It is unclear how the required improvements to urgent and unscheduled care at NHS Forth Valley will take place, and the picture on psychological therapies and children’s mental health is extremely challenging. What improvements have been made and what action can be taken to ensure that patients are given the care that they require?

Will the cabinet secretary inform us when he first learned about the funding issues? Will he be transparent regarding the content of the application, by ensuring that it is published in full? Does he agree that Creative Scotland should urgently review all decision-making processes for funding applications?

You talked about the friction that has occurred. There has continued to be friction in the sector. There has even been a call to arms in the agriculture sector to stand up and shout the case. There have been demonstrations and protests, and all that has put the sector into a slightly different vein with regard to managing and engaging with policy makers or decision makers. That has been challenging for you, but you have also wanted to be heard, and it is important that you are.

You have outlined the challenges that you all face and the difference between where you are now compared to where you were or might have been. There was huge speculation at the beginning about where we would go and what would happen.

Your organisations have been tremendously resilient as you have managed that potential crisis and averted some of the other crises that might have happened during the process. My feeling from what you have said today is that we are in a slightly better place than where we could have been, but that we are still nowhere near where we want to be, and that we are trying to balance that.

From what QMS has said, it seems that larger organisations managed to be more resilient but smaller ones were captured in the crossfire of it all. Has change now started to materialise or have we lost the small people completely? Have they managed to survive, or have they been taken over by other organisations? It would be useful to hear how the sector is working.

Mr Hall spoke about the potential decimation of farming. We know that the future of the soft fruit and vegetables sector presents major issues. What measures are still required to ensure that inroads continue to be made and that the sector can thrive? We all want that to happen; we do not want to hear that those crops are not being processed or picked. We need to find solutions to those problems. It would be good to get a flavour of your views on that.

I thank Keith Brown for bringing to the chamber this important debate to welcome the launch of the winning students 100 programme.

Scotland has long been a nation that has punched above its weight when it comes to sporting success. As well as having a rich pool of sporting talent, Scotland enjoys success that has been due in no small part to the support that athletes have received throughout their careers. Stirling university needs to be commended for, and congratulated on, its achievements.

For an example, we can look at the individuals who came from the previous winning students programme, which was launched back in 2008 and funded by the Scottish Funding Council. Some of the athletes who were supported by the programme are now, as we have heard, Olympic medallists and household names, such as Laura Muir and Duncan Scott.

The years that an athlete spends at university are an important opportunity for them to take part in their sport and take it to the next level. Those athletes face the challenge of combining their studies with their training and competitive programmes, so a balance needs to be struck. As we have heard, the winning students 100 programme provides students with grants of up to £3,000. However, the programme also provides much-needed academic flexibility for students, which allows them to train to the very best of their ability. The new winning students 100 programme has already awarded 106 scholarships across 28 different sports, including athletics, fencing, diving, hockey, rowing and triathlon.

As Scotland’s university for sporting excellence, it is only appropriate that Stirling university manages that programme, and that is a real feather in its cap. As we have heard, Stirling university is the jewel in the crown, and I certainly second that.

In the current economic climate, such programmes have a major impact. We know that, while Scotland has first-class sporting facilities, some of those are at risk across local authorities, and that needs to be talked about. Of course, universities play an important role in providing high-quality sports facilities, and I welcome the fact that Stirling has a new £20 million sports centre, which was opened back in 2020. For many councils and communities, however, swimming pools, leisure centres and athletics tracks are at risk. In order for Scotland to keep its reputation as a leading sports nation, it is vitally important that young athletes have access to world-class facilities across the country. However, in the current climate, there are real difficulties in that respect.

The winning students programme 100 is, therefore, needed to provide support. As I said, I would be the first to congratulate and commend everyone who is involved in it, because it produces world-class athletes for Scotland. Scotland has long been a sporting nation with an excellent reputation, and such programmes are key to maintaining that reputation in the future. I have no doubt that the 500 scholarships that will be awarded through the programme up to 2028 will lead to countless amazing sporting achievements.

I thank all those from the University of Stirling who have dedicated their time, commitment and passion to supporting those young individuals in their programmes. I wish all those talented athletes the success that they deserve, and I am sure that they will see many benefits from the programme as they go forward in the years to come.

I am pleased to open the debate on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, although it is disappointing that the Government has chosen to waste parliamentary time by debating today’s farcical motion.

This is not the first time that that has happened this year. Only two weeks ago, the Parliament was debating hypothetical social security powers in a hypothetical independent Scotland. Anyone viewing today’s proceedings could be forgiven for thinking that Scottish Parliament TV has started showing repeats.

In the light of the motion that has been lodged today—

Thank you, Presiding Officer.

The SNP Government is clearly willing to continue the same old narrative week after week. Taking such an approach is within its gift—we know that it can do that, and it chooses to do it. However, members on the Conservative benches will continue to call out this Government’s abandonment of its duties and the communities that we represent. It is time for the SNP Government to end the grandstanding and the manufactured grievance, and to start using its powers to work towards delivering the Scotland that the public really want, and start delivering on their priorities. That is what our communities and our constituents want.

I move amendment S6M-12372.1, to leave out from “Scotland” to end and insert:

“the Scottish Government should accept the will of the people of Scotland as expressed in the clear and decisive result of the 2014 independence referendum, and calls on the Scottish Government to focus on Scotland’s real priorities, such as growing the economy, reducing NHS waiting times and violent crime, and improving education standards and public services.”

There are many views and the situation is dire. We have to admit that. I want to see progress on a resolution to things and to see a two-state situation in that part of the world. There are attempts to achieve that. Even today, discussions are taking place in other parts of the middle east to try to create a ceasefire, and I look forward to that happening in the future.

