In correspondence, the UK Government has suggested that it has changed its approach to retained EU law from the hard cliff edge for all legislation to a more limited schedule of legislation that is to be taken off the statute book in part because of the opposition of the devolved Administrations to the original approach. The suggestion is that there has been magnanimous reflection on our persuasive interventions and that that has, in part, led to a change in UK policy. I suspect that the impending defeat in the House of Lords was much more important to the UK Government’s consideration of the matter than listening to the arguments put by the Scottish Government or Welsh Government on the issue.

I deal with the UK Government regularly, and my general impression is that the involvement of the Scottish and Welsh Governments is tokenistic and a box-ticking exercise to say that one has “consulted”. However, I see very little evidence of the UK Government acting on the concerns that are raised and its U-turn on the sunset provisions in the REUL bill was almost entirely down to the arithmetic in the House of Lords, which would have seen the Government lose votes on amendments that were supported by members of the House of Lords with whom we have been co-operating.

I will have to write to the committee on the specifics of the analysis of the nine measures. It would, however, be correct to say that the Scottish Government’s response to the schedule of legislative measures that are to be sunsetted as part of the UK Government’s reformed approach to the REUL bill has been made more on the basis of whether something pertains to a devolved area of competence rather than whether it impacts on any specific policy consideration. It is about understanding whether the legislation is in a devolved area of import and whether it is relevant to that.

Ergo, the devolved Government should explain to the UK Government that the sunsetting of legislation in that way should not go ahead until there is proper governmental and, no doubt, parliamentary understanding of the impact. I think that that goes to the nub of Mr Macpherson’s question—obviously, I welcome him to the committee, as I did Mr Bibby.

Having said that, I am keen to ensure that the committee is updated, so I undertake to update you on our best understanding of the nine specific measures as they might pertain to any specific on-going policy, or policy development, on green freeports, which Mr Macpherson asked about.

The Scottish Government stands with the international community and communities across Scotland in our shared deep concern over the violence in Sudan. That particularly impacts the Sudanese community living in Scotland, many of whom have friends and relatives directly affected.

On 10 May, I met representatives of the Sudanese community in Scotland alongside representatives from the national health service and third sector support organisations. That meeting was a starting point for dialogue about how we can support the Sudanese community in Scotland, including ensuring that Sudanese nationals who live here are aware of the support services that they can access and, where necessary, raising issues with the United Kingdom Government.

First, Clare Adamson is absolutely right to highlight the role of Sudanese nationals and people of Sudanese descent who work in our national health service. It is important to understand quite how many there are, and they deserve our recognition and support.

Secondly, I undertake to share with the member and other MSPs the signposting information that individual MSPs might wish to share with Sudanese nationals and constituents.

As asylum and immigration are reserved matters, we will press the UK Government on them. I have written to the Foreign Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice has written to the Home Secretary to call for safe and legal routes and arrangements for family reunion to be put in place. Those arrangements must be flexible enough to enable people who are forced to leave Sudan to safely come to the UK and join family who already have leave to remain here.

Foysol Choudhury will have heard my previous answer, in which I talked about the communication that I have had with the UK Government and my cabinet secretary colleague has had with the Home Office on that question. He is absolutely right to ask what we can do to help families come together in this time of need, and I would be happy to work with him and colleagues across the chamber to do what we can to impress on the UK Government its responsibilities to ensure that that can happen

Forgive me for not taking an intervention—I am running out of time.

In order to benefit from the extensive expertise that exists in Scotland and among our diaspora, I will appoint a Scottish connections advisory panel to advise on priorities, opportunities and specific initiatives to improve our diaspora activity. The panel will be diverse, will be based both in Scotland and internationally and will contain experience and expertise covering business, alumni and affinity diaspora, and those with specific cultural and tourism interests. The design of that group is under way.

I am also delighted to hear that the University of the West of Scotland plans to inaugurate a centre for diaspora, migration, citizenship and identity later this year, and I look forward to exploring how we can work together.

