Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, October 5, 2023

Official Report 450KB pdf

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Cross-Party Group on Ukraine

Our second item is consideration of an application for the recognition of a proposed cross-party group on Ukraine. I welcome Colin Beattie MSP, Miles Briggs MSP and Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, who are the potential convener and deputy conveners.

I turn to Colin Beattie first, for an explanation of the need and the reason for the proposed cross-party group.

Good morning, convener. I am grateful for the opportunity to say just a few words in support of the formation of the cross-party group on Ukraine. I do not believe that a cross-party group has ever been formed against such a sombre background of its subject state’s being the victim of aggression and invasion by a foreign agent—in this case, Russia. For me, that has provided both the impetus and the drive behind the formation of the cross-party group.

The Parliament can do little in real terms to assist Ukraine in its struggle to retain its independence and to regain its occupied territories. However, we can offer comfort and support to the Ukrainian refugees who have sought sanctuary in Scotland. Many initial members of the CPG represent refugee groups across the country. More of those contact us all the time, seeking to reach out to other groups and to become part of a larger gathering such as the CPG would represent.

The purposes of the CPG are similar to those of other CPGs on nation states. We seek to strengthen political, economic and cultural ties. When it comes to political ties, contact has been made by members of the Ukrainian Parliament, which seeks to establish a Ukraine-Scotland friendship group and to create a closer relationship with the Scottish Parliament through the CPG. I very much welcome that development.

All MSPs will wish Ukraine well in its fight to retain its freedom and way of life. I say again that the situation is unprecedented. Through the establishment of the CPG, we have an opportunity to contribute in some small way to supporting Ukraine and its people in their hour of need. Ukraine needs friends, and now is the time to step up.

I will keep it brief by ending there, convener. I will be happy to answer any questions that you or committee members may have.

Many thanks, Mr Beattie. Unusually, I invite the potential deputy convener, Miles Briggs, to add to that.

Good morning, colleagues. For me especially, and probably for Alex Cole-Hamilton as well—as Edinburgh MSPs—when we had in Edinburgh the ship that housed Ukrainian refugees, we warmly welcomed them. As a society—especially in our schools—Edinburgh stepped up. During that period, I felt that it was key for our Parliament to establish something to discuss their concerns and issues. We did not have that. We could invite people into the Parliament for meetings, but formal arrangements for working with that community needed to be improved.

As Colin Beattie has outlined, for most of us, our support for Ukraine needs to be fully taken forward, and the group gives the Parliament an opportunity to do just that. I hope that the committee will consider our application so that we can build that formal opportunity for the Parliament to take forward long-lasting relationships with Ukraine.

Thank you for that contribution. I ask Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP whether there is anything that he would like to add.

Before I do so, I am required to draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests. First, I was a host through the homes for Ukraine scheme, and a Ukrainian refugee lived with our family for nine months. Secondly, I am under sanction by the Russian Federation for my work with the Ukrainian diaspora here.

On 22 February last year, our world turned on its axis when Russia brought war to continental Europe for the first time in a century. The men and women of Ukraine are fighting in the trenches of their homeland not just for their freedom and sovereignty but for the freedom and sovereignty of all of the free democracies of this world. We owe them a debt of gratitude that we will never repay and, in the formation of the cross-party group, it is important that we recognise that struggle not only for the people who are still fighting in Ukraine, but for the Ukrainian diaspora who are choosing to make Scotland their home. Much time in the chamber has been taken up with a recognition of their needs and interests and the fact that we still have some way to go in settling them in this country. For both of those reasons, the cross-party group deserves the support of this committee and its recognition in this Parliament. I hope that the cross-party group will be long standing and will outdate the war, when the Ukrainians win their freedom and victory over the Russian Federation.

As members have no questions, I will inquire about something. There is clearly strong cross-party support in the documents that you filed. Along with five organisations, almost unusually, 23 non-MSP individuals have expressed an interest in being associated with the group. Can you explain the range of the individuals who are interested in the group? Obviously, cross-party groups are for people outside the Parliament to meet and talk with MSPs, so that MSPs can better understand the situation. Perhaps Colin Beattie could answer that question.

Most of those individuals represent refugee organisations locally. One or two of them are academics and people who will contribute in their own right to the strength of the cross-party group, but the vast majority represent very local refugee groups. Some of them are the ones that I mentioned, which are trying to reach out to other refugee groups to get support and help. The cross-party group is a good forum to accommodate and facilitate that, so I welcome their coming forward.

I echo what the convener said about the group being welcome. You mentioned that Parliament-to-Parliament contact might be established. Is that part of the remit that you would like the group to develop? If so, how?

It is certainly part of what the group should be developing, given its remit to look at the political relationships. We have one Ukrainian MP who is prepared to put together a friendship group within the Ukrainian Parliament. We would like to develop that relationship further by inviting it to participate in CPG meetings—remotely, obviously—and doing the best that we can to continue to develop the relationship between Scotland and Ukraine. That is a really positive thing.

I am aware of a number of relationships that have sprung up organically between parliamentarians in this place and in the Rada, in Ukraine. The group is a great opportunity to formalise that and, as Colin Beattie said, establish a standing friendship committee that will further those ties.

As there are no further questions, I thank you, gentlemen, for attending the committee this morning. The committee will formally consider whether to approve the application for recognition under agenda item 3, and the clerks will inform you of the committee’s decision in due course.

We move to agenda item 3, which is consideration of approval of a proposed cross-party group on Ukraine. Would anyone like to make a comment or ask a question?

As Dr Allan—when he was in the room—and the convener said, the group is obviously a good idea and it is a way of expressing our collective solidarity with the people of Ukraine in their darkest hour.

All three MSPs made very powerful contributions. Colin Beattie’s explanation that the 23 individuals represent far more of the Ukrainian diaspora was powerfully made.

I put it to the committee that we formally recognise the proposed cross-party group.

Members indicated agreement.