Seòmar agus comataidhean

That is helpful. I remind the committee of my entry in the register of members’ interests: I am a member of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers parliamentary group.

You talked about the importance of investing in the workforce and having good industrial relations, which help with passenger safety and passenger experience. From your early discussions with your UK Government counterparts, are you feeling more optimistic that there can be that stability and a policy approach of goodwill towards the workforce that will mean that we will see an improved picture across the railways, not just in Scotland but across Great Britain?

Good morning, cabinet secretary. In your helpful opening statement, you were really clear that the bill will facilitate policy alignment between the Scottish and UK Governments. That is positive and well understood. Will you say a bit more about ScotRail and the Caledonian sleeper service and how the Scottish Government envisages that publicly owned cross-border railway services will interact with or work alongside those services? For example, are there any downsides or impacts that will need to be mitigated, or, overall, does it feel like a positive measure?

Thank you.

You said that the announcement provides a path towards a decarbonised intercity network. In your statement, you talked about the potential for a reduction in emissions from intercity services. Can you advise the committee by how much emissions will reduce? What does the modelling say on that?

Okay, but are you confident that there will be a reduction in emissions as a result of the investment?

The Scottish Government’s plan to downgrade the neonatal intensive care unit at University hospital Wishaw is dangerous and flawed, and it will fail vulnerable babies and families in Lanarkshire. My constituents deserve better, and that is why they have the full support of Scottish Labour. What about the First Minister? Will he listen to parents, families and healthcare experts and save this United Kingdom-award-winning unit, or will the Scottish National Party Government continue to defend the indefensible?

Will the member take an intervention?

I take the opportunity to extend my best wishes to the cabinet secretary as she is about to embark on maternity leave. I look forward to continuing to work with Ms Martin and to working with Dr Allan when he takes up his post.

The motion is right to ask the Parliament to reaffirm our collective

“commitment to tackling the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss through a just and fair transition”.

Very few people in Scotland would disagree with that.

We have had really helpful briefings, including those from Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, Scottish Land & Estates, Uplift and the Scottish Rewilding Alliance.

Tackling the climate emergency is an era-defining challenge, and all politicians and Governments have a moral responsibility to act. We cannot slow down or lose courage. However, as colleagues have said—and as, I think, the Government recognises—the Government has been struggling to turn ambition into action. We have heard about its failure to meet legal targets, which is important. Sarah Boyack set out that the Government’s new climate bill must be introduced—we cannot have any more delay—and it must be backed up by a climate change plan.

Dr Shivali Fifield, from the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, has said:

“To the Government we say: show us your homework. Too many times, you have overpromised and underdelivered, and in a climate emergency, the stakes are too high for wishful thinking.”

We agree that the failure to meet targets is not the only case of the Government failing. Many people, including from the Climate Change Committee, have said that there has been an absence of climate policy.

I agree with Transform Scotland that the Scottish Government’s commitment to cut car kilometres by 20 per cent by 2030 is to be commended, but we are now three years on from that commitment being made, with no real plan in place. That is not good enough. I hope that we will have answers on when the route map for reducing car kilometres by 20 per cent will be published and on what policy measures it will contain.

[Made a request to intervene.]

I am grateful to the minister and I have listened carefully to his response, but students and college lecturers are already adversely affected.

The Scottish Government’s fair work credentials in further education are in tatters. We are seeing anti-worker deeming, threats of compulsory redundancy and the threat of closure of the trade union education centre at City of Glasgow College. The question from picket lines across Scotland, including South Lanarkshire College in my area and New College Lanarkshire, is this: when will the minister intervene to ensure that we see a funding package that will deliver a decent pay settlement for college lecturers that is consistent with the public sector pay policy, while protecting jobs and ensuring the continuity of course provision for our students?