Official Report 1014KB pdf
The final item of business this evening is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-18802, in the name of Michelle Thomson, on St Andrew’s day 2025.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises that St Andrew’s Day is marked each year on 30 November; notes what it considers is the importance of these annual celebrations at a local, national and global level; highlights what it sees as the opportunities that celebrating St Andrew’s Day brings to the people of Scotland; believes that these include recognising national identity and cultural diversity, and cementing the country as one of the oldest nations in the international community; thanks the former MSP, Dennis Canavan, who, it considers, worked hard to gain cross-party agreement to make St Andrew’s Day a national holiday in Scotland through introducing a Member’s Bill, which, on 15 January 2007, became the St Andrew’s Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007; acknowledges what it sees as the economic benefits that global recognition brings to Scotland through the culture, business, education, tourism and retail sectors, supported by the use of the Saltire as both the national flag and the “Brand Scotland” identifier of Scottish produce and marketing; understands that St Andrew is an internationally recognisable figure across faith communities and that, while he has been the patron saint of Scotland since the 14th century, Andrew is also a patron of many other countries, bringing together different nationalities, faiths and cultures; acknowledges the events hosted by the countries that identify St Andrew as their patron or that have a significant Scottish diaspora; commends all in Scotland who will celebrate St Andrew’s Day 2025 and recognises the importance of the national day, and notes the plans for future events being held across Scotland and other countries to strengthen cultural, trade and tourism connections with Scotland.
17:26
Since at least the ninth century AD, St Andrew has been revered in Scotland. His formal status was enshrined in an official act by the Scottish nation through the signing of the declaration of Arbroath in 1320. The document, which was written to the Pope, formally declared St Andrew as the patron saint, and he has remained so ever since. The date of 30 November is traditionally considered his day of execution, which was held to be on a saltire cross.
Of course, Scotland is not the only nation whose patron saint is St Andrew. Other places, from Ukraine to Barbados, have also adopted him, and he is patron saint of many other groups, from fishermen to singers and farm workers, as well as many others. His values can be said to embrace humility—perhaps reflecting the fact that he was a fisherman before becoming a disciple. Courage, faith, generosity and solidarity are also considered to be his values.
The former member of the Scottish Parliament Dennis Canavan introduced his St Andrew’s Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Bill in 2005, and it became law in January 2007. Dennis Canavan is a well-kent figure in Falkirk district and has used his legendary powers of persuasion to convince me to convene the cross-party group on St Andrew’s day. I acknowledge his contribution.
We now have a recognised patron saint, a recognised patron saint day, a recognised symbol in the form of a saltire and a formal bank holiday. However, I feel that we still have more work to do to ensure that we use those values and our Scottish assets to their best advantage. I note the activities of the Scottish Government and its supporting partners, as were set out in a recent letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture to the cross-party group, as well as his planned visit to speak with us on 21 January 2026. I would like to hear more about what, specifically, is planned for this year.
Compared with St Patrick’s day celebrations and the promotion of Ireland, for example, Scotland still lags behind in utilising the opportunity of St Andrew’s day. I see clear examples of cultural diplomacy encouraged by the Scottish Government, but it is not yet at the scale that we need. I anticipate that the problem is one of both funding and capacity, and of having to deliver through people, partners and organisations, but a well-thought-out strategy is essential.
The year before becoming an MSP, I co-authored research into the Scottish business diaspora, with around 1,200 participants from 74 different countries taking part in the study. The results were very clear: there is a high regard for Scotland, from its cultural richness to its business acumen—for once, perhaps we can add its footballing prowess—but our diaspora were of the opinion that we could do much more to promote the richness of what Scotland has to offer and engage with them for both economic and cultural benefits.
Before looking furth of Scotland, let me reflect on the importance of the culture sector for those living in Scotland. According to the Scottish household survey, 88 per cent of adults in Scotland are culturally engaged, either having attended or visited a cultural event or place or having participated in a cultural activity annually. Findings from the survey indicate that, in 2023, 47 per cent of adults agreed that culture and the arts made a positive difference to their life, and 51 per cent agreed that culture and the arts made a positive difference to their local community.
