Chamber and committees

Good morning, everyone. I get to kick off today.

I always feel that, within our health budget, and even within our mental health budget, there are so many priorities to consider, from child and adolescent mental health and community-based mental health support to adult mental health and, now, the increase in eating disorders. To what extent do you consider that the Scottish Government’s strategy for mental health sets out the appropriate priorities?

Calum MacLeod mentioned social care and Craig Smith mentioned integration joint boards. Some IJBs do mental health budgeting differently. I am interested to hear your thoughts on how IJBs are using their budgets. Are there good examples of IJBs that are doing very well in budgeting for mental health? Is that budgeting effective? Is it joined up? Are there no good examples?

My final question is about multi-annual funding, which came up in the earlier session. Brian Whittle asked how we manage that away from the politics. Full fiscal autonomy for Scotland would allow us to deliver policies independently. The last time that the figures were published, we saw that £600 million—more than half a billion pounds—was invested to mitigate the bedroom tax that was implemented by another Government. As well as multi-annual funding, would it not be beneficial to have more fiscal autonomy?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app was not connecting quickly enough. I would have voted yes.

I remind members that I am a registered nurse.

The UK Labour Government hiked tuition fees in England this year, and the Labour Government in Wales continues to charge tuition fees. That means that nursing and midwifery students are landed with high levels of debt when they qualify. In contrast, in Scotland, under the Scottish National Party, tuition is free and record numbers of Scots are going to university. While Labour burdens nursing students with avoidable debt, will the cabinet secretary set out and reiterate the unique support that is available in Scotland to entice students into the nursing and midwifery profession?

Our tireless and dedicated workforce is the greatest asset of our national health service so, while the Tories and Labour consistently talk down our NHS, will the First Minister reiterate how the Scottish Government continues to support and grow our NHS workforce?

I will use my short time in the debate to recognise the work that has been done over the years by the Scottish Government and the long-term commitment that pays bigger and bigger dividends to our agribusiness sector as time goes on. I particularly want to pay tribute to Richard Lochhead’s tenure as the first cabinet secretary for rural affairs, which started in 2007. His work to identify the huge potential of Scotland’s high-value and high-quality food and drink sector and get the Government behind it has changed our rural economies very much for the better. That work has been continued by his successors, including Mairi Gougeon.

This weekend, I will be heading along to Stranraer oyster festival, which is another success story of our food and drink sector. Many thousands of people will visit Stranraer to celebrate and taste that success but, before and after that festival, our world-class seafood will be exported to plates and kitchens around Europe and the rest of the world.

That is a tribute to the work that has been done both by the Scottish Government and the industry as a whole over the years to make Scotland’s exports an international leader. That success has been achieved in spite of the barriers, hurdles and blocks that have been imposed on Scotland because of Brexit. We will all have constituents whose businesses have experienced huge challenges when trading with the rest of Europe thanks to the Conservative Party and its failed Brexit, which is now being ably cheered on by Keir Starmer and his chaotic crew. It is a incredible tribute to the determination of our exporters, whether in food or drink or other industries, such as space tech and gaming, which Jamie Greene spoke about, that they have, for the most part, weathered the storm of Brexit and worked out new ways to survive and prosper, despite the forced isolation that has been imposed on them by the UK Government.

We can see in real time the huge impact that isolationism in trade policy is having across the Atlantic. Tariff barriers that have been put in place at the whim of a leader are having a crippling effect on many sectors, and even healthy industries, such as our whisky sector, are counting the cost, with £4 million per week in lost exports, as others have mentioned. Distilleries in my region, such as Crafty Distillery, Annandale Distillery, Borders Distillery and Bladnoch Distillery, are being hit by those tariffs. They are major employers in their communities across Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders and they are part of our world-leading food and drink offering. Over the summer, my former work colleagues from Los Angeles visited me and enjoyed a few drams from our local distilleries. A good-news story from their visit is that they agreed to help to support Scotland’s future whisky industry exports when they return to Los Angeles.

It is important for us to recognise our strengths. I am pleased that we have a First Minister who will stand up for jobs and industry in Scotland and who will use every tool at his disposal, including an audience with the US President, the man who has all the power to give Scotland’s whisky industry a bye when it comes to tariffs. However, the simple fact is that, if Scotland were a member of the EU, we would enjoy the benefits of belonging to that trade bloc. This country voted to remain part of that international bloc, yet we were torn out of it anyway. [Interruption.] I can hear Conservative members yitterin on at the other side of the chamber, but we know that Brexit has been damaging. For some reason, they just want to put their heids in the sand.

Our ultimate destination as an independent country must be as a full member of the European Union and the single market. We need to regain our place alongside our allies and partners on these isles and across the continent. In the meantime, I am proud that we have a Scottish Government that is investing in and supporting the industries of the future that will deliver greater exports and greater prosperity to our country and our communities. Innovations such as carbon capture, which is being rolled out by the Carbon Removers at Crocketford, and the green hydrogen facilities that are being built at Chapelcross are making Scotland a world-class exporter of the high-tech products that will drive the future and our economy. We need to turbo-boost that with independence and our rightful place as the EU’s 28th member state.

Given the level of intervention in steel businesses in England and Wales and the news that the UK Government has taken control of Liberty Steel in Yorkshire, can the Minister for Public Finance provide an update on his discussions with the UK Government and his calls for equal sharing of the £2.5 billion that has been allocated to support the steel industry in the UK?

The STV campaign was excellent but, for folk such as me, who live in the southern part of Scotland that does not get STV, do you think that it would be a good idea to lobby ITV Border to mimic that campaign?

The urban blight and unfulfilled potential of derelict buildings such as the Interfloor factory building in Dumfries have been an issue for many years, and I have campaigned about it, along with residents and businesses. What more could the United Kingdom Government do to change the tax system that it controls to promote refurbishment and regeneration and to avoid people defaulting to demolition purely because of tax regulations?