Chamber and committees

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?

Good morning. To pick up on that, we know from work that we have done over recent years around the trafficking of puppies and high-value dogs—such as French bulldogs—that some sell for a lot of money and that they come in from Ireland or wherever. Do you think that there is an increase in thefts because the value of some of those dogs is in the thousands of pounds?

A victim impact statement could be written, made in private or presented in court. Is there a hierarchy around what would be required, which would make it more complex to define?

I am glad that you mentioned remote and rural communities, as that point came up with the previous panel of witnesses. It is important that we tailor the support on the basis of where we are in Scotland.

People sometimes buy benzos thinking that they are 10mg, but they are actually 1,000mg. That, on top of alcohol, ends up being quite a challenge.

We have touched on MAT standards and multidisciplinary teamwork. If the bill is implemented, will it provide additional benefits for individuals who seek treatment for drug and alcohol problems, compared with the position under the existing MAT standards?

I have a final question about taking a trauma-informed approach and third sector organisations being part of the process of engaging people in their recovery. It can take decades for people to recover. There is not a quick fix; they can relapse and then go on to recovery. It can take a long time. I am thinking about education being provided. In my work as a recovery room nurse in a perioperative environment, I thought it was necessary that even recovery room nurses got education about how to look after somebody with a heroin or alcohol problem. As far as I am aware, digital education is now available for everybody—it is not just limited to people who are in alcohol and drugs work. I know that there is a Turas module that anybody can access, and it is free. Would you be a proponent of saying that everybody in the third sector should get support to be educated in trauma-informed practice?

Turning to the financial aspects, pages 11 and 12 of the financial memorandum say:

“the percentage of people in Scotland who self-report having a current problem with their drug use is fairly low. However, it is generally accepted that people who use drugs are in part a hidden population”.

Public Health Scotland and the University of Bristol are doing some research to see where the hidden population is. That has an impact. If we continue to take the stigma away from people who come for support, that might mean that the hidden population becomes unhidden, and that could mean further demand. There might be some challenges in considering the projection of the number of people who may need to present.

Convener, I agree with you and Joe FitzPatrick about the amount of contact from constituents, as a lot of people in the South Scotland region have contacted me. In addition, from reading the evidence to the committee, I know the commitment that people have and I know that it is, obviously, a very serious issue. People care deeply about the process, the debate that we are having and the information. It is absolutely necessary that I put on record my thanks to everybody who has been involved. I will continue to make sure that I pay full attention to the issues as we go forward.