Yet there is still comparatively little celebration of St Andrew’s day, which should be an opportunity to bring the entire Scottish community together in cultural celebration.
In 2032 it will be the 1,200th anniversary of the battle of Athelstaneford, when the Picts and the Scots famously saw the saltire in the sky, inspiring them to defeat the invading Anglo-Saxons. Given what you have talked about regarding the diaspora and culture, do you think that the Scottish Government should work towards 2032 as a major celebration of St Andrew and what is the world’s oldest flag?
Always speak through the chair.
I am delighted to agree with my colleague Kenneth Gibson on that suggestion.
The approach thus far has been to encourage, rather than mandate. I do not disagree with that approach, but I think that the encouragement should be more encouraging. There are pockets of activity in some local councils, but there is no wholesale and unified approach encouraged by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, for instance. Some schools teach about St Andrew and the fact that his is our national day, but too many still do not.
This Scottish Parliament should do more, too. Each year that I have been here I have encouraged that, but I have never managed to get to the point where activities here, let alone a celebration, are the norm. The international strategy report, which was published two weeks ago, outlined Scotland’s considerable international trading footprint, including the fact that Scotland has had 135 inward investment projects secured. That maintains Scotland’s position as the United Kingdom’s top destination for foreign direct investment outside London. There has been £2.5 billion in export sales and £1.89 billion in capital investment, supported by international trade missions and ministerial visits.
Scotland is building many relationships to promote Scotland’s renewables potential, which includes offshore wind deployment and the supply of hydrogen to new industries across Europe, supporting the green energy transition and our climate goals. The beauty of Scotland is of course an important factor in attracting international tourism. I feel that the sector should be commended for the strides that it has made in supporting high-quality tourism in recent years. Modest though it may be, we have contributed £1 million towards humanitarian assistance in 10 countries. Other initiatives, such as the GlobalScot network and a number of international education programmes, are continuing to develop—so, there is good news.
Our arts organisations do superb work to promote Scotland culturally, and the cabinet secretary will be aware of the standing ovations that the Royal Scottish National Orchestra achieved on tour in Salzburg—but how much do all those organisations do, even when performing at home, to take St Andrew to the world and to bring him home? Again, my message is that so much more could be done.
Why, then, should we promote St Andrew’s day more effectively? It would represent an occasion for bringing domestic and international audiences together. It could and should celebrate the best of Scotland, bringing people together in a world filled with division. We can and should do more.
17:34
I congratulate Michelle Thomson on her motion and on her speech. I completely agree with her about the importance of us coming together and celebrating, with some patriotic fervour, what it means to be Scottish—bringing us all together, as we saw last Tuesday, and indeed in the chamber the next day, when there was much celebration of what had been achieved by Scotland’s men’s football team.
St Andrew’s day needs to be better celebrated and embraced by us here at home, and inviting the rest of the world to join us in such a celebration is a first-class idea. It is one of the world’s oldest national days—it is rooted deep in the story of Scotland. The 14th century was mentioned, I think—I could not quite catch the exact date, but it is very ancient, shall we say.
Reference was made to the declaration of Arbroath in 1320 and the famous address to Pope John XXII seeking recognition of Scotland. There, in black ink on parchment, St Andrew was named as the nation’s patron saint and protector. That was no ornamentation—Scotland’s cause was being presented as part of a divine story, placing Andrew at the heart of the Scottish identity: a symbol of faith, freedom and nation.
That symbolism endured into the union of 1707. Article 1 of the treaty of union required a new flag combining the crosses of St George and St Andrew. Discussions ensued to ensure that neither cross dominated, producing a union flag that visually represented a partnership of the two nations. Scotland’s identity and Andrew’s legacy were, therefore, woven directly into the fabric of the new United Kingdom.
In the centuries after the union, St Andrew’s influence has only grown. His saltire has become a marker of pride and heritage, and St Andrew’s societies have emerged across the Scottish diaspora, especially in north America, helping communities abroad to maintain their culture, customs and traditions. Their celebrations helped to make St Andrew’s day internationally recognised long before it was formally recognised even here at home.
