Chamber and committees

I welcome the update from the Scottish Government on the action that it is taking to avert industrial action—which would be in no one’s best interests. Does the cabinet secretary agree that, if the Scottish Tories are looking to place the blame, they should look more closely at their colleagues down in Westminster, whose policies of austerity have, in effect, tied the Scottish Government’s hands when it comes to public sector pay rises?

I will keep my questions short. That was me being telt beforehand.

Good morning and welcome. I will go to Martyn Gray and Gordon Martin in that order, because that is how I see them on the screens. What discussions have your unions had with Transport Scotland about the forthcoming islands connectivity plan?

Thank you for that. Martyn, what are your union’s views on that?

What is your union’s view on the possible unbundling of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services in any future tendering exercise? What is the reasoning behind your union’s view, whether it is for that or against it?

I am jist fair tricket tae spik in this debate e day and, like my fellow co-convener o the Scots leid cross-pairty group, Emma Harper MSP, I want tae use my time tae focus on the Doric and the Scots leid. I agree wi aathin that Emma said in her contribution.

A leid maks fowk; a common leid brings us aa thegither; a kintra’s leids shape its culture. Scots, Doric and Gaelic have aa made us fa we are the day, and they hiv tae be a pairt o oor future anaa.

Like the cabinet secretary, in my education I was constantly telt tae spik e English and nae ma ain language, so I wint tae touch on attainment and education. The curriculum for excellence maks clear that e languages, dialects and literature o Scotland provide a rich resource for bairns and young fowk tae learn aboot Scotland’s culture, identity an language. Through engaging wi a wide range o texts, they will develop an appreciation o Scotland’s literary and linguistic heritage and its indigenous languages and dialects. I wid be affa grateful if e cabinet secretary wid confirm that Doric texts will be equitable to Scots.

Thon educational principle permeates experiences and ootcomes, and it is expected that oor teachers will build upon e diversity o language represented within the communities of Scotland, valuing the languages that bairns and young fowk bring tae e skweel.

Mair than 50 per cent o fowk in Aiberdeen and the shire spik Doric or Scots, so it is important tae ensure that fowk in the region are supported tae use their ain mither tongue.

Especially for our young fowk, promotin their ain language is so important in education.

I thank the member for the question and for understanding fit I am saying. I absolutely agree. Especially wi the Doric, which is a form o Scots, it is sometimes affa difficult tae write doon fit you are trying tae say. I absolutely agree with fit you are saying.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority has confirmed that the use of Scots in education tackles the attainment gap by allowing students tae spik in their own vyce. Bilingualism has monie ither educational benefits, and promoting Scots bilingualism assists in the Government’s een-plus-twa language policy goal.

Fundamentally, promoting Scots and Doric in education is aboot building a parity o esteem o oor language so that it is thocht o in equal terms wi ither European languages. It is aboot showing oor bairns and young fowk that it is okay—it is aaricht tae use their ain language. It is nae slang and it is nae inferior tae English—it is a language and its use needs to be promoted and protected.

Doric has rules and it has vocabulary, and its spikkers hae a certain wey o looking at the world that gings wi onie language. If you lose onie language or lose onie aspect o a language, you lose something that is unique. Many fowk associate Doric wi humour, and richtly so, as there is a great tradition o self-aware humour richt across the north-east. However, if it is only seen through that lens, the power and status o the language is soon undermined.

As my colleague Emma Harper said, Scots, like e Doric, is often seen as a non-professional language. We need tae overcome these barriers and normalise e use o Scots Doric, nae jist in humour but in everyday life—particularly in skweels because, currently, Scots Doric is often used socially but nae professionally.

For example, if you go up tae the Broch or Peterheid, you will find sparkies fae Poland and Lithuania who hiv skweel English but fa find themselves learning e Doric. In their work life, it is fit fowk spik. In plenty waalks o life, Doric is useful and used.

We need tae see mair work gan in tae embed the language intae the curriculum and intae social life, and I speir at e cabinet secretary for a commitment on that as the legislation is taken forward.

