Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 18 March 2021
18 Mar 2021 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Drug Deaths and Harms
Thank you, Presiding Officer. When I put my name forward to speak in the debate, I did not think that this might be my last speech in the chamber. As a member of the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, I have been fully involved in helping my friend Emma Harper to get her bill on worrying of livestock through, and I thought that I might speak in the stage 3 debate on it next week, but we will see. I will have some valedictory remarks to make at the end of my speech.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Christine Grahame)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-24396, in the name of Angela Constance, on a national mission to reduce drug deaths and harms. 15:33
The Minister for Drugs Policy (Angela Constance)
SNP
Following the First Minister’s announcement in January of a national mission to save and improve lives, I am pleased that we have secured time for this very ...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
In appointing people to those panels and forums, it is important that we do not just tick a tokenistic box and that we have people who are willing to challen...
Angela Constance
SNP
I appreciate the point that Mr Findlay makes. He might not know it, but I, too, appreciate challenging and prickly voices, and I am determined to hear the wi...
Jenny Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The plan sounds very good, especially for same-day treatment, but it also sounds light years away from where we are today. How will the minister ensure that ...
Angela Constance
SNP
I will come on to how the Government will lead the plans at a national level in more detail and how funding will be used as a lever for change. To go back t...
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
The minister is aware of my passion to ensure that the third sector is properly funded. How will she ensure that the funding gets to the front line and third...
Angela Constance
SNP
That is, indeed, of vital importance, which is why specific funds will be available only to third sector and grass-roots organisations. The first two funds ...
Donald Cameron (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I will be happy to move the amendment in the name of Brian Whittle, which I support and have signed. I am grateful to be opening the debate for the Scottish...
James Kelly (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
There can be no doubt about the devastating scale of the crisis when there were 1,264 drug deaths in the last reported year. The Government is right to ackno...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I will start where James Kelly concluded and acknowledge the contribution that Jenny Marra and Neil Findlay have made to the debate. I very much look forward...
Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)
Green
I confirm the Scottish Greens’ support for the Government motion, with its frank admission of failure with regard to drug deaths. That is, indeed, “a mark of...
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
Thank you, Ms Johnstone. Yes, that is fitting. I am conscious that this might be Maureen Watt’s final speech, too. I call her now. 16:14
Maureen Watt (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
SNP
Thank you, Presiding Officer. When I put my name forward to speak in the debate, I did not think that this might be my last speech in the chamber. As a membe...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Ms Watt, will you lift your microphone up, please? I think that it is bent down.
Maureen Watt
SNP
Yes. I beg your pardon, Presiding Officer. I hope that you heard that first bit. It struck me, when I was preparing for this debate, that my first speech in...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Thank you very much indeed, Ms Watt. 16:24
Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
I, too, wish Maureen Watt, Jenny Marra and Neil Findlay all the best for the future. As this parliamentary session draws to a close, I am reminded that one ...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I offer warm thanks to Maureen Watt. She has been very supportive and helpful to me during this session, including on my Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amen...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I call Neil Findlay, to be followed by Bob Doris. As members have noted, this may be Neil Findlay’s last substantive contribution. 16:34
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
He was in Polmont twice: for 10 days at the age of 16, and then for seven months at the age of 17. He got more drugs in prison than he did in the community. ...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Thank you, Mr Findlay. I am glad that I did not pick you up on your bad language in the earlier part of your speech. 16:43
Bob Doris (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (SNP)
SNP
Neil Findlay has just demonstrated why he will be a major loss to this place. I hope that we can welcome him back. I hope that he does not mind me saying so,...
Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con)
Con
I congratulate Maureen Watt on her final speech and on her service to the north-east over many years. She comes from an outstanding political family, which i...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
For understandable reasons, we are substantially behind our schedule, although it is not just the members who are making valedictory remarks who are going ov...
Ruth Maguire (Cunninghame South) (SNP)
SNP
The number of drug-related deaths in Scotland is unacceptable, and every one of those lives lost is a tragedy. Important lives—of mothers, fathers, brothers,...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
First, I want to pay tribute to Neil Findlay and Jenny Marra, who are also making their final speeches today. I have not always agreed with Mr Findlay and Ms...
Liam McArthur
LD
I start by acknowledging the contributions of the three colleagues who will be leaving Parliament after this session. Maureen Watt and I share a love of Mala...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Lewis Macdonald)
Lab
Jenny Marra will close the debate for Labour and make her final speech in the Parliament. 17:13
Jenny Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The debate on drugs is long overdue. The reluctance of the SNP to debate drugs in its own parliamentary time tells its own story over the course of the Parli...