Chamber and committees

The cabinet secretary outlined an array of funding options. Capital funding is certainly one aspect, but the challenge in the immediate term is ongoing revenue funding. That issue is a direct result of the Scottish Government’s disproportionate cuts to Glasgow City Council’s core budget. Will the cabinet secretary identify any potential sources of short-term funding that could allow the council to maintain the asset’s operation in the next three months in order to bridge the gap so that we can get an agreed new permanent use in place?

Some members of the Parliament have sought to fan the flames of division with continual talk of “strangers” and calls for further protests tonight. Does the cabinet secretary agree that every one of us in the Parliament has a duty to calm tensions in this country and not to inflame them, and that we should be reminded that our first duty is to our constituents and the people of Scotland, not to American neo-Nazis on social media?

The recent removal of listed buildings relief for rates has caused a number of unintended consequences that have been very damaging. The cost of servicing the rates for empty listed buildings and of raising the capital to renovate them has proven prohibitive for many projects. Will the minister undertake to review that, together with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, and to introduce an appeals process, where that makes sense, to allow for reliefs to enable renovation?

Last night, racist thugs stormed through the centre of Glasgow under the white nationalist slogan “White lives matter”. Members of the public were attacked indiscriminately because of the colour of their skin, and two police officers were injured. My prayers are with those who were attacked by the savage mob and with the victim of the vicious and barbaric assault last night in Belfast. All those who have been affected across the United Kingdom are in my thoughts today. However, let me be clear that this shocking display of hate is the antithesis of the compassionate character and welcoming spirit of Glasgow and Glaswegians.

Last night’s event was not a random outburst of bigotry and violence. It marks a further escalation in the organised far-right riots that are becoming all too common in Scotland. From Perth to Peterhead and from Falkirk to Ayr, we are seeing the forces of hate emboldened and out on our streets, intimidating and harassing law-abiding citizens who have come to our country to build a better life. No one in Scotland should live in fear due to the colour of their skin or their religious belief. That bigotry must not be tolerated any longer.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that the issue cuts to the core of what it means to live in our country and society, that there is no place for that type of thuggery in Scotland and that we must be thoughtful and compassionate and not give in to the impulses of hatred and bitterness, regardless of colour or creed?

To ask the Scottish Government what urgent action it will take in response to the reported violent racist demonstrations that took place last night in Glasgow.

I very much share the sentiments of the cabinet secretary and, indeed, all members who have spoken in the debate. However, I want to sound a note of caution in relation to the frequent closure of streets in Glasgow. We know that Glasgow is a very Atlantic-oriented city that often doubles up for American cities because of its grid system, but there have been issues with local businesses being closed arbitrarily for long periods without receiving adequate compensation. Perhaps a more robust system of protocols for compensation and advance notice could be considered for occasions when big production houses come to Glasgow and streets are closed down and blockaded for weeks on end, which has a significant impact on local businesses.

It is a pleasure to close this debate on behalf of the Scottish Labour Party. I welcome the minister to his place and for making a fine first speech. We are certainly agreed on the ends—on the objectives for our country in the interests of its people. The debate has turned on the question of how best to achieve and effect those outcomes that we all want.

“Opportunity” and “potential” were the words most frequently repeated in speeches this afternoon. Their absence is a significant concern facing people in this country. As members have mentioned, the recent election clearly reflected a deep sense of alienation and injustice in the country today.

When the late, great Donald Dewar opened the Parliament, he said:

“I look forward to the days ahead when this Chamber will sound with debate, argument and passion. When men and women from all over Scotland will meet to work together for a future built from the first principles of social justice.”

Social justice is at the heart of what we are talking about today when we consider economic growth and how best that serves the interests of the people we represent.

GDP is a simple enough equation: consumption plus investment plus Government expenditure plus exports minus imports. However, behind that lies the question of who benefits from that equation and who owns the proceeds of the growth and the activity.

The main factor in that equation that the Government deals with is expenditure. There were a number of thoughtful speeches, notably from the member for Angus South, who noted that a lot more could be done with Government expenditure and procurement, and that those aspects could work a lot harder for the people of Scotland. We would want to encourage that.

The latest statistics that I have seen show that there was £8.9 billion of public sector procurement expenditure in 2022–23. However, only around half of that is spent in Scotland itself, which affects the multiplier effect that could be generated to benefit Scotland’s people.

I will translate that into a practical example from shipbuilding, the industry in which I worked. I know that the member for Inverclyde has a strong interest in that, which he reflected in his speech.

Although we have a shipbuilding industry of which we in this country are proud, we could achieve much more with the purchasing power of the Scottish Government. However, significant numbers of shipbuilding contracts are going overseas—to Turkey, China and Poland. One of the main reasons for that is that the Government has not put in place the financial mechanisms to enable Scottish shipyards to front‑finance contracts, meaning that they are unable to compete for that business. That could be fixed relatively easily with a more joined-up approach.

I hope that the Government will look at that. I appealed to Kate Forbes, the then Deputy First Minister, to consider that when she was in Government. I hope that we can make progress on the issue in this session of Parliament.

That relates to a point that was raised in a number of speeches: the thwarted potential of our people. Half a million people in Scotland are locked out of work. They are the great unused capital of human potential.

Jimmy Reid was a great shipbuilder. At his funeral, Billy Connolly delivered a fantastic eulogy. He recalled that, as they passed a high-rise block of flats in Glasgow, Jimmy Reid said that behind every one of those windows was a Nobel prize-winning chemist or an Olympic athlete—someone who might have won gold—but who never got the chance because, from birth, they were denied opportunity.

That takes us back to the 20 per cent cut to colleges that was mentioned in a number of speeches and to the inability to connect people with educational opportunities. I see that in the shipbuilding industry, where lots of contractors are coming in from all around the world to work in Scotland’s shipyards, because we simply cannot get the skilled labour into the yards to do the jobs that are needed.

That is tragic, because we are seeing lots of potential being lost, as well as lots of jobs being lost elsewhere in the Scottish economy. Getting that joined up and connected in an efficient and effective way is really important. That is a good target for the Government in the coming years. Let us make that Government expenditure work harder to unlock investment, grow the economic base and the tax base, improve consumption and even promote exports around the world, which will all contribute to positive economic growth.

It is also important to reflect what other members said in their speeches about the nature of foreign ownership in Scotland. Around 6 per cent of Scotland’s wealth is taken out of the country in extractive investments, which are rent seeking. It is important to recognise that greater ownership of our economy is important.

Simply saying that foreign direct investment is up in Scotland does not mean that it is always a good thing. I will point to an example in the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport’s constituency. The recent takeover of Wood Group by Dubai-based Sidara is a great shame for Scotland. Wood Group was one of the great legacies of the North Sea for this country and was one of the great industrial champions that we built in Scotland. It was really disappointing that it was lost to foreign ownership in the way that it was, because that was avoidable. In the previous parliamentary session, I made suggestions to the Government about how that could have been solved by the Government taking a transitional stake in the business, but they were not listened to.

We need to be more interventionist, more active and more agile in protecting Scottish ownership.

It is a great shame to see the loss of Scottish-owned businesses and Scottish industrial potential. To join up some of those themes, that is how the Government could work much harder for the interests of the Scottish people.

17:41

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I would have abstained.

Will the minister give way?