Chamber and committees

The principles outlined in the Scottish land rights and responsibilities statement are not enforceable, and because of that we see farms being turned into forests to offset landowners’ environmentally damaging activities elsewhere. Meanwhile, we face a global food shortage. When will the Scottish Government put in place enforceable responsibilities and principles to ensure that landowners manage their land in the public interest or forfeit that land?

I share many of Douglas Ross’s concerns about the situation. Would he agree with me that it surely cannot be safer to give birth in a roadside lay-by than to give birth in Dr Gray’s hospital in Elgin?

The First Minister must agree that it is totally unacceptable for freight capacity to Uist to be cut by a third during the six months when Uig harbour will be closed for re-development. There is a solution—it is possible to put in place a temporary link span during that time. Will she commit to that today to ensure that ferries can operate to their normal timetable while the harbour is being redeveloped?

The cost of living crisis is causing fear and alarm to many people, including those who were not managing previously and those who were just managing. Therefore, any assistance is very welcome. However, it is galling that this help, which is designed to help the worst off, is going to people who are affluent enough to afford a second home or, in some cases, multiple homes. That means that they receive double what those who are in need receive—nearly £10 million is going to those who do not need any help at all. Imagine what that money could do in the right hands to help those who so desperately need it.

We agree that the UK Government must go further, which point was made by Alex Rowley, Willie Rennie and many others. However, we must also use every intervention that is available to us here to help people who are struggling with the cost of living crisis.

We welcome the change of heart and the commitment from the Scottish Government to examine options with COSLA and to go further and look at the issue of empty homes. However, we ask—

I will turn to Mr Balfour’s questions in a moment.

We ask that the Government moves very quickly, because it needs to let people know by this autumn what they will be facing for the winter ahead. I know that local authorities will be desperate for further income to help the most vulnerable in their communities, and they are best placed to do that.

There are points in the Conservative amendment that we would like to examine and debate further. However, as Willie Rennie pointed out, the amendment would delete the crux of our motion about clawing back some of the funding and diverting it to where it is most needed. Therefore, we cannot possibly support that amendment.

On Jeremy Balfour’s direct questions, councils know the people who are living in second homes, so they can deal with that quickly and easily. They already have the powers to do it, it would not cost any more than the interventions that the Conservatives are proposing and, most important, local authorities know where to divert the money so that it goes to those who are most in need.

We have to act now because, as Mark Griffin talked about, this winter, people are facing the stark choice between eating and heating—or, as he said, between starving and freezing. Food banks are struggling to get supplies as people who would normally donate are struggling to feed themselves. We need to look again at how we ensure that people have enough food to feed themselves and their families.

Heating costs are also increasing, more so for people who are off the gas grid. It is no surprise that those who are off the gas grid are more likely to be in fuel poverty. Therefore, we must unite and ask the UK Government to ensure that assistance goes to people who need to fill a gas or oil tank.

I do not have time to take an intervention, sorry.

Those who are off the gas grid face higher costs all round. I saw someone on Facebook today saying that a pack of Lurpak butter—hardly a luxury—costs £7.25. That is £7.25 for a pack of butter.

Private renters pay higher costs. They can live in homes that are not insulated properly and would need the landlord’s permission to do anything about that, and we are seeing rental costs increase rapidly. We need to create a rent freeze.

Alex Rowley talked about older people and disabled people, who are at home longer and therefore face higher fuel costs. That also goes for people who may require equipment at home such as dialysis machines. Their bills are increasing.

Paul Sweeney called for restraint on profits that energy companies are making from this horrendous situation. Rather than demonising workers, who are trying to protect their standard of living and feed their families, we must look at the profits that are being made from this situation.

We urge the Scottish Government to act quickly. It is simply wrong that those who are affluent enough to own a second home get a greater share of the help that is available than those who really need it. The money must be diverted to where it can make the greatest difference: to those who are struggling with the cost of living crisis.

I cannot imagine what it must be like for people who have had to flee their homes due to fear of war or persecution, to leave members of their family behind and then to find themselves in a country where their knowledge of the language and culture is sparse. How terrifying that must be.

We must try to walk in the shoes of refugees while we respond to their needs. We need to listen and act to provide them with refuge from terror. The continuous media focus on the war in Ukraine has brought that home to us. No one could fail to have been horrified by the pictures from Afghanistan of people clinging on to an aeroplane in their desperate need to leave. We could do and must do better by them.