To follow up on what the member was saying, and the intervention from Kenny Gibson, the member might be aware that two years’ time marks the 1,000th anniversary of the tale of when King David I was about to be gored by a stag in Holyrood park in 1028. A cross appeared in the stag’s antlers, which gave this Parliament its name: the holy cross, or Holyrood. Does the member think that we should be looking to ensure that we commemorate that as well, as a part of Scotland’s heritage?
Oh, absolutely—we should miss no opportunity to come together and celebrate our Scottishness and Scotland, among ourselves and before the rest of the world.
However—if you will allow me, Deputy Presiding Officer—I want to raise a serious point as well, which relates to the issue that I raised in connection with the union. I have to say that my support for Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom has often—in fact, I have lost count of the number of times—led some on the other side of the constitutional argument to question my love for my country. I am, first and foremost, patriotically Scottish—I love Scotland, the people and the history, and the way of life that we enjoy, which is worth defending. I wish to quote George Orwell, who once drew a clear line between patriotism and nationalism. Patriotism, he wrote, is a
“devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life”,
whereas nationalism is about power.
Too often in Scotland, the Government seeks to fuse the two, insisting that loyalty to one party—the Scottish National Party—is loyalty to Scotland itself. If you question its policies or its performance in Government, you are often accused of talking Scotland down. That is just not true, because patriotism includes the duty to challenge a Government when it fails, and the Scottish Government has presided over decline—in education, in manufacturing and in the freedoms that have long defined Scottish life.
Burns captured the danger of elites acting in their own interests rather than the common good in “The Jolly Beggars”. He wrote:
“A fig for those by law protected!
Liberty’s a glorious feast!
Courts for cowards were erected,
Churches built to please the priest.”
Those lines remind us that power can serve itself if left unchecked—a lesson that resonates today.
However, I remain hopeful, because Scotland—the real Scotland—remains the best place in the world: hard-working, open, neighbourly and honest. We have a way of life that is worth preserving. Above the doors of the Parliament are the words of Alasdair Gray:
“Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation”.
That is a call to hope, not partisanship.
17:39
I thank Michelle Thomson for bringing the debate to the chamber. St Andrew is, of course, our patron saint, and—as she mentioned—we share that honour with Russia, Ukraine, Barbados and others.
St Andrew has been celebrated in Scotland for more than 1,000 years, with feasts being held in his honour as far back as 1000 AD. It was not until 1320, when Scotland’s independence was declared with the signing of the declaration of Arbroath, that he officially became Scotland’s patron saint. Since then, St Andrew has become an important part of Scottish society, as Michelle Thomson mentioned, and of course the flag of Scotland is the saltire.
St Andrew has so many different connections to our country that it is worth considering how he came to be so important to Scotland. Who was St Andrew? It is important to remember his Christian background, but I will talk about inclusive messages, too, further on in my speech. St Andrew preached the gospel in the land around the Black Sea and in Greece, and was eventually crucified on an X-shaped cross in Patras.
During his visit in 1969, Pope Paul VI gave relics of St Andrew to Scotland with the words, “St Peter gives you his brother”. Those are now displayed in St Mary’s Catholic church in Edinburgh.
Athelstaneford—many people would pronounce it as “Athel-stan-ford”, but it is pronounced locally as “Ail-shin-ford”—in East Lothian is the birthplace of Scotland’s national flag: St Andrew’s cross, or the saltire. As Kenny Gibson mentioned, legend has it that the flag originated at the battle that was fought close to the village in 832. An army of Picts and Scots, under King Angus, had been on a raid into Northumbrian territory, but they were pursued and caught by a larger force of Angles and Saxons at Athelstaneford. Fearing the outcome, Angus prayed for deliverance and was rewarded by the appearance overhead of a white saltire against the blue sky. The king vowed that if he gained the victory, Andrew would thereafter be the patron saint of Scotland. The Scots won, and in due course the saltire became the flag of Scotland.
