Chamber and committees

Scotland is lucky to have so many talented women in sport. Eilidh Doyle, Isla Hedley, our Scottish women’s football and rugby teams and many others were mentioned over the course of today’s debate. However, I have always admired Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan—not just because I was a member of a running club, the Bellshill Harriers, but because they are excellent role models for women looking to enter elite sports.

Members of the Scottish Parliament, including the minister, have expressed their passion for promoting women in all sporting roles and their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity. We only need to look at the number of sporting motions that MSPs submit a year—motions that congratulate and recognise the efforts of clubs, organisations and sporting talent—to know that the Scottish Parliament backs women in sporting roles. However, those motions do not show us the whole story, and we need to understand why women’s participation in sport is so low. We have heard many arguments in the debate that highlight the barriers that women face when participating in sport and physical activity.

Clare Haughey mentioned the decline in the number of girls participating in sport, with the gender gap persisting up until the age of 40. She also mentioned the stigma around puberty that exists for many teenage girls wanting to participate in sport at school. That was a key takeaway from the committee’s report.

Scotland has come a long way in breaking down the stigma of menstruation during teenage years, including the roll-out of free period products in schools and public buildings. However, much more needs to be done to smash the taboo around menstruation, and the sports industry is key to breaking those barriers down.

Tess White rightly said that, until those involved in women’s sport fully understand women’s health, barriers to sport and physical activity will remain. From Wimbledon allowing dark-coloured shorts to national campaigns to spread awareness around menstruation, Parliaments and sporting bodies need to start telling women that they can and should participate in sport.

Culture is another key theme discussed during the debate. The pay gap for women in sport compared with their male equivalents remains far too wide. Women feel undervalued and unaccepted, and are less likely to pursue a career in sport. I am pleased that the committee highlighted that as a requirement for change. Golf, cricket and football remain the worst offenders, as members have pointed out.

Dr Sandesh Gulhane and Neil Bibby spoke about the current inequality of opportunity for women in sporting roles. We heard arguments that women are not seen for their talents but just for their gender, and it is concerning that cases of harassment and abuse prevent women from entering the world of sport.

Ruth Maguire mentioned the “Don’t be that guy” campaign. We need to break gender stereotypes and ensure that the zero-tolerance approach that we have frequently mentioned in the debate is put into practice. Many members raised the interesting point of community facilities being underused or not used to their full capacity. Dr Sandesh Gulhane raised the important local issue of the national hockey centre at Glasgow Green, because the asset is not being sufficiently funded.

I am sure that Willie Rennie was about to talk about the length of time that facilities are open so that we can maximise the hours and the types of sports that are available for women. As Brian Whittle said earlier, we need to ensure that women are not heading home in the dark, because most women would feel uncomfortable doing that.

Scottish Government cuts to councils are having a detrimental impact on sporting facilities, and many are under threat. That is particularly relevant for councils over the next three financial years. When only 26 per cent of clubs in Scotland have female membership, it shows that we need our local facilities to be open to encourage and support women into sport.

As this debate is about women’s sport, we need to speak about single-sex spaces, which Ruth Maguire rightly raised during her speech. We need to look at women’s sport and the safety of women while they participate in activities. I agree with Tess White that sport should be welcoming for everyone. We also need to ensure that women’s sport is fair and provides the correct safeguards; otherwise, we will further deter women from entering the world of competitive sport.

I want to finish on the most important point that has been mentioned. Sport is about having fun. Sport should be for everybody. That is why I back the #KeepHerPlaying campaign. Taking part in sport is not just about the cheers, the wins or the bragging rights, although all that is fun, too. It is about developing confidence and important life skills, such as resilience and discipline. It is about improving self-esteem and mental health.

There are far too many points to run through, but if we can all agree on something, I hope that it is this: we need to improve female participation in sport and physical activity.

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making towards achieving a circular economy, including through the development of the wind turbine decommissioning sector. (S6O-02770)

Zero Waste Scotland’s document “The future of onshore wind decommissioning in Scotland”, which was published in March, shows the recyclable components of a wind turbine. It states that between 4,800 and 5,500 turbines will be decommissioned between 2021 and 2025, and it shows which parts will be broken down and into what materials. However, one essential part is missing: the blades. Can the minister outline how the Government can achieve its net zero targets through a just transition when our renewables are not currently fully recyclable? When will that fundamental problem be rectified so that our renewables are actually renewable?

I wish to return to the complaints process and the complainer’s fee. We do not have that in Scotland, but it exists in other places, including South Australia, where I believe there is a complainer’s fee equivalent to £60, which is returned to the complainant should their complaint be successful. Given the pressure on the complaints system, and referencing the delays that were mentioned earlier, has anyone on the panel thought whether it would, in that regard, be better for the legal profession were we to proceed with the bill?

I am happy to throw that out to whoever would like to answer.

At the risk of starting a new debate, I will leave it there, convener. Thank you very much, everyone.

More than 200 people—Israelis and non-Israelis, babies, women, the elderly, civilians and soldiers—were taken captive by Hamas on 7 October and taken by force to Gaza.

