Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 28 January 2026 [Draft]
28 Jan 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
If I had had more time—I have already tested the patience of the Presiding Officer—I might have gone into those issues. A lot of the work that Christine Grahame is seeking is, in fact, in St Andrew’s house. I only came forward with my idea for a gull management fund when Jim Fairlie put out a press release in October, as he was driving up the A9 to go to NatureScot’s headquarters in Inverness, to say that he was putting forward £100,000. I know that no minister would ever treat £100,000 of taxpayers’ money in such a way without all the knowledge and all the information, without knowing exactly what that money was for and where it was coming from, and without knowing how he came up with £100,000 and not, for example, £200,000 or £500,000.
Perhaps my fault is that I trust SNP ministers more than Christine Grahame does.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Alison Johnstone)
NPA
The next item of business is stage 3 proceedings on the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill. In dealing with the amendments, members should have the bill as ...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Group 11 is on gulls. Amendment 60, in the name of the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, is grouped with amendments 60A and 148 to 152.
Douglas Ross (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. This has perhaps just been corrected, but the clock was acting erratically. Can you confirm that the timings will be ...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Thank you for bringing that to my attention, Mr Ross. I will certainly ensure that we are aware of anything that needs to be checked. For information, the c...
The Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity (Jim Fairlie)
SNP
I thought that the clerks were doing our job for us and rushing Mr Ross. Amendment 60 relates to the requirement for NatureScot to “prepare and publish a...
Douglas Ross
Con
Does the minister accept that his amendment would delete what was approved by the committee at stage 2? I accept that Scottish National Party members voted a...
Jim Fairlie
SNP
I take on board that Mr Ross was successful in having his amendment agreed to at stage 2, but there was still some confusion about what was being delivered. ...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I call Douglas Ross to move amendment 60A and speak to all amendments in the group.
Douglas Ross
Con
I will speak at length on this group of amendments, because I am glad that we are getting the chamber back to issues that are within the devolved competence ...
Jim Fairlie
SNP
There are a couple of points there. The first is that the committee was very evenly split and the division was won on the deciding vote of the convener—I cou...
Douglas Ross
Con
I will address both those points. First, as the convener of a committee, if I use my casting vote in favour of an amendment, that is still the committee’s vi...
Jim Fairlie
SNP
Will Mr Ross take an intervention?
Douglas Ross
Con
I will finish replying to the minister’s first intervention before taking a second one from him. On the second point, which was about wanting up-to-date and...
Jim Fairlie
SNP
It does not matter.
Douglas Ross
Con
Maybe the minister has accepted the argument. We are making progress at last. I urge members to vote in favour of amendment 60A—I think that that is the ame...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
As members will have noted, we have now passed the agreed time limit for the debate on this group. I have exercised my power under rule 9.8.4A(c) to allow th...
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
Con
I am heartened that the minister now admits that there is a gull problem. We took a long time to get to that stage—we had to ask numerous questions and use p...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I call for brief contributions—first from Edward Mountain and then from Christine Grahame.
Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I would like to keep this short. I want to point out some of the contradictions in the minister’s amendment 60 and speak to Douglas Ross’s amendments 149 to ...
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
SNP
Deputy Presiding Officer, “gull management fund”—I have waited years for those three words to cross my lips. I want to speak about amendment 148. I know tha...
Douglas Ross
Con
Will the member give way?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Are you taking the intervention, Ms Grahame?
Christine Grahame
SNP
It is only fair that I do—I have asked for costings.
Douglas Ross
Con
If I had had more time—I have already tested the patience of the Presiding Officer—I might have gone into those issues. A lot of the work that Christine Grah...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Please conclude, Ms Grahame.
Christine Grahame
SNP
That was a valiant attempt at deflecting the question that I raised, but it was not clever enough. I know that you are very pernickety, Mr Ross, and that is ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
As pernickety as I may be, I ask you to please speak through the chair.
Christine Grahame
SNP
I apologise. We all know that Mr Ross is very pernickety, and that is a good thing in a legislator. However, as the member is pernickety, he should have bee...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I invite the minister to wind up on amendment 60.
Jim Fairlie
SNP
I will wind up very quickly, Presiding Officer. To come back to Rachael Hamilton’s point, she is absolutely correct that the vote at stage 2 was valid. Howe...