Chamber and committees

I am sure that Christine Grahame has forgotten that I have a glowing smile for her. However, does she agree that, to attract more people to Scotland, we need to ensure that there is sufficient rural housing for people? Does she agree that we need to make Scotland an attractive place and that that means not making it the highest-taxed part of the UK?

I move amendment S6M-10406.2, to leave out from “acknowledges” to end and insert:

“recognises both the challenges and the opportunities resulting from the United Kingdom leaving the European Union; acknowledges the challenges caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and climate change, and the need for the sector to respond and adapt, and believes that allowing Scotland’s food producers to adopt gene-editing technology would boost the sector’s resilience, provide greater security against climate change disease and drought, and enhance crop yields, nutritional value and reliability.”

Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?

Why does the cabinet secretary’s party want to put a barrier between Gretna and Berwick that would be disruptive to 60 per cent of Scottish exports?

Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?

Of course Emma Harper continues to talk down her constituency in Dumfries and Galloway. The SNP would do better to support farmers and give them clarity about their future. SNP members would do better to realise the opportunities that have been afforded by trade deals and what we are able to do now that we have left the EU. I would like Emma Harper to go and ask her constituents whether the SNP is holding them back by aligning with Europe and not adopting new gene-editing technology.

We all share our food heroes. I am lucky to have many fantastic producers in my Borders constituency, from Hardiesmill beef to Peelham Farm. There are so many outstanding local businesses, from the Bread Maker in Coldstream and Hunters the bakers in Hawick to Selkirk distillery, the Borders distillery and Giacopazzi’s ice cream in Eyemouth. I am biased and my colleagues might protest, but, in my books, the Borders produces the best food in the country. Would it not be great to see more Borders produce in schools, hospitals and council canteens? I am sure that members share that passion for their own constituencies.

The paper that I mentioned also discusses how gene editing could enable farmers to naturally improve the reliability and nutritional value of the food that they produce while reducing the resources that are required to produce it. That technology would cut emissions and boost yields. As my colleagues—in particular, Finlay Carson—will come on to say, it would make a real difference to people’s lives every day. It would allow farmers to pass on their savings and efficiencies and be part of the solution to tackling poverty. The improved yields would reduce our reliance on costly foreign imports that are flown in from abroad and would help local businesses to expand, thus creating more jobs for local communities. The only thing that stands in the way of that innovation is ideological opposition from which even the EU has now moved on.

If the Government wants to show its appreciation to our food and drink population, I can think of no better way of doing that than supporting the Conservative plans. We have a plan, unlike the SNP and Greens, who have no plan and no clarity. They need to introduce a genetic technology bill and produce an agriculture policy.

Scotland’s food and drink sector is pivotal to our national and local economy, despite enduring recent global challenges and economic mismanagement by this SNP-Green lot. Let us celebrate its resilience during Scottish food and drink fortnight by eating some delicious local produce from on our own doorsteps.

Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?

I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests as a director of a small business in the Borders.

First and foremost, I join the cabinet secretary—although it took her more than seven minutes to get there—in celebrating our food and drink sector. We have world-class food and drink producers in our country, and we should champion the people who make the industry such a success and such an asset for Scotland. It is right that we take the time to celebrate them today. However, the industry requires more from us than just celebration; it requires support, certainty to plan for the future and a workable and practical agriculture bill. As the cabinet secretary said, the food and drink sector has shown an enormous amount of resilience through global challenges such as the pandemic and the economic impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, so resilience is rightly the focus of today’s debate.

Despite there being no mention of farmers in either the Scottish National Party motion or the Labour amendment, and barely a peep about them in the First Minister’s programme for government, in recent years, farmers, who are the beating heart of the £15 billion food and drink industry, have overcome damaging outbreaks of livestock disease such as avian flu and have dealt with severe water shortages that have hit their crops hard. However, those who are charged with the task of feeding the nation continue to be left in the dark over future support. The dither and delay over the new agriculture bill is wreaking havoc in the industry. We must take our responsibility to them more seriously and quickly give them the clarity that they need. Overcoming natural difficulties is one thing, but the biggest challenge that farmers face is entirely of the SNP-Green Government’s making.

Farmers are not the only ones waiting until the cows come home. We await the fate of Scotland’s short-term lets sector, which faces death by SNP-Green red tape. That sector is entirely integral to providing good food and drink and supporting Scotland’s important tourism sector.

Scotland’s fishing communities have also faced a turbulent year at the hands of the Scottish Government, which failed to learn the lessons of an 11-week fishing ban that was imposed on Clyde communities without consultation or warning. The Government’s headlong rush into banning fishing in almost half of Scotland’s waters would have been a complete disaster for our fishing industry. Sustainable fishing practices in Scotland have resulted in stocks of many of our favourite kinds of fish rebounding in recent years. Hard-working fishermen are landing thousands of tonnes of healthy, high-protein fish every year—some of it even carbon neutral.

The industry is already squeezed for space in the marine environment. The highly protected marine area plans would have decimated the industry on which so many of Scotland’s coastal communities have relied for centuries. We expected the plans to be scrapped, but in my view they have merely been postponed. Until those plans are scrapped completely and the Government has gone back to the drawing board, the fishing industry will continue to worry about its future.

Our drinks sector has faced an equally difficult period, having been forced to adapt to legislative changes such as minimum unit pricing and the threat of an unworkable deposit return scheme and plans to prevent whisky distilleries from painting their names on their outside walls. For now, both the fishing industry and the drinks sector have been saved by the strength of their voice in opposing those plans and the legislative incompetence of the Government that is trying to implement such impositions.

However, today I intend not to dwell on where the Scottish Government has let down the food and drink industry but to talk about the opportunities that lie ahead if we start to get things right. At the Royal Highland Show this year, I launched my plans for Scotland’s food future. The policy paper has been welcomed across the board. Its policy proposals have been talked about as a positive step by stakeholders, from farmers and wholesalers to vet suppliers and council officers. My plan would support Scotland’s rural communities to secure jobs and livelihoods and a viable future for our food and drink producers, alongside farmers, crofters and fishermen. It would also place food production at the heart of the new agriculture bill while ensuring investment in producers to keep food prices affordable for consumers. It would allow farmers to produce more top-quality food right here, in Scotland, and would bring in more local jobs for processing, transport and abattoirs. It would bolster support for technology and innovation to help to improve the UK’s world-leading standards on health, the environment and animal welfare.

My plans include key policy objectives such as helping councils to support local producers by introducing 60:60 targets: 60 per cent of food procured by every mainland local authority from within 60 miles of the local authority area. Buying locally means stronger local economies, healthier foods and fewer imports, leading to lower emissions, which is what we all want to achieve. The cabinet secretary missed an opportunity for that in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022. Key amendments that would have supported a lot of the policy were missed.

Will the member take an intervention?

Will Rhoda Grant give way?