Chamber and committees

I thank Gordon MacDonald for securing this debate to celebrate a new big noise programme in Wester Hailes. I put on record that I am a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, a former musician and the convener of the cross-party group on music.

Given that start in life, many people would ask how I came to be an MSP. Music had a key role; its power is encapsulated simply by one of Sistema’s board members, Kenny McGhee, who describes it as “transformative and life affirming”. That is my experience.

My early years were not as they seemed from the outside. I found it hard to make sense of the adult world. I did not make friends easily. As the American poet Maya Angelou put it:

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”

I was not unique.

As an adult, I now know that the intensity of my musical experience helped to create the complex neural networks that have opened multiple doors to me throughout my career. The creativity that it fostered benefited me and is increasingly sought after in the world of work today.

There is increasing evidence that the detrimental effects of trauma in children, which affect attention, memory, processing speed and so on, can be alleviated by participation in music. My recollections are that the self-quietening that music required and the setting aside of emotional turmoil that was needed to make sense of the patterns, structure and sounds moved me forward, as did taking the risk of trying. I became part of a team. I became more confident and started to expand my social network. It is arguable that the resilience that I have as an adult can be traced back to my learning to be heard through music—not so much a big noise, I concede, but certainly a mezzo squawk, especially on the clarinet.

Before Sistema, Wester Hailes had already produced the world-famous saxophonist Tommy Smith. Who knows how many more such musicians are out there? Sistema understands the complex needs of the 2,800 children who are involved today and the many more in Wester Hailes who will come through the system.

Music has a great tradition as an enabler in Scotland. For many years, it appeared that the former Bellarmine secondary school in Pollok provided more undergraduates for the RCS than anywhere else. It appeared that nearly every guitarist came from St David’s Roman Catholic high school in Dalkeith. Every child had access to free musical tuition, and I am thankful that that has been restored by the Scottish Government, in addition to the big noise programme.

The health and wellbeing benefits of music in every facet of society are so pronounced that there is a case for setting aside, just for music, a small percentage of multiple budgets that are allocated in this Parliament, so that there are budgets for music not just in education but in health and social care, our justice system and so on. Perhaps that relates to the figures that Gordon MacDonald quoted about every £1 spent generating £9 of benefit.

I simply say: well done, Sistema; you are transformative and life affirming.

The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 was passed by Westminster in the full knowledge, as has been stated, that it conferred the right to alter the powers of the Scottish Parliament without our permission. Although UK ministers may give some limited commitment to allow for policy divergence, the 2020 act fundamentally changes the relationship with all devolved institutions. Is that proof that power devolved is power retained, and will the cabinet secretary advise what options the Scottish Government has at its disposal to preserve the integrity of this Parliament?

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the United Kingdom Government regarding the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020. (S6O-00217)

In the world of Brexiteers, the Tory and Labour parties and even some reporting outlets, it has become common to lay the blame for trade and supply chain problems on the pandemic rather than on Brexit. Problems are presented as a short-term shock instead of there being an acknowledgement of real long-term supply chain issues, despite evidence to the contrary.

Earlier this year, the Office for National Statistics published compelling analysis in which it compared the first quarter of 2021 with the first quarter of 2018. It used quarter 1 of 2018 as the most recent stable period, as it was pre-Brexit and pre-pandemic. Brexit uniquely affects UK relationships with the EU, whereas we acknowledge that the pandemic is global in its impact. Therefore, if the Tory and Labour Brexiteers were right, we would expect UK trade with non-EU and EU countries to have been similarly disrupted, but what has the ONS found? It states:

“Total trade in goods with EU countries decreased by 23.1% and with non-EU countries decreased by 0.8%”.

To put it more simply, trade with EU countries has been negatively impacted 29 times more than trade with non-EU countries. That is the Brexit effect. As James Withers of Scotland Food & Drink has noted,

“‘Project Fear’ is ‘Project Here’”.

Softer data confirms that. The most recent business insights and conditions survey revealed that 39,000 businesses across the UK believe that Brexit has been by far the most significant factor in the disruption of importing and exporting.

As trading patterns change, the elephant in the room is China. Since the second quarter of 2020, the UK has imported more goods from China than from any other country, and China is now one of the UK’s top five import partners. In fact, imports from China grew in the comparative period that I outlined earlier, from quarter 1 in 2018 to quarter 1 in 2021. That presents structural, strategic and environmental challenges, as it greatly extends supply chains and makes for huge logistical challenges.

In other words, the UK Government has swapped our export trading with our nearest friends and neighbours, despite their proximity, for a flood of imports from China. Frankly, that is based on ideological decisions that Scotland opposed and that the Opposition was well warned about but ignored.

Like all constituencies, Falkirk East has significant issues across a variety of sectors, with the food and drink, retail, engineering and manufacturing sectors all under additional pressure. Staffing concerns are uniformly highlighted. The Economy and Fair Work Committee, of which I am a member, has already identified a lack of access to labour in supply chains as a huge issue. We have heard evidence on that from Martin Reid of the Road Haulage Association and Ewan MacDonald-Russell of the Scottish Retail Consortium. [Interruption.] I will not give way—I am just finishing.

Scotland is just starting to experience the impact of Brexit. However, in my time at Westminster, I spoke to many major businesses and they were clear that, when Scotland becomes independent, as she surely will, they will be looking to move major operations to Scotland so that they can access the valuable EU market. We should not forget that.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My application failed as well. I would have voted yes.

Given the focus that there has been on supporting capital investment in early-stage businesses, what progress has there been in managing that with Scottish Enterprise, the SNIB and so on? Where is that at the moment? Can you give some insights?

Following on from that point, have you had any indications of any possible or reasonable rationale as to why the UK Government would not accept the amendment, given your stated concerns about standards? Is there anything that you can share in that regard? If the UK Government is saying that there is no intention of lowering standards, why not simply accept the amendment? Can you clarify the situation?

The situation around FTs has been mentioned, and clear concern has been expressed about the changes in funding. I want to allow you to put on the record any mitigations and your planned approach, given the Scottish Government’s undoubted focus on supporting business and growing the economy. Can you give any further insights on how you will mitigate the loss of FTs going forward?

The first relates to the tension between our personal privacy and our civic duty, combined with general concerns about use of data, which the pandemic will accentuate. Perceptions of how data will be managed are based on the level of trust between citizens and Government. The level of trust in the Scottish Government and the First Minister is extremely high, whereas trust in the UK Prime Minister is extremely low.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I lost connection to my mobile application. I would have voted yes.