I agree with Foysol Choudhury and Paul Sweeney that there is a huge disparity between how we treat white European refugees and how we treat people of colour from around the world. Many such cases have been highlighted in the debate. All refugees must be treated with care and compassion.

We cannot debate the treatment of refugees without mentioning, as other members have done, the UK Government’s policy of offshoring our responsibilities to Rwanda. Passing our obligations to a country that has fewer resources than our own is despicable. The Conservative UK Government is our national shame. We desperately need a Labour Government to restore our international reputation.

The Scottish Government has stepped in to help Ukrainian refugees. The supersponsor scheme is welcome, but there are issues with it that I will mention shortly. Before I do so, I simply want to make the point that all refugees should be treated equally; they should all be offered a safe place. I feel uneasy that we appear to have two categories of refugee, which is simply unacceptable.

Scottish Labour is aware of a number of issues with our homes for Ukraine scheme. First, women and children, who make up the bulk of refugees from Ukraine, are being left in hotels for far too long. We have a housing shortage, and we must build more homes—not just for refugees but for our own people. We all know that, when refugees are perceived to receive assistance that is not available to our own people who are struggling, we see a backlash, so the Scottish Government must deal with the housing shortage urgently to ensure that that does not happen.

The second issue that I want to touch on is exploitation. I have heard of cases in which refugees who have come to Scotland under the homes for Ukraine scheme have found themselves at the mercy of people who would exploit them. I am pleased that protections are being strengthened to weed out those who would do that.

We already know that offering a place to stay in exchange for sex is common in Scotland, and exploits our own vulnerable people. Therefore, it should be of little surprise that such evil people would do exactly the same to refugees. The checks are welcome, but it is difficult to identify a person unless they have offended previously, especially when such exploitation is not illegal in Scotland. I have heard anecdotally of one case in which a refugee who was being exploited in that way and who contacted the police was told that the police were unable to intervene. We should protect refugees and our own vulnerable women by ensuring that such practices are illegal.

Sexual exploitation is not just an issue where food, accommodation or money are exchanged for sex; it also fuels trafficking. That is because there is demand for purchasing sex, which is legal in the UK—hence the attraction of sex trafficking to feed, and profit from, that demand. Valiant Richey of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe recently wrote a piece for The Scotsman in which he highlighted research that the OSCE had carried out in collaboration with Thomson Reuters, which showed that

“there has been a 200 per cent increase in UK internet searches for ‘Ukrainian escorts’.”

That totally undermines the myth that buyers of sex are unaware that trafficked women are being used to fulfil their demands. It shows clearly that, worse than their being uncaring about that, many people are actively seeking to exploit refugee women.

We need to be a country in which no one is for sale and where people who seek to do that are held to account and punished for their abuse. We need to stop being a lucrative destination for traffickers. We know that refugees are easy pickings for them. Too often, refugees have fled without identification. We therefore need safe routes for them to claim asylum in the UK. Without those, they are vulnerable as a ready source of profit to traffickers. Some will be sold into modern slavery to feed our need for cheap labour or to feed the demands of the sex industry.

The Co-operative Party, of which I am a member, has promoted a charter against modern slavery and is encouraging local authorities and organisations to look at their procurement processes to ensure that they are not inadvertently supporting slavers’ activities. However, we all have a role to play, because modern slavery is especially prevalent in cash-based industries. I ask people to remember that trafficking and exploitation go on in plain sight, so, if people suspect something, they should report it. I urge the Scottish Government to act and to make Scotland an unwelcoming place for such activity.

To ask the Scottish Government how it is strengthening transport links to rural areas. (S6O-01244)

As a result of ScotRail’s emergency timetable, it is impossible for people from Caithness to get the train to attend hospital appointments in Inverness. The reimbursement mileage is woeful, at 15p a mile, and does not adequately cover their costs. How will the minister ensure that no patient is missing out on healthcare as a result of the lack of public transport in the area?

I have not spoken to Mr Sinclair in detail, but I spoke to him after the committee meeting last week. He pointed out that his petition is half about health and half about local government. I think that he is a wee bit concerned that the local government aspect of his petition might be lost. The committee might want to look at that further; I just wanted to make that point.