Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have no interests to declare.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be sitting down as I give my speech today. I will begin by welcoming my colleague Richard Lochhead to his role, and I really look forward to working with him during this term of government.

During my election campaign, I had the opportunity to meet several businesses and organisations that have suffered the double whammy of Brexit and Covid. That has been compounded particularly by the area’s reliance on the fishing, farming and tourism industries. Fishing sector leaders tell me that they have witnessed the selling out, yet again, of their industry. More recently, that has also been the case for farmers, who are deeply alarmed by the selling out of the Scottish agricultural sector.

For example, it is claimed that Brexit has caused a “massive hole” in the number of people coming to the United Kingdom to pick fruit in the summer, putting growers on the brink. Stephen Taylor, the managing director of Winterwood Farms Ltd, said that the labour market has become “tighter and tighter” and that the impact of Brexit on the flow of workers to UK farms is only getting worse. He said:

“We are not talking about a few tens of thousands, we are talking hundreds of thousands of people less to work in the UK.”

Think tanks, independent research, business sector representatives and accountancy firms are all telling us what we now know: the north-east of Scotland will be the hardest hit by Brexit. We are bracing ourselves for the realities of that hard Brexit, which is only just beginning in its cause of bringing more pain and suffering to the people I represent. The Banffshire and Buchan coast sits within the captivating beauty of Aberdeenshire and Moray—a region that can easily be described as a shire with two tales to tell. It is frequently described as wealthy or affluent, but that description is far removed from the experiences of many in my constituency.

The 2020 Scottish index of multiple deprivation identifies Fraserburgh and Peterhead as being in the top 10 and 20 per cent of the most deprived areas in Scotland. That is compounded by many coastal communities facing the most difficult of times due to the pandemic and the economic consequences of Brexit.

The stark inequalities between those who have a lot and those who have little or nothing are as shameful to us as they are to visitors, who can see poverty and decline from devastating Tory-inflicted policies. When they arrive to take in the beauty of our landscape, many visitors will not be aware of the hidden deprivation that lies under the surface.

That is why I am grateful for the Scottish Government’s commitment to invest an additional £500 million to support new jobs and reskill people for the future, and for the much-needed extension to the national transition training fund. The places that were most at risk economically will struggle to bounce back, but I know that the SNP Government will ensure that we prioritise them in all that we do in providing opportunities for recovery.

The underlying resilience of our economy relies on fair work and quality jobs for all, in order to create a more equal society. However, it goes beyond that. I used the word “recovery” a lot during my campaign and I meant it, but I meant “recover to better than before”. Tackling inequalities, including gender economic inequality, and providing fair work that unlocks people’s creativity, confidence and wellbeing is our case for an economic recovery that will benefit all.

The business case for an inclusive economy is strong. It helps our businesses to innovate and grow, it helps them to compete more effectively on the world stage, and it helps to develop, attract and make the most of our talents in Scotland. There is an opportunity to build a strong national consensus around a national purpose, to learn from other small nations and to adapt lessons to Scotland’s specific circumstances, so that we enable a shift towards our wellbeing economy. We have the opportunity to be ambitious and to rethink how we invest in places and, importantly, who benefits from the investment.

The coronavirus pandemic and Brexit have exacerbated inequalities between and within our communities. I know that this might not be customary, but I want to innovate and to bring together industry experts—the people who work in their sectors every day—to plan for economic prosperity in the north-east. During the recent campaign, I pledged to form and chair a new tourism forum that is composed of businesses and other stakeholder organisations, so that we can come together and speak in a unified voice to support more jobs and investment along my coastal community.

We cannot discuss the implications of Brexit on skills without acknowledging the huge contribution that EU nationals make to our country. The fishing, farming, hospitality and health and social care sectors are reliant on them. The UK Government’s immigration system is not fit for any purpose in Scotland because, in contrast, we value and cherish our EU nationals and their decision to work here and make Scotland their home as they contribute culturally, socially and economically to our country’s prosperity.

Perhaps it is an apt time to highlight the possibilities that could come with having power over all our decisions in an independent country. We would have the opportunity to take charge of our own future. Those who say that we cannot concentrate on more than one thing at a time should perhaps drop the unionist agenda and leave the multi-tasking to us, because full economic prosperity and health and wellbeing come hand in hand with an independent Scotland.

