Seòmar agus comataidhean

I completely concur with that. As I said, they are not there for that specific use or to be ingested in that way; they are there for the food impact.

I mentioned the attractive sweet flavours. Kids have to deal with peer pressure and people saying, “Go on—just have a try.” We know that that happens regularly. As ASH Scotland has talked about in the past, vaping among young people is now becoming a real danger. It talks about marketing and the use of significant measures to ensure that we do not have that. Vaping is being normalised and youngsters are seeing that it is okay, but it certainly is not okay. Young developing lungs and brains are especially vulnerable to the harms that could come from vaping, so it is vital that we challenge that marketing.

Vaping is also a huge problem for the environment. Last year on the BBC, we heard about the batteries, plastics, metals and stainless steel that are involved. The pandemic gave us the opportunity to ensure that there was a big noise about recycling and plastics.

In conclusion, it is now time to regroup, to put a spotlight on the issue and to make collective efforts to deal with the marketing issues before it is too late. Certainly, before we get to another health or environmental catastrophe, we need to take the issue seriously.

The crisis on our high streets is stark. Scotland’s vacancy rate is above that of the United Kingdom as a whole. Does the Scottish Government accept those findings, and does it acknowledge that it has failed to adequately support the retail sector and high streets in Scotland for some considerable time?

I am sorry; it is me.

Before discussing the details of my amendment and the subject of today’s debate, I will reflect on what the debate should have been about. The debate was an opportunity for the Parliament to set out its vision for workers’ rights in Scotland in the coming years. It was an opportunity to set out the importance to the Scottish economy of fair work and workers’ rights. It was an opportunity—dare I say it?—for the Scottish Government to constructively make its case for how such rights should be advanced in the years to come.

However, any hope of such a debate happening today vanished as soon as the Scottish Government published its motion for the debate. It is disappointing but not surprising that the motion is yet another list of grievances and makes no effort to set out the bold vision for workers’ rights that the people of Scotland expect.

In his opening remarks, the minister tried to paint a picture of a United Kingdom Government that is determined to undermine workers’ rights at all costs. The truth is, of course, somewhat different. The UK has one of the best records on workers’ rights in the world, and it has consistently striven to do much more than has been done in many EU member states in different areas. For example, the United Kingdom minimum wage is higher than that in most EU member states. From 1 April, it will increase to £10.42 per hour for those aged 23 and above. That is an increase of nearly 10 per cent on the previous rate, which will leave the UK with one of the highest minimum wages in the world.

We should also remember that United Kingdom maternity leave entitlement is nearly three times the EU equivalent. Statutory maternity leave in the United Kingdom is 52 weeks, of which up to 39 weeks are paid leave.

The right to paid paternity leave was granted in the United Kingdom nearly 20 years before it was granted in the EU, and workers in the United Kingdom receive a minimum of five weeks of annual leave. That is more than the four weeks required by the EU.

We also know that the Working Time Regulations 1998 transposed the working time directive into UK law and that that has been retained through the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

That shows the highly responsible historical record of the UK Government in continuing to do more in those areas. More recently, loopholes have been closed, such as the one whereby agency workers were employed for less money than permanent employees. The maximum fine for employers who mistreat workers has been quadrupled. Several recommendations from “Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices”, which was published in 2017, have already been implemented. An employment bill, which will further implement the review’s recommendations, will be introduced.

It is therefore clear that the improvement of workers’ rights is not a finished project; rather, it is an on-going process. Far from being a threat to workers’ rights across the UK, Brexit can be an opportunity for the UK to continue to do more in that area.

In a challenging economy and a challenging jobs market, it will be vital to ensure that we have a package of workers’ rights that maintains this country’s historically high standards while allowing the flexibility that employers will need in the post-pandemic recovery.

I think that Emma Roddick was the first to try to intervene.

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent study conducted by the Scottish Retail Consortium, which found that one in six shops are lying empty in Scotland. (S6T-01146)

The Scottish Retail Consortium and industry bodies have asked that rates relief for small businesses match the 75 per cent that is being offered by the United Kingdom Government. Is that likely to become a reality for the struggling sector?

