Although we do not agree on many things in this Parliament, let us agree on the motion and let us all wish for a speedy and peaceful resolution to the war that ensures Ukrainian sovereignty, democracy, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. Let us do that together.

I thank Jenni Minto for bringing the debate to the chamber and for her passionate speech, which reminds us that the issue is about the people of Ukraine and what they have experienced over the past year.

Collette Stevenson was right to talk about the “Postcards from Ukraine” event last night. It was incredibly moving to hear about the fact that more than 500 historical and archaeological sites have been bombed in an attempt to wipe out Ukrainian culture.

Last night’s “Panorama” documentary, which was incredibly moving, used individual war diaries to show how horrific and hellish the situation is for people.

In June last year, the United Nations Security Council convened a meeting 20 years on from the establishment of the International Criminal Court, which was funded to deliver the Rome statute and aimed to deliver international criminal justice and accountability. At that meeting, the UK noted that an ICC investigation was already under way, with the largest referral in history.

Prosecutorial powers are key. Ukrainian authorities, teams sent by Eurojust and several European countries, including France, have documented Russia’s crimes, but we need to make sure that action is taken following that evidence gathering. It not enough just to gather evidence. If we look at Syria, for example, the United Nations General Assembly had an international, impartial and independent mechanism that documents crimes committed by the Assad regime and ISIS. Without prosecutorial powers, however, we cannot bring people to justice. We need to hold Russia and its allies accountable for the atrocities that are being committed by Russia’s political and military leadership.

It was important that, last week, members of the European Parliament urged the European Union, in close co-operation with Ukraine and the international community, to push for the creation of a special international tribunal to prosecute Putin, his military leadership and his allies. The European Parliament emphasised that the EU’s preparatory work should begin immediately, and when the process begins, we must ensure that the UK is present, supporting our European and Ukrainian counterparts throughout the process, and using our knowledge and resources to ensure that war crimes do not go unpunished.

In an attempt to reverse the current trend and restore credibility to the founding principles of the United Nations charter, the establishment of an ad hoc special tribunal would send a clear message to Russia and the world that use of force is prohibited in international relations between states. We should not just condemn it; we must make sure that international perpetrators of violence, war crimes and possible crimes against humanity are brought to justice.

Gordon Brown wrote

“It is high time that the world took the fight to Putin and his enablers.

The UK and US must act quickly both for Ukraine's sake and to honour the legacy of the Nuremberg trials when the free world stood its ground and ensured war criminals were held accountable.”

Those are words to stand by. If we do not get it right this time, the world will face the risk of history being repeated. It is important that we acknowledge that the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, has said that his office has 65,000 registered incidents of war crimes. We need a legal mechanism. We need action, and we need justice because of the act of aggression that began when Russian forces invaded Ukraine last year.

We know that our world leaders, European leaders and the German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has asked for the establishment of a special tribunal, and it is important that we debate that issue in our Parliament today. It is right that the UK has accepted Ukraine’s invitation to join the coalition, because that will bring legal expertise from right across the UK to the table and ensure that Russia’s leaders are held accountable for their actions.

As Jenni Minto’s motion says,

“a Ukrainian victory is necessary for the integrity of the international system, as are … justice and accountability for Russian crimes, and … accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine must be secured.”

We need to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, stand up for democracy, deliver justice, do the work that Alexander Burnett talked about and support people in our homes and communities across Scotland, but there also needs to be accountability for those who have led the aggression against Ukraine and its people, and that is why we need to be unanimous in supporting the motion tonight.

If you would like to comment on Edinburgh’s housing crisis, I would be delighted to take your intervention.

There are other things that the Scottish Government could do—if we had the time to debate that, we would. For example, the tourist visitor levy would not fix everything, but that modest change could be brought in if councils wanted to do so. I will send the Deputy First Minister the report on my culture round-table discussion in October, as some very good practical suggestions were made in it by the sector.

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests.

This budget will not address the cost of living crisis that our constituents are having to deal with, the aftermath of the Tories trashing our budget and crashing our country’s economy, and the cumulative impact of funding cuts to our councils over the past decade, all of which have hit our communities hard. Even SNP council leaders are admitting that this year. I want to highlight the damage that the budget will do to my constituents in Edinburgh and the Lothians. We have seen waiting times for accident and emergency, cancer services and operations rising, and our health services have been under pressure for years.

The national resource allocation formula means that we do not see the funding for services to address the pressures in our region. Given that our health services are already at capacity, we urgently need new investment to ensure that the increasing population in our region will be supported. We will have 84 per cent of Scotland’s projected growth by 2030, which is why we need the investment now.

New buildings such as the eye pavilion are vital, but we must also invest in general practitioner services to support patients rather than make cuts. We must also ensure that we have NHS dentists. Earlier this year, dentists warned that there could be a “wholesale exodus” from the profession. There is a serious risk that dental treatments will be available only to those who can afford it, and that is not acceptable. As has been mentioned by several members today, we urgently need action to deliver care so that people can be given the care and dignity they need in the place that is best for them, whether that is at home or in a home. That means funding.

