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I welcome the latest achievement of curriculum for excellence levels statistics: the statistics show a positive improvement in achievement for pupils with a recorded additional support need. However, it is clear that there is much to do. It is essential that children and young people with neurodiverse conditions go through an education system that is responsive to the needs of their conditions. How will the Scottish Government ensure that children and young people with neurodiverse conditions are included and that their unique perspective is front and centre when planning for any progressive improvements?

It is quite exciting to see how we are progressing this and to have it moving forward. Have there been any challenges along the way in planning for and organising it?

It is quite interesting to make a link between the data that is collected and the budget setting. It is all intertwined.

That is really helpful. Thank you.

Good morning, and happy new year to the cabinet secretary and her team. I would like to ask about the food processing, marketing and co-operation grant scheme, which is to be suspended for 2023-24 but will come back in a new form. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Cabinet secretary, in your opening statement, you touched on the £14 million increase for Marine Scotland. Can you give us more detail on that?

How much of your data collection and evidence-based intelligence feeds into the operations? For example, the cabinet secretary said that people might be in those areas and that that data might be collected and reported as a breach, but that might not necessarily be the case.

I am delighted to stand here to debate a manifesto commitment that my constituents voted me in to deliver. The SNP won the Scottish election with a commitment to hold a referendum at front and centre.

I begin by addressing my colleague Jackson Carlaw, who spoke of the Tory, Labour and SNP Governments struggling with the crisis in the NHS. There is a stark difference between those Governments. The Tories can borrow more money and can change immigration policy, but they choose not to. That is the terrifying fact.

In 2021, I included an independence referendum in my campaign materials and social media posts, as did my opposition, who made a plea to reject an independence referendum. Talk about obsessive: their materials contained more talk of an independence referendum than mine. I won a majority, as my colleagues did, by advocating for Scotland’s inalienable right to independence. It was on that basis that we formed a Government.

There may be cries from the Opposition seats to halt or stall an independence referendum. They use myriad excuses, but we know from experience that many of those excuses for staying put in this toxic and declining union are actually the very reasons for leaving it. At the very least, they are reasons that highlight the need for the Scottish people to be presented with the question, “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

Not only do people deserve what they vote for, they have a right to it, and certainly during the parliamentary session in which they vote for that. The choices that I am here to make come from the people, were decided on by the people and should be carried out, by us, on behalf of the people.

The unionist parties had the chance to convince the nation, but they failed. They have a right to present a case to oppose independence, but they have no mandate to remove the choice. It is undemocratic and is a shameful dismissal of the marks on ballot papers that brought us all here. What exactly would that be telling the people of Scotland? Does it say that, ultimately, it does not matter what they vote for, because politicians in Westminster can overrule that? The Supreme Court judgment laid bare for the world to see that this union is neither consensual nor democratic, which is something that should be of immense concern to us all.

How dare politicians who Scotland did not vote for tell us what we can and cannot do? I cannot bear the patronising remarks that I hear. It is condescending to tell the electorate that what they voted for might not be what they need. It is pompous, arrogant, rude and belittling. Do they really think that it is their place to tell the people what they want? We are here to give the people of Scotland what they want and what they elected us to do. We can listen to the cries about decisions made in past elections, but that Scotland and that UK are no longer recognisable. We have been through the wringer, much of it inflicted by ideological party politics. We gave the union a chance. Now, we are reaping what was sown and it is rotten: Brexit, a fishing sector that was sold out, labour shortages and red tape that could wrap the globe thrice.

I plead with the British nationalists who are in the chamber to have some integrity and be bold. I plead with them to stop standing in the way of democracy and be brave in their convictions. If they are that sure that their convictions are worthy of support, they should put them to the people and ask them. The people pay our wages. They gifted us the honour of representing them. Democracy is not just for those who agree with us; that is something else entirely.

I look forward to the people choosing a fairer, richer, cleaner, more equal and more outward-looking country, one that is not constrained and stripped of all its parts in some UK scrapheap. I fully support the motion and look forward with high hopes.

When Douglas Ross said that he was hoping to see “more and more”, I thought that he was going to say more of his children born there, which would have been a little insight into the future.

I am really pleased to be able to speak on this motion for two reasons. First, as an elected representative for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, I believe that the mums-to-be across my constituency clearly deserve safe and accessible maternity services. That applies to those in the western end of my constituency, which includes part of Moray. That is why I have publicly welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitment to restoring consultant-led maternity services at Dr Gray’s in Elgin. What is more, I have met local campaign groups and the health board to get a better understanding of what it will take to achieve that goal.

Secondly, as a mum with six children, I am speaking from direct experience when it comes to the importance of maternity services. I know the sense of security that they provide, and although they do not take away all the anxieties about giving birth—as any mother will appreciate—the knowledge that there is medical expertise on hand is always a comfort. More than that, such expertise is essential in times of emergency.

I have experience of having to travel long distances from a rural location into the city of Aberdeen. People who are watching might know that, if someone’s waters break and there is meconium in there, it is quite a dangerous situation and they need medical assistance instantly. I have had that experience, so I am coming from a place of empathy in that regard.

If we all want decent maternity services at Dr Gray’s for the benefit of mums-to-be in Moray, how do we reach that goal? We do so by being realistic about the availability of staff, having properly considered planning and taking on board the views of local people. We also need to do it with timescales that make sense—we should not rush in because of political expediency.

