Seòmar agus comataidhean

[Made a request to intervene.]

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting and investing in youth work. (S6O-04237)

I appreciate what the minister has just laid out to the Parliament. Can he clarify that the undertaking that was given in 2018 by the previous cabinet secretary Roseanna Cunningham will be honoured? He has already set out the different ways in which that will be done but, for those of us who have campaigned on the issue in previous years, it would be helpful for that undertaking to be re-emphasised.

Does the minister agree that, as Oliver Mundell emphasised, we should all appreciate the number of primary school children who learn about Burns? I will be doing that this week.

Like others, I warmly welcome the opportunity to come together to mark the third pillar of the winter festivals that we celebrate in Scotland, together with St Andrew’s day and Hogmanay.

The legacy of Burns is immense, as the motion states and as other members have said. Every week I am reminded of that, because the Burns statue on Constitution Street in Leith looks on to my constituency office. Indeed, there are statues of Robert Burns all over the world—his international footprint is matched only by that of Taras Shevchenko from Ukraine.

As well as the passion that there is for Burns in Leith, north Edinburgh and around the world, I have a personal connection with our national bard. My father, who is from the small town of Crosshill in Ayrshire, spoke passionately about Burns throughout my childhood and he continues to do so to this day. Indeed, given that he was a professional exhibition and museum designer who designed a number of exhibitions in years past, including the exhibition in the National Library of Scotland, he would support the efforts to create more exhibition and museum experiences for people to enjoy Burns.

My father’s experience of that period developed in him—as Burns has done for many others—a passion to write in Scots and to use the style of Burns to express his own messages and the things that he thought were important. This week, we have seen one of the world’s biggest polluters pull out of the Paris agreement, so I want to read a few verses that my father wrote of a modern moose’s reply to the ploughman poet. He said:

“We mice, might whyles express opinion,
On ‘Godly’ Man’s assumed ‘dominion’.
For time has shown, yer sairly wantin’
In stewardin’ skills—
Nae savin’ nature’s precious union,
But causin’ her ills.

Ye wanton tykes cause devastation.
Wi tae much business exploitation,
Pollutin’ water, air and oceans
For greed o’ cash,
‘Til soon the planet’s fragile balance
Will tip and crash.

Beware then, brainy homo saps,
Wi’ gadgets, phones an latest apps,
This earth is here for a’ tae nourish,
Baith human and beast.
It’s time you gained oor poet’s savvy,
An’ better shared the feast.”

That connection from my family was profoundly moved in me when, in 2019, as a Scottish minister, I had the great privilege of presenting the Robert Burns humanitarian award at the Alloway cottage. As well as being an environmentalist and, many would argue, a socialist, Burns was an internationalist, and, of course, that is best encapsulated in the song “Auld Lang Syne”, which is sung not only at Hogmanay, but is the second most famous song in the world, being surpassed only by “Happy Birthday”.

Indeed, I will never forget when I was in China in 2003 telling my class that I am from Scotland, to which they said, “Well, where’s that?”, and so I whistled the tune of “Auld Lang Syne”, and they instantly remembered what that was. It is that ability of Burns to bring people together that is the magic so many years on. I have found that the power of Burns to bring people together is so important wherever I have been—whether it was when I was in Paris in the British embassy in 2019, or in Brussels in the Scottish Government hub just after Brexit—internationally, domestically, in Parliaments, in embassies and in our communities. We must treasure that power, we must celebrate it, and we must not take it for granted.

Will the member take an intervention?

Our population—its make-up, health, diversity and distribution—is arguably the most important aspect of all our considerations in the different policy areas that we contend with. Of course, migration is a significant part of that; it has been historically, is today and will be going forward. That is why it is important and right that we debate these issues today.

My constituency has often symbolised and been at the forefront of Scotland’s migration story. I was reminded of that on Christmas morning when I joined Street Soccer Scotland’s annual football game, with people from across the world who did not necessarily have other things to do that day coming together, playing in friendship and doing something that everyone can enjoy.

