that she could work things out. That was Jeane being Jeane and thinking about how I felt.
The night before Jeane died, I was in the house, shouting at the television. St Mirren were playing Airdrie, and, although we won, it was a terrible game. At that moment, when the most important thing in my life was that football game, I got a message from Susan saying that Jeane had worsened and that she was permanently at Jeane’s side. She told me that Jeane had come round just as the final whistle had blown and said, “George will be pleased that St Mirren won.” Jeane then demanded that Susan send a picture of her in her hospital bed, clapping because St Mirren had got through to the next round of the cup. That is a classy lady. That woman, even when she was dying, was thinking about someone else: she was thinking about her big, daft pal fae Paisley.
But Jeane Freeman was an extraordinary woman who touched the lives of everyone fortunate enough to know her. She was fierce, loyal, compassionate and utterly devoted to those she loved. From her powerful advocacy during the independence referendum to her leadership through the darkest days of Covid, Jeane showed Scotland what true public service looks like. She was a force of nature who never forgot where she came from, who fought tirelessly for what she believed in, and who made everyone around her better just by being there.
Even in her final hours, Jeane was thinking of others, making sure that Susan knew that she loved her, and making sure that her big, daft pal fae Paisley was happy. That was Jeane Freeman. That will always be Jeane Freeman. Although our hearts are broken, we are all better people for having known her.
Susan, we cannot begin to understand your loss, but I promise you this: Jeane’s legacy, her spirit, and her fierce love and loyalty will live in every single one of us. She was, and always will be, simply incredible. [Applause.]
14:31
Not for the first time, but perhaps for different reasons, George Adam has made me cry.
Trying to sum up the strong, smart, funny, incredibly kind woman who was Jeane Freeman in just a few minutes is an almost impossible task. However, I know how much the words already spoken across the chamber will have meant to Susan, to Jeane’s nieces, Nicola and Louise, and to her great nieces, Emily and Georgie, who all join us here today.
Long before I had the privilege—I use that word deliberately—of calling Jeane a friend, I knew her by her fearsome reputation. I was leader of the Opposition in here and she was a special adviser to the then First Minister, Jack McConnell. I vividly remember her once scowling at me in the garden lobby, after I had given her boss a particularly rough time at FMQs. I am sure that I scowled back, but, inside, I was absolutely terrified.
A bit later, I got to know Jeane as the beloved other half of my long-time friend Susan, and it was through their relationship that Jeane and I became such close friends. Of course, it was in the run-up to the independence referendum that I first campaigned with Jeane, and I discovered then just how powerful it was to have Jeane Freeman on your side. Her co-founding of Women for Independence spoke not just to her lifelong feminism, but also to her conviction—which was so obvious in her ministerial roles, too—that voices traditionally sidelined in politics should and must be heard much more loudly.
After her election as an MSP, in 2016, Jeane became one of the most important members of my Government, steering Social Security Scotland into existence and making sure that it was founded on the right values—and then, of course, overseeing the national health service. As George has alluded to, however, it is fair to say that Susan has never allowed me to forget the idiocy—which, I think, is the word that she used—of me including sport in Jeane’s portfolio.
During the five years that we served together in Government, I learned from direct personal experience that Jeane Freeman possessed one of the sharpest, most astute political brains that I have ever known. As we have already heard, she plied her political trade in the Communist Party before joining Labour and then, of course, the SNP. But Jeane was no machine politician. She had an almost perfect blend of intellectual and emotional intelligence, and she had an instinctive understanding that political ideology means nothing if it does not improve people’s lives.
When thinking about how best to encapsulate the Jeane Freeman I knew and loved, three hallmarks of her character stand out. The first is principle. Jeane’s starting point on every issue was principle, not expediency or political advantage. That did not mean that she was not pragmatic or that she would not compromise. She was and she did, but it was always from a foundation of principle—that is, a clear-headed view of what, in her estimation, was right and wrong. What would best further the principles of fairness, dignity and inclusion and advance the cause of social justice? That was always her primary motivation.
The second is public service. Throughout her career, in all the roles that she held, Jeane was driven by a deep sense of public service. Most people will not realise this, but, in the last couple of years of her life, Jeane spent a considerable amount of time preparing for and giving evidence to two public inquiries: the Scottish hospitals inquiry and the Covid inquiry. Given the extent to which that work was eating into her retirement, she could have been forgiven for grumbling about it, but she never did. That is because she understood and believed that, for a senior Government minister, the duty of service owed to the public does not end when one demits office.
The third hallmark—and, for me, the most important of all—is friendship. The most common thing that members of the public have said to me today is that our daily presence on their television screens during Covid helped them through that dreadful time. However, the truth is that I could not have done what I did during Covid without Jeane by my side. As health secretary, she had a massive responsibility of her own to carry, but she also helped me to bear mine. Particularly in those dark days of March and April 2020, there were times when, just before stepping on to the podium, I felt overwhelmed by the grimness of the update that I was about to give. In those moments, Jeane would often lightly touch my arm and say something simple, such as, “You can do this.” That got me through.
For all Jeane’s friends, the suddenness and severity of her diagnosis came as a profound and brutal shock. However, in the days that followed, there was also solace. We got to say to her the things we wanted her to know about her impact on our lives. We got to tell her that we loved her. Visiting Jeane in hospital over those three short weeks also brought an incredible privilege. It allowed us to bear witness to the depth of the unconditional love that existed between her and Susan, who truly was the light and love of her life.
I say to Susan: love like yours and Jeane’s is all too rare, and it does not die. It will be with you always, just as the memory and the legacy of Jeane Freeman, a woman I am so lucky to have had in my life, will be with all of us forever.
Rest in peace, my friend. [Applause.]
The question is, that motion S6M-20721, in the name of John Swinney, be agreed to.
Motion agreed to,
That the Parliament expresses its shock and sadness following the death of Jeane Freeman; appreciates her long contribution to public life and politics, including as the MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Minister for Social Security, where she established Social Security Scotland, and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport during the COVID-19 pandemic; recognises the high esteem in which she was held by civic society and colleagues in all parties, and offers its deepest sympathy and condolences to her partner, family and many friends.
There will be a short pause before we move on to business this afternoon.