Seòmar agus comataidhean

I thank Alasdair Allan for bringing the motion to the chamber. I support the central argument in support of representation for island communities on the boards of CMAL and CalMac Ferries Ltd.

I often travel to the isle of Lewis in Dr Allan’s constituency to visit family, and I agree that the infrastructure and lifeline services that CMAL and CalMac provide are an important part of the everyday life of the islands. I represent West Scotland, and I can tell members that the infrastructure services that are provided by those two bodies are also an important part of everyday life of the islands on the Clyde coast.

Arran has been hit particularly hard by what islanders themselves have called a ferry fiasco. We know why that is the case—the CalMac fleet is ageing and increasingly unreliable. Frequent ferry disruption has an enormous impact on the local economies and island life. It means disruption to supply chains, visitor cancellations and missed hospital appointments. That is unacceptable, and I agree with Kenny Gibson’s comment that islanders are at the end of their tether.

A robust and resilient ferry service would be the foundation on which to build stronger, more sustainable island economies. Through inaction, neglect and what a committee of this Parliament called a “catastrophic failure” in the procurement of replacement ferries, the people of Arran and other islands have been denied the resilient ferry service that they deserve. If Scotland’s islands had a dedicated voice on the boards of CMAL and CalMac, it would be harder to ignore the concerns of people on our islands.

They would have a voice on the boards that shape the critical services that their communities cannot do without. Not only does it make practical sense, we should, as a matter of principle, support greater passenger and workforce representation in the governance of public transport systems—of ferries, bus services and the new publicly owned ScotRail.

Alasdair Allan said that not a single member of the CMAL board lives on one of the island communities they serve. Not a single member of the board lives with the reality of the decisions that they take and the mistakes that they make. That can no longer be justified. CMAL should be accountable to Scotland’s islands, as it is to ministers in Edinburgh. Let me also say that ministers in Edinburgh should be accountable to Scotland’s islands. The ferry fiasco is not over; there are still demands for a public inquiry, and ministers must not escape scrutiny. They are ultimately responsible for the dismal failure to provide resilient ferry services.

It is a national disgrace, meaning that the new ferries that we need are delayed and £100 million over budget. That is £100 million that we could have been investing in our islands, our local services and in strengthening our ferry network as a whole. The minister should today give a crystal clear commitment that there will be no further delays and no further cost increases to those ferries.

Once the ferries have been delivered, there should be a national ferry building programme with direct awards to the lower Clyde, in line with calls made by the leader of Inverclyde Council, Stephen McCabe, last month.

On the issue of voices on boards, I take the opportunity to say that, had the trade union at Ferguson Marine had a formal voice on the board of Ferguson during the past few years, perhaps mistakes could have been avoided and the Glen Sannox would not be delayed and over budget.

I reiterate the need for robust and resilient ferry services in Scotland, and agree that representation for islanders on the boards of the bodies can help us to press that case. Scotland’s islanders deserve better. They need a voice and that voice needs to be listened to.

Industrial relations on Scotland’s railways are at an all-time low. That is a damning indictment of Abellio’s treatment of the key workers who have kept Scotland moving and a damning indictment of this Government, which is leading Scotland into the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—with growing unrest on the railways and the prospect of strikes bringing Glasgow to a halt. That is a national humiliation and a failure of leadership from the Government.

The minister must get a grip and do so now. Why has he not intervened to ensure a satisfactory resolution to six months of RMT action and overtime bans? Will he intervene to ensure that ScotRail’s dispute with engineers, who last week voted overwhelmingly for strike action, is resolved? Will the minister explain why industrial relations have nosedived in the final months of the Abellio contract and on his watch?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the on-going industrial disputes with ScotRail. (S6T-00127)

Negotiation is a matter for the operator and the trade unions, but it is also a matter for the transport minister and the Scottish Government. Government and taxpayers are paying ScotRail for a seven-day-a-week service but getting six days at the moment, because ScotRail does not have the workforce to cope with an overtime ban. Workers’ terms and conditions are under attack, jobs and services are being cut, ScotRail will not rule out compulsory redundancies, key workers are not getting the fair deal that they deserve and nor are passengers, who cannot even get replacement bus services on a Sunday.

Abellio is making a mockery of the Government’s commitment to fair work, as are five Scottish National Party MSPs who have done nothing to resolve the dispute and who have shamefully blamed the disruption on Scottish workers exercising their rights, rather than on ScotRail’s intransigence.

Whose side is the Government on? Is it with the workers who are defending their jobs and conditions and defending services for passengers, or is it on the side of unreasonable bosses who, in the era of COP26, are wrecking our railways?