This Sunday, the First Minister will be present at the annual St Andrew’s day event in Athelstaneford. I have been attending the event for many years, with an immense sense of pride. Four years ago, when I was elected, I was asked to chair the Parliament’s cross-party group on St Andrew’s day. The group includes two fantastic people, along with many others. One is Dennis Canavan, who, in previous sessions of Parliament, ensured that St Andrew’s day was marked as a public holiday. The other, whom many of us will know, is Joe Goldblatt, who contributes from the culture angle. It is my pleasure to work with them both.
One key ask for me is that we mark St Andrew’s day formally in our Parliament. When I arranged an event in 2022, I could not believe that the Parliament did not mark the day formally. Michelle Thomson and I have discussed that, and I would like to take it forward with the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture. I know that it is an issue for the Parliament, but we should be marking St Andrew’s day formally in the Parliament.
For me, St Andrew’s day is all about who we are as a nation, what our values are and how inclusive we are, whether we believe in the union or in Scotland as an independent nation. It is all about love, compassion and respect for all—the values of St Andrew.
Will the member give way quickly?
Yes, of course.
I will be as quick as I can, because I am respectful of the member’s time.
I have absolute respect for the fact that the member’s office set up and managed the inaugural St Andrew’s night in this place. My office then took it over, but that meant that, for two years, our local offices had to give up our resource to do that. We were unable to persuade the Parliament to carry on, leaving one of us to do that, which does not seem right.
Yes—I reiterate that point, and it is really important as we go forward.
Last week at Hampden, in what was a magnificent result, we saw the saltire at its best. I have been at Hampden many times when there have been 10,000 people there and the saltire has been flying away, and it was proudly waved as we qualified for the world cup for the first time in 28 years. That lifted the mood of the nation—there is no doubt about that.
At a time when we see the rise of the far right, we must redouble our efforts to promote the values of inclusivity, respect, love and compassion, and we must push back against those who promote fear and misinformation. Every single one of us has a responsibility to do that. We have to work hard to address inequalities by empowering our communities and ensuring that they are fully recognised and supported as a valued part of our society. The saltire and St Andrew’s day can play a major part in that. Kindness plays a leading role in the purpose of St Andrew’s day, and it offers a timely moment to reflect on that purpose and come together in our communities.
17:44
I thank Michelle Thomson for bringing the debate to the chamber; I am pleased to speak in it. I acknowledge the work of the cross-party group on St Andrew’s day and the people who continue to run that group, as others have mentioned.
The motion highlights the on-going work of the former MP and MSP Dennis Canavan to ensure that St Andrew’s day continues to be an important day that recognises our patron saint. He took forward the campaign to make it a bank holiday to be enjoyed by everyone.
As a proud Scot, I believe that it is really nice, and important, that we—like many countries around the world—celebrate our patron saint as part of celebrating our history, our culture and our country. When I was young, I had family who lived abroad for many years, and they enjoyed St Andrew’s day and saw it as a great opportunity to invite international friends over to enjoy and celebrate Scotland. The real wonder was in people from cultures from around the world enjoying one another’s culture; that was so important to them.
St Andrew is both Scotland’s patron saint and our national symbol, officially recognised—as others have said—in the 1320 declaration of Arbroath. The relationship is represented by the saltire flag, with the blue-and-white X-shaped cross symbolising the way in which St Andrew was martyred. In addition, as the motion states, we need to acknowledge
“the economic benefits that global recognition brings to Scotland through the culture, business, education, tourism and retail sectors, supported by the use of the Saltire as both the national flag and the ‘Brand Scotland’ identifier of Scottish produce and marketing”.
We see that in Scotland, and I am sure that others will often see it when they are abroad. People will notice our flag in shops and retail outlets, wherever they go. We have great relationships around the world.
St Andrew’s day is recognised and celebrated around the world by people who believe that they have a connection to Scotland. They are known as the Scottish diaspora. The diaspora consists of Scottish people who emigrated—as we know, we were a great nation for emigrating around the world—and now their descendants, whose number is estimated to be anything between 30 million and 40 million people.
I know that, in my South Scotland region, there is plenty going on this week to celebrate St Andrew’s day. That includes traditional events such as ceilidhs, and a mixture of others involving important history and institutions. In my area, the local Burns club is having an evening event to celebrate the day, and there is even karaoke. I am sure that those who are attending are very pleased that I will be dealing with amendments later tonight, so I will not be singing in Ayrshire.
