Chamber and committees

I agree with Jackson Carlaw that those second homes are not holiday homes; they are for MSPs to do their work. If the homes are not to be exempted from the premium by the City of Edinburgh Council, will the corporate body consider having a separate budget line for council tax to be paid from that is not part of the Edinburgh expenses allowance, so that remote MSPs will not suddenly appear to be costing more money to the Parliament?

For the sickest and most pre-term babies, the Government seeks to centralise care to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Meeting minutes that have been uncovered tell us that NHS Grampian does not have the cots or the staff. There are serious worries about ambulance cover, which is already a massive issue in the north of Scotland. One of the First Minister’s staff even said that they thought that downgrading Ninewells could have a deeply inhumane impact on mums travelling long distances. At its last meeting, the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee advised ministers to stop downgrading Ninewells until outstanding transport capacity and finance questions have been answered. What is the Government’s response to that?

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether the Edinburgh accommodation allowance for MSPs will be reviewed, in light of the City of Edinburgh Council announcing that, from 1 April 2026, the premium applied to council tax on second homes will increase from 100 per cent to 300 per cent. (S6O-05647)

With the situation in Iran escalating and the cost of fuel skyrocketing, it is common sense that we should be maximising our own resources in the North Sea. Domestic production is better for the environment, better for our economy, better for our jobs and better for our energy security. Will the First Minister stop turning his back on one of Scotland’s most important industries, scrap the Scottish National Party’s presumption against new oil and gas, back projects such as Rosebank and Jackdaw and support new drilling in the North Sea?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. During portfolio questions, the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, Gillian Martin, said that the Scottish Government does not have a position against new oil and gas. That is simply not true. The draft energy strategy, which was published by the Scottish National Party Government more than three years ago, has the Government’s presumption against new oil and gas in black and white. Can the Presiding Officer advise how the cabinet secretary can correct the record and avoid misleading the chamber?

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with national health service boards regarding the 2017 best start plan to downgrade the number of level 3 neonatal intensive care units from eight to three. (S6O-05666)

I, too, pay tribute to my friend Liam McArthur. I can only imagine the emotional toll that this process has taken on him. Whatever the result of tonight’s vote, he has done a brilliant job in highlighting the suffering that so many people are forced to go through at the end of their lives.

I was not planning to speak in today’s debate. I spoke in the stage 1 debate and thought that I had said everything that I wanted to say. However, I then thought that this would be my last chance to speak in a debate in this parliamentary session, and it might be my last chance to speak in the chamber for ever, as Paul O’Kane pointed out.

I could not look myself in the mirror if I did not do all that I could to try to get the bill approved. I did not take part in the discussions on stage 2 or stage 3 amendments, but I listened carefully to what everyone was saying. I must admit that I was saddened when listening to some of the debate last week. We heard a lot about doctors, nurses, lawyers, managers and social workers. At times, it felt as though we had forgotten what the bill is about. It is about people. The bill is about people suffering and what we could do to make their deaths as dignified and as pain-free as possible by giving them a choice when the end has come to reduce their suffering. We need to remember when we vote tonight that it is about the person who is suffering and giving them a choice.

Much has been said about palliative care. Of course we need palliative care, and of course we would all like it to be better, but palliative care is no magic wand. It is not like taking a couple of paracetamols to get rid of a headache. It does not remove all the pain and make everything all right. People should still have a choice when the pain becomes unbearable. It is certainly not an either/or when it comes to the bill.

Like many people here, I have got emotional over the bill. I have had conversations with those closest and dearest to me about the topic that no one likes to talk about, which is death. It is going to happen to us all and we should be able to talk about it, but it often seems too hard to do just that.

As I said at stage 1, I think I would never be able to have an assisted death. I think I would fight to have my last possible breath, but I cannot be sure. None of us here can be sure because none of us is suffering in the same way that some people are having to suffer right now.

We all have stories. My story is about a friend of mine caring for his mother at the end of her life. She was hooked up to morphine but begging her son to end her suffering. He will live with the guilt that he was not able to help his mother more when her pain was unbearable and all hope had gone. That is what we are putting people and their families through, but today we can change that.

As I said at the start, this might be the last time that I speak in here, but if it is, and if the bill passes, I will feel that I have achieved something in my time here. I will have played my part in reducing suffering. We have an opportunity to reduce the suffering that some are forced to go through at the end of life. I appeal to all colleagues who have not made up their minds. We have an opportunity to show what a compassionate place Scotland can be. We have an opportunity to reduce suffering at the end of life. We have all heard too many stories of people having a bad death. We have the opportunity today to make that better and to make a difference.

