Chamber and committees

I thank Paul Sweeney for securing a debate on such an important matter.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak about a proposal that will have huge adverse consequences for the east end of Glasgow. Like many local residents, I am bitterly disappointed and frustrated over the fashion in which Glasgow’s McVitie’s factory has been pushed towards closure at the expense of so many jobs. First and foremost, my thoughts are with the workers and their families at this difficult time.

I pay tribute to the efforts that have been made by the many public figures, organisations and individuals across our communities who have come together to fight for the McVitie’s jobs in Glasgow. In particular, I would like to thank the members of the save our jobs McVitie’s Tollcross campaign, who, thanks to the sheer determination of their campaigning, attracted almost 80,000 signatures in support of saving the factory.

Despite the bitterly disappointing outcome, the efforts to leave no stone unturned in saving the jobs have been truly remarkable. However, more can still be done.

In this debate, we are talking about 500 individuals, and I want to concentrate on them. I will happily have a conversation with the member about the issue that she raises after the debate.

I know that my colleagues in the Glasgow Conservatives, including Councillor Thomas Kerr, have campaigned tirelessly, alongside their Labour and Scottish National Party counterparts, to champion the McVitie’s workers in the face of Pladis’s decision.

I share the anger of so many people about the fact that Pladis appears to be determined to press ahead with the closure of the Tollcross factory, which will result in the loss of almost 500 jobs. For too long, the company has failed to fully support the site. The proposed closure is the final blow to the workforce. The impact that it will have on the workers, their families and the local community cannot be overstated.

Generations of workers in the local area and beyond have helped to bring success to a historic manufacturing institution in Glasgow. More recently, workers have gone the extra mile by continuing to manufacture, despite the difficult circumstances that the Covid pandemic has brought. For the factory to close in such a fashion is a true blow to the local community and the whole of Glasgow. It is a slap in the face to a loyal and highly dedicated workforce.

Sadly, the public health emergency that is presented by the virus is still unfolding. Given that we face one of the biggest economic challenges in our lifetime, the need to secure Glasgow’s and Scotland’s economic recovery has never been more urgent. Many Glaswegians have been forced into financial hardship over the past 18 months, and we are supposed to be looking ahead to a new period of promising economic recovery. The loss of the highly valued jobs at the Tollcross factory is certainly not the start of the economic recovery from Covid that Glasgow needs. In addition, the major retailer Tesco Extra Parkhead, which is also in the east end of the city, has signalled that it might have to downsize, which could lead to further disruption of jobs and livelihoods in the local area.

I fully expect the parties involved to explore every avenue to protect as many jobs as possible. What matters now is that those who face the prospect of redundancy get the right support. I urge the Scottish Government to step up and to commit to making that the case.

The news that eight health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, are in the top 20 Covid hotspots across Europe is concerning. Although we are all thankful that the vaccination programme has been an incredible Scottish and UK success story, it has been revealed that just four in 10 people who downloaded the app are still using it. Given the latest World Health Organization statistics on the prevalence of the virus in Scotland, does the First Minister agree that those test and protect figures are unacceptable? If so, what further measures is her Government taking to promote the app’s use at every turn?

I, too, was at the memorial in Glasgow last Friday, and I, too, could see the hurt, anger and frustration that was on display from those who have tragically lost loved ones. I would also like to send my condolences to those who have been affected.

As the minister has noted, the widespread availability of fake or street Valium continues to have a devastating effect on the victims of drugs, with benzodiazepines involved in a staggering 73 per cent of all Scottish drug deaths in 2020. Now, there is a worrying suggestion of a correlation between street Valium related drug deaths and the introduction of minimum unit pricing for alcohol. Will the minister commit to a review to discover whether there is a clear link?

Figures last week showed that test and protect is failing to meet the World Health Organization’s target of 80 per cent of cases being closed within 72 hours. Following that, it was revealed that the SNP has moved the goalposts by dramatically cutting the test and protect interview script after failing to pre-emptively recruit more staff in anticipation of a surge in cases.

The First Minister has repeatedly mentioned the WHO benchmark when questioned about the system’s performance. Those figures must now act as a wake-up call, so how will the Government guarantee that test and protect will operate as effectively as it can, without cutting corners?

I thank the minister for her statement. She has shared deeply distressing news with the Parliament. My heart goes out to the family of the woman who has tragically lost her life, and to all the women affected. As the minister said, many women will be concerned after today’s revelations, and I echo her statement that anyone concerned should contact Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust.

The minister mentioned 500 women who had hysterectomies before 1997, and that those are recorded in an older part of the medical record system. How long will it take for a full review into the records, and has any of that already been completed?

I have no relevant interests to declare.

At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, when a new crisis threatened to engulf the globe, Conservative members of the Scottish Parliament supported the Scottish Government’s emergency powers as a necessary and justified response to protect public health. Sixteen months later, I am unconvinced by the case that the cabinet secretary has put forward on the necessity of an urgent extension to the emergency powers beyond 30 September.

I want to put to one side for a moment the content of the bill and look at the nature of the way in which it has been brought before the Parliament. In the final week before recess, as the term draws to a close, the bill is being rushed through at incredibly short notice, with little time being allocated for scrutiny or debate. We have been provided with only three parliamentary days to debate a bill that, if it is passed, could result in emergency Covid legislation staying with us until September 2022. It is no wonder that several organisations, such as Inclusion Scotland and Amnesty International UK, have raised concerns with the Scottish Government, particularly over the lack of formal consultation on the bill. I share those concerns.

As my colleague Murdo Fraser highlighted, there would have been ample time during the summer recess for a proper consultation with the relevant stakeholders who will be impacted by the emergency legislation. We could then all have worked together on a cross-party basis to consider any new legislation in September, after Parliament had returned from the summer recess on 31 August. However, as I mentioned, the Government has insisted on rushing the bill through Parliament by the end of the week, thereby extending its wide-ranging powers, which is alarming.

The bill before us is not the only recent example of the Government’s seeking to frustrate the ability of MSPs to properly scrutinise its actions.

They are protected just now until 30 September. We are saying that now is not the time to debate the legislation because no consultation is taking place.

Only last week, it was revealed that the SNP Government had agreed the Manchester and Salford travel ban on Thursday morning and—notwithstanding the cabinet secretary’s remarks about emails—the First Minister announced it only on Friday. The SNP failed to come before Parliament to justify its decision, despite Thursday being a sitting day.

As parliamentarians who are elected to represent our constituents, it is our duty to hold the Scottish Government to account by robustly scrutinising in the chamber its decision making. That process is a healthy and essential part of our democracy, and the Scottish Government’s conduct in recent weeks in that regard has regrettably fallen far short.

As I said in the chamber a fortnight ago, the SNP’s case for why the powers must be extended is weak, and that remains true today. As such, the Scottish Conservatives will oppose the extension of the emergency powers.

There will be time to get the legislation through and to gain royal assent.