Chamber and committees

What discussions has the Scottish Government had with Dumfries and Galloway Council, Transport Scotland and partners regarding the closure of Kirkcudbright bridge, which is causing massive disruption for everyone in the town? As well as impacting lifeline services, it will have an impact on the busy tourist season ahead. What practical support can be offered to enable the bridge to be repaired and reopened or even replaced?

Thanks, convener, and thank you for again giving me a wee bit of time to ask a couple of questions. Obviously, I am interested in both the A75 and the A77; I have asked questions in the chamber about them. I am really pleased to hear that so many people turned out for the village hall meeting at Crocketford—they will be happy that progress is being made.

I know that Belfast Harbour, P&O and Stena Line worked together on the “Safer, Greener, Better” document and looked at the facts and figures with regard to how the A75 and the A77 upgrades will benefit holidaymakers, hauliers and even commuters in relation to Cairnryan and Ireland. As we develop the two projects for Springholm and Crocketford, what are the next steps? Is there a hierarchy of or a priority for next projects—either the A75 or the A77, for example? Are teams continuously looking at what is next? I know Matt Halliday and I know Donald McHarrie really well, and I am sure that they will be happy to hear about current progress, but continuing to look to the future is part of that, too.

The ferry crossing between Cairnryan and Larne or Belfast does not close due to weather as often as those from Holyhead or the other ports close. It is also the shortest crossing. For me, that is a good selling point for Cairnryan and emphasises its importance to the central belt economy, which you mentioned. I was not able to get the closure information—I was told that it was commercially sensitive—but we need to value the fact that the Cairnryan to Larne or Belfast crossing stays open and is the fastest crossing.

I have follow-ups that are kind of linked to the A75 and the A77, so I can wait.

Elena Whitham has covered this already, but I want to ask about what support rangers provide when folk take to the water without life jackets or helmets on when they are in kayaks, on jet skis or paddle boarding because they are novices on the water who have no clue about what safety measures are required. The water can be pretty cold, and you do not know that until you are in the water. It is about supporting people with coaching and education when they get to the water. That is not necessarily a byelaw thing, but is that part of the rangers’ job?

Would legislating in the bill that we must get to 30 by 30 make people a wee bit nervous? For example, Dumfries and Galloway, with its big dairy farms, has 48 per cent of Scotland’s dairy herd and is a food-producing region.

Given the agricultural property relief proposals and the national insurance budget decisions, I am not sure that Labour cares much about Scottish agriculture. Will the minister highlight the challenges that are posed to Scotland’s ambitions to be a world leader by Labour’s decision to end ring-fenced funding?

I thank Liz Smith for securing the debate and for highlighting the role that the Black Watch has played down the years—300 years now—in communities across Scotland. I, too, welcome the members of the Black Watch who are in the gallery today.

I will start with words that I took directly from the Black Watch website:

“In a Highland regiment every individual feels that his conduct is the subject of observation and that, independently of his duty, as one member of a systematic whole, he has a separate and individual reputation to sustain, that will be reflected on his family and district or glen.”

It adds that those words

“are as relevant today as when they were written by a 19th century Black Watch historian. They lucidly illustrate that The Black Watch boasts a history of honour, gallantry and devoted service to King, Queen and country. The battles which have contributed most to The Black Watch history have been those in which the odds have been most formidable. From Fontenoy to Fallujah with Ticonderoga, Waterloo, Alamein and two World Wars in between the Black Watch has been there when the world’s history has been shaped.”

As Liz Smith has referred to, the Black Watch is now part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, which was formed of not only the Black Watch but the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the Highlanders, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. As an MSP, I am from not Perthshire but the South Scotland region, so it is only appropriate that I talk a wee bit about what was until recently the Royal Scots Borderers but was for decades the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and the King’s Own Borderers, with a lineage dating back to the 17th century.

During the first world war, members of the KOSB were sent to Mons, Ypres, the Somme and Arras, among other places, as well as Gallipoli, where casualty rates were recorded as 100 per cent. That is a staggering figure. That war involved four members of the KOSB being awarded the Victoria cross—in three cases, posthumously. The surviving recipient was Piper Laidlaw, who struck out from the trenches playing his pipes. That links to the piping history that Liz Smith highlighted in her speech. The horrendous loss of life in, and the justification for, the first world war have been debated and discussed ever since, but what cannot be doubted is the bravery that was shown by those who served in the KOSB and who suffered hugely over the course of the war.

Less than three decades later, the KOSB was part of the effort against the evil of Hitlerism and axis aggression. Servicemen were at Dunkirk as the British expeditionary force was evacuated and, four years later, they were part of the Normandy landings as the allies returned to the European continent to defeat the axis powers and restore democracy to that continent’s peoples.