In a world where there is such division as there is today, I hope, as we celebrate St Andrew’s day, that—as others have said—we can look beyond the division to a message of hope and unity that we in this country and around the world so desperately need. We know that St Andrew would have hoped for that also.
I thank Michelle Thomson again for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I thank members for their contributions.
17:47
I congratulate the member on bringing the debate to the chamber, just days before St Andrew’s day itself.
I, too recognise the role of my former colleague Dennis Canavan, who, with tenacity, drove through the bill that became the St Andrew’s Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007. It was passed unanimously on 29 November 2006—I ken, cos I was there.
As Dennis Canavan said in speaking to the bill,
“At one time, St Andrew’s day was a popular day of festivities throughout Scotland, but unfortunately domestic celebrations have dwindled over the years.”—[Official Report, 29 November 2006; c 29861.]
That was 16 years ago and, despite the day being a bank holiday in Scotland, I think that that remains the case. I searched for St Andrew’s celebrations in my constituency, but although I have no doubt that there will be some, they are not large-scale events.
I wondered why, but perhaps it is because Burns night on 25 January has captured the idea of a celebration of Scotland. After all, Burns was the man who wrote in Scots, internationally, and whose lyrics ring out as one year turns to another. However, I think that there is room for them both. For me, one celebrates the essence of our culture—of “We’re aw Jock Tamson’s bairns”, expressed by Burns as “A Man’s a Man for a’ That”—while the other celebrates our affection for, and protection of, Scotland as a nation. It need not be either/or. St Andrew’s day celebrates this most ancient of nations, said to have been founded in 843 AD by Kenneth MacAlpin when he united the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata with the Picts and established the kingdom of Alba, which is often considered to be the birth of modern Scotland.
Our boundary with our near neighbour has remained relatively fixed, apart from the to-ing and fro-ing of Berwick—a Scottish town, if ever I saw one—some 13 times, with it eventually landing on the English side in 1482, where it has remained ever since.
To coin a phrase, what did the Romans ever do for us? Well, they failed to conquer Scotland in their successful invasion of Britain in 43 AD. In less than 40 years, they had reached and subdued what we now know as northern England and Wales. Before them lay the wilds of Caledonia, and by 79 AD they were pushing northwards into southern Scotland. Here, at the place of the three hills—or Trimontium, in Latin—near Melrose, in my constituency, they began to construct a fort that was to be used as a complex in Scotland. Some 17,000 people were occupied there at one time, and the same site was used several times over the next 100 years or more. However, Scotland was to remain defiantly intact to this day—perhaps that is what the Romans did for us.
It took the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, then her son, with the union of the crowns, acceding to the English throne, and later the treaty of union, for Scotland to be united with England, but it was, and remains, an uneasy union. Unlike the English, for whom Parliament is sovereign, we, the Scottish people, are sovereign. That is embedded in the declaration of Arbroath, and it is why any UK monarch is king or queen of Scots, not Scotland.
In the past, attempts were made to kill our culture—bagpipes were banned after the 1745 rebellion, the Dress Act 1746 banned the wearing of the kilt and Scots were demeaned for speaking in our native tongue, not the Queen’s English. “I went and seen” is not slang but Scots dialect. However, here we are, as a nation, wearing the kilt, with the skirl of the pipes all in fashion, from weddings and funerals to football and rugby—I was tempted to say “to infinity and beyond”, because the saltire is recognised worldwide as Scotland’s flag. I ken, cos I seen it.
Let us celebrate St Andrew’s day and demonstrate that—despite all those centuries during which there have been so many attempts to diminish, if not erase, our Scottishness—here we are, as Scottish as ever. I say that proudly as one born in England to an English mother.
17:52
I thank Michelle Thomson for securing the debate.
