Chamber and committees

I will address that point later in my speech.

Over the past eight years, major developments have taken place in different parts of my constituency as a consequence of partnership funding from the Scottish Government and the local authority, such as the 65 homes at the Glebe school site in Scone, the 12 homes in Ardler Road in Meigle, the 20 houses at Linn Road in Stanley, the 20 flats in Birch Avenue in Scone, the 11 new homes in Springbank Road in Alyth and the 10 new homes in Balbeggie. There have also been other developments in which private developers have met their affordable housing targets.

Although those developments are welcome, I recognise that they are not enough. That is why I welcome the good work that is being undertaken by organisations such as Aberfeldy Development Trust, which are taking forward key projects to boost affordable housing supply in communities in which there is intense pressure on the housing stock. Enabling organisations such as Aberfeldy Development Trust to play a part in the effort to improve housing supply is crucial.

Although there are major challenges in the housing supply, I am proud of what the Scottish Government has achieved since it was elected in 2007. Before we came to power—the minister has made this point—our predecessors completed on average 5,431 affordable homes each year. Since this Government came to power, it has completed 7,638 affordable homes on average each year. That is 5,431 each year under the Labour and Lib Dem Administration and 7,638 each year under the SNP. Those figures are undeniable.

The Labour and Lib Dem record was delivered during a period of burgeoning public finances. There was so much money around that the Government at that time was unable to spend all the money that was available to it and, thankfully, it left £1.6 billion unspent when this Government came to office in 2007.

The record of the SNP Government has been achieved in the aftermath of the financial crash in 2008. All of it has been achieved against a backdrop of austerity, Brexit and the loss of staff, and the costs of borrowing have rocketed due to the Liz Truss-Kwasi Kwarteng mini-budget disaster.

Although there has been criticism of the Government today, a significant amount has been done to tackle the issue.

Various members have said—this is where I come to Mr Johnson’s point—that we should declare a housing emergency. I understand that aspiration and the seriousness of the point. My colleague Mr Macpherson made a compelling speech about the importance and severity of the situation that his constituents face. However, I respectfully say to Parliament that it is not enough just to do that. Substantial actions must be set out on how we will address the issue. That was lacking in Mr Griffin’s speech—he knows how much I respect his contributions in Parliament.

We cannot just wish away the conditions that we face. Today, construction costs and borrowing costs are higher. The labour market is tight because of the implications of Brexit. If we want to build more houses, we must be prepared to address the reality of the situation that we face. If we want to allocate more money to the task of building more houses, members must be honest enough to say what capital projects will not go ahead. What are we going to stop doing to create the space for more money to be spent on housing?

I spent long enough as the finance minister—nine years on the trot and one year of temporary cover for my dear friend Kate Forbes—listening to members of Parliament spending money twice. Suggestions about spending money twice, three times or four times over are getting particularly acute from Conservative members. If we want to declare a housing emergency, we have to be prepared to put our money where our mouth is. That is a responsibility of every single member.

Will the member give way?

The member rather glided past the question of economic illiteracy in the United Kingdom Government. I do not think that it helps the debate for Mr Griffin to obscure the fact that we are all living with the consequences of some absolutely devastating macroeconomic decisions that were made by the UK Government over many years, but principally in the mini-budget last September. Would Mr Griffin perhaps shine a light for a little bit longer on the economic illiteracy of the UK Government?

Given the answer that the Deputy First Minister has just given to Mr Gibson, will the Government consider making further representations to the UK Government about the necessity of longer-term financial planning information so that Parliament can provide greater funding assurance to third sector organisations that are interested in providing transformational change in our society but need greater certainty about the funding horizon to enable them to do so?

I am grateful to Mr Johnson for giving way. The only slight flaw in the contorted information that he has just given to Parliament is that it ignores factors such as the financial crash in 2008, which led to a haemorrhage of private building. That had nothing to do with the Scottish Government and everything to do with the financial mismanagement of the last Labour Government in the UK.

