Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Official Report 946KB pdf

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Commonwealth Day 2018

Good afternoon. The first item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S5M-10573, in the name of Stuart McMillan, on Commonwealth day 2018. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament welcomes the theme for Commonwealth Day 2018, which is Towards a Common Future; acknowledges the work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s (CPA) British Islands and Mediterranean Region to strengthen its role within the association; congratulates Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians on its efforts to increase female representation in Commonwealth legislatures and towards the mainstreaming of gender considerations in all CPA activities and programmes, and notes the hope that the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in April 2018 will achieve its aims to reaffirm common values, address shared global challenges and agree how to work to create a better future for all citizens in the Commonwealth, particularly young people.

13:15  

Commonwealth day 2018 marks 41 years since the first simultaneously observed Commonwealth day was celebrated in 1977. It is important to note that there has been cross-party support for the motion, and I would like to thank every member who has supported it.

This year, we have events in Scotland to celebrate Commonwealth day. The upcoming Commonwealth games, which will be held from 4 to 15 April on the Gold Coast of Australia, will be the largest integrated sports programme in Commonwealth games history. I had the privilege of meeting two of team Scotland’s hockey athletes at the Greenock Morton community open day on Sunday. I wished them well and I wish all the athletes well for the games, particularly all those from team Scotland.

Here in Scotland, 2018 also marks the year of young people, which I am sure members would agree dovetails quite nicely with Commonwealth day. Since its founding in 1977, Commonwealth day has had a special emphasis on young people. Its main purpose is to highlight the common ties and history of the 53 countries and territories from right across the world that make up the Commonwealth. It is always celebrated on the second Monday in March, because leaders at the time of its founding noted that that was a day when most schools would be in session. That gives students and young people the opportunity to participate by planning events such as mini Commonwealth games, simulated heads of Government meetings, and other events that celebrate the diverse culture of Commonwealth member nations and territories.

This year’s theme is towards a common future, which builds on last year’s theme of a peace-building Commonwealth. The theme seeks to explore how the Commonwealth can address global challenges and work to create a better future for all citizens through sub-themes of sustainability, safety, prosperity and fairness, in line with the theme of the 2018 Commonwealth heads of Government meeting in London. The events will include performances and faith and civic gatherings involving citizens from all over the Commonwealth. There was even a procession including young flag bearers representing each of the 53 nations and territories.

According to the Commonwealth organisation facts, the Commonwealth comprises 2.4 billion citizens, of which 60 per cent are aged 29 or younger. That is an extremely young population. Moreover, one in three young people aged between 15 and 29 lives in Commonwealth countries, which is about 640 million out of 1.8 billion. Huge emphasis is placed on cultivating and shining a spotlight on the impressive talent of our young people in the Commonwealth, be it in sports, academia, politics or the arts. In the charter of the Commonwealth, there is a dedicated section affirming the importance of young people. It explicitly states:

“The future success of the Commonwealth rests with the continued commitment and contributions of young people in promoting and sustaining the Commonwealth and its values and principles, and we commit to investing in and promoting their development, particularly through the creation of opportunities for youth employment and entrepreneurship.”

Those powerful words echo similar sentiments that are expressed through the themed year of young people here in Scotland.

Some of my constituents in Inverclyde participate in the Inverclyde-Malawi schools partnership, which connects our schools with schools in the Chiradzulu district of Malawi. The Inverclyde partner schools supported various projects and built strong partnerships with students in Malawi. Our young people are the future, and, by creating those connections through our Commonwealth link, a strong bond is formed, with the potential to create long-lasting positive outcomes for the futures of Malawi and Scotland. The bonds that our young people make help to form the future that we want to move towards as part of the Commonwealth.

The Queen, in her annual message ahead of Commonwealth day, said:

“Through exchanging ideas, and seeing life from other perspectives, we grow in understanding and work more collaboratively towards a common future.”

Exchanging ideas and understanding perspectives are key, especially at a time when the future can be uncertain. The values and aspirations of the Commonwealth charter, which include democracy, human rights and the rule of law, along with the commitment to the development of free states and the promotion of peace and prosperity, become crucial as the guiding principles for the family of Commonwealth nations. By celebrating Commonwealth day every year, we reaffirm our links, our commitments and our values and aspirations, and we pledge to work towards a more positive common future.