Noga Weiss, 18 years old. Shiri Weiss, 53 years old. Eden Yerushalmi, 24 years old. Ilan Weiss, 56 years old. Judy Weinstein, 70 years old. Elia Toledano, 27 years old. Doron Steinbrecher, 30 years old. Soussana Amit, 40 years old. Almog Sarusi, 26 years old. Ada Sagi, 75 years old. Hila Shoshani, 13 years old. Raaya Rotem, 54 years old. Ofelia Roitman, 77 years old. Noam Or, 17 years old. Alma Or, 13 years old. Dror Or, 48 years old. Liam Or, 18 years old. Nili Margalit, 41 years old. Eliyahu (Churchill) Margalit, 75 years old. Aisha Alziedana, 17 years old. Bilal Alziedana, 21 years old. Hamza Alziedana, 22 years old. Youssef Hamis Alziedana, 53 years old. Sujith Nissanka, 48 years old. Michel Nisenbaum, 59 years old. Tamir Nimrod, 19 years old. Omer Neutra, 22 years old. Shlomo Mansour, 85 years old. Lobanov Alexander, 32 years old. Andrey Kozlov, 27 years old. Dror Kaplun, 68 years old. Maya Goren, 56 years old. Ori Danino, 24 years old. Nimrod Cohen, 19 years old. Sagi Dekel Chen, 35 years old. Rom Braslavski, 19 years old. Gali Berman, 26 years old. Ariel Baruch, 35 years old. Tomer Ahimas, 20 years old. Shani Goren, 29 years old. Jimmy Pacheco, whose age has not even been given. Emily Hand, eight years old. Guy Iluz, 26 years old. Meirav Tal, 53 years old. Yair Yaakov, 59 years old. Yagil Yaakov, 12 years old. Or Yaakov, 16 years old. Sasha Trupanov, 27 years old. Elena Trupanov, 50 years old. Sapir Cohen, 29 years old. Amit Buskila, 28 years old. Yotam Haim, 28 years old. Lior Rudaeff, 61 years old. Yair Horn, 45 years old. Idan Alexander, 19 years old. Arbel Yahod, 28 years old. Dolev Yahod, 35 years old. Eitan Horn, 37 years old. Amit Shani, 16 years old. Ohad Munder, nine years old. Keren Munder, 54 years old. Ruth Munder, 78 years old. Abraham Munder, 78 years old. Kaid Farhan Elkadi, 53 years old. Yarden Roman Gat, 35 years old. Amiram Cooper, 84 years old. Mika Engel, 18 years old. Yuval Engel, 11 years old. Carina Engel-Bert, 51 years old. Ronen Engel, 55 years old. Avigail Idan, three years old. Emilia Aloni, five years old. Ema Konio, three years old. David Konio, 33 years old. Sharon Aloni Konio, 34 years old. Shlomi Ziv, 39 years old. Nave Shoham, eight years old.

I have just spent most of my time reading out some of the many names of hostages taken by Hamas. Some were enjoying time with their friends at a rave when they were taken; others were asleep in their beds. There is a real human cost to the conflict, and it comes back to the names that I have just read out.

I welcome the tone of the debate so far, but it will not necessarily resonate outside. We have already witnessed unsafe protests outside the Parliament and politicians receiving death threats. Recently, my friend and colleague Councillor Thomas Kerr was assaulted in a pub when out with his friends because of his stance on the conflict.

I agree with previous speakers that we must stand shoulder to shoulder against Islamophobia and antisemitism. Communities in Scotland are frightened and we need calm, gentle diplomacy, not just for the safe return of the hostages but for humanitarian breaks to allow vital supplies to get to those who need them most.

I will finish by reading out one name again: Avigail Idan, just three years old. Avigail was kidnapped from her home. Both of her parents were killed. She has her whole life ahead of her without the love and support of her parents, who were cruelly taken before their time. Avigail is in my thoughts today, as are all the innocent people who are caught up in the conflict.

For a family member to access the cabinet secretary’s iPad, passwords would need to be shared. Can the cabinet secretary confirm whether he has shared his device’s passwords with anyone? Does he accept that that goes against general data protection regulation rules, given the sensitive information that is held on parliamentary devices? When did he first share with the First Minister that his family members used his iPad during his family holiday in Morocco?

A freedom of information response earlier this year stated that digital inclusion funding has not been made available since 2020-21. What funding has been made available for digital devices since the digital inclusion fund was closed?

Absolutely. That is why the debate is so important. I am sure that there are many colleagues from all parties who stood for election for the same reasons as I stood, which were to represent their communities and to make sure that Scotland is a better place. They did not stand for election to defend sleekit behaviour and evasion, and to be lobby fodder for a Government that is determined to pull the wool over the eyes of the chamber and the public. It is past time that the Parliament stood up for itself and that its members showed some backbone and forced the Government to tell the truth.

How can the Government be fully transparent if WhatsApp messages were manually deleted by key players during the Covid-19 inquiry?