We have a lot to do. Our approach will be incremental and inclusive, and we will learn both from our experiences and from feedback from our diaspora, advisory panel and others. We will also continue to learn from those who are already active in diaspora work, especially in Ireland and Wales. The framework commits to reviewing progress biennially, so, in two years’ time—and, no doubt, beforehand, through parliamentary questions from members from across the chamber—I expect to be reporting on successes and lessons learned.

I hope that our efforts will encourage members of our diaspora to see and promote Scotland as a favourable

“destination in which to work, live, study, do business, or simply visit.”

I hope, too, that it will draw support from across the chamber. I want the Scottish connections framework to evolve on the basis of the involvement of members of all parties. I hope that it will become a platform for Scottish communities, businesses, universities and cultural organisations to build bridges with our global diaspora.

However, recognising and engaging members of our diaspora is an objective in itself, not a means to an end. Our framework shows how we can work together to build a truly global network of Scottish connections that will recognise, support and benefit everyone who wants to be a part of our nation.

I move,

That the Parliament cherishes Scotland’s global diaspora, which it considers to be an extension of Scotland itself; welcomes the publication of the Scottish Connections Framework, which seeks to build a more vibrant, visible and connected Scottish community around the world; affirms a broad and inclusive definition of “diaspora”, embracing those of Scottish heritage, lived diaspora, alumni of Scottish educational institutions, and anyone who has an affinity with Scotland; recognises the importance of including historically marginalised communities, including minority ethnic Scots, women, young people and the LGBTQ community, and of facing uncomfortable chapters in Scotland's history; celebrates the efforts of Scottish community organisations around the world for maintaining and promoting Scotland’s culture and language, including through marking St Andrew’s Day and Burns events; applauds the Scottish Government and Scottish Development International’s international network of offices for their efforts to increase Scotland’s global connections, the valuable contribution of trade and investment envoys, and the 1,200-strong GlobalScot network; stresses the importance of connecting with alumni of Scotland’s world-class educational institutions, and expresses its hope that the Scottish Connections Framework will encourage many more people to consider Scotland as a destination in which to work, live, study, do business, or simply visit.

Through an intervention, may I address Donald Cameron’s point? I report for those who are unaware of it that Donald MacLaren of MacLaren, who is one of those who are responsible for Scotland’s clan network, was in New York during tartan week and the organisers of that event welcome the involvement of Scotland’s historic clan associations. They form part of international outreach efforts, and we are grateful for it.

That is another excellent question, and it is one of the reasons why we accept the Scottish Conservatives’ amendment this afternoon. We believe that it is right, when one is rolling out an initiative such as this, to ensure that there are metrics and areas for success, so that we can understand how the framework is being rolled out and whether its integration with the diaspora community is reaching its full potential. I am coming on to some of the technical suggestions, which will make it obvious how one will be able to reflect on the framework in future years.

Professional Scots are prominent in companies based in the world’s global business centres—New York, Singapore, Tokyo, the middle east and elsewhere. Some act as Scotland’s trade and investment envoys in Asia, the Americas and Europe or as GlobalScots in more than 60 countries. They are embedded in their own communities as well as being leading lights in local Caledonian societies, where they bring visibility and experience. We know that European Union nationals who made Scotland their home, when they were able to exercise their treaty rights here, have returned home. We now host more than 20,000 displaced Ukrainians in Scotland, who are welcome to remain here for as long as they need to. However, many will, one day, we hope, be able to return home to rebuild a peaceful Ukraine, following Russia’s barbaric invasion. We hope that, when they do so, those Ukrainians will remain connected to Scotland.

Each and every one of those people has a connection with Scotland. All are part of Scotland’s international community. Many already work with Scotland and promote our values around the world, and more may wish to do so. Others may want to find a sense of Scottish community overseas and build links with other members of our diaspora. That is the scope of Scottish connections: to create a truly global diaspora connected to Scotland and to each other.

