Chamber and committees

Scotland is creating the most woodland in the UK, and it will continue to do so, despite the Tories savaging our budget by cutting our capital allocation. Does the minister share my view that, if that is what we can hope to achieve in the current fiscal nightmare, there would be no limit to what the forestry sector could achieve if the Scottish Tories put Scotland first and took a stand against the 10 per cent cut to our budget?

Will the member take a wee intervention?

You mentioned the site at Chapelcross. I have been involved with the letter writing on that as well. Do you agree that highlighting the opportunities in South Scotland for a just transition demonstrates that a just transition is for the whole of Scotland and not just the north-east?

I welcome the opportunity to lead an important members’ business debate that focuses on the role of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. The Assembly enhances the scrutiny of each legislature’s policy making and decision making, and—as I mentioned in a debate in the chamber last week—it fosters positive intergovernmental relationships. I thank all the members on all sides of the chamber who have supported my motion. I welcome the fact that there was cross-party support for it, and that there is consensus on the positive role of BIPA.

I thank the BIPA clerks for the amazing work that they do, and I thank Jennie Chinembiri—I hope that I got that right; I have to say it really slowly—and Steven Bell from the Parliament’s international relations office. They are absolutely amazing—they support us MSPs and co-ordinate our visits, and Steven Bell provided us with an excellent briefing ahead of tonight’s debate. The current BIPA chairs, Brendan Smith TD and Karen Bradley MP, are excellent, and they guide us through our business and events at all the plenary sessions.

BIPA was originally established in 1990, as the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body, to create a link between the Houses of Parliament and the Houses of the Oireachtas. The first plenary session took place in London in 1990, and in 2001, the membership was enlarged to include the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the legislature of the Isle of Man and the States of Guernsey and Jersey.

The name “British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly” was adopted in 2008 to reflect the new era of relations between Britain and Ireland. BIPA’s mission is to promote co-operation between elected representatives across the UK and Ireland and BIPA members, which benefits the people whom we all represent.

BIPA wants to build on the close relationships that have been established in recent years between politicians throughout Britain and Ireland. BIPA members engage in a wide range of non-legislative parliamentary activities, through biannual plenary meetings and on-going committee work. The venue for plenaries alternates among BIPA countries. The sessions involve debating topical issues and committee reports and include a question period with a senior minister from the host country. I was fortunate to meet Micheál Martin, when he was the Taoiseach, at one of our Dublin sessions.

The four current BIPA committees are the Steering Committee, the European Affairs Committee, the Economic Committee and the Environment and Social Committee. They meet regularly, both online and in person, and take oral and written evidence on specific issues. At the sessions, BIPA members sit in alphabetical order rather than as delegations of their respective legislatures, and national representation is relevant only for the purposes of the quorum and the tabling of certain motions and amendments. It seems to me that sitting next to a colleague from a different party, even an Opposition party, actually enhances our interparliamentary relationships.

The Parliaments, regional Assemblies and devolved institutions that are represented all share a common tradition and style of debate, and those common roots are reflected in the way in which the Assembly operates. On 6 March 2023, members held an extraordinary plenary meeting in Belfast, at Stormont, to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday agreement. The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont granted the use of its chamber and meeting rooms for that special plenary. The former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and Sir John Holmes, who was principal private secretary to Tony Blair when he was Prime Minister, were directly involved in the Good Friday agreement negotiations. They addressed the Assembly on the significance of the historic peace agreement and responded to questions.

Former members of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition—Kate Fearon, Bronagh Hinds, Dr Avila Kilmurray and Jane Morrice—followed up with a presentation in which they conveyed the significance of having women involved in creating the peace process and promoting lasting peace.

Attending the session on 6 March was extremely impactful for everyone. When I was growing up in Stranraer in the late 1970s, I was all too aware of the troubles, which were happening just across the water—across the Irish Sea. In my view, not enough is said about the role that women play in peace negotiations in any conflict, including what was happening in Ireland and Northern Ireland at that time. That relates to my previous work in promoting United Nations resolution 1325, which aims to promote the importance of women being at the forefront of peace talks.

In addition to specific debates and motions, recommendations are made to lawmakers across the areas that are represented in BIPA. In May, we had a plenary in Jersey, where we heard from Jersey’s first woman Chief Minister, Kristina Moore. She took questions from me regarding whether Jersey is considering the wellbeing economy as part of its financial policy, and she agreed that wellbeing, and not just gross domestic product, should be considered.

For me and my BIPA colleagues, excellent relationships have been created. Senator Emer Currie and Mairéad Farrell TD both subsequently invited me to visit Leinster house, which I did last summer. I was able to attend Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s leader’s questions, and I found the whole visit to be extremely welcoming and enjoyable.

The plenary sessions allow us to share experiences. We have heard, for example, that Ireland has challenges that are similar to Scotland’s with regard to general practitioner recruitment in rural areas, and I was able to provide an insight into how the unique ScotGEM—Scottish graduate entry medicine—programme that was created by the Scottish Government has helped to increase the GP workforce in rural areas in Scotland. Ireland will perhaps be able to take that forward, reflecting on the work that the Scottish Government has done in promoting ScotGEM.

The BIPA Economic Committee, of which I am a member, is currently carrying out an energy inquiry, which has shown how energy policy differs in each of the legislatures. It is becoming increasingly apparent from that inquiry that energy policy in the UK is having a disproportionately negative impact on Scotland.

This is a good place for me to stop, as I am conscious of the time. In closing, I again welcome the opportunity to lead the debate. I am not asking the Government to do anything, which is probably a first for me. BIPA has really benefited me, as it has allowed me to build intra-parliamentary relationships, to meet and learn from other members, and to act on good policy to enhance the lives of the people whom we represent. I look forward to hearing contributions from other members.