I want to reflect on a recent poem I seen on e Facebook, written by Brian Thomson, a mannie originally fae the north-east. He wrote:

“E Doric wis used by e folks at hame, it wasna used in skweel
If you answered a teacher in Doric tongue it didna ging doon weel
Fin ye got hame it wis Doric again, until e skweel next day
Sittin thinkin o the wirds, ye ken ye’ve nae tae say
Fin ma bairns were growin up, e Doric wis left ahin
I didna pass on a’ e wirds, it really wis a sin
Bit noo at last I unnerstan e wirds a hiv tae save
E Doric words are precious, didna tak em tae yer grave
So billies start yer screivin we wint it a passed on
It’s in oor bleed, it’s history, we didnae wint it gone
An mine an tell yer loons an quines te keep e wirds alive
We a mun dae oor verra best tae help it te survive.”

Brian is absolutely richt and fit he writes really resonates wi me. I was telt nae tae use e Doric in skweel and it does hae an impact. Young bairns headin intae skweel fur the first time aa excited and the first thing they are telt is that they are spikkin wrang. Quite frankly, that is jist cruel and we need tae stap it. We need tae embrace their Scots and let them learn the English at their ain pace.

I want the bill to genuinely be used to normalise, support and protect Scots and Doric and I look forward to being involved as the work is taken forward.

To be transparent, I should probably say that, in a former life, I was the manager of a petrol station. Once I had the bairn, I went to work for Tesco in a petrol station. I still have some shares with Tesco.

I congratulate my colleague Stuart McMillan on securing this timely debate, and I agree that his constituents in Greenock and Inverclyde must not be disproportionately impacted by forecourt prices. However, I do not quite agree that that is entirely down to the forecourt owners. Some of the blame must lie with the UK Government’s lack of action on combating skyrocketing fuel prices combined with the abysmal action that it has taken to combat the cost crisis. That is scandalous. While the Scottish Government continues to take all the action that it can within its powers and the financial constraints in which it operates, we need more action from the UK Government.

The steps that would help include a cut in the rate of VAT and a reduction in fuel duty. I will join Stuart McMillan if he writes to the chancellor with those urgent requests, if he wants me to.

Some folk do not realise that the current fuel duty is 57.95p per litre. Although a 5p cut is welcome, we are still paying fuel duty of 57.95p per litre and, on top of that, there is 20 per cent VAT. That pushes up the consumer price of fuel by offsetting tax to increase the wholesale profit. The UK Government holds the levers to change that, but it has not done so yet.

As a member of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, I of course support a move away from fossil fuels to greener alternatives. However, I acknowledge that getting a hybrid or electric car is not an option for aabodie. Folk still rely on their petrol and diesel cars to get to and from work, to see their family, to get their shopping, to carry out their caring responsibilities, and for a whole raft of other reasons. Diesel and petrol vehicles are still essential, and folk need to be supported and not penalised for using them.

How can tangible and urgent support be implemented to bring down fuel costs and, indeed, other soaring costs? We must extend the windfall tax and increase the percentage of tax, but, crucially, we must also address the loophole that undermines the levy by enabling companies to pay the bare minimum by offsetting profits to investments.

On Thursday last week, it was reported that the UK Government is currently considering an extension to the UK windfall tax, from the current rate of 25 per cent to 30 per cent, until 2028. It is understood that that could raise around £40 billion of additional UK Government revenue over a five-year period, with the possibility of the scheme being expanded to cover electricity generation firms. That is not just a good suggestion; it is crucial and a no-brainer.

Fundamentally, as the Tory-made cost of living crisis ravages households across the country, the UK Government must look at ways of supporting people financially and should not construct more barriers and take money out of their pockets. The UK Government holds the levers to address many of the issues that we are debating. It could help the most vulnerable, including my constituents of Aberdeen Donside, and it could bring real change, yet we are seeing little action—only a talking shop—from UK ministers.

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party Government is taking the steps that it can to help the affected families, but it should not have to mitigate the damaging Tory austerity, nor should its efforts in tackling poverty be dragged backwards. With the full powers of independence, the Scottish Government could get on with the job of supporting Scottish folk through tough times, without the need to continually clean up after the Tories and their dangerous attempts to turn their backs on the most vulnerable folk by refusing to deal properly with the cost of living crisis.

I welcome the steps that have been taken so far, but can the cabinet secretary expand on the challenges of recruiting GPs from overseas, which, if overcome, could help with the GP numbers in rural areas and the Highlands and Islands?

Good morning, panel, and thank you for coming along. Will you go into detail about the impact that the recent disruptions to ferry services have had on island and remote rural businesses, including tourism and distillery businesses? If you do not mind, I will go along the line, so the question will go first to Peter Clark, then to Rob Dickson and then to Martin Johnson.

So you think that the long-term situation will be as big an issue as the short-term impact.