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Hansard

Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

129
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2,096,833
Hansard contributions
1999–2026
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Showing 60 of 2,096,833 contributions. Latest 30 days: 2,655. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 09 Jun 2026.
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
24 Mar 2021
Continued Petitions
I thank everyone for their helpful comments. It is of course up to this committee to request that the next health committee takes on the petition and carries out an inquiry, and I would support that. However, it would be worth keeping the petition open to await the response fr...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Committee
24 Mar 2021
Continued Petitions
The work of the Public Petitions Committee has been hugely important and influential during the past eight years and I plead with the committee not to close this petition for a number of reasons. Also, I say to Jackson Carlaw that, if there are three in this marriage in Parlia...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
18 Mar 2021
Drug Deaths and Harms
I want to take the opportunity to rip her knitting again for a wee while. Can the minister tell us in what other area of social policy what is described as an “ageing cohort” would be people who are over 35 years of age?
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
18 Mar 2021
Drug Deaths and Harms
Will the minister take an intervention?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
18 Mar 2021
Drug Deaths and Harms
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. He took an allergic reaction in prison—his mouth swelled up, but he was left that way. His lawyer had to write to the go...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
18 Mar 2021
Drug Deaths and Harms
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 challenge, have awkward voices and will be very prickly. Ticking the box that says that we have someone with lived experience d...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
18 Mar 2021
First Minister’s Question Time · Universities and Colleges (Teaching Schedules)
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I raise this point in relation to the reply that I received from the First Minister earlier. A number of mesh-injured women went through all stages of the process to seek agreement from the national health service to refunding payments t...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
18 Mar 2021
First Minister’s Question Time · Scottish Mesh Survivors Charter
The First Minister might want to look back at the script that she eventually found and correct the record, because frankly some of those points bear no relevance to reality. It took eight years for mesh-injured women to secure a meeting with the First Minister. They have had t...
7. Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
18 Mar 2021
First Minister’s Question Time · Scottish Mesh Survivors Charter
To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will adopt the Scottish mesh survivors charter. (S5F-04901)
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
17 Mar 2021
Scotland’s Railway
After years of being told that this was not possible, it now happens. It is very welcome news that the railways will be coming back into public organisation. It is absolutely essential that trade unions have representation on the board of any new company—not just consultation ...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
17 Mar 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Covid-19 (Reoffending and Youth Justice in Dundee)
Like other cities, including Dundee, Edinburgh has problems with antisocial behaviour. Today, Lothian Buses has announced that buses in Edinburgh will come off service at 7.30 in the evening because of attacks on buses and bus drivers. That is an urgent situation for people in...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
17 Mar 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Miners’ Strike (Pardons)
Events have overtaken my question, but it is good news that the consultation has started. How will the cabinet secretary ensure that the consultation goes out to the people who are most impacted? Can he confirm that the timeline that the civil service is working to will allow ...
6. Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
17 Mar 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Miners’ Strike (Pardons)
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the pardoning of miners convicted of offences relating to the strike in 1984-85. (S5O-05119)
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
17 Mar 2021
Human Right to a Healthy Environment
Why did the member vote against equal rights of appeal in the planning process if he is so concerned about the rights of communities?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
17 Mar 2021
Human Right to a Healthy Environment
Why did the member vote against equal rights of appeal?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
11 Mar 2021
Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
I will address only the amendments in my name in this group, which are amendments 39 to 41 and 45. I was approached by constituents and campaigners who explained to me their frustrations about the situation with the waiver and sought that I should lodge the amendments. Over m...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
11 Mar 2021
Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
The cabinet secretary is on shaky territory there. When members come to make decisions, I hope that they think carefully about that issue, because it is fundamental. I hope, too, that they will make the right decision and vote the amendments through.
