Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Bob Doris on introducing the motion. I welcome the representatives from all the different Home-Start groups from across Scotland who are in the gallery, particularly the wonderful staff of the wonderful Home-Start Leith and North-East Edinburgh. I was very pleased to open the relatively new Home-Start office on Leith Walk four years ago, but in fact the group has been active in...
Malcolm Chisholm: I tend to agree with The Guardian editorial this morning that suggested that the referendum was “another chapter in the destructive Conservative psychodrama over Europe.” However, other parties cannot afford to be too high and mighty on this issue. Famously, the Labour Party held a referendum 40 years ago because of divisions in the Labour Party; I was pleased to vote yes in that...
Malcolm Chisholm: 5. To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will speak out about human rights abuses in Qatar prior to the Scotland v Qatar football match on 5 June. (S4F-02838)
Malcolm Chisholm: Does the First Minister share the widespread concerns in Scotland about the Scottish Football Association’s decision to arrange the fixture tomorrow? Given that hundreds of workers have already died constructing football stadiums for the 2022 world cup, and that thousands more are facing forced labour and exploitation, will the Scottish Government—all the ministers in the Scottish...
Malcolm Chisholm: I welcome the Government’s 600-hour policy and its on-going work to deliver more flexibility. I also support much of the Conservative motion, although I had a bout of déjà vu when I saw the words “nursery vouchers” at the top of it because, before the 1997 election, they were a major point of controversy. I even managed to find my speech of 29 January 1996 to wind up a Scottish Grand...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Chic Brodie on bringing forward this important motion. Like him, I will start with the issue of football for those aspiring to play in the top bracket. However, I think that the motion also invites us to consider football for a much wider range of young people. The debate is very timely, given the children’s commissioner’s report in which he rightly emphasises as a central...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate the cabinet secretary and welcome her statement and her great personal commitment on the issue. I have already written to her on behalf of a constituent, and I know that he will ask whether he can be guaranteed that his terrible suffering will be listened to. Will she guarantee that all people who are affected will be listened to under the arrangements that she outlined?
Malcolm Chisholm: I welcome this important bill and the beneficial consequences that I think will flow from it in terms of empowering young people and increasing their engagement in politics. I am sure that all in the chamber were hugely encouraged by the level of interest and engagement that we saw from young people during the referendum. I am equally sure that we all took part in meetings with young people...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Hanzala Malik on lodging the motion. I am sure that I speak for everyone in the chamber when I say that we all condemn the appalling combination of hatred and ignorance that we saw in the graffiti on the gurdwara in Glasgow. We must challenge that, and we must challenge all forms of racial and religious hatred. The motion focuses on Islamophobia, which we know has been a...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Christine Grahame on securing the debate. I have signed the motion but, because I gave the wrong motion number, my name does not appear in the list of those who have done so. That should be corrected tomorrow. I also congratulate the group, which has been meeting in Midlothian for quite a long time. I commend its powerful and moving publication, which I was pleased to read this...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Clare Adamson on introducing the debate and on bringing the Parliament’s attention to today’s awareness event on the importance of protecting people and properties from the threat of fire. When the Fire Sprinklers in Residential Premises (Scotland) Bill was introduced in 2003, there was no requirement in legislation for mandatory installation of fire sprinkler systems in...
Malcolm Chisholm: 6. To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has made to the United Kingdom Government concerning the Human Rights Act 1998. (S4O-04339)
Malcolm Chisholm: I am grateful that the cabinet secretary has expressed this Parliament’s abhorrence for what is proposed. In his letter, did he raise the necessity of a legislative consent motion, which clearly will not be approved by this Parliament? Is it not the case that what is proposed drives a coach and horses through the Scotland Act 1998 as well as potentially putting the UK outside the family of...
Malcolm Chisholm: Two central economic facts underline Labour’s motion. First, education—especially quality education—is crucial for economic growth; and, secondly, inequality undermines economic growth. That is an orthodoxy now, as it is accepted by the OECD and the IMF as well as by notable individual economists. Those two facts explain why the attainment gap is not just important—and, indeed,...
Malcolm Chisholm: I am very confident that those powers will be coming soon. As members know, I am not one to bash the Scottish Government at every opportunity, but it and SNP back benchers must face some uncomfortable facts in this debate. I do not think that they can argue with the Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy, which has been much referred to. I think that in the speech that she gave last night,...
Malcolm Chisholm: I am exactly on six minutes, so I do not have time to say what I wanted to say about early years. I will just note that I agree that, in spite of all our talk about schools and colleges, the most important investment for all sorts of things, including economic growth, is probably investment in the early years.
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Jean Urquhart on lodging an important motion. I will start with what is perhaps the least controversial bit of the motion. I think that we would all agree on the importance of local media. I pay tribute to the great work over many years of the North Edinburgh News in my constituency, and Greener Leith. Regrettably, the former lost its regular council funding three or four years...
Malcolm Chisholm: I join Liam McArthur in welcoming this year’s mental health awareness week, which offers us a chance to challenge the stigma that still surrounds mental health issues and to focus on the particular issue of the effect of stigma in the workplace. I am glad that we also have an opportunity today to highlight the efforts of see me over many years to tackle the lack of understanding surrounding...
Malcolm Chisholm: I look forward to the subsequent stages of the bill. I congratulate the committee on its report, the Government on introducing the legislation and Jenny Marra on setting the ball rolling.
Malcolm Chisholm: I recognise the committee’s excellent report and pay tribute to the trailblazing work of Jenny Marra, whose member’s bill provoked such a massive response to the public consultation. I know that every member in the chamber finds trafficking a horrendous crime and will welcome the bill’s objectives of consolidating and strengthening the law and providing the best possible protection. As...