As we mark Commonwealth day here in Scotland and the Scottish Parliament, let us look forward to what we can build together as part of the Commonwealth by recognising our current bonds and fostering new ones through our young people. The 53 nations and territories cannot achieve their goals alone, but, with collaboration, we can work to deliver shared ideals and common goals. I look forward to seeing the future that we create together with the other Commonwealth nations and territories. I wish all 53 nations and territories a happy and productive Commonwealth day.

13:21  

I congratulate my colleague Stuart McMillan on securing this debate to mark Commonwealth day 2018. Scotland’s ties with other Commonwealth countries are well known. Whether it is the names of our towns and cities echoed in those of other settlements across the world or our widespread diaspora, there is scarcely a corner of the Commonwealth, or indeed the globe, without a Scottish connection. My only uncle, William Arthur, was one of many Scots who, in the 1960s, seized on the opportunity of cheap transit to Australia as part of the assisted passage migration scheme, making him one of the tens of thousands of £10 poms. Willie, as he was known, spent 18 years in Australia, working and starting a family before returning to Barrhead in the early 1980s. Consequently, I am one of the many Scots to have first cousins in Australia who can regularly be seen enjoying days of endless sun on pristine beaches in smug, self-satisfied Facebook posts.

As I have spoken of Australians, I must mention two who have made a big impact on my life. The first was the piano teacher Elisabeth Jacobs, whom I had the privilege of studying under during my late teens and early 20s. Elisabeth returned to Australia a decade ago but, in her more than 20 years in Scotland, she was highly sought after as a teacher at the then Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and as a private tutor. Given that many of her students are currently active as professional musicians across Scotland, Elisabeth Jacobs has left a formidable legacy, which is brilliantly embodied in the now world-class Scottish international piano competition, which she was instrumental in founding.

I also wish to recognise Dr Jane Stanley, who is a senior lecturer in music at the University of Glasgow and a highly regarded composer. I had the privilege of completing my postgraduate degree under Dr Stanley, and her teaching made a huge impact on my understanding of music and compositional craft.

I highlight Elisabeth Jacobs and Dr Stanley not only because of my personal connection to them but because they are two outstanding Commonwealth women who have succeeded brilliantly in the realm of classical or art music, a domain that for far too long had been male dominated.

Given the size of the Commonwealth, it will not have escaped members’ notice that I have focused exclusively on Australians. However, there is a simple reason for that—a constituency-based reason, no less—which is that Johnstone in my constituency of Renfrewshire South is the birthplace of Sir George Houstoun Reid, who was Australia’s first high commissioner to the United Kingdom, as well as being Australia’s fourth Prime Minister. This year marks the centenary of Sir George’s death and, although he may not be a household name today, he was a significant figure in his time. In an age when debates raged on the merits of free trade or protectionist policies—plus ça change—Sir George was a committed free trader and the most prominent leader of the Australian Free Trade Party.

As he was a key player in the major political debates of his era in Australia, as well as a Prime Minister and the first high commissioner to the UK, one would be forgiving for thinking that those achievements represented the total of Reid’s career. However, following his tenure as Australia’s top diplomat to the United Kingdom, he went on to be elected to the House of Commons, where he served for the last two years of his life and acted as an unofficial spokesperson for the dominions during the first world war.

The story of Sir George Houstoun Reid, who was born in Johnstone in my constituency, encapsulates the interconnectedness, shared values and identity that characterise the Commonwealth. It is an institution that demonstrates that nations with complicated, and sometimes challenging, past relationships can come together and collaborate as equal partners. The lesson that we can all learn from that has never been more relevant.

13:25  

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the Parliament’s annual debate on Commonwealth day, for which this year the theme is towards a common future. I thank Stuart McMillan for lodging the motion.

The Commonwealth is one of the world’s oldest political associations of states. As Stuart McMillan said, today it comprises 53 independent countries and is home to a staggering 2.4 billion people. In 1949, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association was established to support Commonwealth parliamentarians. The Commonwealth women parliamentarians group was formed in 1989 and strives to achieve, in particular, better representation of women in legislatures. More generally, it seeks to promote, and has succeeded in, the furtherance of gender equality. Furthermore, the Commonwealth charter of 2013 states:

“We recognise that gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential components of human development and basic human rights.”