If we go back to 2018, when the provision of maternity services changed, one of the big reasons that were given was workforce availability. That was before I become an MSP, but it certainly rings true given my experience since I was elected last year.

Time after time, across Banffshire and Buchan Coast, in health, social care and other sectors, such as education, as Douglas Ross mentioned, I hear stories about problems with recruitment. In general terms, the vacancies can be there but it is hard to attract qualified professionals to come and work in north Aberdeenshire and Moray. It is a problem across much of rural Scotland.

That is subject to on-going work by private companies and public bodies. I do not underestimate what they try to do within their sectors, not least within Grampian and Highland health boards with regard to maternity services. I am glad that that work is happening and I am certainly willing to collaborate with anyone who is looking to solve the problem. I am glad to hear that Mr Ross brought it up in Westminster and I ask him please to push on the subject of freedom of movement for qualified professionals; perhaps near neighbours in Europe, for example would be appreciated.

Moving on to the detail of the planning around maternity services in Elgin, I have sought assurances around the model 4 plans, which could deliver a networked community and maternity unit as part of the journey to model 6. I know that the Scottish Government has asked for further work to be done before it goes ahead and approves anything, and I have asked the Scottish Government to make the lived experience of women and families in Moray central to decision making on the issue.

I commend NHS Grampian on its development of the model 6 plans, under which it will deliver full consultant-led maternity services once again, it hopes by the end of 2026. I would, however, echo my colleague Richard Lochhead, who represents Moray, and say that NHS Grampian should approach that with a can-do attitude and a commitment to delivery—excuse the pun. From the top, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has given his cast-iron commitment to those services and we all need to be a part of meeting that commitment, whether we are elected representatives from either side of the chamber or healthcare professionals.

Full maternity services will come back to Elgin and that will benefit women and families in the local area including the part in my constituency. However, they must return in a way that is person centred, sustainable and professionally planned. Only two days ago, I received an email from the campaign group Keep MUM, which has been absolutely incredible. It said:

“There must be a dynamic project management team in place with strict external oversight to make sure that milestones are met.”

I see nothing to disagree with there.

It is an absolute honour and a privilege to be standing in the chamber on the cusp of making history. I am feeling overcome with pride at the opportunity that has been afforded to me, and I hope that I can do justice to a very small but incredibly important piece of legislation for a very small but incredibly important group of people.

As we discuss the legislation, the most regrettable thing is that we have no out trans people in the chamber having their say on it; instead, they are having to put their faith in people without their own unique lived experience to represent them as they watch from the public gallery and at home.

I hope that what I have done in this Parliament and on the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee has given reassurance to trans people that there are many out there who do care, and that we are the majority. As a woman, I know that I would feel injustice at my rights being debated without representation, which is why I have ensured that trans people’s voices have been heard throughout this debate from the start.

Recently, I hosted an open meeting—a trans living library—in the Scottish Parliament, which I invited very special guests to attend to openly engage with members from across the chamber, so that they could help to shape legislation for themselves and truly have their voices heard within these walls. It was also an opportunity for MSPs to drop in and informally chat with trans people about their lives and to gain an understanding of what we, as parliamentarians, could do to improve their lives. The meeting was a prime opportunity to learn about trans people directly from trans people.

Russ was one of those special guests. He is my dear friend. Members might be aware that Russ is a trans man whom I met outside Parliament when we held the stage 1 debate. I had written my speech only the night before, in which I used Russ’s life experience as an example. It was an accidental meeting; perhaps, as some suggested, the stars did align. I have kept in contact with him, and I ask my colleagues to please watch his video on YouTube in which he talks openly about his experience of conversion practices. He talks about how he endured electroconvulsive therapy.

Russ transitioned at the age of 60, after knowing that he was a trans man for decades. He is now 68 and still does not have a GRC because, he states:

“I don’t want to have to go through a process like that again, so when it comes to gender recognition and getting a GRC, I’m not going to do that to myself under the current system. I am not again going to take the risk of having to present my case to some people, in this case, people I have never met, who don’t know what it’s like, what my life has been like. I am not going to give them that power to decide who I am. We are not asking for very much—we are just asking to be normal human beings. That’s it, really.”

Trans people have long existed; they are not a product of society, mental health problems or neurodiverse conditions. They are because they are, just as we are. They are a valid part of the LGBT community who strive to remove stigma and be accepted without harm in society, and to be afforded opportunities that we are afforded without prejudice. That is what this bill is for; that is what this bill can help to achieve. The bill can simply make the process of obtaining a birth certificate that corresponds with who they are easy to access without the interference of anyone else, just as we have that right. To provide a right to enter employment without being exposed and to go on to further education with the comfort that they are recognised for who they are, and to have a fundamental right to whole autonomy—that is what we are doing here today.

I welcome the bill, and I hope that, when our children and our children’s children look back through the history books, they can see that, in Scotland in 2022, we decided to join many other countries in best practice to support our most marginalised; we advocated for the rights of our LGBT community; and we made Scotland that little bit better to live in and that little bit more equal.

We either get on board with progression or we get out of the way. I was elected to make people’s lives better, which is exactly what I am doing here today. I welcome the bill, and I will whole-heartedly vote for it.