I will focus on Andrew himself. To start with, we might consider what we mean by a saint. In Christian scriptures in the Bible, the word “saint” is used to mean every follower of Jesus Christ, not just a few. Those were not exceptionally good people but people who believed that Jesus had been punished in their place, so their sins had been forgiven and they had been gifted eternal life. However, over time, a tradition built up that some people were somehow extra special and were therefore called saints, although there was still disagreement in the Christian church about exactly what we meant by a saint.
Nevertheless, Andrew is categorised as a saint under both definitions, so I thought that I would look at what we know of Andrew in the Christian scriptures. John’s gospel tells us that Andrew was previously a disciple or follower of John the Baptist—no connection to me—and John told them that Jesus was the lamb of God. That was a reference back to the Jewish scriptures—we call them the Old Testament—when God had led the Jews out of captivity in Egypt. They had to sacrifice a Passover lamb and were protected from the final plague by the lamb’s blood.
Andrew becomes the first follower of Jesus, but he immediately finds his brother Peter and introduces him, too. Andrew says to Peter, “We have found the Messiah,” and thus he becomes the first person to recognise who Jesus really was: the son of God—that is, he was God—and the new leader of the Jews whom they had been looking forward to for so long.
Another time that we read about Andrew is at what is called the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus had been teaching a large crowd out in the countryside, and the people were getting hungry. How to feed them? It is Andrew who finds a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish and brings them all to Jesus, admitting that they are not much. However, Jesus performs a miracle and feeds everyone. For the second time, we see Andrew bringing someone to Jesus, and it shows that Andrew was a practical kind of person. He could see that there was a big problem. He did not know what the complete answer was, but he threw in his tuppenceworth, and God used it and blessed it.
That is a good example for us. We can at least try to contribute a little to solving problems, even if we cannot fully tackle or maybe even understand the whole thing.
Our third picture of Andrew comes when some Greeks went to see Jesus. It is worth remembering that Jesus and all his disciples were Jewish and that there was quite a cultural divide between Jews and Greeks. These Greeks first spoke to another disciple—Philip. It is worth noting that Philip and Andrew were both Jews but had Greek names and so might have been more approachable. Philip might have been unsure of what to do, so he turned to Andrew, and it was Andrew who went to Jesus with the issue. So, for the third time, we see Andrew bringing someone to Jesus, which is very much a theme in what we know about him. Philip obviously felt that Andrew was somebody with whom he could share a problem.
We have a picture of Andrew as someone very solid and dependable and someone whom others came to for help or with questions. Overall, it seems to me that Andrew is something of an unsung hero. He is mentioned 12 times in the gospels, and four of those are part of a list of the disciples’ names. After that, in the book of Acts, which tells the story of the early church, he is mentioned just once. However, from what we know of him, Andrew is someone whom we can look up to and take as an example.
Andrew’s brother Peter is much better known and was the first leader of the early church after Jesus had left to go to heaven. Like Andrew, we may not be in the limelight all the time, and many of our constituents are in the same situation—they are people who serve faithfully as volunteers or as carers or parents of disabled children, or people who are conscientiously working in a poorly paid job. Such folk may never be recognised, paid high salaries or given awards but, like Andrew, they serve faithfully and we should be grateful for all of them, just as I believe that we should be grateful for Andrew.
17:56
I thank Michelle Thomson for the opportunity to debate St Andrew’s day and, as I close the debate, for us to reflect on what St Andrew’s day truly represents, not only for Scotland but for Scots everywhere and for people everywhere who love Scotland. It is more than a date in the calendar; it is a celebration of who we are—a nation with deep roots and global reach, as we have heard, that is proud of our heritage and confident in our future.
Michelle Thomson began her introductory speech by saying that St Andrew’s day provides a huge opportunity to promote Scotland, and I agree. She made a comparison with Ireland, and it is worth having a look at what Ireland does every year. This year, 38 representatives of the Irish state took part in St Patrick’s day events in more than 90 cities in 40 countries. We can learn much from our Celtic cousins for the promotion of Scotland on our national day. Michelle Thomson also mentioned the opportunity to co-operate better with the culture sector, at home and abroad, as part of St Andrew’s day celebrations. I would be pleased to take that away and raise it with culture sector colleagues.
