Chamber and committees

We have already published the south-west Scotland transport study, which emphasised the importance of a connected, safe, resilient and high-quality strategic transport network for people travelling in the region. Of course, the recommendations for targeted road improvements to the A75 and A77 are now subject to more detailed appraisal as part of the STPR2 process, and that is the overall process through which we have agreed to direct future transport infrastructure investment.

The process will follow the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000, which includes a detailed process of consultation of communities, local authorities and other stakeholders. The criteria for designation include the area being

“of outstanding national importance because of its natural heritage or the combination of its natural and cultural heritage”

and having

“a distinctive character and a coherent identity”.

In the agreement, we make it clear that we believe that national parks should be designated only in response to local community demand. We therefore encourage community stakeholders and local government to come forward now with proposals.

Graham Simpson should probably quote more fully from the agreement, but I will do that, and I will focus on what it agrees in terms of enhancements to the A96, which includes dualling from Inverness to Nairn; bypasses in Nairn, Keith, Elgin and Inverurie; road safety improvements between, for example, Fochabers and Huntly, and Inverurie and Aberdeen; the development of an A96 electric highway; and, of course, enhanced public transport improvements in north-east Scotland.

There are a range of improvements, including looking at a rail link between Dyce and Ellon and further north to Peterhead and Fraserburgh, and reviewing the A96 corridor, with a view to implementing bus priority measures.

Yes, the agreement does say that the current plan is for full dualling; however, as with any major road development, environmental assessments and impact assessments have to be carried out, because, in this period of having to address the climate emergency, no politician with any credibility would suggest that we do not assess all our policies against the climate imperative. We therefore set out clearly our priorities and the process that we will take to make sure that people across the north-east have the transport links that they need in order for the economy to thrive.

It gives me great pleasure to rise to move and support the motion in my name that proposes

“that Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater be appointed as junior Scottish Ministers.”

My statement earlier set out the reasons for and the detail of the co-operation agreement that has been struck between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Greens. The appointments will deliver a key element of that agreement. By approving the appointments, the Parliament will make history, not just in Scottish politics but across the United Kingdom as a whole. It will be the first time that Green politicians have entered national government in any part of these islands.

Our co-operation agreement commits us to a raft of commitments that are necessary to steer Scotland through the challenges that we face. Those commitments include action to support tenants and tackle poverty, plans to reform public services, investments to accelerate our transition to net zero and create green jobs, and so much more besides. The ministers appointed from the ranks of the Greens will share the responsibility and the great privilege of delivering on this bold, ambitious programme.

Patrick Harvie will take on the role of Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights. Patrick has of course been an MSP representing the Glasgow region since 2003. During his time in politics, Patrick has served as convener of the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee, and I believe that he is the longest-serving party leader in the Scottish Parliament. He is also a passionate and effective campaigner for the causes that he believes in. I worked closely with Patrick during the 2014 referendum campaign, and that experience makes me genuinely enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with him again, this time in the Scottish Government. His wide-ranging brief, which includes active travel, energy efficiency and tenants’ rights, gives Patrick the task of leading and implementing, together with his ministerial colleagues, some of the most significant transformations that we must make to tackle the climate emergency.

Lorna Slater will become the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity. Among her responsibilities, Lorna will be tasked with driving a green industrial strategy, helping people to acquire the skills that they need to benefit from the transition to net zero, creating a more circular economy and working to protect our natural environment.

Lorna was born and brought up in Canada. After earning a master’s degree in engineering, she moved to Scotland in 2000. Since then, she has worked as an engineer and then as a project manager in the renewables sector, which included working on the world’s biggest tidal turbine. As such, although she may be relatively new to Parliament, Lorna brings formidable professional experience. As well as having worked in one of the key industries powering our greener future, she has project management experience that will stand her in good stead in ministerial office.

I have complete confidence that both new ministers will make excellent contributions to the Scottish Government. Patrick, Lorna, the rest of the Scottish ministerial team and I are ready to get on with delivering our ambitious commitments and building a fairer, greener Scotland. I therefore formally, and with great pleasure, ask Parliament to support the appointments of Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater be appointed as junior Scottish Ministers.

It seems that rising to the challenge of doing politics better, or even vaguely competently, is, for the moment, beyond Douglas Ross. Hopefully, as the parliamentary session progresses, that will change.

In his barely coherent set of questions, Douglas Ross really misses the point. We face big challenges—[Interruption.]