With this year’s towards a common future theme in mind, it is clear that gender equality is recognised as being in the interests of all in the Commonwealth, as it is necessary for it to develop and progress.

The CWP’s strategy for 2017 to 2019 focuses on thematic priorities, which include ending violence against women, women’s economic empowerment and women in leadership. The establishment of the strategic plan has two main objectives, namely to increase awareness of the existence and work of the CWP and to create a resource centre as a hub for information that can serve as an important resource to help tackle the CWP’s thematic priorities.

When the British Islands and Mediterranean region CWP steering group committee met in London in October last year, members had the pleasure of meeting the girls network, which is a mentoring organisation for young people that aims to inspire and empower girls from the least advantaged communities. During the discussion with the girls, the committee members explored issues such as culture and stereotyping, which can be barriers to achieving ambitions. Many of the girls said that their mothers had been denied the educational opportunities to reach their potential and that they were therefore determined that their daughters would not suffer the same fate. It was hoped that meeting the women parliamentarians would help to give the girls more confidence and motivation to achieve their goals and help the girls realise, “If they can do it, we can do it too”.

I want to touch briefly on online abuse, which has increased with the rise of social media. The subject was raised at the CWP international working group meeting that was held at Wilton Park in Buckinghamshire at the beginning of last year. It was recognised that women parliamentarians need to share knowledge and learn lessons to address the abuse that they are subjected to by anonymous individuals who are not prepared to engage face to face. A good example of such work can be found in Parliamentarians for Global Action, which is a non-profit, non-partisan network of 14,000 legislators in 140 countries. It is crucial that parliamentarians continue to work together to counter abuse against women and young girls, in whatever form that takes, as we move together towards a common future.

I apologise to you, Ms Mitchell, because the clock was not working for your speech. Nevertheless, you kept to time. There’s a trooper.

13:30  

Like colleagues, I am pleased to speak in the debate as well as to be a member of the CPA Scotland branch’s executive. I thank Stuart McMillan for bringing the debate to Parliament.

Since its inception in 2000, the CPA Scotland branch has continued to grow, and has built on existing links, established new ones and strengthened its role within the association. I take the opportunity to thank the staff in the Parliament’s United Kingdom and international relations office—in particular, CPA Scotland branch secretary Margaret Neal—for their work in supporting elected members.

One of our many areas of work has been the relationship between Scotland and Malawi, which Stuart McMillan mentioned. I was fortunate to lead a delegation to Malawi a few years ago to visit projects, provide seminars for members of the Malawian Parliament and expand our knowledge. Some of the projects that I visited were under the auspices of the healthy lifestyle project that is based in Coatbridge high school, which does fantastic engagement work in Malawi and at home.

A priority in recent years, which is even more to the forefront in this centenary year of votes for some women, has been the work by the Commonwealth women parliamentarians to support and to encourage increasing women’s representation and gender equality, as Margaret Mitchell outlined a moment ago. Margaret Mitchell is, of course, our representative on the CWP and has worked hard both to ensure that our branch offers input, and to report back on activities. We are ahead of other branches in having appointed a male champion—Maurice Corry—of women’s representation.

Building on last year’s theme of a peace-building Commonwealth, this year’s theme considers how we can address global challenges and work to create a better future for all citizens through sub-themes of sustainability, safety, prosperity and fairness.

On prosperity and fairness, global inequality has increased in recent years. Oxfam’s most recent report, “Reward Work, Not Wealth” tells us that

“In the period between 2006 and 2015, ordinary workers saw their incomes rise by an average of just 2% a year, while billionaire wealth rose by nearly 13%”.

It seems, therefore, that the extreme wealth of the few is rising while those at the bottom are still struggling to survive.

Oxfam’s report also points out that

“Even in emerging countries with rapid economic growth, many workers, including a disproportionately large share of women, remain trapped in low pay and poverty wages.”

That shows us that economic growth and the trade and investment that give rise to it do not, in themselves, guarantee that living standards for the worst-off Commonwealth citizens will improve. With the Commonwealth being home to around a third of the world’s population, many of whom live in developing economies, it is important that we use our common ties and shared commitment to justice and fairness to work quickly towards the goal of building domestic and international economies that reduce inequality, and function for the benefit of ordinary people.