We are not undertaking this work from a standing start. The Scottish Government, its agencies and its international network already work closely with our diaspora. Our 1,200-strong GlobalScots and the network of trade and investment envoys, working closely with our Scottish Development International offices around the world, volunteer their time to support Scotland’s economic ambition. They will continue to promote Scotland’s prosperity, and I extend a huge thank you to them on behalf of the Scottish Government and, I hope, everybody in the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government’s international network of offices has strong local relationships with Scottish diaspora organisations and alumni networks. Our Berlin office works with Showcase Scotland Expo to promote Scottish music in Germany by building relationships in the country and promoting new and traditional Scottish artists in the German market, including artists performing in Scots and Gaelic. They will continue to do all of that because of the value that such activity brings for Scotland. However, the success of the Scottish connections framework will be to build on that existing work and create new relationships and new opportunities for Scotland and the diaspora. Our culture connects diaspora communities and Scotland. Our culture sector has been hit by Brexit and Covid 19, and now by the cost crisis, so developing international opportunities can help the sector’s recovery. I have committed to developing an international culture strategy to that end.

Scotland’s diaspora may be dispersed, but its members are well integrated. The Scottish Government will take concrete steps to engage as many people as possible by improving our digital offering. Connecting digitally will provide us with an opportunity to reach new members of our diaspora wherever they are in the world and, of course, it will mean that they can connect with us, too.

Ahead of this year’s tartan week, we updated our international-facing website scotland.org to provide a new home for Scottish connections activity. We updated several pages that cover the US and Canada so as to reflect our enduring and evolving relationships in those countries.

This year, we will launch two new online resources for our diaspora. We will create a digital directory, promoting hundreds of Scottish organisations worldwide. Any member of our diaspora will be able to find out about networks, organisations and services near them, so the directory will form a touch point for Scots who are new to a country or those who are already there and who want to connect with their community. The directory will also be a resource for organisations in Scotland that want to expand their international reach, whether they be businesses or performers looking to take their services abroad.

Later this year, we will create a means by which members of our diaspora can register themselves as members of Scotland’s international community. We expect that facility to be live by St Andrew’s day 2023. That new direct contact will supplement the excellent work of our international network, the SDI and agencies.

All of that work will be supported by a redoubling of effort to engage members of our diaspora. Recognising their efforts will be vital if we are to succeed. I have therefore decided to take a number of steps to strengthen their connections with Scotland to enable us to build the vibrant, visible and connected network that we strive for. Those will include piloting a Scottish connections fund. The fund, which is under design, will be open to bids from individuals and organisations from the Scottish diaspora to support the aims of the Scottish connections framework. Successful bids will support the creation or strengthening of Scottish community, alumni, cultural or similar groups, or will improve existing links between organisations and Scotland. The spending will have to show clear outcomes and strong levels of value for money.

I have also asked officials to provide recommendations on how a diaspora recognition award could encourage and reward the work of Scots around the world, either in services to their own countries or in what they deliver for Scotland’s interests.

Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Lab) rose—

That is an excellent intervention and very timely, because the British Council hosted an event in Edinburgh last night that was attended by trustees from the British Council at United Kingdom level. They and I stressed the opportunities of their work internationally. I look forward to working with the British Council internationally to further the aims of the framework, particularly in that educational and alumni space. I am delighted at the positive interventions from various members.

I want to make a really serious point about the framework. I really hope that it is one that we can all adopt and be part of shaping. I hope that we can all help to get the framework’s priorities and alignment right to make it the success that I believe it can be.

Can I add to the list of things that we should be imaginative about embracing? In addition to the points that are, quite properly, being made by the member, there is a group in North America who have been overlooked as part of Scotland’s diaspora, and that is African-Americans. A difficult conversation needs to be had with that community about their connection to Scotland, but I have met African-Americans who are proud to have a connection to Scotland, and I think that we should fully explore that with them.