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
11 Mar 2021
Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Absolutely. Much of my time in the Parliament has been spent dealing with campaigners who seek justice in different campaigns. Money has no relevance to them. For the overwhelming majority, it is about getting recognition for their lives being wronged, wasted and destroyed, wh...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
11 Mar 2021
Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
I do not question the cabinet secretary’s sincerity or motivations; I just disagree, and others who lodged these amendments disagree. I believe that if, in a quiet moment, all members reflected on what is on offer, many of them would disagree with it.
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
11 Mar 2021
Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
That was a lengthy intervention, and I think that it was helpful. However, the amendments in the group that have been lodged by various people from different parties seek to make the scheme even better. That is the intention: no one put forward any of those amendments to make...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
11 Mar 2021
Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
It should not be me who is winding up on this group, Presiding Officer, because I have not been invested in the issue in the same way as other members have, so it would be more appropriate if they wound up. However, I understand the protocol. There have been excellent contrib...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
11 Mar 2021
Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
If the cabinet secretary is right, why do survivors, campaigners and the people who work with them advocate such a scheme?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
11 Mar 2021
Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill
Will the member take an intervention?
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
10 Mar 2021
Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Can you advise us about timings? Some members are not allowed to stay over and must take public transport, and the trains are running on a limited timetable. If we are going to stay late, that is fine. We just need to know that very earl...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
10 Mar 2021
Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. We have a duty to be accurate in the Parliament. I never said what the cabinet secretary has just accused me of saying. I say to him: please correct the record.
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
10 Mar 2021
Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
The member is making an excellent speech. I have said very little on the bill as it has gone through Parliament, and that is why I am in the chamber to listen to stage 3 today. However, the more I have heard, the more concern it has caused me. I think that many of us, if we ar...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
10 Mar 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Inverclyde Hospitality and Tourism (Support)
I will not suggest which fantasy character the cabinet secretary resembles. The cabinet secretary mentioned fine hotels and restaurants in his previous answer. Many of those hotels, restaurants and hospitality businesses, including those in Inverclyde, have been given substan...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
10 Mar 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Littering
I am glad that the minister agrees that litter is a blight. In every town, city and country lane, we can see that litter levels have grown hugely since lockdown. Is it not clear that councils are simply unable to cope with that under the current budget settlement and with year...
5. Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
10 Mar 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Littering
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action that it is taking to tackle littering. (S5O-05094)
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
09 Mar 2021
Covid-19
West Lothian is consistently behind in vaccination rates and has been from the beginning of the programme. What additional resources are being put in to try to increase the levels of vaccination in the area?
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
04 Mar 2021
Scottish Parliament Practices and Procedures
The issue relating to ministers was about ministers leading legislation; that was the main point there. My point concerns parliamentary questions and freedom of information. If you are going to engage with the wider MSP body, as you say that you want to do, some sort of cons...
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
04 Mar 2021
Subordinate Legislation
What is being done to promote postal voting? I am sure that you will tell me that a big list of things has been done, but I do not feel as though I am tripping over adverts, presentations on social media or whatever. I see the occasional promotion, but the measures do not seem...
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
04 Mar 2021
Subordinate Legislation
What is the Scotland figure?
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
04 Mar 2021
Subordinate Legislation
Including the 70,000 people who have registered, what percentage are we sitting on at the moment?