I was recently in Bangladesh for the CPA executive meeting and the 63rd Commonwealth plenary conference. That was an interesting experience. Commonwealth parliamentarians who attended the conference were given a briefing by His Excellency Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the Honourable Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, on the Rohingya humanitarian crisis. Following that briefing, parliamentarians from many countries called for urgent action from the international community to resolve the continuing humanitarian crisis that faces the Rohingya community in Bangladesh. The CPA Malta branch proposed the adoption of a statement on the matter, and a CPA position was adopted by consensus. I would have read it out, but I do not have time.

I thank members who have put themselves forward to attend events and seminars not only to share our knowledge and experience, but to learn from parliamentarians from throughout the Commonwealth. However, engagement is becoming more difficult, as members find it hard to be away from Parliament because of votes. The Presiding Officer is the branch president and the First Minister and leader of the Opposition are the vice-presidents, so I am sure that they take seriously the branch’s ability to participate in important CPA work. I ask the business managers and the Parliamentary Bureau to consider ways to ensure that our branch can fully participate in the CPA’s work, including attendance at executive committee meetings.

It is the year of young people in Scotland, so I thought that I would finish by quoting the Honourable Emilia Lifaka, a member of the Cameroon Parliament, who was recently elected CPA chairperson. She said:

“Over one billion young people hold the key to unlocking the challenges that we face—beyond our respective borders. The CPA and the Commonwealth are truly global organisations.”

I thank Stuart McMillan again and wish everyone a happy Commonwealth day 2018.

I am sure that Elaine Smith’s business manager heard what she said. It is up to members to raise with their business managers issues such as whether there can be a pairing system for parliamentary votes.

13:35  

I, too, thank Stuart McMillan for ensuring that we can have the debate. I particularly want to thank Joan McAlpine, Tom MacArthur and Maurice Corry for being here. The other members who are here are—dare I say it?—hired hands, to some extent. I want to acknowledge colleagues from different parties who speak—at least, I assume that they are going to speak—in this afternoon’s brief debate on Commonwealth day.

I must confess that, of late, I have often asked myself whether the Commonwealth is still relevant. One of my political heroes, Shirley Williams, sorted that out for me on the “Today” programme the other morning. In a typically brilliant interview, she took John Humphrys apart as only Shirley Williams could. As you would expect, she made some strong arguments against Brexit, but she also spoke strongly in favour of the Commonwealth, and argued for its relevance to the nations of the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom as a whole, in an entirely cogent way that I have not heard for some considerable time. We need more of that, and I will outline why.

I sometimes think that our CPA branch would need to experience a crisis of some sort before colleagues from across the political spectrum would rush to our meetings. However, there has been huge change, particularly in Africa. At the last branch meeting, I talked to John Davies, a very able diplomat, who is the new CPA chief executive in London. It is good to have him on board. We spoke about the regime change in Zimbabwe and what it means for the Commonwealth, and about the positive role that the CPA can play in assisting the country through a period of change.

We also talked about the regime change in South Africa, which is in some ways even more extraordinary, with the disgraced President Zuma departing and being replaced by President Ramaphosa, who has an utterly fascinating and enthralling background in the pre-apartheid and post-apartheid eras. We discussed what that could mean for the Commonwealth, and in particular for Africa, in terms of the role that it plays in the Commonwealth.

It is also exciting to learn that Gambia has re-entered the Commonwealth. Further, among all the process stuff that we deal with in the CPA day in and day out, it is good to hear the good news that Canada and Australia—part of the old Commonwealth—have rejoined the organisation, which will give it much-needed strength and resilience.

I want to make three points about why the Commonwealth is relevant to us here in Edinburgh and Scotland. The first reason concerns the role that we can play, which Stuart McMillan and others have mentioned, and which Elaine Smith talked about through her example of the work that the delegations to Malawi that she and colleagues from across the political spectrum have been involved with. That work has taken place not only in the previous session; it goes right back to the early sessions of the Scottish Parliament. We have looked at what we can add in that regard and how not only members but—just as important—committee clerks can help with how their part of parliamentary process can work. We should continue to do that, but we have to be realistic about what we can achieve.

