Kenneth Gibson: Afghanistan is at a pivotal point in its existence. In reality, very little progress towards a truly modern democratic society as we would recognise it has been made over the past 20 years. For example, under the first Taliban regime, 2.3 per cent of girls attended secondary school; by this year, the figure for girls was still only 13.2 per cent, and it was 37 per cent for boys. Views remain...
Kenneth Gibson: Human papillomavirus is known to cause 99 per cent of all cervical cancers, as well as cases of head, neck and anogenital cancers, so an HPV vaccination programme was introduced for secondary 1 girls in 2008 and for boys in 2019. Can the minister provide an update on how lockdown has affected implementation of the HPV vaccination programme over the past 16 months and say how that will be...
Kenneth Gibson: Does the minister agree that high street retailers operate at a severe disadvantage relative to online businesses, for example, with regard to paying rates? Given that taxing online retailers is a reserved matter, is the Scottish Government urging its United Kingdom counterpart to enact such a policy, actively pursuing any revenues that would accrue to Scotland and, ultimately, the devolution...
Kenneth Gibson: I welcome the First Minister’s statement. Wearing face coverings in shops, while travelling and at work has become second nature to many and continues to be necessary, but doing so is neither pleasant nor particularly comfortable. One or two public health advisers are even suggesting that face coverings should become permanent. Although no change is envisaged at present, does the First...
Kenneth Gibson: I congratulate my colleague Bob Doris for bringing this important issue to the chamber, and I congratulate, on its 40th anniversary, all those who work so hard at MND Scotland. Motor neurone disease is a rapidly progressing terminal illness, and each case is unique. My Aunt Eileen, who was my dad’s older sister, died after suffering for two long years with MND. She lost the ability to walk,...
Kenneth Gibson: I welcome you, Presiding Officer, and the minister to your new posts. The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the need for additional fiscal flexibilities to be devolved to Scotland on an on-going basis. They include greater borrowing powers, reserve limits and year-end flexibility. Such powers are essential to securing and consolidating a strong recovery from the crisis. The minister mentioned...
Kenneth Gibson: I congratulate my colleague Evelyn Tweed on her excellent first speech in Parliament. Women’s health is important to men, too: we have mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, partners, and female friends and colleagues. Women cannot be second best in the treatment of illness. In 2019, I participated in a meeting of the cross-party group on women’s health that was ably chaired by Monica Lennon...
Kenneth Gibson: 4. To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will support and fund the roll-out of body-worn cameras for police officers and ambulance crews. (S6F-00073)
Kenneth Gibson: Last year, there were 6,942 assaults on police officers and staff and 250 assaults on ambulance crews in Scotland. Senior police officers whom I have spoken to believe that body-worn cameras are a vital tool in increasing officers’ safety by deterring attacks, securing convictions against those who carry out assaults and boosting public confidence in engaging with officers. NHS England...
Kenneth Gibson: Of all the jobs created in the UK last year through foreign direct investment, 16.1 per cent—some 4,500—were generated in Scotland. That is remarkable in a pandemic year. Given that, across the 12 nations and regions of the UK, Scotland has attracted the second-highest number of overseas-backed investments after London in every year since 2014, does the First Minister agree that it is...
Kenneth Gibson: I congratulate Mr Lumsden and Mr Sweeney on their excellent opening speeches. I also congratulate you on your new post, Presiding Officer, and the cabinet secretary on hers. Our focus for the past year has rightly been on battling the pandemic, but I am optimistic that we can now focus on delivering Scotland’s economic recovery. The human cost of the pandemic is immeasurable. I know that I...
Kenneth Gibson: I am delighted that the minister has hit the ground running, in having already committed himself to real and long-lasting improvements to Scotland’s ferry services. What changes will be implemented to ensure a more responsive and reactive customer focus at CalMac, in order to improve contingency planning in the event of future ferry disruptions?
Kenneth Gibson: As the First Minister will be aware, our Clyde and Hebridean ferry services have had to cope with vessel breakdowns and weather-related cancellations in recent days, while having 70 per cent fewer passengers due to social distancing. The result is that islanders struggle to travel and tourists, who are the life-blood of island economies, cannot visit, which impacts on the islands’ recovery....
Kenneth Gibson: made a solemn affirmation.
Kenneth Gibson: In 2019, I raised the fact that the British Heart Foundation had revealed evidence that, although heart disease kills three times as many women as breast cancer does, the prognosis for female patients remains much poorer than that for men. What steps have been taken in the past two years to involve medical professionals in improving that unacceptable situation?
Kenneth Gibson: As a former employee of British Steel for more than four years, working at Dalzell, I have considerable concerns about the future of the industry. Is the cabinet secretary convinced that the steel industry has a long-term future in Scotland, that it will be a prosperous one and that the workers’ jobs will be there not just for them but, hopefully, for future generations?
Kenneth Gibson: I listened to the First Minister’s response to Alasdair Allan regarding island authorities. I have been contacted by Arran businesses that are keen, for community and economic reasons, for the island to stay within mainland Scotland’s rules and guidelines. Current messaging regarding the timetable for easing restrictions states that “travel within mainland Scotland is not allowed”....
Kenneth Gibson: I congratulate my colleague Ruth Maguire on bringing this important debate to the chamber. Like many other members, I have closely followed the work of the First Minister’s advisory group on human rights leadership, and I welcomed its recommendations made in 2018. Equally, I am sure that the Scottish Government’s national task force for human rights leadership will provide many valuable...
Kenneth Gibson: 5. To ask the Scottish Government how many knife crimes there were in North Ayrshire in the most recent year for which information is available, and how this compares with the peak year for such offences since 1999. (S5O-05118)
Kenneth Gibson: The fear of knife crime has plummeted under the Scottish National Party Government by more than 75 per cent, as the cabinet secretary said. Can he advise the Parliament of the measures that have been implemented by the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and others that have delivered that success?