Seòmar agus comataidhean

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether inflation and any possible reductions to public sector spending by the United Kingdom Government will impact on prospective capital projects in Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale. (S6O-01534)

Two such projects in the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency that spring to mind are the proposed extension to the Borders railway and the redesign and construction of the Sheriffhall roundabout. I know that the minister is going to report on the issue, but can he advise whether there will be any specific impact on those projects as a result of raging inflation following the Conservatives’ mismanagement of the UK economy?

On 25 November 2021, in answer to my colleague Colin Smyth, you indicated in your ministerial role that the Scottish Government would extend the scope of the snaring review to include a potential outright ban on snaring in Scotland. Is that still on the cards?

In my constituency, I have Glencorse barracks. Thankfully, after years of having the threat of closure hanging over it, it has been reprieved. On the visits that I have made there since I started representing Penicuik, I have been made most welcome by both the service personnel and their families.

I also have the honour each year of representing the Parliament as the local MSP at the remembrance service at the memorial in Peebles, as I will on Sunday. It is always very moving. I pay tribute to Fiona Dunlop, a retired Peebles history teacher who voluntarily takes care of more than 150 war graves in more than a dozen cemeteries across the Borders, supported by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, from which she has rightly received an award.

The families of those who serve, including the parents and the partners, often with children, wait anxiously as their loved ones serve in war-torn countries. They hold the home together, unsure when and, sadly, if their loved ones will return. They are the unsung heroes.

I am mindful each 11 November of the war that I just missed—world war two, when my father, with his great pal Jock Hunter from Hawick, enrolled in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and they were to be sent to Arnhem. At the last minute, dad failed the fitness test—he had trouble with his feet, and army boots made it worse—so he was sent to Shetland instead. Jock, like dad, was in his late 20s. He was parachuted into Arnhem and he died there. Such is the randomness of war.

Dad went on to live into his 90s, having five children with his beloved Margie and a marriage that lasted nigh on 60 years, with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. That was a life that Jock was never to see. There are many—too many—who lost their futures or suffered life-changing injuries in the ensuing wars.

Sadly, wars continue, with the illegal annexation by Russia of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk and the bombing of Ukrainian cities. The bravery and commitment of the Ukrainian people in and out of uniform is daunting. The war will end, as all wars do, but not until after the brutalities—the war crimes, the deaths, the devastation of the land, the bomb-torn landscapes and the unburied.

I wear the red and the white poppies—the red is the poppy of remembrance and the white is the poppy of peace—because, when politicians fail or despots and dictators rule the airwaves, it is the armed services and not the politicians whose lives are put on the line. Within the ranks of Russian conscripts, there are young men who do not wish to spend their youth on bullets and bombs in Ukraine. Brave Russian people who speak out risk their lives, and we must pay tribute to and remember them as we remember the fallen and the damaged of all wars.

To ask the Scottish Government what it can do to address any bus driver shortages across Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale. (S6O-01497)

Whether I am speaking to representatives of Lothian Buses, the main company that serves Midlothian in my constituency, or Borders Buses, which serves the Borders, the answer to the driver shortage question is the same: Brexit. Apart from such meetings, what else can be done, under devolved Government, to remedy the impact that such shortages are having on delivery of bus services in my rural constituency?

I congratulate the member on securing the debate, which focuses on the people whom one might term the unsung of the health service. Indeed, I suspect that, if members were to mention to someone at the bus stop that they were speaking in a debate applauding the contribution of allied health professionals, many would find that that person did not know who they were talking about. However, the term covers a vital range of professionals that most of us have dealings with over the years.

The allied health professions cover a wide range of expertise. For example, they include art, drama and music therapists. Those therapies help mental and physical wellbeing. There are also the more well-known AHPs: physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists. The allied health professions also include therapeutic and diagnostic radiographers, podiatrists and paramedics. That list is not exhaustive. Their professionalism extends beyond medical interventions and often includes tender loving care, good words, kindness and listening to the anxieties of their patients.

AHPs are essential to the wellbeing of my constituents and, indeed, to my own wellbeing. I have had to use the professional services of a physio on more than one occasion and can tell members that I am thankful for that. Similarly, I saw a podiatrist who was taking referrals during Covid. I have decided since then to take much better care of my feet. They are more important to me than I ever knew.

The intervention of those health professionals cured me of pain and increased my mobility, as such intervention does for many others. That, of course, has a big impact on general health and mental wellbeing. Therefore, it also saves pressure on our general practitioners, the national health service and our hospitals. There is no doubt that, as the population ages—and I know what I am talking about—we will need more therapists, particularly physios.

I turn to the work of paramedics in our ambulance service. They provide specialist care and treatment to patients who have been involved in accidents, emergencies and other crises. They need to be able to make swift decisions, stay calm and calm their patients. They often arrive before a GP and ensure that patients are stabilised and en route to hospital without delay. I will give two examples.

A few years back, I was out with the Borders police on patrol in the wee small hours over Saturday night into Sunday morning. We received a call-out and blue-lighted to a Borders town where a poor woman had thrown herself from a bridge into the river below. The river was low, so she fell on to rocks. I watched the police, fire and rescue and paramedics in synchronised action without a word having to be exchanged. Each played their part in the rescue. The police had sealed off the road and fire and rescue had lowered equipment to river level to raise her up. Paramedics were already there. They had descended, wrapped the woman in foil and placed her on a stretcher.

The second event was when, in the course of my profession as a solicitor, I had the tragic case of a woman who tried to cross a railway line. She nearly managed to haul herself on to the platform, but fell back and was hit by a train, trapping her underneath. The driver was about to move the train, but was stopped by the paramedics, as the wheels were acting as a tourniquet on her legs, and moving the train would have made her bleed to death. The paramedics crawled underneath the train, covered in hot engine oil. They comforted her and took early medical interventions, which saved her life.

Not all call-outs are so awful, but many involve road traffic accidents. Like the other services in attendance that I have mentioned, the police and fire and rescue might need cutting equipment. They face sights that must and do impact on them.

In conclusion, I thank Carol Mochan for bringing forward this debate, and I thank all who work as allied health professionals. I hope that everyone who is listening to this now realises exactly what allied health professionals are.

Constituents have advised me that, post-Covid, in certain—only certain—GP practices, they are experiencing barriers to booking face-to-face appointments because the practices have changed their process so that there are online consultation forms, which are difficult for some constituents to use. Is the cabinet secretary aware of that, and will he comment on it?

The cabinet secretary knows that I support the bill in principle, but I have some concerns about people in the 16 to 18 age range, notwithstanding the issue of guidance, which I know has been discussed. I am also concerned about people in that age range being required to have lived in their acquired gender for only three months. Accordingly, I am on the cusp of considering amendments, but I would rather discuss the issues with the cabinet secretary first. I give her an assurance that I support the bill at stage 1, but will she meet me to discuss those issues?

Poverty has a huge impact on children’s ability to learn. Does the cabinet secretary agree that any child would find it difficult to learn on an empty stomach? Free school meals for children in primaries 1 to 5, the child payment of £25 per week for every child in a qualifying family and the extension of that to children up to 16, which will all be available from 14 November, will play an enormous part in improving the attainment of all our children in schools.