Hansard

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

25 Mar 2026

Portfolio Question Time · Heating Oil Costs (Agriculture Sector and Rural Industries)

I hope that the UK Government responds positively. It needs to be reminded of how important our farming community is in providing high-quality food and drink for domestic consumption and for export. Food and drink is Scotland’s top international sector and is valued at £8 bill...

3. Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

25 Mar 2026

Portfolio Question Time · Heating Oil Costs (Agriculture Sector and Rural Industries)

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the United Kingdom Government regarding whether any of the support announced in response to the increased cost of heating oil will help the agriculture sector and other rural industries in Scotland that are depend...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

24 Mar 2026

Bank of Scotland Branch Closures

I have been banging on about credit unions in here for years, and I am pleased to hear that the member managed to get one on his main street. I have only another day to go, but I ask that he emails me about that, because it is something that I would like to see set up in Penic...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

24 Mar 2026

Bank of Scotland Branch Closures

I, too, congratulate my colleague Clare Haughey on securing the motion for debate in the chamber. I said earlier during the debate on animal welfare that that was my last speech—well, that was a wee porky. This really is my last speech and, appropriately, it is about my consti...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

24 Mar 2026

Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Public Protection)

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer.Well, breaking news: Christine Grahame is at last retiring—some might say not before time—and I am proud that my last debate is on animal welfare. As a lass of 10, I made a phone call to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to ...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Standing Order Rule Changes (Elected Conveners)

This is a really stupid question, because I am really tired. I want to check something. Is it the case that, if we vote for the committee’s report, we will not be voting for all the elements within it, and that, at some point, the Parliament will debate the recommendations in ...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Standing Order Rule Changes (Elected Conveners)

Will the member give way?

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Standing Order Rule Changes (Elected Conveners)

I have been a convener four times. I have long campaigned not only for conveners to be elected but for them to receive responsibility pay for the role. That is because a good convener makes for a good, effective committee. Conveners deserve that status. What were the Standards...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Portfolio Question Time · Sheriffhall Junction

I use the A7 regularly and, like Miles Briggs, am deeply disappointed by the situation. The cabinet secretary knows, because I copied her in, that I wrote to Transport Scotland with regard to the idea of having a temporary third lane on the northwards A7 approach to the Sherif...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Question Time · Lobbying Register

No.

Christine Grahame (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body) SNP Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Question Time · Lobbying Register

The Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016 was passed without division in this Parliament 10 years ago last week. In 2021, the Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee took evidence and provided a report on the operation of the 2016 act. Between March and September 2023, at ...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

17 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill

I begin by paying tribute to my late colleague Margo MacDonald and to Patrick Harvie, pioneers on the subject, to Liam McArthur, whose dignity has been extraordinary, and to all who have contributed so far.I am 81 and more aware of my mortality than most other MSPs. I think ab...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

17 Mar 2026

Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

On a point of order, Deputy Presiding Officer. I could not connect. I would have voted no.

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

13 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I think that Murdo Fraser should consider that, if the mental state of somebody with a terminal illness is such that they have been driven to suicidal thoughts, that will be part of the assessment of capacity that will be undertaken by two of the medical practitioners, at the ...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

13 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I reiterate what I said earlier, and what the member in charge has said. For me, it is certainly not an either/or, and I fully hope that the bill makes members in the current session of Parliament, and in the next session and any subsequent session, really look at the provisio...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

13 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Will the member give way?

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I see that Mr Ross is now appearing on the screen.Members: Oh!

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am not so foolish as to challenge the chair, but, from that, I now understand that, if I am at home and voting, I can give a speech by proxy, with another member delivering it on my behalf. I take it that that is now an accepted practi...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am sorry—I fear that we will run out of time before I get this off my chest. As you know, I sent a note to the Presiding Officer on the issue that I intended to raise and I have had a reply, but—if you will forgive me for saying so—the...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

On a point of order, Deputy Presiding Officer. Perhaps I did not phrase my previous point of order appropriately. Mr Kerr is reading out a speech verbatim for a member who is online and is therefore deemed to be present in the chamber. I cannot understand that.

