The Scottish Government very much values the role that local authorities play in the provision of culture and heritage. I had the great pleasure of joining the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in recent weeks in hosting a meeting about this. Is there more that local authorities and the Scottish Government can do within our current budgets? I think that we are all trying our best, but there is no getting away from the fact that we are having to work within the structures of a United Kingdom austerity policy that is being pursued by the Conservative Party and that, sadly, is being emulated by the UK Labour Party.

Scotland is already a good place to do business, as the on-going global success of many of our sectors and businesses testifies. As we set out in the “Building a New Scotland” prospectus papers, with greater powers over immigration, employment and taxation, an independent Scotland in the European Union could learn from the United Kingdom’s failures and from industrial policy successes elsewhere to build a business environment that is designed to maximise the economic benefits of the many opportunities that Scotland has, not least the transition to net zero.

If colleagues have not yet read any of the papers, I draw their particular attention to the paper that compares the economic success of every one of our neighbouring countries, which all outperform the United Kingdom.

The Scottish Government recognises the significant impact that the miners strike continues to have in communities throughout Scotland. That is why we introduced legislation to provide a pardon to miners and other participants in the strike. We continue to call on the United Kingdom Government to undertake a full UK-wide public inquiry into the strike.

I appreciate that Ms Ewing wrote to the former Deputy First Minister about the anniversary event that is taking place in Ballingry in June. My colleague Tom Arthur, the Minister for Employment and Investment, has confirmed that he will be in attendance.

The Scottish Government supports a range of cultural activities in communities across Scotland. We provide targeted support for culture through our funding of local authorities and public bodies, including Creative Scotland. Our funding for the youth music initiative has supported projects in Cowdenbeath that offer meaningful music-making opportunities to young people, helping to build their confidence and enhance their attainment. Projects that have been supported include Charanga, which is a digital resource that supports class teachers to deliver progressive music programmes, and Fischy Music, which helps pupils to develop their own music around a curricular topic.

I thank members for their passionate words and I especially thank Michelle Thomson for bringing this debate to the chamber.

The Scottish Government is committed to promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law, both at home and abroad, recognising Scotland’s role as a good global citizen. Through dialogue, we seek to promote international human rights standards; debates such as this one are vital to that aim. We have shown that this Parliament speaks with one voice in recognising the truly horrific situation faced by women in Afghanistan. I acknowledge the powerful contributions made today by speakers from all sides of Scotland’s Parliament: Michelle Thomson, Kenneth Gibson, Pam Gosal, Ruth Maguire, Martin Whitfield and Ben Macpherson.

Since retaking control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has created the world’s most serious crisis in women’s rights. The Scottish Government condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the Taliban’s systematic violation of the rights of women and girls, particularly of rights relating to education, employment, freedom of speech and movement and of the rights to liberty, life and political participation.

Where we can, the Scottish Government has sought to help people in Afghanistan. In 2021, the country experienced unprecedented levels of hunger and malnutrition due to the combined effects of economic collapse, continuing conflict, the worst drought in living memory and Covid-19. The Scottish Government provided £600,000 of support, including targeted mental health and psychosocial support, for mothers and children, as well as food packages for pregnant and breastfeeding women and for malnourished children. In November 2023, we also provided £250,000 to support those left without shelter and other essentials following several large earthquakes.

UN Security Council resolution 1325 recognises

“the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts ... and stresses the importance of their equal participation ... in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.”

Since 2016, the Scottish Government has funded the women in conflict fellowship to support the implementation of that resolution. To date, we have supported 378 fellows from more than 30 countries, including eight outstanding female activists from Afghanistan.

The Scottish Government also funds the Scottish human rights defender fellowship programme, which offers respite to human rights defenders working in difficult conditions and offers them opportunities to undertake research, develop skills and build networks during a three to six-month visit to Scotland.

Scotland remains committed to playing our part in welcoming and supporting people who are fleeing Afghanistan. Officials continue to work with partners to provide people with the safety and security that they need to rebuild their lives. In line with the key principle of the new Scots refugee integration strategy, local authorities are working to support integration from day 1 of arrival here in Scotland.

We are committed to delivering a feminist approach in all our international work by putting the rights of women, girls and marginalised groups at the heart of our international activities. One way that we deliver on that is through our international development work.

While also implementing equality-focused programmes, we are working to ensure that equality is embedded across all of our international development work, including our inclusive education programme, which promotes fairness and human rights for all, prioritising access to education for women and girls. It was inspired by Malala Yousafzai, the courageous campaigner for better education for girls, who was shot for opposing Taliban restrictions. We set up a scholarship scheme for women in Pakistan and we have continued to invest in that important programme.

Unfortunately, women and children continue to suffer disproportionately in conflicts. The majority of the 35,000 reported deaths in Gaza are known to be women and children. The situation for women in Afghanistan is truly dire, and I urge the United Kingdom Government to do more to work with international partners to address the dreadful humanitarian and human rights situation that we have been considering today.

We know that women and girls are disproportionately affected by crises around the world, whether it be climate change, war or pandemics. Amid concerning global trends of the rolling back of the rights of women and girls, we must remain committed to achieving gender equality at home in Scotland as well as engaging internationally as a good global citizen to advocate for the advancement of rights for all women and all girls.

Nowhere is advocacy, global co-operation and co-ordinated action to protect women more necessary than in Afghanistan today, and we pledge to continue our work on that. I am pleased to note that that pledge has support from all corners of the chamber, and it will continue to do so.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I could not connect via the app. I would have voted no.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My apologies: I am still unable to use my app. I would have voted no.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Unfortunately, I am still unable to connect to the app. I would have voted no.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Despite valiant attempts by information technology staff to log into the app, I am still unable to do so, unfortunately. I would have voted no.

The European Union has made it abundantly clear that the United Kingdom would be welcome back in the Erasmus+ scheme and the creative Europe programme. Does he agree that that would be the right thing to do?