Chamber and committees

On behalf of the people of Scotland, I express my sadness at the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday. His loss will be felt most acutely in the Roman Catholic community here in Scotland and abroad, but his loss will be mourned by countless others who admired, respected and were inspired by the humble, kind and empathetic spiritual leadership that he gave to the world.

Pope Francis brought simplicity and humility to the papacy—he was a gentle spirit who preferred to receive people informally, and always with grace. In deeds and in words, he took forward his leadership of the Catholic church in a manner that was thoughtful, measured and conciliatory. His Holiness’s belief in the goodness of people was as unshakeable as his devotion to the church, and his papacy was defined by the message of Jesus Christ to love your neighbour as yourself.

As the first Pope from Latin America, he sought to build new bridges between nations and faiths. He spoke warmly to advocate for greater inclusivity, both within the church and throughout society. Pope Francis spoke loudly in calling for peace and human dignity around the world. In his final public address, held this Easter Sunday at the Vatican, he used these words:

“What a great thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day in the many conflicts raging in different parts of our world ... I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves”.

Pope Francis was a man who was always on the side of the poor and the migrant. He was always on the side of those who faced injustice. He had a thirst to use the power of Christian teaching to advocate for those who required a message of justice and the protection of the message of justice. He regularly called for an end to bigotry and conflict.

Above all, Pope Francis worked to bring people together across what often seemed like insurmountable divides. His Holiness was particularly outspoken about the trauma experienced recently by the people of Ukraine and Gaza, while equally condemning the growing climate of antisemitism throughout the world. In 2014, at a prayer meeting held at the Vatican, Pope Francis urged the then President of Israel, Shimon Peres, and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to be courageous in the pursuit of peace in the middle east.

Despite the weight of his office, and often when he was in poor health, the Pope built friendships and connections to try to bring people together. In recent years, his faithfulness in keeping in contact with Christians in Gaza has illustrated the devotion of his leadership to all congregations, especially those who were suffering.

I express my own gratitude for Pope Francis’s lifetime of faithful devotion and dedicated public service. He was always on the side of the poor and those who faced injustice, and he used his position of leadership to work for a better world. That leadership has been a powerful example to me and to millions around the globe. We are profoundly grateful for his life and his example of principled spiritual leadership in our world today.

In drawing my remarks to a close, I wish to conclude with some words from Pope Francis’s final address on Sunday:

“There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others ... The light of Easter impels us to break down the barriers that create division and are fraught with grave political and economic consequences. It impels us to care for one another, to increase our mutual solidarity, and to work for the integral development of each human person.”

There could be no finer words to have left the world with, given the challenges and the difficulties that we face as a society today, than the words that Pope Francis left us with on Easter Sunday. They are a mark of the power of his spiritual leadership, and his is an example that we would be well advised to follow.

I move,

That the Parliament expresses its deep sadness at the death of Pope Francis; conveys its condolences to all those in the Roman Catholic community in Scotland and beyond; affirms the affection in which His Holiness was held by people across the world, and expresses gratitude for his lifetime of devotion and dedicated public service.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Mr Ross is obviously very familiar with the answers that I gave at the weekend. Given that, I will stick very strictly to the context of the debate—[Interruption.]—to take this forward.

Will the member give way?

Of course.

I will give way to Mr Ross again.

We began our business this afternoon by expressing our condolences on the death of Pope Francis, recognising the significance of his spiritual leadership in the world. It seems appropriate that we continue our business today by considering the current international situation, which was a subject of concern in the comments and contributions of His Holiness on so many occasions.

In these times, it has never been clearer that we live in an interdependent world in which the idea of being a by-stander—for any country—has gone for ever. Decisions on trade that are taken, for example, by the United States or China are bound to have an impact on living standards here in Scotland. Russia’s on-going barbaric invasion of Ukraine or the brutal attack by Hamas on Israel, as well as the killing of Palestinian children by Israel, have deep and significant consequences far beyond those conflicts. More than that, aggression on such a scale and the apparent disregard for human life offend any sense of common humanity.

