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I, too, congratulate Karen Adam on securing the debate. The Tokyo Paralympics were as exciting and inspiring as ever, bringing an end to a summer of sport in the most remarkable of ways. It was great to see team GB perform so well, coming second in the medal table with an excellent 124 medals, with the 33-strong Scottish contingent contributing 21 of those medals—the best performance by Scots at a Paralympic games since Sydney 2000—and winning medals in 18 of the 22 sports. Team GB highlighted the wide array of talent that we have at our disposal, succeeding at the highest level and competing against the very best. We should be so proud of all our Paralympians for the effort that they and their teams put in during the most difficult of times, and we should congratulate them, as we are doing in this debate.

Our Paralympians are truly inspirational. Many of them faced adversity in childhood or perhaps in later life, but all have overcome barriers that in years gone by would have stopped them from participating in sport. It is encouraging that sport in 2021 is so inclusive. We have a long way to go, but the 2021 games showcased the very best talent, which has come from years of hard work and people often facing numerous setbacks. I believe that more people are recognising the importance of the Paralympic games now than before, and it is crucial that we continue to highlight how vital that breakthrough is to breaking down barriers and tackling stigma.

There is still work to be done. We have to ensure that sport is accessible to everyone. That means making sport accessible to disabled people and ensuring that having a disability does not act as a barrier to an individual’s ambitions or opportunities. More investment is needed in inclusive sport to ensure that no one is left behind and it is the responsibility of politicians, the media and wider society to highlight the positive impact that sport can have. It is our collective responsibility to do that, because, as mentioned in the motion, events such as the Paralympics bring people together—sport brings people together. To undervalue the positive impact that sport has on society would be a mistake.

Ahead of today’s debate, RNIB Scotland set out some key asks, including increasing funding for disabled sport, such as sports adapted for people with sight loss, for example tandem cycling and guided running, and for introductory sessions and classes for more advanced participants. That should remind us that there remains a long way to go to ensure that sport is accessible for people with a wide range of disabilities. Moreover, sportscotland, which has invested around £3 million to support Scottish disability sport since the Rio Olympics in 2016, noted that disabled athletes still face significant challenges that require joint working in order to be overcome.

The Tokyo Paralympics was a celebration of talent, diversity, inclusion and community and we can all agree that it was a joy to watch. As we have all said, it was a joy to see team GB athletes, who with their coaches, families and all the volunteers from local community sports clubs deserve a great deal of credit for making the sacrifices that they have to bring about such success. It is right that we have the opportunity to commend that success. Rather than seeing this debate as an end, it should be a stepping stone towards ensuring that Parliament gives sport and inclusive sport the consideration and investment that they deserve.

Yes, and we would therefore hope that we would be making more progress and fewer reports, and that we would be changing services for the better of the people.

To start to make progress, we need dedicated mental health workers in every GP practice, not just access to one, and a significant increase in mental health spending across the NHS without detriment to other services that are equally under strain. We need the resources. There are not simply possibilities at this point; there are absolute necessities.

If we are to get the country back on its feet, we will be asking people to work hard and rebuild Scotland, but we have to do our bit. We have to work hard for them.

Yes.

That means giving people the world-class treatment that Scotland was once famed for. The cabinet secretary can play a leading role in that, but the Government needs to take action.

To this day, the legacy of mining and the miners who made it happen is everywhere across South Scotland, particularly in my home area of Ayrshire and in Midlothian, which is referenced in the motion. It is not just a legacy that has been left on the earth; it is a legacy of social, cultural and political energy that continues to reverberate. I am speaking in the debate in order to celebrate that legacy and the dedication of the miners who broke their backs for our country. They have not been forgotten by me or by the Scottish Labour Party. I hope that we can, through a bit of common sense and decency, get them the pensions that they deserve. That is not much to ask.

I know that there are people in other parties who would like to think that they saw off the miners long ago. However, although many miners are now retired or, sadly, no longer with us, the legacy of the industry lives on in the solidarity, grit and shared experiences of their communities. It also lives on in the poverty that we have heard about, which is seen in many former mining communities and in the miners’ struggle to achieve financial security for themselves and their families, now that their livelihoods and the highly skilled and well-paid jobs that came with mining have all but gone.