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

On a point of order, Deputy Presiding Officer. I seek clarification. I have no problem with the member moving an amendment on behalf of Douglas Ross, but is Douglas Ross also voting in this debate? If that is the case, he should not be represented because, if he is voting onli...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan

There is much to welcome in the statement. I will focus on the Scottish child payment, which, from April, will be £28.20 per child per week in qualifying households and, in particular, on the targeted child payment premium of £40 a week for a child under the age of one.I will ...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

12 Mar 2026

First Minister’s Question Time · Heating Costs (Rural Households)

I note that Rachel Reeves has referred the hike to the Competition and Markets Authority, but my constituents and, I suspect, constituents of many members throughout the chamber need something done in the here and now. They are simply overwhelmed by the soaring costs of their ...

4. Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

12 Mar 2026

First Minister’s Question Time · Heating Costs (Rural Households)

To ask the First Minister what measures the Scottish Government can take, in discussion with the United Kingdom Government, to assist households in very rural areas that are wholly dependent on oil or liquefied natural gas for heating, and are not connected to the gas mains, t...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I have had to cancel meetings. I had to cancel my final surgery in Peebles, which meant a lot to me after 27 years, but that is nothing.The other issue that I want to raise is that we cannot arrange this so that we are reprinting the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (S...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

As I said, I cannot respond to every individual case in the Parliament. I go back to my point that my broad understanding is that Friday is a working day. We have needed to tweak the schedule. I have been inconvenienced over and over in the past few days, and I accept that. In...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I hear Mr O’Kane’s point. Obviously, I do not know about everybody’s domestic circumstances, but members may be able to consider whether they can work remotely, which was not available in previous sessions of the Parliament.

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I will just finish this point, Mr O’Kane. We have had lengthy debates on some amendments, some of which went over and over the same subjects, which made a mockery of the amendment timings that were decided by the Parliamentary Bureau. We all know that.Before I finish, I will t...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I am a bit bewildered about the issue of caring responsibilities. I regard Friday as a working day, just as being in the Parliament today and tomorrow are working days.I do not have the obligations that Keith Brown has, which are much more important than mine, and so all that ...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

There are many amendments in the group with which I agree and some with which I disagree, but, mercifully, I will speak to only one of them: amendment 154, in the name of Douglas Ross, which I support. My support for the amendment has nothing to do with his proxy declaration f...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I will comment on the face-to-face patient-doctor relationship, which Mr Whittle and Mr Johnson raised. I do not know whether Daniel Johnson agrees, but I surmise that, once a person is diagnosed with a terminal illness, the relationship becomes much more personal and face to ...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

That was a substantial argument from Mr Matheson, as usual. I agree with everything that he said about coercion, especially in regard to domestic abuse cases. He has a long track record in the Parliament on justice issues.If we went down the road of having training—it would be...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Will Michael Matheson take an intervention?

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Those are not simply repetitions. They are undertakings by medical practitioners and by the applicant that, to the best of their knowledge, they have acted voluntarily. Two medical practitioners, independent of each other, will make those statements.I think that Bob Doris’s pa...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I put my cards on the table: I support the bill, but I want it to be as robust as possible. I fully accept that there are members who will not support the bill no matter what we do to it, and I respect that, whether it is for religious reasons, reasons to do with disabilities ...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

10 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I am satisfied with the bill as it is drafted as regards section 3(2)(b), which is about capacity. Capacity is well understood in Scots law. When people make a will or grant a power of attorney, or even when they buy a house, they need to demonstrate to an agent that they have...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

04 Mar 2026

Decision Time

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My electronic device would not function properly—I will deal with that later. I would have voted yes.

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

04 Mar 2026

Portfolio Question Time · Future Farming Investment Scheme (Guidance on Grounds for Rejection)

I am glad that something has been published, because, as the minister knows, more than 5,000 people applied in 2025 but there was a 70 per cent rejection rate. Although this is an excellent scheme, the minister will know that it will, yet again, be oversubscribed. Something mu...

8. Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

04 Mar 2026

Portfolio Question Time · Future Farming Investment Scheme (Guidance on Grounds for Rejection)

I do not know whether there will be anything left to answer on this topic. To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that a large number of applications have been rejected in the future farming investment scheme, what analysis and guidance it has issued explaining th...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

26 Feb 2026

Childcare Support for Parents

I am trying to be helpful. Does the member think that remote working, which is not available to everybody, has helped to build in some flexibility for parents?