Assisted dying does not mean that more people die; it means that fewer people will suffer. Please do not let that opportunity pass us by. Let us not kick the can down the road for others to make that choice later on. Let us show that this Parliament works and truly represents the majority of people outside of here who support the bill.

20:23

I, too, pay tribute to my friend Liam McArthur. I can only imagine the emotional toll that this process has taken on him. Whatever the result of tonight’s vote, he has done a brilliant job in highlighting the suffering that so many people are forced to go through at the end of their lives.

I was not planning to speak in today’s debate. I spoke in the stage 1 debate and thought that I had said everything that I wanted to say. However, I then thought that this would be my last chance to speak in a debate in this parliamentary session, and it might be my last chance to speak in the chamber for ever, as Paul O’Kane pointed out.

I could not look myself in the mirror if I did not do all that I could to try to get the bill approved. I did not take part in the discussions on stage 2 or stage 3 amendments, but I listened carefully to what everyone was saying. I must admit that I was saddened when listening to some of the debate last week. We heard a lot about doctors, nurses, lawyers, managers and social workers. At times, it felt as though we had forgotten what the bill is about. It is about people. The bill is about people suffering and what we could do to make their deaths as dignified and as pain-free as possible by giving them a choice when the end has come to reduce their suffering. We need to remember when we vote tonight that it is about the person who is suffering and giving them a choice.

Much has been said about palliative care. Of course we need palliative care, and of course we would all like it to be better, but palliative care is no magic wand. It is not like taking a couple of paracetamols to get rid of a headache. It does not remove all the pain and make everything all right. People should still have a choice when the pain becomes unbearable. It is certainly not an either/or when it comes to the bill.

Like many people here, I have got emotional over the bill. I have had conversations with those closest and dearest to me about the topic that no one likes to talk about, which is death. It is going to happen to us all and we should be able to talk about it, but it often seems too hard to do just that.

As I said at stage 1, I think I would never be able to have an assisted death. I think I would fight to have my last possible breath, but I cannot be sure. None of us here can be sure because none of us is suffering in the same way that some people are having to suffer right now.

We all have stories. My story is about a friend of mine caring for his mother at the end of her life. She was hooked up to morphine but begging her son to end her suffering. He will live with the guilt that he was not able to help his mother more when her pain was unbearable and all hope had gone. That is what we are putting people and their families through, but today we can change that.

As I said at the start, this might be the last time that I speak in here, but if it is, and if the bill passes, I will feel that I have achieved something in my time here. I will have played my part in reducing suffering. We have an opportunity to reduce the suffering that some are forced to go through at the end of life. I appeal to all colleagues who have not made up their minds. We have an opportunity to show what a compassionate place Scotland can be. We have an opportunity to reduce suffering at the end of life. We have all heard too many stories of people having a bad death. We have the opportunity today to make that better and to make a difference.

Assisted dying does not mean that more people die; it means that fewer people will suffer. Please do not let that opportunity pass us by. Let us not kick the can down the road for others to make that choice later on. Let us show that this Parliament works and truly represents the majority of people outside of here who support the bill.

20:23

I, too, pay tribute to my friend Liam McArthur. I can only imagine the emotional toll that this process has taken on him. Whatever the result of tonight’s vote, he has done a brilliant job in highlighting the suffering that so many people are forced to go through at the end of their lives.

I was not planning to speak in today’s debate. I spoke in the stage 1 debate and thought that I had said everything that I wanted to say. However, I then thought that this would be my last chance to speak in a debate in this parliamentary session, and it might be my last chance to speak in the chamber for ever, as Paul O’Kane pointed out.

I could not look myself in the mirror if I did not do all that I could to try to get the bill approved. I did not take part in the discussions on stage 2 or stage 3 amendments, but I listened carefully to what everyone was saying. I must admit that I was saddened when listening to some of the debate last week. We heard a lot about doctors, nurses, lawyers, managers and social workers. At times, it felt as though we had forgotten what the bill is about. It is about people. The bill is about people suffering and what we could do to make their deaths as dignified and as pain-free as possible by giving them a choice when the end has come to reduce their suffering. We need to remember when we vote tonight that it is about the person who is suffering and giving them a choice.