The second reason concerns what we can do to encourage colleagues from across the political spectrum to take up the opportunities to meet political colleagues from various jurisdictions across the world. We should not be frightened of the attention that we might get simply because we have jumped on a plane to Ottawa, because the benefits greatly outweigh the disadvantages of making that kind of visit. We return with knowledge about other jurisdictions and the problems that they have, in contrast to our own fairly smooth-running operation, and we can see the things that can be commended in our system—although, having sat through last night’s meeting of the Finance and Constitution Committee as it considered the withdrawal bill, I am beginning to wonder about that.

I take Elaine Smith’s point about sorting out party whipping so that we can encourage more colleagues to take part in such visits, particularly colleagues from the governing party—there are always difficulties with the governing party allowing its back benchers to miss votes and so on.

On the third reason, it is right to mention Maurice Corry’s role as our CPA women’s champion. As Elaine Smith pointed out, we were one of the early legislatures to have such a post. It is a good step to have taken. I am sure that Maurice Corry will be an admirable advocate in that role, and we strongly support him in it.

We should make much of Commonwealth day, but we should never be frightened of challenging the first principles of why the Commonwealth is relevant in the 21st century and of occasionally resting on a few old political heroes, like Shirley Williams.

13:39  

I thank Tavish Scott for his very kind words. I am deeply honoured to undertake the role.

I, too, thank Stuart McMillan for bringing the debate to Parliament today. It is an excellent day to have the debate. Commonwealth day means so much to many of us, and members will express why that is throughout the debate.

I welcome the opportunity to speak today to celebrate the great partnership that is the Commonwealth of nations. Through that network of nations of shared common values, we have been able to develop strong and cherished connections. Throughout history, the support between Commonwealth nations has been crucial. In world war one, members played a crucial part in contributing to the British war effort, participating on all fronts. In world war two, more than 8 million men from the Commonwealth served in the British armed forces, continuing their role in supporting Great Britain in times of war, conflict and need. I encourage members to go and visit their local war memorials in their villages, towns and cities to see just how many Commonwealth men and women served in our forces and paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Commonwealth citizens can apply to serve in the British armed forces, and many do so. The British armed forces face shortages of recruits from the UK, and citizens of the Commonwealth have stepped up to serve. For example, one in 10 members of the Royal Regiment of Scotland—my regiment—was born abroad, with many coming to serve from Fiji, South Africa, New Zealand and Uganda. That system of support is a defining factor of the relationships between the Commonwealth nations.

Each year, we celebrate Commonwealth day before the annual meeting of the Commonwealth summit, which allows member states collaboratively to make decisions that will help all the citizens who are part of the partnership. This year, the summit will, as Margaret Mitchell said, work under the theme “Towards a common future”, which focuses on promoting progress in sustainability, safety, prosperity and fairness.

As a member of the Scotland branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, I have had the opportunity to serve, as we know, as a women’s champion who is a man. Last week, on international’s women’s day, I mentioned that in that role I will advocate gender equality throughout the Commonwealth. Although member states are united under common values and goals, each country is unique and suffers from different problems in varying degrees. All member states face problems in gender equality, which they should constantly strive to address and improve on.

Within the Commonwealth, we have countries that have incredibly progressive gender equality legislation—for example, Rwanda, which has the most women in Parliament in the global community. However, there are also countries where such representation is lacking and no woman holds a seat in Parliament, including Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

By sharing ideas on how to address the inequality that is deeply ingrained in many of our cultures, we can collaborate to find effective ways to create a more equal society. “Towards a common future and towards common progress in creating equality through the Commonwealth”, is the message.

The Commonwealth also allows us to connect and to learn from people whom we might not otherwise have the chance to meet. I recently met two senior officials of the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji. I became acquainted with Jacob Abraham and Sheron Narayan through the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. When they shadowed committees and offices in the Scottish Parliament for two weeks, I discussed with them my involvement in the CPA as the male women’s champion for this Parliament, and other topics to do with the Commonwealth.

That is a demonstration of how the common bond of being part of the Commonwealth can bring together people and facilitate discussion of ideas, issues and different ways of approaching problem solving. Towards a common future, towards sharing ways of thinking and collaboratively working together to achieve our goals: that is the Commonwealth.

On Commonwealth day, there were multifaith events and demonstrations of talent from various member states, with the purpose of bringing us all together and showing that the diversity throughout the Commonwealth should be celebrated. Our differences, although they define each country with unique characteristics, can also be a way to bring us together and to learn from each other—towards a common future, but with acceptance and honour for our differences, because they make us stronger together.