I am pleased to be able to contribute, and I thank Siobhian Brown for bringing this important debate to the chamber. As Asthma + Lung UK Scotland’s parliamentary smoking cessation champion and a co-convener of the cross-party group on lung health, this subject is very close to my heart. Through the CPG, I have worked with Asthma + Lung UK’s breathe easy support group in Clackmannanshire in my region. Working with those groups, as well as with patients and health professionals on the cross-party group, gives immense insight into the harm that comes from smoking. We also understand the sheer magnitude of the ticking time bomb that we have on our hands with vaping.

The issue is Scotland’s potential next disaster. Scotland is seeing by default, arguably, a fast-evolving young group of individuals who are taking on vaping as a result of clever but cynical marketing. A recent survey by Asthma + Lung UK shows that there have been many reports of children of primary school age being caught using vaping products, with some as young as six or seven. In September 2022, Dr Jonathan Coutts, a consultant neonatal and respiratory paediatrician, talked to our cross-party group on lung health about the potential effects and about bronchitis symptoms in young people as a result of exposure to second-hand vaping.

Although the sale and purchase of nicotine vapour products to and by under-18s is banned in Scotland, the products are typically still finding their way into the hands of ever-younger individuals and users. Rather sadly, the evidence will be borne out through the passage of time, but we already know that the products are not risk free.

Our lungs were only ever designed to intake oxygen from the air that we breathe. The flavours are passed by the food industry, but they will harm young people and individuals for generations to come. Why do we allow young users to deal with such difficulties and harmful chemicals? We have yet to decide and understand the full possibilities of where this will take us. Vaping is simply a marketing tool. As has been discussed, it is being used like an alcopop, with bright colours and attractive sweet flavours.

I am very pleased to speak in support of this important motion, and I thank Fergus Ewing for bringing the debate to the chamber today.

As the motion quite rightly says, it is vital that we continue to impart the lessons of the Holocaust to each and every future generation. We know that more than 6 million individuals were annihilated. The true horrors of the Holocaust, along with subsequent genocides and persecutions across the world, must never be erased from the public psyche.

This year’s Holocaust memorial day theme—“Ordinary People”—is a huge opportunity, as it recognises the ordinary day-to-day people who became involved in many facets of the Holocaust. That is in addition to the later, well-documented genocides that happened in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur and Bosnia.

As the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust explains, genocide is facilitated by ordinary people. The individuals who are persecuted, oppressed and murdered in genocides often are not persecuted because of crimes that they have committed; it is because they are ordinary people who belong to a particular group.

As we approach Holocaust memorial day tomorrow, I feel that it is important to mention an immensely important part of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history. Every June, as part of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history month, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust remembers and commemorates the richness that Gypsy and Traveller communities bring to our everyday lives through their many and varied academic and artistic achievements.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust reminds us that, throughout the truly horrendous and hideous circumstances during the 1930s and 1940s, the Jewish people were, tragically, not the only ones to be under the inhumane sway of the Nazi regime. For more than a decade from about 1935, European Roma and Sinti people, who have often been labelled as “Gypsies” historically, were targeted for annihilation by the Nazi regime.

Last week, I was delighted to host in Parliament a group of young Gypsy Travellers, along with their parents, their grandparents and charity workers. They visited Parliament as part of a project in my region for young Gypsy Travellers who are not attending high school. Through the project, they get support with skills and qualifications that can help them through their lives. I was deeply inspired by the youngsters, who, to a person, were immensely enthusiastic and possessed a healthy appetite for learning. During a question session with them, they talked about how they feel persecuted even today. We also touched on the horrors of the Holocaust, which affected previous generations of Travellers in the 1930s and 1940s.

The reason why I mention that is that it is too easy for society to put labels on particular groups. The reality is that these are all individuals with the right to learn, the right to be heard and the right to survive. Indeed, they are ordinary people whose efforts deserve and require acknowledgement.

It is with that in mind that we should commit to ensuring equality of opportunity for every one of us in our communities. We should talk about understanding particularly marginalised groups. We should also never forget the horrors that many groups have had to endure to get to where they are today.

After the Scottish National Party-Green Government decided to cut the network support grant plus on 9 October, it did a quick U-turn and reintroduced the scheme in December 2022. However, the scheme has been brought back only until March, and the funding for bus operators has been reduced by 22 per cent. Will the minister confirm the reasons for ending the scheme again and why the funding that is offered has been significantly reduced?