Chamber and committees

Will the member take an intervention?

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to enact sections 5 to 7 of the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019. (S6O-00564)

The sections of the 2019 act that I mentioned would allow exclusion zones to be imposed on criminals when they are released on licence. Does the cabinet secretary agree with Scottish Conservative proposals to allow victims to request those exclusion zones?

I would not seek to compromise her role. Dumfries and Galloway Council, which is made up of different political parties, has come to a position, so I would find it odd if she were not duty bound.

That does not mean that everyone supports the bid—far from it. Many people believe that the only reason that it is being taken forward is to distract from all the other things that have not been taken forward. I say to Christine Grahame that I, as an elected representative, am not in the business of backing unpopular ideas. That is why I also oppose border posts and plastic currency to replace the pound.

I do not want to sound too much like Scrooge—or more than I have done already—and dismiss all Emma Harper’s best ideas before Christmas. In all seriousness, though, if we want to restore and increase pride in Dumfries and to keep future generations of Doonhamers at hame, we need to focus on what will make a difference—for example, dualling the A75, ditching the £25 million Whitesands bund and depedestrianising at least part of High Street.

I will respect the outcome of the competition process, but I politely ask those who are assisting Her Majesty in identifying a winner to look for a candidate for which there is widespread or unanimous support, not one on which, at best, opinion is divided.

I find it very depressing to hear from someone who represents a rural county that city status is all that matters and that somehow being a city is better than being a rural area. What does someone get from living in a city that they do not get from living in a rural area?

That is very kind and very much in the Christmas spirit.

Christine Grahame is a veteran of Scottish politics. If she thinks that the bid is politically popular, why does she think that the two constituency members representing the region are not desperate to get behind it? The truth is that people in Dumfries do not support it.

The minister has missed one important investment from his list. What has happened to the dualling and upgrading of the A75 over the 14 years of his Government? The answer is nothing.

It probably does not need to be stated, but I am a committed monarchist and, God willing, I wish to see Her Majesty reign over the United Kingdom for many years to come. After what is set to be another dark winter, the platinum jubilee celebrations offer a ray of light at the end of the tunnel and will, I hope, be an opportunity for all our communities to once again come together and rejoice in all that is good about our country. I say that because I do not want anything that follows to be seen as disrespectful to the royal family, who have been such great supporters of causes across Dumfriesshire. Nor would I wish anything that I say to reflect negatively on the significant efforts of Mark Jardine, who, through the People’s Project, has done so much for the town of Dumfries.

However, in my view, none of the above is a good enough reason to squander the main selling point of Dumfries, as a market town and the hub of our rural community. We cannot and should not simply invent cities just to tick boxes. I also question why, in a large rural region, Dumfries was the automatic candidate. We have already heard that size of population is not a factor, so why should the candidate not be the royal city of Sanquhar? Langholm, the muckle toon, could have become the muckle city.

I have more aspiration for Dumfries than the Scottish National Party does. The SNP has failed Dumfries, as I will come on to later in my speech.

According to a man who still bides in Dumfries, the true meaning of life is

“no in makin muckle, mair”.

Alternatively, we could have had the city of Newton Wamphray or even Gretna Green. That sounds like a flippant point, but I strongly object to the suggestion that somewhere needs to be a city to be successful or that people need to live in a city to succeed.

In this panto season, instead of peddling Dick Whittington-esque myths that only the city streets are lined with gold, and not with rats and rubbish, as we see in Scotland’s largest city, we should, instead—this is where I agree with Emma Harper—be confident in proudly making the case for Dumfries being unique: its sense of community; guid neighbours; being a gateway to much of our rural region; the good work-life balance; the history and culture; and our connection to Burns, Barrie and Bruce, to name but a few.

When the idea was first floated, many people in the town believed that it was an early April fools’ day joke. Others came to the conclusion that the only reason that politicians would be supporting it was that politicians in cities get paid more.

Will the member take an intervention on that point?