I will be fine in a second.

Deputy Presiding Officer, as this is my first opportunity to do so, I welcome you to your new role and wish you well in this session of Parliament.

Coming into the Parliament as a newly elected member may have left me feeling a bit like a cat without whiskers, still navigating my way around the building and the procedures, but I knew as soon as the Keep MUM campaign was highlighted to me that I wanted to get stuck straight into supporting and helping the campaigners in any way that I could. They are a hardworking and determined group who want the best, and rightly so. I thank them for their communication and engagement with me.

I have given birth in various circumstances, some of which were high risk. That risk was exaggerated by living rurally and travelling many miles to Aberdeen to give birth in emergency circumstances that almost resulted in a fatal outcome. As members can imagine, I have a great deal of not only empathy but understanding for the women in my constituency and the Keep MUM campaign, who have reached out with their experiences in order to prevent any further distress.

The year is 2021: we should acknowledge that bringing human beings into the world—[Interruption.] I am sorry; my legs are shaking. Can I sit down?

I want to get this right.

I feel fine. It is just my legs. I will take a second until it settles. It will go again.

I hear from my constituents a genuine concern that not everyone will reap the benefits when the economy of the north-east improves, but I know that the Government will ensure that that does not happen. That can be addressed, in part, by reflecting more broadly on the opportunities for discussions on how to revitalise humanely the affected communities. I am asking my constituents what they and their families want or imagine for their future living, working and thriving in the communities that they love, not just for now but for future generations. As a new MSP, I ask myself how I can improve their representation on what matters to them and what lessons are to be learned to prevent uneven developments in moving forward. If we do not invest the time to reflect on any of that, we will have missed the point entirely.

Inequalities—gender inequalities, for example, which we are debating today—must be a part of those plans. I am ready and willing to work, debate and discuss matters on a cross-party basis, as we are doing today, to ensure the best possible outcomes for not only my constituents but people across Scotland.

I welcome my colleague Humza Yousaf to his new role as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, and I thank him for his attention to the issue. I am sure that we will be in communication to do all that we can to support those services. I also thank his predecessor, Jeane Freeman, for her long-standing support and work to bring a vital consultant-led service to Dr Gray’s. That is not just something on a wish list; it is part of the plan for a Scotland in which our people can thrive and have the best immediate start in life. [Applause.]

I am fine, Presiding Officer. Thank you. I want to get this right.

Too often, women’s health is not prioritised, as we often just get on and do not make a fuss. After all, as some have said, babies have been born every day since the dawn of time. Thankfully, attitudes have changed and we now know and understand the importance of how and where a child is born and of how that can impact on the physical and mental health of not only the mother but the child. If we truly want to give children in Scotland the best start in life, we must ensure that we start with the care and attention that is received during pregnancy and the moment of arrival at birth. That is the very start.

I want the best start in life for my constituents. I am humbled and honoured to represent my Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituency. It is a rural constituency that is rich in beauty, culture and history. Fishing is the main source of that history and culture, and it is an industry to which I will give a high level of attention during this session.

Speaking of my constituency, I pay tribute to Stewart Stevenson, who represented the area for 20 years. He was a long-standing member who is highly regarded and fondly thought of. Presiding Officer, I ask that you be somewhat forgiving with me, as this is my first speech. I promised that I would ensure a nod to Stewart, and I could think of no better way of doing that than to bring a pop of eccentricity to the chamber today by wearing these rainbow braces. I also take the opportunity to honour pride month.

The stunning Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituency, which attracts tourists from around the globe, is rich in natural resources and in people who are not only proud of their home but extremely resilient and resourceful. The irony is that my constituency also contains nearly 50 per cent of the universal credit claimant list for the whole of Aberdeenshire and has among the highest levels of child poverty in the shire. The north-east of Scotland has been the area that has been and will be hardest hit as a result of Brexit and latterly, of course, the pandemic. We should not be adding more pain and suffering to the people at this time.

I am sorry, but my legs shake. It is a physical condition.

made a solemn affirmation and repeated it in British Sign Language.