Seòmar agus comataidhean

I thank the clerks and staff of the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee for their support in compiling the detailed report, which documents a shocking series of bad decisions and poor practice, culminating in two ferries that are three times over budget and five years late. Those are two ferries that are still to set sail, and one of which it would now be cheaper to scrap and start all over again.

Long-established procurement processes were not followed. It is a sorry story of key decisions not being properly recorded, ministers failing to account for the decisions that they took, key documents going missing, the ministerial code being broken, the biggest blank cheque in the history of the Scottish Parliament being written, standard maritime construction processes being dismissed, and financial safeguards and standard builders refund guarantees being disregarded.

Will the member give way?

That is a good question. Where is Mr Brown? Also, where is the former Deputy First Minister and the former First Minister? They are not here. Instead, the SNP has put—[Interruption.]

On a point of order, Deputy Presiding Officer.

I am aware that, under rule 13.1 of the standing orders, it is permissible for members to make personal statements, conditional upon your agreement and, of course, subject to scheduling by the Parliamentary Bureau. So, in the interests of checking that parliamentary procedures are followed correctly, I ask whether you would grant the First Minister a personal statement, if he asked you for one, to allow him to correct the record and to explain why he used misleading language.

Speaking in response to my colleague Douglas Ross on 27 April, the First Minister, when discussing scandalous bonus payments at Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Holdings Limited said:

“We—and I—share that anger at the fact that bonuses have been paid. Those bonuses relate to a decision that was made by Ferguson Marine’s remuneration committee, without consultation with the Government, in November 2022. I asked for those bonuses not to be paid, but the advice that has come back is that they are a contractual obligation. With regard to any future discussion about or consideration of bonuses, I have made it clear that bonuses should not be paid in relation to vessels 801 and 802. The chair of Ferguson Marine will take forward that work. It is my expectation and the Government’s expectation—the chair of Ferguson Marine knows this very well—that there should not be bonuses in the current financial year, 2023-24, in relation to vessels 801 and 802.”—[Official Report, 27 April; c 9-10.]

However, at this morning’s meeting of the Public Audit Committee, Andrew Miller, the chairman of Ferguson Marine, confirmed that bonuses would indeed be paid this year. He stated that that is because they are contractual. He said, “They are points of law and they do exist and it is very difficult to say to somebody that we are just pulling that from your contract.”

When I pressed Mr Miller to respond to Humza Yousaf’s comments that bonuses would not be paid this year and that the chair of Ferguson Marine knows that, Mr Miller said, “No, he’s making a statement, but we have to pay due regard to the contractual obligations under employment contracts set up many, many years ago.”

So, despite the assurances of the First Minister in this Parliament that there would be no bonuses, there clearly will be.

Deputy Presiding Officer, I seek your advice about how Parliament can get straight answers to straight questions from a Government that is increasingly seeing the truth as an optional extra in this Parliament. Can you say whether the First Minister has sought your permission to make a statement so that he can set the record straight on this vitally important issue?

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it plans to provide to tourism, hospitality and leisure operators in the South Scotland region. (S6O-02319)

I thank the minister for that answer, but all that he has said overlooks the fact that, as he is well aware, many operators face far higher business rates as a result of his Government’s failure to pass on the 75 per cent rates relief that has been made available in England. Pubs and cafes face enormous pressures, including from the shambolic deposit return scheme, while tourism operators face the burden of the Scottish National Party’s short-term lets regulations. Is it not the case that the SNP lacks not only a dedicated minister for tourism but any credible policy to support that vital sector in the south of Scotland?

The minister said that she will have further discussions with the hospitality sector before taking a decision on mandatory calorie labelling in the out-of-home sector. Our struggling hospitality sector has been ignored all too often in the past by the Government, and that cannot be allowed to happen again. Will the minister outline the form in which those conversations will take place and when they will start?

The minister tells us that the scheme is industry led, but industry bodies such as the Scottish Wholesale Association have welcomed the UK Government’s intervention. Why is the minister attacking business?

I thank David Torrance for bringing forward this very important debate to recognise the 30th anniversary of Cancer Research UK’s race for life. Every year, tens of thousands of Scots are diagnosed with cancer, and the numbers are only set to rise in the coming decades. Every one of us in the chamber, and everyone across the country, will have had their life touched by the impact of cancer.

Today I think of my late friend and neighbour Sue in London. Sue died of cancer far too young. She left behind a family and friends, and a void among us. I also think of my partner’s father, Alf, who fell ill with a very difficult-to-treat cancer while visiting my partner, Mark, and myself when we lived in Asia. He faced a gruelling 16-hour flight back to Edinburgh accompanied by a doctor and Mark’s mum, Ann. The weeks that followed were difficult for our family and for Ann and Alf’s many friends, some of whom visited Alf in his last few days at home in Portobello.

As the family came to Alf’s bedside, so too did a team from Marie Curie, who helped to nurse Alf and provided support to Ann, Mark and his sister, Louise. I was struck by how important those organisations, which are often charities, are, and by how important the support is that they give to people living with cancer and their families around them.

Sadly, too many of us have only memories of a loved one who suffered from cancer but, thankfully, many more have the comfort of family or friends who have survived cancer—they have come through the treatment and are now living healthy and normal lives. They do so thanks to the huge efforts of a wide range of charities, clinicians and, of course, our NHS. That is why it is hugely important that we in this Parliament recognise those efforts and, particularly today, the efforts of Cancer Research UK.

Thirty years ago, Cancer Research UK established race for life, a series of fundraising events right across the UK that are open to everyone. People of all skill levels, all ages and from all walks of life come together to celebrate collective efforts to combat cancer and to promote healthy living and wellness. The race for life is all about celebrating life and those who face or have faced cancer. Runners are encouraged to wear bright clothing and to race at their own speed to raise funds for life-saving cancer research. The race has raised more than £940 million for Cancer Research UK over its three decades in operation.

This year, there will be events in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Fife, Falkirk, Stirling and Inverness to help to fight cancer, and it is vital that we in this Parliament do our bit to raise the profile of initiatives such as this. I strongly encourage my constituents and anyone who is interested to donate or to take part in the event in future years. Somebody asked me today whether I will be doing it, and I think that I can now commit to doing it. I might be walking it, but I will commit to doing it, because race for life helped Cancer Research UK to fund more than £33 million-worth of cancer research in Scotland last year. That money has supported laboratories and institutions in Glasgow and Edinburgh and hundreds of scientists, doctors and nurses across Scotland.

The races offer a critical lifeline for cancer researchers and patients right across Scotland, which is why I would like to say thank you and express the thanks of my constituents to all those who have participated and supported race for life over the past 30 years. Each and every one of us who has lost someone to cancer has good reason to want that commitment to be redoubled and for further progress to be made in combating cancer. We hope that that continues for another 30 years.

A thriving local high street is vital to the wellbeing of communities and the economies in towns such as Dunbar, Haddington, Penicuik and Melrose, right across the South Scotland region. Can the minister explain how the decision to impose the disastrous deposit return scheme on cafes, pubs and restaurants is in any way sensible rule making? How can the Government’s abject failure to pass on the 75 per cent business rates relief to Scotland’s hospitality and retail operators be viewed as an incentive for them to grow and invest in a wellbeing economy?