During the summer, I have taken surgeries to the streets in my community and can tell the minister that there is growing concern about antisocial behaviour and the inappropriate use of quad bikes and other off-road vehicles, which endangers not only the rider but pedestrians and the wider public. Often, the people who are most affected by antisocial behaviour are the least likely to come forward with concerns. Will the minister meet me to discuss how we can help Police Scotland to make our communities safe and reclaim our footpaths, parks and public spaces from the dangerous, antisocial minority who are misusing those vehicles?

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle the antisocial use of quad bikes, trail bikes and other off-road vehicles. (S6O-00091)

On the day that the deal was announced, ScotRail unveiled a consultation on timetable changes that would cut 300 rail services. The SNP Minister for Transport seems to accept the cuts; one wonders whether the Green ministers do, too. Given what the First Minister said about investing in public transport and tackling the climate emergency, will she stop the cuts to rail services? If not, how can the Government justify record ministerial salaries and more ministerial cars and bicycles when cutting rail services for everybody else?

There is widespread concern about compliance with Covid safety rules and the wearing of face coverings on public transport. Ministers were exercised about the actions of London North Eastern Railway, but what action has been taken to address compliance on ScotRail services and bus services in Scotland? It is not a small minority of cases. Why are levels of compliance on public transport not good enough? Given that the First Minister stated today that face coverings will still be required, what confidence can passengers have that rules will be adequately enforced next week, because that is not happening right now?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans for national towns of culture. (S6O-00038)

Forced adoptions, in which women were coerced by those more powerful than them to give up their babies—as happened to many young Scottish women in the 1950s, 1960s and even into the 1970s—are perhaps among the most heinous of injustices that our society has inflicted on women. They were a tragedy for all involved: for the babies taken from their mother’s arms and forced to live with no knowledge of their birth parents or wider family; for the families whose relationships were often broken beyond repair; and for the women, who were shamed and shunned by society. We should never forget or ignore the appalling cruelties that were inflicted on those young women—some of whom we would now perceive as being children themselves at the time—or the lack of power and agency that they had.

I therefore congratulate my colleague Monica Lennon on facilitating the debate. Forced adoption is one of the greatest hidden and untold scandals of the 20th century. As Monica Lennon and others have outlined, the scale is truly staggering. It is nearly five years since STV screened a documentary on the subject that exposed the injustice of forced adoption on national television, yet the women and their children are still waiting for the Scottish Government to issue an apology on behalf of the entire nation. The Sunday Post has drawn attention to the tragedy and to the hurt that was inflicted on my constituent Marion McMillan and her son, as well as to Marion’s long campaign for Scottish ministers to say sorry.

Marion, who was originally from Stranraer and now lives in Paisley, was 17 when she was sent to a Salvation Army mother and baby home. There, her son was taken from her, even though she begged for him to stay. Marion speaks movingly about hearing her baby crying in a nearby room and having to sneak in to cover him because contact was forbidden and was punished with extra chores. Newspapers have printed one of the only photographs of a young Marion with her baby son, which was taken with a camera that the mothers had to hide so that they could have a permanent reminder of the short precious time that they would have together with their babies.

Marion’s baby was eventually adopted and she was told that she could be jailed if she ever attempted to find him. Despite the fact that they both searched for each other, it was 40 years before Marion and her son would meet again. To its credit, the Salvation Army has apologised to Marion, but many other organisations that were involved in the cruelty of forced adoption have yet to apologise.

For years, Marion worked to support women from around the world who experienced such injustice. She helped to reunite families. Alongside Evelyn Robinson and many others, she gave evidence in support of a national apology in Australia. Australia went on to become the first country in the world to issue a formal apology for what happened.

As Monica Lennon said, Marion now has terminal cancer and her dying wish is that the Scottish Government will follow where Australia led and issue a formal apology to the women and children here who suffered as she did for so many years.

The women affected are largely now in their 70s and 80s. As others have said, sadly, many are no longer with us. However, it is vitally important that what they went through is acknowledged and remembered for generations to come, so let there be a permanent record in the Parliament of Marion’s words:

“We were told we were unfit and inadequate and that our babies would suffer if we denied them the chance to have two parents to love and look after them. We were told if we really loved them, we’d let them go to a good home, that we’d be selfish not to sign the papers. Our only sin was to fall in love in a different era.”

She said:

“an official apology ... would mend some of our pain.”

This has been a shameful chapter in Scotland’s history. It is time for the Scottish Government to acknowledge that and issue the apology that Marion and many others have waited for for so long. Marion deserves to have her dying wish granted.