Leith, with its docks, often tells the story of Scotland’s migration journey, whether it is of the Italians who first started selling ice cream in the port of Leith, the proud Indian heritage that we have with our Sikh community, the Pakistani community, the Chinese community or the eastern Europeans who have made Edinburgh Northern and Leith and the city more widely their home from the 1950s onwards. That story also includes the recent Syrian community, the Lebanese community, various aspects of the African story of migration to Scotland, the historical story of Irish migration and, most recently, our growing Ukrainian Scot community.

All those new Scots, as well as people who have come from the rest of the UK, such as my mother, who worked for more than 30 years in our NHS, are part of the make-up of our society. Whether it is in Edinburgh Northern and Leith or across Scotland more widely, the story of migration is enriching, not just for our culture and our inclusive Scottish identity, which I will say more about in a minute, but factually, because migration makes a positive contribution to our economy and our public services.

Scotland is not perfect by any means: racism exists, and our challenges with sectarianism go back to challenges with migration in decades and centuries past. Generally, in Scotland—although, again I am not in any way saying that it is perfect—inclusion has been reasonably successful. BEMIS describes it as our intangible cultural heritage and our inclusive identity; new Scots become proud Scots very quickly. We do not just have multiculturalism but interculturalism. My constituent Paul Singh’s organisation, Building Bridges, does great work. I refer members to his contribution to time for reflection on 22 February 2022.

The story has been a good one and we have a good place from which to build, because, as has been said by members on the front benches and many others, our demographic challenges are real. I do not think that migration is a panacea for our demographic challenges; no one in the debate has argued that. However, migration is part of how we respond to that challenge, not just in Scotland but in most western economies and democracies. The need to attract more people and to bring more people to Scotland is an essential part of how we orchestrate our public policy going forward. It has been good to hear the different perspectives from members of all parties in the chamber about how we do that. I am interested in solutions on how we move forward.

I refer colleagues to the fact that, as is noted in the Government’s motion,

“the Parliament has previously endorsed a motion calling for the development of differentiated, more flexible migration policy , tailored to meet Scotland’s specific needs”.

The 2020 paper, “Migration: Helping Scotland Prosper” was the culmination of a lot of work that was done cross-party and cross-sector to propose solutions that could be achieved with creativity and with a new constitutional position on immigration policy. It was about maintaining aspects such as border control as reserved issues but enabling the Parliament to take responsibility for and show innovation in how we attract more people to Scotland.

Craig Hoy referred to the example of an American migrant. One of the problems that potential American migrants face is that the cost of the visas allowing them to come to the country is extortionate. If Scotland could approach that differently, would that not have an impact? There are practical, creative solutions that we could come up with if we had the flexibility to do so. As a result of the constitutional changes with the Scotland Act 2016, we have the advantage of having a tax code; we have a way to build a more tailored migration system around something that is already in place.

Canada and Australia have much more decentralised immigration systems. The UK is not necessarily normal in the way that it handles migration so centrally and with such homogeny. We could have a better way of doing things. I am glad that there is more constructive engagement with the UK Government and that there is an openness to think about these issues. Whether from Adam Tomkins in the previous session of the Parliament or from Labour MSPs, there has been good constructive discussion across political parties about how we could better approach migration in Scotland with tailored solutions under devolved power.

The migration service that the Government has introduced will absolutely help to support people when they arrive in Scotland, which is important. I also encourage the Government to continue to support organisations such as Multi-Cultural Family Base in my constituency and others in the third sector that do such important work to support people when they arrive in Scotland. There is a sense that Scotland is a place that is growing its population well through migration and that it is inclusive and allows integration. There is a sense that everyone is proud to be Scottish, alongside their heritage from the different places that they have come from. We have something special in that and we have a good opportunity to build on it.

I commend the Government’s motion. The debate is important for us all, because migration is one of the issues of our time. We should all come to this debate with solutions and with a sense of how we can work together to improve things.

Our population—its make-up, health, diversity and distribution—is arguably the most important aspect of all our considerations in the different policy areas that we contend with. Of course, migration is a significant part of that; it has been historically, is today and will be going forward. That is why it is important and right that we debate these issues today.

My constituency has often symbolised and been at the forefront of Scotland’s migration story. I was reminded of that on Christmas morning when I joined Street Soccer Scotland’s annual football game, with people from across the world who did not necessarily have other things to do that day coming together, playing in friendship and doing something that everyone can enjoy.