Given the Scottish Government’s approach to today’s debate, it seems that it is trying to cloud the picture by arguing that Scotland would be better off on its own. However, we know that the financial broad shoulders of the United Kingdom ensure that we have a stable, responsible and properly managed situation. The Scottish Government’s idea of taking a constructive approach has involved it releasing yet another taxpayer-funded independence brochure. The publication of “An independent Scotland’s place in the world” represents the 11th time in the past two years that the SNP has chosen—scandalously—to waste the time of civil servants and the money of Scottish taxpayers, who are paying for this. It is unbelievable that we are putting all that time, effort and money into something that is hypothetical and that the people of Scotland do not wish to see. [Interruption.]

The paper talks about the importance of “security, wellbeing and prosperity” despite the fact that none of these things has even the slightest thing to do with Scottish independence. [Interruption.] The SNP Government is clearly willing to continue its same old narrative week after week—

I will take some time before I take an intervention; I might take one later.

My amendment calls for the Government to put a stop to the continuous grandstanding based on constitutional grievances, which is where we have been and where we are again today. My amendment calls for the Government to stop engineering a farcical politics based on non-existent powers in a non-existent future. It calls on the Scottish Government instead to focus on the powers that it already has—the powers to fix Scotland’s national health service and to restore our once world-leading education system. Many people in Scotland wish to see those things prioritised and do not wish to see continuing debates of this nature.

However, all too often, it appears that those are not the interests of the individuals with the power. We need only to take a look at the motion for evidence of that. In it, the Government attempts to speak about the “interests of” the Scottish people. It is a shame that the Government appears to have no idea what those interests really are. I would hazard a guess that few people are concerned about Scottish independence at this time, and that many people are concerned about our schools and how they are performing. When it comes to Scotland’s schools, it is hardly surprising that the SNP would rather talk about its constitutional issues and wish lists than deal with the issues that directly affect people.

For example, it is opportunistic for the SNP to talk about constitutional issues; it is doing so because it does not want to talk about the record low programme for international student assessment—PISA—scores, the continued violence against teachers in our classrooms or the continued failure to close the attainment gap between Scotland’s richest and poorest pupils. Those are all situations and circumstances that we should be discussing in Parliament. We should be focusing on those things, rather than on ideas about the possibilities of things that could happen in the future, when the reality is that people across this country do not wish to see that.

Even on today’s subject, “Scotland’s place in the world”, the SNP is not interested in having an honest debate. International relations is very much a matter reserved to the United Kingdom Government, and the Scottish Government knows that. Scotland’s place in the world is best served by working constructively within that framework, rather than continually wishing that that framework did not exist.

The UK is the fifth largest contributor of foreign aid in the world and it was a founding member of the United Nations. It can truly be proud of its reputation on the world stage, because many countries have received and still receive UK support for international development projects. Around the globe, the United Kingdom has done massive work to support projects and is involved in many organisations, which recognise the strength of the United Kingdom. It is just a problem and a shame that the Scottish Government does not.

As part of the UK, Scotland is a key player in one of the most influential countries in the world, both economically and culturally. Seemingly, however, the SNP would rather leave all of that behind. We have just heard the cabinet secretary try to convince us that an independent Scotland would have more influence on the world stage, and not less. That is fantasy politics indeed. The truth is that maximising Scotland’s place in the world depends on the SNP working constructively with its counterparts in the United Kingdom.

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate and I congratulate Paul Sweeney on securing it.

Like other members, I have been a great supporter of Marie Curie for many years. Everyone deserves to get the right care and support at the end of life, and Marie Curie tirelessly shows compassion across all parts of Scotland, including in my Mid Scotland and Fife region. The amazing work that it does shows its full commitment.

As the motion notes, the great daffodil appeal is a phenomenal success for the charity. We are all wearing the emblem this afternoon, and Marie Curie is to be commended for the fact that it is recognised by so many individuals and organisations.

Marie Curie is the largest provider of palliative and end-of-life care in Scotland and across the United Kingdom. Last March, I, like many others, supported the Marie Curie fundraising appeal at an event in the Parliament. I met once again the staff and some of the volunteers who give their time and their talents to support and care for people who are living with a terminal illness, and also their families and the carers who support them. I heard—we have heard this today as well—that over 8,000 terminally ill people across Scotland were supported in their homes or in the hospices in 2021-22. Sadly, it looks like the figures will continue to increase. As Paul Sweeney commented, there is a massive increase in the elderly population and in the number of individuals who require care.

In my area, the charity’s community nursing service made over 250 visits in Stirling and Clackmannanshire alone to support people in their homes. Back in December 2019, Marie Curie published a press release highlighting that by 2040, if current trends continue, two thirds of Scots will die at home, in a care home or in a hospice. The research by Marie Curie, the University of Edinburgh and King’s College London also warned that, without radical investment in community health and social care services to ensure that individuals are supported, there will be a continual rise in the number of people who die in hospital. We want to alleviate that. I hope that the minister will mention that when she sums up.

We need to ensure that Marie Curie nurses will be able to support everyone in Scotland who needs them. We have heard today about the difficulties that we face in funding pay awards and the difficulties due to the cost of living, which is affecting each and every one of us. Marie Curie has to raise about £250,000 a week to deliver its incredible work and cover front-line services. The fact that it does so is a major achievement for which it should be commended.

I look forward to hearing from other members and from the minister. It is vital that Marie Curie can achieve what it wants to, ensuring that individuals have the peaceful and pain-free death that we all deserve and supporting those who are affected by bereavement following deaths from cancer.