I am disheartened to say that, nearly 40 years after the process began, we are still having to stand up and defend the miners and their families against a Tory Government that simply did not care—a Tory Government that saw destroying the power of the working classes as a priority above all else. Why would we expect anything different now?

It is likely that, over the next six years, the Treasury will earn about £23 billion in real terms from the miners’ pension fund, but the sum could grow as high as £55 billion—all that wealth, and so little of it going to those who grafted for it. There was a time when the Tories claimed to be all about getting Britain back to work and putting a pound in people’s pockets. We can see now whose pockets are bulging from the miners’ money.

Fortunately, we have a majority in Scotland against that callous injustice, and I fully support the call to give the £1.2 billion that is held in the investment reserve to the former miners. After all, it is what they are due.

As is rightly mentioned in the motion, the great work of the Labour Government in Wales serves as a fine example for Scotland to follow, and I have no doubt that attempts to follow it will be supported by almost everyone in the chamber. I only despair that we have had to demand it. The distribution of funds should have been reviewed long ago. I thank Christine Grahame for bringing her important motion to the chamber for debate.

I congratulate Brian Whittle on securing the debate. His enthusiasm for sport can be seen, and I enjoyed that.

Like my colleagues and people throughout the country, I watched as our Olympians delivered major success for team GB in Tokyo during the summer and no doubt inspired a generation of young athletes to dream of reaching the very top of their sport. The commitment of our athletes, their coaches and their local clubs throughout the UK is admirable, and the time, skill and effort that are put into developing first-class athletes have undoubtedly paid off this summer. It is worth saying again that our athletes won an impressive 65 medals, which equals the London 2012 total.

Although indoor events took place behind closed doors, the return of the Olympics was much needed for all those who had been looking forward to a summer of sport. The Olympics brought a sense of normality, albeit in the most abnormal of times.

In the excitement of a global Olympic games, I sometimes think that we forget where it all begins for many. It begins at the grass-roots levels in towns and villages throughout Scotland and the whole of the UK, where future Olympians and Paralympians are first introduced to sport, enhance their skills and prepare for a future of success. It is in local communities that future champions develop what will become a lifelong love of sport, and it is local sports teams, such as Nithsdale Wanderers Football Club in Sanquhar, which I visited recently, that allow local accessibility and the opportunity for people to dream of playing for team GB at an Olympics some time in the future. A small games hall in the village of Catrine has championed badminton over many years and given young people the pride of performing in tournaments across the country.

It is a shame that those opportunities simply do not exist for many young people today and that accessing outdoor green spaces or using football pitches or multi-use game areas comes at a significant cost that is too much for many families. Others have spoken about the power that sport has to unite communities, spark friendships, showcase talent and improve mental health. Given that power, it is beyond belief that we do not give sport the recognition that it deserves or prioritise it in the way that we should. Austerity has hit sport hard and has taken it from the communities that need it most. When Governments have a target to reduce public spending, what is hit first? It is community spaces, sports halls and kids clubs, and we know that that disproportionately affects poorer communities.

Thank you.

I see the thread that Mr Whittle is going with. I believe that austerity causes great detriment to the communities that need it most and that we need to look at the way in which services are funded. Of course, I agree that, if money is not used because there are no sporting facilities, it will be spent through the national health service.

We can, of course, highlight the national lottery funding and sportscotland grants that are available to local sports clubs to enhance their services. Through the national lottery’s awards for all project, sportscotland awarded more than £375,000 to 96 groups across Scotland. That is good but, if we believe that sports should and must be available to all, the truth is that we must argue against austerity and for the valued place of sport and sports facilities in every community. Every community deserves decent sports facilities and they should be available to be used by all.

The Tokyo games took place in the most difficult of circumstances. It is widely believed that it is the fans who make sport what it is. Their presence would undoubtedly have taken the success of the games to another level. It is right that we are debating the motion and I thank Brian Whittle for bringing it to the chamber. I applaud again the success of the Olympians, the hard work of their coaches and the influence of local sports clubs. We have a lot of work to do to make Scotland a fairer and more equal place. We know that we can do it and provide the opportunity for children not to be defined by their postcode but to become Olympians themselves. I hope that we can move forward towards a fairer strategy that helps all to progress towards being hopeful Olympians tomorrow.