It is an enormous pleasure to follow Jackson Carlaw and to offer him my congratulations on securing the debate and my thanks for lodging the motion.

While I am on my feet, in such difficult and challenging times in relation to international conflict, I will take the opportunity to commend Jackson Carlaw on the speech that he delivered to the Parliament yesterday. Although I did not agree with all of it, it was a thoughtful, reflective and gracious contribution—typical of Mr Carlaw, frankly—which I think enhanced our debate. I am grateful to have the opportunity to put that on the parliamentary record.

It gives me great pleasure to add my congratulations to Calderwood Lodge primary school on its 60th anniversary—the 60th anniversary of its being the only Jewish school in Scotland. When I listened to Mr Carlaw talk about the roots of the school, I reflected on how it is, in essence, a product of innovation in education and of a recognition 60 years ago that there was space in our education system for creative approaches to be taken by a community to ensure that this educational tradition could be established. We can now look at what has been created as a consequence: the new-build Calderwood Lodge primary school and the joint campus of which it is a part.

I know that members might be a bit sceptical when I say that my five years as education secretary were happy years. They were also challenging years, but there was a lot of joy in that time. I can see part of that joy reflected in some of what Calderwood Lodge is trying to achieve. The school’s vision is to

“empower our hearts and minds to develop the knowledge and skills, attitudes and values to be the best we can for our future, our community and our global environment.”

At the heart of the school’s aims is a desire to develop the school’s

“Jewish identity and ethos, while promoting respect for all global cultures and religions.”

What on earth could be finer motivations and foundations for the educational attainment of children in our society today in Scotland?

In a sense, the fact that—with the leadership of East Renfrewshire Council, of which Paul O’Kane is a distinguished former education convener—Calderwood Lodge school has developed as a joint campus with St Clare’s Roman Catholic primary school embodies the aim that I have just talked about, which is to promote respect for all global cultures and religions. What better way to do that than in a joint campus with a Roman Catholic primary school?

As the father of a son whose primary education took place in a Roman Catholic school in a joint campus, I think that joint campus developments have been an absolutely fabulous innovation in Scottish education. They are places where tradition has been protected and nurtured but where common cause and common space have been created. Again, for our children’s educational environment, what more could we hope for than that?

The fact that the school was opened jointly by the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, and Bishop John Keenan of Paisley is very special, and it symbolises that coming together.

Another element of that coming together is the contribution of the Scottish Government to the opening of the joint campus. It contributed a modest amount of money—£300,000—for the creation of an interactive hub, which is a shared-faith space at the heart of the campus. Given that the joint campus tries to provide the opportunity for distinct communities to come together, I cannot think of a finer way to do that than by investing in a faith space where we can all bring our traditions together, celebrate one another’s traditions, respect them and cherish them. That is surely the foundation of the acknowledgment of the common humanity that all of us want to see, the neglecting of which many of us are distressed about in the current environment.

This is a lovely moment to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the foundation of Calderwood Lodge and to pay tribute to those who had the imagination and the creativity to make it happen, and to the subsequent generations who have been prepared to invest in it and who enabled Paul O’Kane, in his former guise as a councillor, and others to make the choices to ensure that we have fantastic educational facilities for young people.

I commend the motion and all that it aims to achieve for the children and young people of Calderwood Lodge primary school.

Before Mr Rennie leaves the circumstances and context in which we find ourselves, will he say whether he thinks that the prolonged austerity that was ushered in by the Liberal Democrats in 2010 has been a help or a hindrance in tackling the housing challenges that we face?

Will the member give way on that point?

Will the member give way?

Does the minister identify a slight contradiction in the sedentary comment by Murdo Fraser a moment ago, given that the very people who want to curtail the ability of the Scottish Government to promote Scotland overseas are Mr Fraser and his cohorts in the United Kingdom Government?