Kenneth Gibson made an intervention about the anniversary of the battle of Athelstaneford. Paul McLennan, as the member for East Lothian, is well placed to remind us about the origins of St Andrew and Scotland’s national flag. He called for support from across the chamber for a formal event to mark St Andrew’s day in the Scottish Parliament, and I join him in that.
I was delighted to hear Stephen Kerr call for the promotion of Scotland at home and abroad. He was absolutely right that we should miss no opportunity to do that, so I look forward to him talking up the international promotion of Scotland and the diaspora in future.
Carol Mochan paid tribute to the cross-party group on St Andrew’s day, and I take this opportunity to join her in doing so. Like other members, she talked about the opportunities for the promotion of Scotland. For colleagues who are not aware of it, I mention the brand Scotland strategic partnership that the Scottish Government chairs, which brings together public bodies such as VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise, Scottish universities and many others. If colleagues have not yet been to www.scotland.org and made use of the free-to-use promotional materials to promote Scotland, they should please do so. I look forward to colleagues from across the chamber making the most of that.
Carol Mochan drew attention to diaspora Scots who have left the country. She was right to do so, but it is important to say that, in 2025, diaspora means more than that—it includes those who want to be associated with Scotland and people who have studied here, lived here or travelled here. I commend to members the “Scottish Connections Framework”. Members should have a look at that to see what we are trying to do in reaching out to Scotland’s historical, current and—no doubt—future diasporas. There is an opportunity to do that not just on St Andrew’s day but throughout the year.
Christine Grahame brought wonderful historical context for St Andrew’s day, and John Mason brought us the religious context. The latest public insight monitor shows that more than a quarter of people in Scotland mark the day, which is a clear sign of its growing importance in our national life. St Andrew’s day reminds us that Scotland is one of the oldest nations in the international community, but one that continues to innovate and inspire. It is a day that unites us across communities, faiths and continents. From Edinburgh to Eindhoven and from Glasgow to Guelph, Scots and friends of Scotland will gather to celebrate our shared identity and values.
However, it is not just about tradition; it is about opportunity, and the Scottish Government’s “Scottish Connections Framework” sets out a clear ambition to strengthen ties with our diaspora and to build cultural, educational and economic links that benefit Scotland and our global partners. Today’s debate has shown that St Andrew’s day is a powerful platform for that ambition.
I recently had the privilege of hosting the Argentine ambassador along with esteemed guests from Buenos Aires to celebrate our shared passion for rugby and mark 200 years of cultural connection. The historical ties between Scotland and Argentina run deep, and reminders of the enduring relationship can be seen throughout Buenos Aires, where references to St Andrew—San Andrés—are woven into the city’s identity. Members have mentioned the diaspora in North America, but it is often forgotten that Argentina has the fifth largest Scottish diaspora in the world.
Every celebration abroad, whether in countries that share St Andrew as a patron saint or where our diaspora thrives, tells Scotland’s story and opens doors for trade, tourism and cultural exchange. This week, I will join friends in Switzerland and Germany to showcase Scotland’s strengths in innovation in energy, life sciences and the creative industries while exploring new opportunities for collaboration.
Many of my ministerial colleagues will also champion Scotland internationally, in Ireland, Belgium and London, alongside our global network of offices, which will host activities to mark the day. I pay tribute to our international network of Scottish Government offices, our Scottish Development International staff in a further 30 locations, and the more than 1,200 GlobalScots.
We owe a debt of gratitude to Dennis Canavan, whose determination ensured that St Andrew’s day became a national holiday. His work reminds us that, when we act together across parties and sectors, we achieve lasting change. That spirit of collaboration is exactly what we need now as we deepen Scotland’s international connections.
Finally, let us remember that St Andrew himself is a figure who transcends borders—a patron saint shared by many nations and a symbol of unity and diversity. In that spirit, I commend all those who will celebrate St Andrew’s day, here and around the world. Together we can ensure that this national day continues to bring people closer, forging new pathways and telling Scotland’s story with pride. Scotland is a global nation, Scotland is connected and, on St Andrew’s day, Scotland shines.
Meeting closed at 18:03.Previous
Point of Order