Chamber and committees

But will all of that come back to the Parliament in the form of secondary legislation?

Just for clarification, you said that a third of the golden eagle population was disappearing. Is that the population around grouse moors, or are you talking about the Scottish golden eagle population as a whole?

Do you have a map that shows those disappearances?

Why are there two different types of muirburn licence—one for peatland and one for other areas?

So, will that come in secondary legislation under the affirmative procedure?

Creelers, divers and, indeed, the whole fishing community want to protect our seas, because doing so is crucial to their survival, yet their expertise appears to be ignored. Does the cabinet secretary agree that we need a joined-up fisheries management approach, which must be designed with and by the fishing community? How does she intend to re-engage creelers, divers and the fishing community, who have been alienated by the HPMA proposals?

Our thoughts, too, are with the firefighters who were injured. We hope that they make a speedy recovery. We also thank all firefighters for putting their lives on the line daily to protect the public.

In Cannich, there are early suggestions that the fire was caused by wild camping. Will the minister look at ways of better educating people on the countryside code when they are enjoying our outdoors?

The minister talked about the risk of wildfire. What work is being carried out to monitor moors and forests, especially when that risk is apparent, to ensure that there are firebreaks and that the risks are mitigated?

I, too, am grateful to the committee for bringing the debate on its pre-legislative scrutiny to the chamber.

The proposed agriculture bill and the new support scheme must enable the industry to achieve net zero targets, reduce emissions and produce food. Although the road map has been welcomed, it lacks detail. Evidence given to the committee has demonstrated that we have already lost out on crucial years in which we could have made headway. Farming and crofting cannot change quickly, so each delay means less innovation.

On speaking to many food and drink suppliers at an event that I was lucky enough to sponsor here at Holyrood, it struck me that the industry is already ahead of the Government on working towards 2030 net zero targets. It has used its own initiative and its own technology. What it needs—and what it is asking for—are more details on the bill and the new support scheme. It also needs more comprehensive tools to assist it in going further. Many are frustrated by the lack of Government support towards achieving our net zero ambitions. The Government must reward good practice and incentivise others to follow.

A realistic audit needs to be carried out, to ensure that farming is credited with its carbon sequestration as well as its emissions. If not, we will see green lairds buying up even more of our land, and planting trees in the wrong places, while doing nothing at all to address their current emissions. Not a penny of public money should go to people who would sell carbon credits to enable polluting behaviour elsewhere.

We must also recognise that our methods of farming, including producing grass-fed animals, are much more environmentally friendly than those of mass producers in other countries. Therefore it is senseless to discourage our farmers from rearing livestock only to simply import more environmentally damaging meat from elsewhere. Transporting food over even greater distances simply adds to the carbon that has already been created. Global warming does not recognise borders, so we should not be cutting our emissions by simply raising them elsewhere.

We need to ensure that those who produce our food receive a fair wage for doing so. Our agricultural and food sector workers are often poorly paid. The people who produce our food are often those who rely on handouts and food banks, which is simply wrong. Yet, to date, little has been done to protect and strengthen the rights of workers in the agricultural sector.

Everyone wants affordable food, but those who produce it need to be paid fairly. Subsidies help, but they should not be used to line the pockets of middle men who squeeze producers’ profits. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated our reliance on imports and how global issues have an impact on us, which highlights the need for food and energy security. For agriculture, we also need security with regard to animal feed and fertiliser. All those things are crucial to our survival.

We also need to balance farming support with sector need. In the past, Scotland has had a greater share of European Union funding for farming. We need to ensure that that is replicated in the future, and that, in turn, we distribute funding in a fashion that recognises that upland and island areas require more support.

It is simply wrong that those with larger, more profitable farms receive the greatest support. Farming should also work hand in hand with nature. We all want to see a more ambitious approach towards nature restoration. However, concerns have been raised about how that has been targeted and how, in the past, it disproportionately favoured large enterprises. There is concern that smaller-scale farmers and crofters will lose out again because they cannot identify as many features on their land, even though their production methods are already much more nature friendly.

The Government needs to put forward approaches that benefit nature restoration in all sectors and on all sizes of farm. The rural economy is dependent on farming and crofting; smallholdings are often disregarded, but they are actually the backbone of many communities. It baffles me that, time and time again, this Government does not seem to recognise that our rural areas are of high value to our economy. Without key infrastructure investment to ensure that Government policies are effective and, most importantly, that they work, it is putting the whole of Scotland at risk.

Sometimes I am frustrated that the Government cannot see that in a joined-up way—that it is helping rural areas on the one hand while damaging them on the other.

We cannot address these issues in isolation. We need Government policy that produces a rural strategy in which the agriculture bill and support systems play their part—a strategy that works for all of Scotland.

The problem with the Clyde and Hebrides ferry service is not the contract but the ferry fleet. The First Minister knows that the provision of the fleet is the responsibility of the Scottish Government. A consultants’ report cannot cover up the Government’s dismal failure to provide working ferries. Will the First Minister now apologise for his own, and his Government’s, failure to provide ferries that are up to the job?

What progress has there been on the carbon neutral islands project, and what lessons have been learned that can be rolled out to other islands?