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

26 Feb 2026

Childcare Support for Parents

The point that I am making is that three and four-year-olds do not benefit only from free nursery education. There are lots of other supports for children, especially for those of families that face economic pressures. In this short debate, I do not have time to address the pr...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

26 Feb 2026

Childcare Support for Parents

I thank Roz McCall for securing this debate. It is important to see how the ELC system is working and how it can be improved.It is worth remarking in passing that, in Scotland, ELC is free to all parents and carers of three to four-year-olds, whereas in England it is means tes...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

24 Feb 2026

Scottish Parliament (Recall of Members) Bill

To amend the record, I was quoting Richard Leonard, who said that, despite the bill’s flaws, he would vote for it. I could not understand the rationale behind that position. I admire Richard Leonard in many respects, but not for that comment.

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

24 Feb 2026

Scottish Parliament (Recall of Members) Bill

Made a request to intervene.

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

24 Feb 2026

Scottish Parliament (Recall of Members) Bill

I spare no one in commenting on legislation being flawed, including members in my own party group, and I have made such comments since I came to Parliament. As a former solicitor—as the member is, too—I cannot say that I am content to pass something that is flawed and that cou...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

24 Feb 2026

Scottish Parliament (Recall of Members) Bill

Thank you for taking my late request to speak, Presiding Officer.There are two reasons why I will not support the bill. First, the review of by the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee must be undertaken, given the huge flaws in the process. Secondly, I want...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

24 Feb 2026

Scottish Parliament (Recall of Members) Bill

rose—

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

19 Feb 2026

First Minister’s Question Time · Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Referral Criteria)

I agree that decisions should follow clinical judgment. However, my question was prompted by a constituency case involving a child who, at home, exhibits extreme behaviour that is deteriorating. She masks the behaviour at school and in public, so the school will not and cannot...

4. Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

19 Feb 2026

First Minister’s Question Time · Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Referral Criteria)

To ask the First Minister what measures the Scottish Government is taking to standardise the criteria for urgent referrals to child and adolescent mental health services for an assessment, in light of reports that it is currently a postcode lottery. (S6F-04690)

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

18 Feb 2026

Airports (US Military Use)

I refer members to paragraph 7(1) of part 1 of schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, which states:“International relations, including relations with territories outside the United Kingdom, the European Union (and their institutions) and other international organisations … are r...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

12 Feb 2026

Portfolio Question Time · Homeless Households (Permanent Accommodation)

I have a constituent who is homeless and is staying with his mother following the break-up of a relationship. He has applied for permanent two-bedroom accommodation, which is required for him and his two children, because he shares residency on an equal basis with their mother...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

11 Feb 2026

Nature Champions

I thank the member for this debate. As an endangered species myself, I am grateful to be species champion for the once endangered golden eagle, and I even have the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project in the Tweed Valley in my constituency.From 2018 to 2024, 28 juvenile chic...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

11 Feb 2026

Queen Elizabeth University Hospital

I, too, pay my respects and tribute to Jeane Freeman and offer my condolences to her partner.I am concerned that the attempt by the Labour Party to interfere in the independent inquiry into the Queen Elizabeth university hospital is shifting base but with the same goal: to und...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

10 Feb 2026

Renewable Energy Infrastructure

I keep on pressing the wrong button to speak instead of making an intervention. The wrong one has come on, but it is nothing to do with me.I think that the Welsh Government is also involved in spatial planning, so it is a UK-wide issue, and I am sure that the same issues will ...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

10 Feb 2026

Renewable Energy Infrastructure

Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

10 Feb 2026

Renewable Energy Infrastructure

I gave it merely as an example; I did not claim that it was the standard reply.The key is to have meaningful consultation with groups throughout the south of Scotland and the Borders. They may not always get the answer that they wish for—as happens in many consultations—but, a...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

10 Feb 2026

Renewable Energy Infrastructure

Yes.

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP Chamber

10 Feb 2026

Renewable Energy Infrastructure

As a Borders MSP, I thank Finlay Carson for this debate. We all agree that it is essential to meet our net zero targets and deter further global warming, which has affected the Borders with increased flood risk, and that we need alternative sources of energy, with turbines and...

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

29 Jan 2026

Greyhound Racing (Offences) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

::I beg your pardon. I am always doing that, convener. I mean Presiding Officer. It has been a long week.I agree that we need a consolidation act, because anybody who is trying to enforce the legislation wants to find it in one place, not higgledy-piggledy here and there.

Christine Grahame SNP Chamber

29 Jan 2026

Greyhound Racing (Offences) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

::First of all, I thank you for your kind words, Ms Grant. We have worked together for many years on a parliamentary and personal level, so thank you for that. I support what you say—I think that we need a consolidation act—