Commonwealth day has kicked off a new year of this exceptional organisation by bringing together nations from around the globe to achieve similar goals. Together, we can create societies that are fairer, with equal opportunities for all. We can create safer communities for the people of the Commonwealth, we can establish sustainable practices for a healthier environment for future generations, and prosperity can be spread among all Commonwealth nations to ensure a positive and successful future.

This is another year for making progress in areas that need improvement and for sustaining good practices that are performing well. On Monday, we celebrated: now, it is time to get to work and to continue making the members of the Commonwealth as strong and influential as possible. I wish a happy Commonwealth day to all.

13:44  

Presiding Officer, I apologise to you and to Mr McMillan for my late arrival. I got the starting time of the debate wrong, as there have been so many changes to business recently.

I congratulate Stuart McMillan on securing today’s debate on Commonwealth day. The contemporary Commonwealth is a unique organisation that enriches our lives, as we have heard from other members. As they have pointed out, the Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 sovereign states that includes some of the world’s largest, smallest, richest and poorest countries. It is unique because, unlike most unions of nations, no one Government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others.

The Commonwealth games is one of the most widely-known facets of the organisation, with nations and territories from all over the Commonwealth, no matter how small, able to compete as equals. With the 2018 games due to start next month on the Gold Coast, it would be remiss of me not to mention the Glasgow games in 2014, at which team Scotland came fourth with a fantastic 19 gold medals.

There is a serious point to be made beyond that simple boast. The lasting legacy of the 2014 games can be seen all over Scotland. We know about the regeneration of Glasgow’s east end but, in areas such as Dumfries and Galloway, legacy funding has been used to enhance many different projects, such as a shared-use path between the town of Dalbeattie and the 7stanes mountain bike centre, as well as allowing Maxwelltown high school in Dumfries to purchase new gym equipment.

The motion rightly welcomes this year’s theme of “Towards a Common Future”, which looks to explore how the Commonwealth, as an entity, can address global challenges and work to create a better future for all of its 2.4 billion citizens through sub-themes of sustainability, safety, prosperity and fairness. The theme is already present in the work of the Scotland Malawi Partnership, which is a great example of the bonds that exist between Commonwealth nations. Across Scotland, the partnership celebrates more than 1,000 civic links between all 73 Holyrood constituencies and Malawi.

Since 2009, Lockerbie academy in Dumfries and Galloway has developed a partnership with Thawale primary school in Malawi. The main aims of the partnership are to develop and sustain the link between the two schools, which is equity-based, educational and mutually beneficial. The partnership touches on all parts of the curriculum, from teaching African drumming and music to looking at human rights in modern studies and learning about David Livingstone in history. The project engages pupils, staff and parents in the wider community in partnership, and it encourages pupils in both schools to be responsible citizens in their local community and to understand that they are citizens of the wider world community.

Examples such as the one in Lockerbie show why the Commonwealth continues to resonate with so many people in Scotland today, and they are why the tone of this afternoon’s debate has been celebratory, as it should be. However, having spoken about the Commonwealth, what it is and how it enriches our culture in Scotland, I want to quickly explore what the Commonwealth is not, which is empire 2.0. It is important not to confuse the modern Commonwealth that we celebrate with a nostalgic yearning for empire. The Commonwealth is a collection of independent nations that have their own interests.

Earlier this year, the UK Government reached out to secure agricultural quotas at the World Trade Organization post-Brexit, and a number of Commonwealth members were first in the line to challenge those. At the Commonwealth leaders summit in London, in April, they will discuss trade, but some advance reports say that the trade adviser has said that they are expected to express support for a strong, rules-based multilateral trading system to explore ways to support implementation of the WTO’s trade facilitation agreement—which, for those who do not know about it, enhances support for small countries to build trading capacity and better participate in trade. It will also launch a Commonwealth trade review that focuses on new technologies such as digital trade and fintech as well as on further reducing trade costs.

It is important to draw attention to the fact that the Commonwealth is powering ahead with its own agenda, notwithstanding the fantastic partnerships that we have here. It is a modern union of equals, and long may that continue.

13:49  

Can I check how long you wish me to speak for, Presiding Officer?

You can speak for seven minutes or until 2 o’clock, when the next part of business calls, but do not feel obliged to speak until then.