There is a basic question of democracy here. We have disagreements in the chamber about what future Scotland should choose. There is nothing wrong with that, because it is the essence of democracy. I believe fervently, and have done for all my adult life, that Scotland should become an independent country like the 200 independent countries across the world, so that we can work in partnership with other countries, but also have the ability to determine and shape our own future. People are entitled to disagree and say that Scotland is better remaining within the Westminster union, but the people who should decide that question are not us, as politicians: it is the population of Scotland who should decide that question. [Interruption.]

Conservative members say that that happened in 2014 but, since then, Scotland has been ripped out of the European Union against our will. People across Scotland are struggling to get basic food supplies in supermarkets because of the Tory-imposed Brexit.

The Scottish Government fought the election on a commitment to give the people of Scotland a choice in a referendum and the Government won with historic vote shares and many other record-breaking results along the way. Let us have the rigorous debate about Scotland’s future, but let us accept the central tenet of democracy that it is the people of Scotland—and only the people of Scotland—who should decide.

That is a fair question, and the answer to it has to be yes. We have to develop public transport and active travel options across the Highlands and Islands, not only as much as in the rest of the country but more so, given the geographic challenges and the overreliance—for understandable reasons—on car use.

As members will be aware, rail improvements are being considered as part of the STPR2 process. The rail decarbonisation action plan, which was published last year, is aligned to that. For example, the action plan commits to developing potential options to serve the west Highland line by hydrogen or battery trains, as well as considering the partial or full electrification of the Highland main line. Those are longer-term projects that will contribute to our commitment to decarbonise passenger services by 2035.

At the core of the question is the inescapable fact that, if we are to meet the targets around reducing reliance on car use for all of the country and some parts of the country in particular, it will depend on developing the alternatives. There is a seriousness of intent to do that around the Highlands and Islands.

Within the devolved context, the agreement contains a number of commitments that will help deliver a just transition to net zero, some of which I have already touched on, such as the transition deal for the north-east and Moray; the national strategy for economic transformation, which is vital in terms of building the economy that we need for the future; the green industrial strategy; and just transition plans for industries, sectors and regions across the country, to help our supply chains create high-quality jobs.

Within the agreement—within our devolved powers—the plans are ambitious and wide reaching. However, it is a fact that, if we are to reach our full potential and build that greener, fairer Scotland, the full range of powers over tax and social security are necessary. Therefore, ensuring that the mandate to give people a choice on independence during this parliamentary session is honoured is a key part of ensuring that we meet the challenges that lie ahead.

I spent an election campaign hearing Anas Sarwar talk about the responsibility on us all to focus on what we agree on rather than the things that we disagree on, and we have heard more of that today. I agreed with him and commended him during the election campaign for striking that tone. The problem is that, so far, there has been nothing from Anas Sarwar to suggest that that has any substance and is anything more than rhetoric.

All the challenges that he has alluded to today are exactly the challenges that the agreement sets out concrete actions, investments, plans and policies to address—not in rhetoric, but in substance. The SNP and the Greens have agreed to do that notwithstanding the disagreements between us. Both parties have been prepared to compromise, cede some control and come together in order to do better for the country.

In the days after the election, as Anas Sarwar knows, I invited Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater in to talk about how we could co-operate. I also invited Anas Sarwar in to talk about how the SNP and Labour might co-operate. The difference is that the Scottish Greens took that seriously—they went away, thought about it and came back to try to work towards an agreement.

I say to Anas Sarwar that it is not too late to be part of that consensus. There is a strategic choice for the Opposition parties in the face of the agreement. I am fairly certain which choice the Conservatives will make, but which choice Labour will make is perhaps more of an open question. I suspect that it will define much of Anas Sarwar’s leadership of his party, because the choice is whether to come with us to try to find common ground while respecting our disagreements, and to work together to meet the challenges that we face, or to move more and more to the margins of politics along with the Conservatives.

I again make an open invitation to Anas Sarwar to work with us, co-operate and be part of that consensus building, because I agree that that is what the country needs. However, it takes courage and boldness to do that, and a willingness to do it in substance and not just in empty rhetoric.

The £500 million just transition deal is vital not only for making the transition from oil and gas to renewables but for doing so in a fair and just way. We will set out in the period ahead the detail of how the fund will operate and the objectives that it will support. We will work with partners, communities and other stakeholders to take it forward. It is intended to accelerate the transition of the region and support the role of Aberdeen and the wider north-east as a centre of excellence for the development of new technologies and the transition to a net zero economy. The scope, timing and design of the fund will be developed in consultation with stakeholders and set out to Parliament as soon as possible.