Today, the Scottish Government is bringing forward a debate without motion on the international situation. I hope that this will be an occasion when members of the Parliament can speak freely and openly on the major international issues of the day that have implications for our country and the communities that we serve. We have an opportunity to listen carefully to one another’s contributions and to learn from one another as we navigate these difficult days.

The relative stability that the international system has provided us with in the past 80 years has, in many ways, been assumed to be able to go on for ever, uninterrupted. With every civil liberty gained since the end of the second world war, every rise in living and educational standards, every international agreement signed and each advancement in knowledge and technology, few imagined that we would arrive at an age in which leaders actively seek to roll back universal progress in favour of protectionist measures once more.

In these circumstances, it is more important than ever for Scotland to champion the benefits of international trade, co-operation, and solidarity. As the leader of the Scottish National Party, I obviously believe that we could help people in Scotland to cope with these challenges and make our voice heard more effectively as an independent nation state within the European Union. I acknowledge that others take a different view. However, the vast majority of members in the chamber share common values. I believe that those common values reflect the founding values of the European Union—

I tread delicately here in order to point out the total contradiction in the point that Stephen Kerr is putting to the Parliament today. In the precious time that is available to the Parliament, Mr Kerr chose to lodge a question for First Minister’s question time to ask me about international trade. Does that not point out that Mr Kerr is talking absolute nonsense in today’s debate?

I could not agree more with Jackson Carlaw’s substantive point about the fact that international development expenditure is critical, as an investment in building bridges and societies and in avoiding conflict—which is, unfortunately, a risk that has now been exacerbated by decisions that have been taken by both the United Kingdom and the United States.

I did not have the opportunity to do that in the format that Mr Harvie mentions, but I did engage with the Council on Foreign Relations, with which I had a helpful dialogue about many of the strategic issues that we face.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Scottish Government’s international development programme—a significant milestone in Scotland’s commitment to addressing poverty and inequality overseas. At a time when the United States, the United Kingdom and other donors have slashed their aid budgets, we in Scotland are committed to continuing our support to partner countries in the global south and, more widely, to responding to humanitarian emergencies.

Today I am pleased to announce a contribution of £240,000, through our humanitarian emergency fund, to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s appeal for the middle east, along with £30,000 for the Scottish charities the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund and Mercy Corps for their responses in Lebanon and Syria. That is in addition to the £250,000 that we provided to that appeal last November. It comes at a time when humanitarian needs continue to increase across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. Scotland will continue to take forward our trusted approach to partnership in the international community.

In recent weeks, the global economy has been significantly disrupted by the steps taken by the United States to introduce tariffs. Volatility in the global markets has had the effect of undermining the patterns of international business activity to which we have become accustomed, and it poses risks to our ambitions to grow and strengthen the Scottish economy.

The Scottish Government’s priority has been to act to support Scottish business in dealing with those turbulent events by engaging with the business community on the circumstances that it faces; by pursuing with the UK Government the issues that matter to different sectors of the Scottish economy; and by continuing to promote Scotland as an attractive and secure place for international investment. Indeed, in recent weeks, the Deputy First Minister, the Minister for Business and I have all been involved in promoting investment in Scotland in the United Arab Emirates, China, Japan and the United States. We continue to seek deeper engagement with the United Kingdom Government about the content of any trade deal with the United States and to encourage better and more effective trading partnerships with the European Union, which lies at the heart of the Government’s international investment strategy.

It is absolutely vital that Scotland recognises the significance of the international situation as it affects our domestic priorities. As First Minister, I am interested in raising standards of living in this country; building community; investing in our culture, services and businesses; and supporting the health of the planet that we share. However, I recognise that we cannot take forward all the action that we wish to take in all those different areas without properly and fully recognising the scope and extent of the influence of the international agenda on our community. Today, I hope that we can have a debate that reflects the significance of the international situation and of the change in international circumstances, and that we recognise the extent to which that affects our prospects as a country and the need for us to have a resilient and effective response to all those challenges.

This is just appalling.