I will not feel obliged.

That is not a reflection on your speaking capabilities, by the way.

It is very useful guidance. Thank you, Presiding Officer.

Like everyone else, I welcome this debate to recognise Commonwealth day and thank members for their many contributions. I also thank Stuart McMillan and the Scotland branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association for lodging the motion.

As many members have noted, Commonwealth day was marked on Monday, with celebrations taking place in Commonwealth nations across the globe. The First Minister represented Scotland at the Commonwealth day service at Westminster Abbey, and I participated in a big lunch event arranged by the Scotland Malawi Partnership here in Edinburgh. In that respect, it is important to say that Mr McMillan and Ms McAlpine mentioned some of Scotland’s particular Commonwealth links with Malawi. A simultaneous lunch was held in Lilongwe, in Malawi, and we were delighted to be able to connect with our Malawian partners by videolink and to share food, stories and excellent performances by the Zathu band Girl Effect.

To explain, Zathu is a cultural movement, born in Malawi, which uses the power of music and storytelling to tackle topics that are challenging for young people, such as the gender gap, self-expression and sexual health. That focus on gender and youth will be echoed in many of the events leading up to the Commonwealth heads of Government meeting in London, in April, in which 53 independent countries participate. As Ms McAlpine said, all 53 of them value the independence that they have.

I am pleased to say that Scotland will be represented in much of that activity. As it is the year of young people, I am delighted that Young Scot and the Scottish Youth Parliament will represent Scotland at the Commonwealth young people’s forum in April. Scotland is the first country in the world to dedicate a full year to celebrating young people, giving them a stronger voice on issues that affect their lives and shining a light on their achievements. This year is not just a year of activity and events but provides us with a real opportunity to change the way that all generations work and live together. What happens locally is just as important as what happens nationally or internationally, and we want to empower our young people to become responsible global citizens who can make a real difference in the world.

Representatives from the Scottish Government will attend the Commonwealth women’s forum, where panel discussions will cover issues of gender equality and ending violence against women and girls—a theme that was mentioned by Margaret Mitchell and Elaine Smith, among others. The Scottish Government is committed to preventing and, ultimately, eradicating such violence, and our work to tackle gender-based violence is underpinned by the equally safe strategy. A delivery plan for equally safe was published in November last year that sets out a co-ordinated and action-focused approach to tackling violence against women and girls. It includes 118 actions that we intend to take between now and 2021 to ensure that everyone is playing their part to prevent and eradicate gender-based violence.

We are clear, heading into those forum discussions, that equality and human rights underpin Scotland’s values, and other countries’ delegations that visit Scotland following the heads of Government meeting will be left in no doubt as to our position on those matters. We are committed to continuing such engagement in a positive and constructive way, recognising that every country is at a different stage in its journey towards the full realisation of international human rights standards. Scotland stands ready to play its part in assisting others when we have knowledge and good practice to share.

The debate has been a chance to mention some of Scotland’s many family connections with the Commonwealth and our many historical connections including links to our respective constituencies—themes that were explored by Tom Arthur and many others.

Looking to the future, the Scottish Government stands ready to support initiatives such as Birmingham’s hosting of the 2022 Commonwealth games, which was recently announced. Our having hosted the fantastically successful games in Glasgow in 2014 allows us to share our experience and foster stronger links between the two cities.

As Tavish Scott discussed, we should take the opportunity of Commonwealth day to reflect on the relevance of the Commonwealth to the future. As he said, that relevance certainly exists and is represented in this Parliament’s commitment to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, which will continue to be a very useful way of fostering links in the future.

I repeat the point that it is becoming more difficult to participate. Does the minister agree that ways ought to be found to ensure that we can participate?

I am with the Deputy Presiding Officer in that respect. Sympathetic as I am, I think that all parties should probably take up such issues with their representatives on the Parliamentary Bureau and pursue them through that route. We should do everything that we can to encourage people to participate in the work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

I believe that Scotland shares many of the ambitions and values that are held by the Commonwealth nations around the world. We are committed to active participation in that global network and in the development of our common future. The Scottish Government welcomes the important work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and, in particular, the Scotland branch. Therefore, I am happy both to celebrate Commonwealth day and to support the motion.

13:56 Meeting suspended.  

14:00 On resuming—