Leith, with its docks, often tells the story of Scotland’s migration journey, whether it is of the Italians who first started selling ice cream in the port of Leith, the proud Indian heritage that we have with our Sikh community, the Pakistani community, the Chinese community or the eastern Europeans who have made Edinburgh Northern and Leith and the city more widely their home from the 1950s onwards. That story also includes the recent Syrian community, the Lebanese community, various aspects of the African story of migration to Scotland, the historical story of Irish migration and, most recently, our growing Ukrainian Scot community.

All those new Scots, as well as people who have come from the rest of the UK, such as my mother, who worked for more than 30 years in our NHS, are part of the make-up of our society. Whether it is in Edinburgh Northern and Leith or across Scotland more widely, the story of migration is enriching, not just for our culture and our inclusive Scottish identity, which I will say more about in a minute, but factually, because migration makes a positive contribution to our economy and our public services.

Scotland is not perfect by any means: racism exists, and our challenges with sectarianism go back to challenges with migration in decades and centuries past. Generally, in Scotland—although, again I am not in any way saying that it is perfect—inclusion has been reasonably successful. BEMIS describes it as our intangible cultural heritage and our inclusive identity; new Scots become proud Scots very quickly. We do not just have multiculturalism but interculturalism. My constituent Paul Singh’s organisation, Building Bridges, does great work. I refer members to his contribution to time for reflection on 22 February 2022.

The story has been a good one and we have a good place from which to build, because, as has been said by members on the front benches and many others, our demographic challenges are real. I do not think that migration is a panacea for our demographic challenges; no one in the debate has argued that. However, migration is part of how we respond to that challenge, not just in Scotland but in most western economies and democracies. The need to attract more people and to bring more people to Scotland is an essential part of how we orchestrate our public policy going forward. It has been good to hear the different perspectives from members of all parties in the chamber about how we do that. I am interested in solutions on how we move forward.

I refer colleagues to the fact that, as is noted in the Government’s motion,

“the Parliament has previously endorsed a motion calling for the development of differentiated, more flexible migration policy , tailored to meet Scotland’s specific needs”.

The 2020 paper, “Migration: Helping Scotland Prosper” was the culmination of a lot of work that was done cross-party and cross-sector to propose solutions that could be achieved with creativity and with a new constitutional position on immigration policy. It was about maintaining aspects such as border control as reserved issues but enabling the Parliament to take responsibility for and show innovation in how we attract more people to Scotland.

Craig Hoy referred to the example of an American migrant. One of the problems that potential American migrants face is that the cost of the visas allowing them to come to the country is extortionate. If Scotland could approach that differently, would that not have an impact? There are practical, creative solutions that we could come up with if we had the flexibility to do so. As a result of the constitutional changes with the Scotland Act 2016, we have the advantage of having a tax code; we have a way to build a more tailored migration system around something that is already in place.

Canada and Australia have much more decentralised immigration systems. The UK is not necessarily normal in the way that it handles migration so centrally and with such homogeny. We could have a better way of doing things. I am glad that there is more constructive engagement with the UK Government and that there is an openness to think about these issues. Whether from Adam Tomkins in the previous session of the Parliament or from Labour MSPs, there has been good constructive discussion across political parties about how we could better approach migration in Scotland with tailored solutions under devolved power.

The migration service that the Government has introduced will absolutely help to support people when they arrive in Scotland, which is important. I also encourage the Government to continue to support organisations such as Multi-Cultural Family Base in my constituency and others in the third sector that do such important work to support people when they arrive in Scotland. There is a sense that Scotland is a place that is growing its population well through migration and that it is inclusive and allows integration. There is a sense that everyone is proud to be Scottish, alongside their heritage from the different places that they have come from. We have something special in that and we have a good opportunity to build on it.

I commend the Government’s motion. The debate is important for us all, because migration is one of the issues of our time. We should all come to this debate with solutions and with a sense of how we can work together to improve things.

Does Jeremy Balfour acknowledge the fact that inward migration from the rest of the UK has been positive—in that more people have come from the rest of the UK to Scotland than have gone elsewhere in the UK—and that the overall levels of migration to Scotland are pretty similar to those in the north of England? I am not sure that the argument is as clear as he has made out.

Will the member give way?