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
04 Mar 2021
Subordinate Legislation
Thank you for the non-answer, minister—and I understand why you gave a non-committal response. You said that applications for postal votes are “encouraging”. What does that mean in numbers or percentages?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Committee
04 Mar 2021
Subordinate Legislation
Minister, can you give us an idea of the potential turnout at the election in May?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
04 Mar 2021
International Women’s Day 2021
The cabinet secretary passed too quickly on health, before I could make an intervention, so forgive me. An excellent thing that the Government could do in the week of international women’s day is to announce that it will fund mesh-injured women to travel to the US to have full...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
04 Mar 2021
Scottish Parliamentary Standards (Sexual Harassment and Complaints Process) Bill: Stage 3
In this week of all weeks, it is important to reiterate that there is no place for sexist, racist, homophobic or any other such behaviour in our society, and especially in our national Parliament. The results of the sexual harassment survey that was issued in the Parliament ha...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
04 Mar 2021
Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Will the member take an intervention?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
04 Mar 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Budget (NHS Lothian Eye Care Services)
Irrespective of whether it has been raised in budget negotiations, the project was well advanced and lots of money had been spent on planning, which is more money poured down the drain. The cabinet secretary knows that the Government is quite adept at pouring money down the dr...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
02 Mar 2021
Topical Question Time · Legal Advice (Publication)
Friday’s evidence session was extraordinary, to say the least, and it threw up many questions. I wonder whether the cabinet secretary can answer this question. Which of these is the most serious: a failure to declare a £950 campaign donation; a muddle over an office sublet; or...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
25 Feb 2021
Scottish Income Tax Rate Resolution 2021-22
Will the member take an intervention?
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
25 Feb 2021
Budget (Scotland) (No 5) Bill: Stage 1
I am glad that Mr Arthur has finally come round to that view. I have been arguing all my time in the Parliament that resources have to go to the communities in most need. It is just a shame that the Government has not been listening. The way for the Government to show that it...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
25 Feb 2021
Budget (Scotland) (No 5) Bill: Stage 1
The convener of the Finance and Constitution Committee is right: Covid has exposed more than ever the class divisions in our society. The poorest and those in insecure work and unsuitable housing are twice as likely as others to die from Covid. The poorest are three times more...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
23 Feb 2021
Scotland’s Railways
Given all those potentially exciting developments, does the cabinet secretary believe that the closure of the Caley rail works was industrial vandalism?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
23 Feb 2021
Scotland’s Railways
I thank my friend John Finnie for bringing forward the debate. John will be a great loss to Parliament, but I am sure that, like me, he does not intend to go away and will continue to campaign outside Parliament on the issues that he feels strongly about. We have spent almost ...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
23 Feb 2021
Scotland’s Railways
I do not disagree with anything that Graham Simpson has said so far but, given the track record of privatisation, how can we have any faith that that model would provide the type of rail service that he says he wants?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
23 Feb 2021
Covid-19
The latest official statistics that National Records of Scotland has released show that the death rate among homeless people is three times higher than in England. As we come out of lockdown, what is the plan for all the homeless people who currently sit in temporary accommoda...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
23 Feb 2021
Point of Order
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. As a follow-up to that, we need someone to come and explain to us what has happened, because members who do not sit on the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body have no idea what has happened. Can we therefore have someone from the corpo...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
23 Feb 2021
Point of Order
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I reluctantly rise to make an urgent request. Last night, we saw publication by the Parliament of evidence that had been submitted to the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints. That evidence has now been...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
18 Feb 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Railways (Public Ownership)
The Abellio franchise has been an expensive disaster. The Labour Government in Wales has taken the railway there back into public ownership to protect essential services. Why has the Scottish Government not done that here?
8. Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
18 Feb 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Railways (Public Ownership)
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to take Scotland’s railways back into public ownership. (S5O-05024)
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
16 Feb 2021
Adult Social Care (Independent Review)
I declare an interest as a member of Unite the union. Also, my mum is a resident in a care home. I have probably spoken about social care more than any other issue in my 10 years in Parliament. We could fill the chamber with the reports that have been written on social care o...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
16 Feb 2021
Adult Social Care (Independent Review)
As he is convener of the Health and Sport Committee, could the member tell me what evidence the committee took from stakeholders about integration and its success or otherwise? We were told that integration would release huge amounts of money by eradicating delayed discharges,...
Neil Findlay Lab Chamber
16 Feb 2021
Adult Social Care (Independent Review)
Will the member take an intervention?
