Chamber and committees

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, for allowing me to finagle wi ma keyboard to make sure that it will actually stand up to the debate.

I thank Clare Adamson for securing the debate. She has articulated very well in her motion and in her speech the importance of Brownsbank cottage and the work that is being done by the trustees and volunteers on what is, though it may be an underappreciated corner of Scotland’s literary tradition, a shining star in 20th century history. I am proud to be an MSP for the area. Clare Adamson has welcomed everybody to chamber, and I masel will welcome everyyin tae the chamber the nicht, tae.

MacDiarmid was born and schooled in Langholm, also known as the muckle toon and pairt o my South Scotland region. For the first 60 years of his life, however, his home is hard to pin down, although his formative years appear again and again in his work, with large sections of “A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle” referring back to his youth in Langholm.

After leaving Langholm academy, he wound up in Edinburgh, followed by Ebbw Vale in Wales, Clydebank, Forfar and Montrose; then—in the space of a little over a decade—came London, Liverpool, West Sussex and Whalsay in Shetland, where visitors today can stay in the hoose he made his hame for nine years; and then Glasgow, Dungavel and finally, too, Brownsbank.

It may have been his last home, but it was his longest lasting, and its preservation is a tribute to his wife Valda, who he predeceased, and to the trustees and volunteers who have worked so hard over the years to maintain and promote Brownsbank as a memorial to the man and his body of work.

MacDiarmid’s role in the use of the Scots language and its written form cannae be overestimated, and colleagues will shairly ken how important the Scots leid is tae me in the chamber. Hugh MacDiarmid wance said of the Scots leid:

“One of the most distinctive characteristics of the Vernacular, part of its very essence, is its insistent recognition of the body, the senses ... This explains the unique blend of the lyrical and the ludicrous”.

He demonstrated that through his own body of work: always lyrical and frequently ludicrous, surreal and moving. His publishing in Scots gave credence to the language at a time when received wisdom and the dominant establishment view was that Scots was the language of the gutter or of the undereducated.

Reading again through “A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle” for today’s debate, I think that his love and admiration for another Scots poet, Robert Burns, shines through, although perhaps not his admiration for some who hing their pegs on his poetry while missing the human meaning behind it. Both poets shared a lowland Scots upbringing and a sense that Scotland and its people needed recorded and shared with others, but in a multiplicity of ways, with the diversity of our land at the heart of what they wrote—or, as MacDiarmid himself said:

“Scotland small? Our multiform, our infinite Scotland small?”

No doubt Burns would have smiled as MacDiarmid scrieved that oot.

Next year, MacDiarmid’s “The Bonnie Broukit Bairn” will be added to the higher English set text list. It is a tribute to his body of work and to the impact that he has had on our nation’s sense of its literary self and the language that we use day after day, that tens o thoosans o weans an bairns will hae the chance tae study his verse in the same context as Burns, Stevenson and John Byrne. In the same way, the work of Brownsbank is keeping alive MacDiarmid’s legacy and life fur oor generation and future generations, celebrating a body o work that has stood, and will stand, the test o time as the work o one o oor great poets and writers.

[Applause.]

Ahead of lambing season this year, what is the Scottish Government doing to raise awareness, including in Dumfries and Galloway and in the Borders, of the consequences for owners whose out-of-control dogs chase, attack and kill—or worry—livestock when accessing the countryside, given the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2021, which updated and strengthened the previous law?

Sandesh Gulhane mentioned James Blackwood and AI. I understand that he came here to give a presentation at a briefing organised by the Scottish Parliament information centre and is now engaging with NHS Dumfries and Galloway to look at rolling out some of the techniques and sharing his knowledge, so progress is being made. Would you not agree that the fact that he is now working with NHS Dumfries and Galloway shows that progress is being made?

It is welcome that the Scottish Government acted quickly and established NHS Scotland assure to improve how we manage risk in the healthcare built environment across Scotland. Can the cabinet secretary expand on how NHS Scotland assure works with boards to provide a co-ordinated approach to risk management across the NHS estate, as set out in his statement?

What is the reason for the reduction in beef cattle? The climate emergency was declared in Scotland in April 2019, but you say that the reduction in beef cattle has been happening for 20 years. Is there more than one reason why the number of beef cattle has been reduced? Is it a global thing, or is it just local to Scotland? What is going on?

I have a quick question about regenerative agricultural methods, such as cover crops, no-till or low-till farming and agroforestry. How can those methods be made accessible to farmers and crofters across Scotland? What impact do they have on long-term profitability?

I will be really quick, because I am conscious of the time. Jim, you talked about innovation and the different things that can be done to support emissions reduction. For instance, I know about giving Bovaer to dairy cattle to reduce their methane emissions. Will you briefly touch on some other examples of innovation that can help to reduce emissions and support efficiency—if there is anything that you havenae mentioned so far?

Sitting here, listening to talk about co-production, co-design, co-delivery and co-involvement, is really similar to the experience I had when we were looking at the national care service and talking about co-design, lived experience and engaging folk. When I was a nurse educator, I had to get to the nurses on the ground so that they knew what was coming doon the line. Jonnie Hall says that farmers are saying, “Just tell me what you want me to do,” but that is engagement, not co-design. It is complicated and difficult.

I am thinking about how we deliver healthcare change. We talk aboot it being like moving a giant oil tanker to get healthcare embedded in our national health service. I am thinking back to what Pete Ritchie said at the beginning about how education should be the priority on the wedding cake and should be the first thing that we deal with. I am thinking about that—

Yes, but the issue is complicated. It is really challenging to look at how we effect change and get all the voices heard.

Cover crops such as oats can help to improve conditions for ground-nesting birds—black grouse, for instance.