Chamber and committees

Finally, are you familiar with the term “bus deserts”? It is a term that we are hearing more and more. Communities are quite pleased that there is more opportunity for free bus travel, but that is no good to people if there is no bus to get on or it does not run at a time that suits them to get to work or school or to go about their daily business. Is that issue forming part of that on-going research and development? Is the term “bus deserts” worrying to you?

That is helpful.

Can you tell us a bit more about how the community bus fund will work in practice, what funds will be available this year and how the fund can help local authorities to establish municipal bus companies?

Thank you.

That is okay, convener—not a problem.

Cabinet secretary, you mentioned industry. I am keen to know whether Transport Scotland has undertaken any research or engaged with bus operators to establish whether the level of funding that is provided through the network support grant is sufficient to maintain and develop bus services across Scotland.

I am pleased that, in her original response, the cabinet secretary set out that trans people are at the centre of this. They need our support and friendship at this time.

We are seeing political reaction across the UK. Our Labour colleague and the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, rightly said today that this is a “dangerous” situation. He said that it could be a “slippery slope” in terms of devolution. Many of us are concerned that the UK Government, which is a bad actor in this process, could strike again on other legislation that we seek to pass. This is a direct attack on not only self-identification for trans people but Scottish devolution.

What discussions can the Scottish Government have with the UK Government and other Governments to defend our democracy, devolution in Scotland and people’s human rights?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Secretary of State for Scotland making an order under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998, preventing the Scottish Parliament’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from proceeding to royal assent.

The cabinet secretary is correct in saying that the Scottish Parliament passed the GRR bill by a significant majority, and we did so because we believe that trans people should be able to live, work and die with dignity. That is what the bill is about. It is about dignity, fairness and equality for a marginalised group of trans citizens.

The secretary of state may hide behind legal advice, but the truth is that the Tories at Westminster have proven that they are no friends to trans people—and, as they are the architects of the rape clause, we know that they are no friends to women and girls. Does the cabinet secretary agree that this is a cynical and dangerous power move by an out-of-control UK Government that is determined to wreck the bill at any cost?

I join colleagues in congratulating Stephanie Callaghan on securing this debate and bringing the Parliament together. We can hear from the speeches that members are passionate about the topic, which is always very encouraging.

I wish Maurice Golden many happy returns. I hope that he has cake and candles waiting at home, and I am sure he will wish for a circular economy. The minister is here to take note of that.

Like Stephanie Callaghan, I have had the pleasure and privilege of visiting ACS at its North Lanarkshire headquarters, which is in my region. I encourage colleagues from Central Scotland and elsewhere to reach out. I am sure that the team that is in the gallery, which is very welcome, would be glad to welcome visitors to its site. I was able to have an extensive tour of the site and to chat to apprentices. We are here to talk about the environmental benefits of circular fashion, but it is clear that there are benefits from fair work and the social change that we want to see. It is all about a fairer Scotland and the fairer world that we want to live in.

Before I forget to say so—it is always good to take opportunities in members’ business debates—because there is such interest in the topic and the wider themes, I will be hosting an event in Parliament for Fashion Revolution on 27 April. Everyone is welcome to come to that.

Back in 2021, when the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—took place in Glasgow, I had the privilege of meeting Carry Somers, who is the co-founder of Fashion Revolution. We met to discuss a future world in which clothes enrich every aspect of our lives and the environment.

Fashion should be fun, but our addiction to fast fashion can be criminally damaging. I ask colleagues to reflect on the tragic disaster that happened almost 10 years ago at the Rana Plaza complex in Bangladesh. More than a thousand people lost their lives and thousands more were injured. When we talk about clothing and textiles and the aspiration for net zero apparel, we must think about the people behind the labels and the garments. I hope that, in Scotland, we will not just talk the talk but we will walk the walk.

It is really encouraging to hear about the values that ACS promotes both locally and beyond. That takes investment. Any company has to look at risk and at what is happening with legislation. Maurice Golden is right: we need to look at what more the Scottish Parliament can do working with the Government, and at where there should be co-operation between the Scottish Government and the UK Government.

The motion is right to recognise

“the growing calls to incentivise responsible and circular consumption through fiscal and regulatory levers”.

We need to talk about the carrot and the stick. Some of that will not be popular, but we need system change. Yes, individuals, communities and pioneering businesses are doing responsible things, but we are getting pockets of good practice when we need structural and systemic change. It is important that those discussions involve our trade union colleagues, workers and those in the third sector who are doing innovative work.

Time is short, as it always is in members’ business debates, and I have probably missed out all the people whom I wanted to mention. However, the debate has shown that there is a lot of common ground. Maurice Golden chairs the circular economy cross-party group, and we are looking forward to a circular economy bill. We have big opportunities in the Parliament. I hope that we can seize them and have a fashion revolution in Scotland.

I feel a bit cheeky, because I saw Graham Simpson on the screen also trying to get in.

On the point about culture change, we have heard that young people are, in many ways, leading the way on that. There is a role there for education, as Stephanie Callaghan mentioned. I was looking back at social media and tweets ahead of the debate, and I saw newspaper headlines about a member of the royal family wearing a recycled dress, but it was actually just a dress that she had worn more than once. There is a lot of misogyny and sexism around when we talk about fashion, particularly when we talk about women who are in the public eye. What more could the Government do with education and public information to challenge some of the more negative stereotyping that is out there?

We should make no mistake: this is a humanitarian emergency. It is costing lives and damaging the wellbeing of NHS and social care workers. NHS Lanarkshire has just been mentioned. That is the crisis within the crisis. The code black nightmare that began in 2021 continues today in 2023, so constituents in Lanarkshire want to know when that will end.

I have two short questions for now, one of which is again about Lanarkshire. We need more doctors for out of hours and across primary care. Can the cabinet secretary update me on that?

As well as the immediate action that we need to take, we need long-term solutions, so will he agree, with the BMA and others, to facilitate a national conversation on the future and survival of the NHS?