I do not have any follow-up questions on that, convener.

Cabinet secretary, I was heartened to hear your response about dealing with the root causes, which is important in this area. Following on from Paul O’Kane’s questions, I will ask about childhood obesity and approaches to young people’s health. Do you agree that it is important that we get those things right early on so that we can look forward to people having long and healthy lives, and that it is important that we target areas of deprivation in order to ensure that people across all communities have a fair start in life?

On the back of Evelyn Tweed’s question, I have a brief question about the length of time that it takes for women to be diagnosed with endometriosis. Women speak to me about the fact that it has been a long journey, and clinicians have acknowledged that they perhaps do not have the necessary expertise. I am sure that this issue will be part of the plan, but it is important that we share expertise among clinicians and that, where necessary, appropriate training is available.

I thank Emma Harper for bringing the debate to the Parliament. I was really interested to see the motion on the agenda and to hear Emma’s contribution this evening, knowing about the expertise that she brings to the subject from her role as a nurse and, as I have learned, as a patient.

I also have some experience of working with patients who use insulin. I spent many years working as a dietitian in the NHS and, in my early career, I covered diabetic clinics along with a specialist diabetic nurse and other members of a multidisciplinary team. Diabetes is a condition that patients manage and live with, and I learned so much about the adaptability, resilience and humour of people following a diagnosis of such a life-changing condition. The experience also gave me a lifelong admiration for the dedication of NHS staff and how they build relationships with patients who face having to overcome enormous hurdles during many years of treatment. I give a big shout out to all those staff, from the porters to the caterers, the medical and clerical staff, and particularly to my colleagues among the allied health professionals, which is a group of incredibly dedicated health service workers.

As the motion points out, insulin is one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in history. It changed the lives of many millions of people by changing the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes from a death sentence to a life worth living. Before insulin, it would have been unusual for someone to live past two years after diagnosis, so 100 years of insulin is definitely worth celebrating.

There are so many elements that members could bring to tonight’s debate, including diabetes diagnosis, diabetes treatment, and diabetes as a life. However, in such a short debate, we only have time to raise one or two issues. In the short time I have, I want to talk a little about tackling the inequalities around diabetes care, particularly the link between inequality and diabetes outcomes.

I thank Diabetes Scotland for its briefing, which reminded me of the realities of living with diabetes, particularly for someone who comes from a more deprived background. Although insulin means that type 1 diabetes is no longer necessarily a death sentence, type 2 diabetes is still on the increase, and the day-to-day complications in heart health, eye care and foot care mean that it is an incredibly hard condition to live with.

It is important to acknowledge that living with diabetes can be relentless, and managing it can feel overwhelming. Managing lifelong conditions can take its toll on individuals and their families, so it is important that we, as parliamentarians, acknowledge our role in fighting for services and for every possible advance to be made, and made accessible to all.

The poorest people in Scotland are more than twice as likely to have diabetes at any age than the average person, and once they have the condition, those who live in the most deprived homes are twice as likely to develop complications through diabetes than those who are in less deprived areas. Those stark figures show the reality for so many. Where someone is born and where they live unfairly lays out their future, particularly when it comes to health.

Tackling the root causes of health inequalities has to be key right here in the Scottish Parliament. We need to tackle inequality in income, access to suitable housing, and access to healthy food. We need to acknowledge the role that we all have in the Parliament and we need policies that transfer power and wealth. The great achievements in diabetes care can continue, but we have to work hard in this place of power to ensure that the factors are in place to give economic justice to all.

The briefing from Diabetes Scotland gives us the stark figures. Rates of diabetes are 80 per cent higher in the most deprived communities in Scotland. That is unacceptable and we must act. Let us celebrate 100 years of insulin, and let that remind us that things can change. With the correct structural changes in society, we can head towards Diabetes Scotland’s vision of a world in which diabetes can do no harm.