The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-16128, in the name of Liz Smith, on 300 years of the Black Watch. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament marks the tercentenary of the origins of The Black Watch; understands that, in 1725, six companies were raised by General George Wade, comprising of “loyal” clans, including the Campbells, Grants, Frasers and Munros, and formed the Highland watches to police the Highlands following the 1715 Jacobite rebellion; notes that a further four companies were raised in 1739 to form the Regiment of the Line, which first mustered at Aberfeldy; understands that, throughout this period, the companies began being referred to as Am Freiceadan Dubh or The Black Watch; believes that this term was likely due to the dark tartan uniform that was worn by its soldiers; recognises what it sees as the significance of the regiment’s involvement throughout the UK’s most important and consequential military campaigns, ranging from, but not limited to, the Seven Years’ War, the American War of Independence, the Napoleonic wars, the Crimean War, the Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the Gulf Wars; acknowledges what it sees as the fearless and renowned reputation that The Black Watch established and reinforced over the course of these conflicts, as well as the countless stories of individual gallantry, particularly the 14 soldiers who received the UK’s highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross; commemorates all who have served and died in the historic regiment, who have predominately come from across Perth and Kinross, Fife, Dundee and Angus, but also the rest of Scotland and beyond, and offers its full support to the veterans, and their families, who are alive today.