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab Chamber
16 Feb 2021
Adult Social Care (Independent Review)
The cabinet secretary said that the report produces a plan for a system that is equivalent to the NHS. Can she elaborate on that?
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
11 Feb 2021
Public Appointments
One witness—I cannot recall which one—suggested that something was missing at a Government and ministerial level to drive this agenda, and that, in effect, the minister in charge had taken their eye off the ball. Given what has happened over the past year, I do not expect the ...
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
11 Feb 2021
Public Appointments
It is clear that there is absolutely no reason why it should take 20 weeks and there is nothing written down about why it should. Therefore, even within the current system, that can be sorted, if there is the will to do so. However, we will wait for the cabinet secretary’s cor...
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
11 Feb 2021
Public Appointments
Some of this has been covered, but I would like to go back to two points. The class issue is important when we look at the statistics. I look forward to the cabinet secretary coming back to tell me what action the Government will take so that when the Scottish National Investm...
Neil Findlay Lab Committee
11 Feb 2021
Public Appointments
Looking at the appointments issue, I think that it is right but predictable that we seek people for the Poverty and Inequality Commission who have experience of living in poverty. However, we will not make a breakthrough in the appointments area until people with such experien...
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Committee

Public Petitions Committee 24 March 2021

24 Mar 2021 · S5 · Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
Continued Petitions
Polypropylene Mesh Medical Devices (PE1517)
I thank everyone for their helpful comments. It is of course up to this committee to request that the next health committee takes on the petition and carries out an inquiry, and I would support that. However, it would be worth keeping the petition open to await the response from the new health committee, which would mean that everything would not simply die away if it said no, because the petitions committee would have the matter open. If the next health committee takes on the call and opens up an inquiry, it might then be opportune for the petitions committee to close the petition.

In the same item of business

The Convener Lab
Item 2 is consideration of continued petitions. The first petition, PE1517, which was lodged by Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy on behalf of the Scottish Mes...
Jackson Carlaw (Eastwood) (Con) Con
Thank you, convener, for your engagement with the petition in the course of this parliamentary session. As this is the final day of the session, the final me...
John Scott (Ayr) (Con) Con
I am grateful to the committee for allowing me to speak at the final meeting of the session of the Public Petitions Committee. Further to what Jackson Carla...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab
The work of the Public Petitions Committee has been hugely important and influential during the past eight years and I plead with the committee not to close ...
The Convener Lab
I thank all three of you, who will I am sure be living in happy coexistence post-election. For my part, I think that the petition is a huge issue. There are...
Gail Ross (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (SNP) SNP
I thank our family of campaigners, some of whom have joined us today, for all their work. I include Alex Neil in that as well. In relation to everything tha...
Maurice Corry (West Scotland) (Con) Con
I thank the petitioners for keeping going with this long-standing petition. It is immensely important that we get it resolved as soon as possible. John Scott...
David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP) SNP
As someone who was on the Public Petitions Committee in the previous parliamentary session when the petition was first submitted, I thought that progress wou...
Tom Mason (North East Scotland) (Con) Con
I agree with pretty much everything that has been said. These ladies have been let down for so long, and it is so important that we maintain the momentum to ...
The Convener Lab
Does any of our visiting colleagues wish to add anything?
John Scott Con
I am sorry; I do not appear to be able to make the chat function work. I agree with members that the petition should be passed to the next health committee....
Neil Findlay Lab
I thank everyone for their helpful comments. It is of course up to this committee to request that the next health committee takes on the petition and carries...
Gail Ross SNP
On Neil Findlay’s point, I had not really thought about that possibility previously. We would need to get advice but, if the petition goes from here to anoth...
The Convener Lab
We are getting a wee bit ahead of ourselves. All petitions come back to the Public Petitions Committee ahead of the end of a session. We get reports back fro...
The Convener Lab
I again thank our visiting MSPs. It has been an absolute privilege for me as a committee convener to welcome you to so many meetings. The work of the Public ...