In December 2021, the Royal Scots Borderers were again reorganised—this time, they were incorporated into the Ranger Regiment headquarters in Belfast. However, the history of the KOSB is not forgotten. It lives on at the Berwick-upon-Tweed barracks, whose museum, which is being redeveloped and refurbished, is due to reopen next year for future generations to learn about the history of the KOSB.

The regiment’s history also lives on through work in the community that is undertaken by projects such as the veterans garden in the Crichton campus, in Dumfries, which has been led by my constituent Mark Harper—he is no relation—and his massively hard-working team. Over recent years, they have not only grown the support and services that operate from the garden to help armed forces veterans and their families, but worked with the wider community to put on activities for everyone in Dumfries and surrounding areas. That work has been recognised multiple times, with award after award for the garden and the team behind it.

Although the Black Watch is 300 years old and the King’s Own Scottish Borderers has had a long and distinguished past, the service that has characterised both regiments over the decades is very much with us today, right across Perthshire and the south of Scotland. I pay tribute to all the veterans who have served over the years.

I thank Liz Smith for securing the debate and for highlighting the role that the Black Watch has played down the years—300 years now—in communities across Scotland. I, too, welcome the members of the Black Watch who are in the gallery today.

I will start with words that I took directly from the Black Watch website:

“In a Highland regiment every individual feels that his conduct is the subject of observation and that, independently of his duty, as one member of a systematic whole, he has a separate and individual reputation to sustain, that will be reflected on his family and district or glen.”

It adds that those words

“are as relevant today as when they were written by a 19th century Black Watch historian. They lucidly illustrate that The Black Watch boasts a history of honour, gallantry and devoted service to King, Queen and country. The battles which have contributed most to The Black Watch history have been those in which the odds have been most formidable. From Fontenoy to Fallujah with Ticonderoga, Waterloo, Alamein and two World Wars in between the Black Watch has been there when the world’s history has been shaped.”

As Liz Smith has referred to, the Black Watch is now part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, which was formed of not only the Black Watch but the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the Highlanders, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. As an MSP, I am from not Perthshire but the South Scotland region, so it is only appropriate that I talk a wee bit about what was until recently the Royal Scots Borderers but was for decades the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and the King’s Own Borderers, with a lineage dating back to the 17th century.

During the first world war, members of the KOSB were sent to Mons, Ypres, the Somme and Arras, among other places, as well as Gallipoli, where casualty rates were recorded as 100 per cent. That is a staggering figure. That war involved four members of the KOSB being awarded the Victoria cross—in three cases, posthumously. The surviving recipient was Piper Laidlaw, who struck out from the trenches playing his pipes. That links to the piping history that Liz Smith highlighted in her speech. The horrendous loss of life in, and the justification for, the first world war have been debated and discussed ever since, but what cannot be doubted is the bravery that was shown by those who served in the KOSB and who suffered hugely over the course of the war.

Less than three decades later, the KOSB was part of the effort against the evil of Hitlerism and axis aggression. Servicemen were at Dunkirk as the British expeditionary force was evacuated and, four years later, they were part of the Normandy landings as the allies returned to the European continent to defeat the axis powers and restore democracy to that continent’s peoples.

In December 2021, the Royal Scots Borderers were again reorganised—this time, they were incorporated into the Ranger Regiment headquarters in Belfast. However, the history of the KOSB is not forgotten. It lives on at the Berwick-upon-Tweed barracks, whose museum, which is being redeveloped and refurbished, is due to reopen next year for future generations to learn about the history of the KOSB.

The regiment’s history also lives on through work in the community that is undertaken by projects such as the veterans garden in the Crichton campus, in Dumfries, which has been led by my constituent Mark Harper—he is no relation—and his massively hard-working team. Over recent years, they have not only grown the support and services that operate from the garden to help armed forces veterans and their families, but worked with the wider community to put on activities for everyone in Dumfries and surrounding areas. That work has been recognised multiple times, with award after award for the garden and the team behind it.

Although the Black Watch is 300 years old and the King’s Own Scottish Borderers has had a long and distinguished past, the service that has characterised both regiments over the decades is very much with us today, right across Perthshire and the south of Scotland. I pay tribute to all the veterans who have served over the years.

The bill proposes to make it mandatory that a victim impact statement can be provided. Does that mean that, in other legal cases, impact statements might or might not be provided? Is it a choice? Would the bill create a difference in the law so that a victim impact statement for dog abduction is mandated but it is not required or mandatory in other criminal cases?