Much has been said about palliative care. Of course we need palliative care, and of course we would all like it to be better, but palliative care is no magic wand. It is not like taking a couple of paracetamols to get rid of a headache. It does not remove all the pain and make everything all right. People should still have a choice when the pain becomes unbearable. It is certainly not an either/or when it comes to the bill.

Like many people here, I have got emotional over the bill. I have had conversations with those closest and dearest to me about the topic that no one likes to talk about, which is death. It is going to happen to us all and we should be able to talk about it, but it often seems too hard to do just that.

As I said at stage 1, I think I would never be able to have an assisted death. I think I would fight to have my last possible breath, but I cannot be sure. None of us here can be sure because none of us is suffering in the same way that some people are having to suffer right now.

We all have stories. My story is about a friend of mine caring for his mother at the end of her life. She was hooked up to morphine but begging her son to end her suffering. He will live with the guilt that he was not able to help his mother more when her pain was unbearable and all hope had gone. That is what we are putting people and their families through, but today we can change that.

As I said at the start, this might be the last time that I speak in here, but if it is, and if the bill passes, I will feel that I have achieved something in my time here. I will have played my part in reducing suffering. We have an opportunity to reduce the suffering that some are forced to go through at the end of life. I appeal to all colleagues who have not made up their minds. We have an opportunity to show what a compassionate place Scotland can be. We have an opportunity to reduce suffering at the end of life. We have all heard too many stories of people having a bad death. We have the opportunity today to make that better and to make a difference.

Assisted dying does not mean that more people die; it means that fewer people will suffer. Please do not let that opportunity pass us by. Let us not kick the can down the road for others to make that choice later on. Let us show that this Parliament works and truly represents the majority of people outside of here who support the bill.

20:23

I, too, pay tribute to my friend Liam McArthur. I can only imagine the emotional toll that this process has taken on him. Whatever the result of tonight’s vote, he has done a brilliant job in highlighting the suffering that so many people are forced to go through at the end of their lives.

I was not planning to speak in today’s debate. I spoke in the stage 1 debate and thought that I had said everything that I wanted to say. However, I then thought that this would be my last chance to speak in a debate in this parliamentary session, and it might be my last chance to speak in the chamber for ever, as Paul O’Kane pointed out.

I could not look myself in the mirror if I did not do all that I could to try to get the bill approved. I did not take part in the discussions on stage 2 or stage 3 amendments, but I listened carefully to what everyone was saying. I must admit that I was saddened when listening to some of the debate last week. We heard a lot about doctors, nurses, lawyers, managers and social workers. At times, it felt as though we had forgotten what the bill is about. It is about people. The bill is about people suffering and what we could do to make their deaths as dignified and as pain-free as possible by giving them a choice when the end has come to reduce their suffering. We need to remember when we vote tonight that it is about the person who is suffering and giving them a choice.

Much has been said about palliative care. Of course we need palliative care, and of course we would all like it to be better, but palliative care is no magic wand. It is not like taking a couple of paracetamols to get rid of a headache. It does not remove all the pain and make everything all right. People should still have a choice when the pain becomes unbearable. It is certainly not an either/or when it comes to the bill.

Like many people here, I have got emotional over the bill. I have had conversations with those closest and dearest to me about the topic that no one likes to talk about, which is death. It is going to happen to us all and we should be able to talk about it, but it often seems too hard to do just that.

As I said at stage 1, I think I would never be able to have an assisted death. I think I would fight to have my last possible breath, but I cannot be sure. None of us here can be sure because none of us is suffering in the same way that some people are having to suffer right now.

We all have stories. My story is about a friend of mine caring for his mother at the end of her life. She was hooked up to morphine but begging her son to end her suffering. He will live with the guilt that he was not able to help his mother more when her pain was unbearable and all hope had gone. That is what we are putting people and their families through, but today we can change that.

As I said at the start, this might be the last time that I speak in here, but if it is, and if the bill passes, I will feel that I have achieved something in my time here. I will have played my part in reducing suffering. We have an opportunity to reduce the suffering that some are forced to go through at the end of life. I appeal to all colleagues who have not made up their minds. We have an opportunity to show what a compassionate place Scotland can be. We have an opportunity to reduce suffering at the end of life. We have all heard too many stories of people having a bad death. We have the opportunity today to make that better and to make a difference.

Assisted dying does not mean that more people die; it means that fewer people will suffer. Please do not let that opportunity pass us by. Let us not kick the can down the road for others to make that choice later on. Let us show that this Parliament works and truly represents the majority of people outside of here who support the bill.

20:23