When we were in Stormont, the Stormont Assembly was not sitting. Does Ross Greer agree that the whole-hearted disappointment of members there about the fact that there was no sign of getting the Assembly restarted was absolutely palpable?

You might come on to this, as you are—I mean, the member is—a member of the BIPA committee that deals with culture, which has just completed a report on indigenous languages, including Scots languages. That is really important for me. I welcome that and I would be interested in your comments on it.

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate about the important progress that has been made in Scotland to becoming a breastfeeding friendly nation. I have enjoyed the contributions so far. Like Clare Haughey, I am a registered nurse, although my experience is much less than that of my colleague Ms Haughey, in that my training was in general nursing and I did not work much in the field of midwifery.

I will focus my remarks on the progress that has been made in Scotland and on some fantastic examples of what is happening across Dumfries and Galloway in my South Scotland region. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding through policy, investment and interventions that support breastfeeding without shame or stigma. The Scottish Government has provided additional investment to support breastfeeding, particularly in the days immediately following birth. More than £9 million of additional funding has been made available since 2018 to support breastfeeding friendly principles.

Taking a fully rounded approach that is inclusive of stakeholders such as healthcare practitioners, the third sector and peer support groups is the most effective way to address breastfeeding concerns. Interventions in the health service such as ensuring the availability and quality of breastfeeding support for new mothers continue to be important. Equally, wider interventions are continually required, including positively influencing public attitudes towards breastfeeding, objectively promoting more appropriate marketing of formula milk and ensuring supportive employment policies that allow women to continue to breastfeed after returning to work. I welcome the minister’s commitment to doing so and to ensuring that the promotion of breastfeeding is continued.

Although the UK Government discontinued the UK-wide infant feeding surveys that were carried out every five years from 1975 to 2010, the Scottish Government commissioned its own national maternal and infant feeding survey in 2017. That provides continued insight into the changing environment of breastfeeding, the common challenges that it faces and the areas that are most impacted by them. The survey, along with continued medical research, demonstrates that breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for babies and young children and supports children’s health in the short and longer terms.

It is worth repeating what Carol Mochan said at the beginning of the debate, which is that current guidelines recommend that babies should receive breast milk for the first six months of life and then, after the introduction of solid foods, continue to breastfeed up to their second birthday or for as long as the mother and baby wish to. I know that that is not always possible, and I welcome Karen Adam’s comments and those of others in the chamber about how emotionally taxing and difficult it is to fail to feed adequately when a woman’s choice is to breastfeed. We need to recognise and not stigmatise people who cannot breastfeed their babies for whatever reason.

There is strong evidence that breastfeeding reduces children’s risk of gut, chest and ear infections, which was interesting to read, and leads to a small but significant improvement in brain development. Rachael Hamilton said that we need to remember that breastfeeding also benefits mothers’ health. We have strong evidence that it reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and it is worth repeating that it can reduce type 2 diabetes and promote maternal healthy weight, as Clare Haughey mentioned.

The benefits of breastfeeding for the baby and the mother are recognised across the world, including in high-income countries such as Scotland. Improving breastfeeding rates in Scotland would therefore help to improve the health of babies and mothers and reduce inequalities in health. It is welcome that the Scottish Government is committed to making Scotland a breastfeeding friendly place for all. That means focusing interventions to target areas of inequality. It is worth repeating that increases in breastfeeding over the past 10 years have been greatest in groups with low rates historically, such as young women and those living in the most deprived areas.

The latest infant feeding statistics show a continued narrowing of the breastfeeding inequalities gap, and the additional investment has been both targeted and based on best evidence regarding what works. Scotland’s infant feeding teams are pivotal in that effort, and the Government will continue to use all means necessary—including Scotland’s baby box, which a few members have mentioned—to normalise breastfeeding in Scotland.

One of the reasons why I was interested in the debate is that, in 2016, I had a staff member who was blatantly criticised and made to feel uncomfortable in a cafe in Dumfries while she was breastfeeding. That was 10 years after the Breastfeeding etc (Scotland) Act 2005 was brought in. I then wrote to all the cafes and restaurants across Dumfries and Galloway to ask whether they knew about the breastfeeding friendly scheme and whether they would participate in it.

I received some responses, and some of them were positive. The chief executive of NHS Dumfries and Galloway—Jeff Ace, at that time—launched a scheme at Threave gardens in Castle Douglas to widen and raise awareness about the breastfeeding friendly scheme in Dumfries and Galloway. After today’s debate, I will follow up with the businesses across Dumfries and Galloway to find out whether they continue to participate in the scheme and whether they are promoting it.

Finally, I ask the minister to continue to do all that she can to encourage businesses to become breastfeeding friendly and to encourage mothers to breastfeed.

Since the announcement of the changes to legislation in relation to XL bullies in England, we have seen reports of people bringing XL bullies to Scotland, including examples of XL bully puppies being abandoned on the Scottish side of the border. Can the minister give an assurance that any legislation in Scotland will include the principles of animal welfare and that the Government is working with animal welfare organisations to ensure that any dogs that have been brought to Scotland are properly looked after and dealt with?

To ask the First Minister, in light of reported concerns regarding food labelling being a devolved matter, what the Scottish Government’s position is on what impact the United Kingdom Government’s reported plans to roll out “not for EU” labelling on food and drink products across the whole of the UK could have on Scotland’s food and drink industry. (S6F-02729)

I agree with the First Minister about the impact and the harm that the plans will cause many Scottish food and drink businesses. Does the First Minister also agree that, although the labelling may be needed for goods that are being traded with Northern Ireland, there is no rationale for it in relation to trade with other countries? Has the Westminster Government shared why it intends to impose the regime?