It is time for the SNP-Green Government to admit failure and stop its centralising national care service, which not only will cost a huge amount of money—£1.3 billion—but will not deliver the additional carers that we need or see them being paid £15 an hour. Crucially, it will not give carers new career opportunities, which is what we need in order to keep people in that sector. As Daniel Johnson said, the failure to deliver care for people when they need it is hitting our NHS hard, as people are stuck in hospital, which is not good for their health and limits access to NHS services. The budget does not address that issue.

We are also seeing the impact of the failure to invest in housing. Earlier this month, I met Shelter, which paints a grim picture of the housing emergency that we are facing in Scotland, and in Edinburgh in particular.

We have a shortage of care workers across Scotland, but, if you look at the housing crisis across Edinburgh—the rocketing rents and the cost to people who want to buy a home—you will see that it is impossible for them to live here. People have to leave the city and move further out into the region. The basic cost of living crisis is fundamental. That is why not delivering £15 an hour will not help our care service to recover. We need urgent action, and it is not in this budget.

The £133 million cut to investment in energy efficiency in our homes, which was announced in November, is appalling. During a cost of living crisis, when people’s bills are rocketing and we need radical action to address the climate crisis, it defies belief.

There is a little bit of good news in the budget. I note today’s U-turn on what would have been the biggest percentage cut in the budget, to culture. That cut would have put a quarter of the organisations that are regularly funded by Creative Scotland directly at risk. I thank the 15,000 people who signed a petition organised by the Scottish Trades Union Congress and the culture unions to warn about the irreversible damage that could have been caused by the proposal and would have put 8,500 jobs on the line. That is on top of the fact that a quarter of artists and freelancers who responded to a survey by the Scottish Contemporary Art Network said that they have already left the sector or have been forced to seek additional or alternative work. Today’s crisis is a result of a decade of standstill funding for culture.

I am delighted to see that the culture minister is listening to me intently. Let us look at the situation. The funding for our five national performing companies has been £22 million since 2016-17. That is a freeze in investment when we need more cultural opportunities for our young people.

We have already lost many cultural organisations, and the impact of defunding our arts has been felt across the country. Over the past year, we have lost Edinburgh’s Filmhouse, the Belmont in Aberdeen and Inverness Ironworks—a beacon of live music that is being demolished to make way for a £30 million hotel. We can see that our arts and culture organisations are already under huge pressure. As Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop said, reductions in the culture budget will wreak havoc but will not reap significant savings.

That is the challenge. On top of a decade of cuts to our councils, we have the cost of living crisis and rocketing costs. In Edinburgh, our Kings Theatre urgently needs investment to make it fit for purpose. It is a national treasure with a huge economic impact, and it is a key part of our cultural offer in the international festival. However, the cost of living crisis has pushed up costs, which means that we urgently need funding from every level of government—our city council, the Scottish Government and the UK Government.

Culture is who we are: it is critical to our health and wellbeing, our economy and tourism. There is so much more that needs to be done to support our councils and cultural organisations. Daniel Johnson mentioned social prescribing, which is an excellent idea. We know from research that it works, but Humza Yousaf told the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee that we will have to wait until 2026. That is not good enough.

This budget does not address the perfect storm. We need a recovery plan for our arts and culture sector, but it is not in this budget. We need that action now.

That would be very helpful, because there is a huge amount of concern about the issue. You mentioned issues such as local authority capacity, schools and people being able to get health support, aside from the welfare of people living in modular accommodation. We would be very keen to see any updates on that because there are real worries. That is why the focus on bringing existing homes back into use—homes that are safe and integrated in communities—is, as I said, potentially a win-win. In Edinburgh, we have people from Syria and Afghanistan who are still in temporary accommodation, so it has to be seen as an urgent issue that requires investment.

It is very good that you will give us that update on the recommendations—we do not have time to let you run through them in their entirety.

I would be very interested in the committee getting an update on the 16 recommendations from the review of the supersponsor scheme, which I think was put out in November last year, and an update on the £50 million scheme that was launched in September.

You mentioned repurposing and accessing homes. There are 43,000 empty homes in Scotland—there are more than 9,000 in Edinburgh. I think that there is huge interest in a cost-effective way of getting access to homes. I am thinking in particular about those who have been hosts, given that it has been almost one year since we began to recognise the devastation. Many houses and communities have been bombed and destroyed, so this is not now about the short term, as you have correctly acknowledged; it is about giving people that medium-term support.

Could we have an update on the £50 million scheme and the extent to which we can use it to repurpose existing empty homes, which would be cost effective? Could you also say something about continuing support for hosts? Many are over their six months. Are you bringing new hosts into play? Can you talk about what is happening now?

I come back to housing—and I direct members to my entry in the register of members’ interests in terms of my former employment.

I think that support to get empty homes back in use is very much seen as a win-win, because we have a housing crisis within a housing crisis. It will not be straightforward, but the £50 million fund could be really significant.

I am glad that you have put on the record your comments about the issues facing hosts, because constituents have told me of their worries about the money running out after six months. It may not be enough, but it is important to let people know that support is there.

You also mentioned modular housing in your introductory remarks. I think that most of us were assuming that that had now been ruled out, given the focus of the £50 million. There are a lot of concerns about that. Do you want to say anything more about it on the record?