Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 07 February 2018
07 Feb 2018 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Single-use Plastics
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-10307, in the name of Roseanna Cunningham, on stemming the plastic tide: action to tackle the impact of single-use plastics on land and in our seas. I encourage members by saying that I have asked all opening speakers to trim their opening remarks. Even with that, because of the level of interest in the previous statement, we are pushed for time. I am reluctant to extend decision time beyond 5.30 pm—we have already extended it to then—so I ask all members to try to speak to their time slots or within them.
References in this contribution
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-10307, in the name of Roseanna Cunningham, on stemming the plastic tide: action to tackle the impact of s...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Christine Grahame)
SNP
I call Roseanna Cunningham to speak to and move the motion. 15:32
The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform (Roseanna Cunningham)
SNP
I am sure that I am not the only person in the chamber who has spent the past six weeks or so surveying their plastic usage and becoming dismayed at the ubiq...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I share some of the cabinet secretary’s concerns about the way in which the issue has, as she said, been shoehorned into the debate. Nevertheless, it is an i...
Roseanna Cunningham
SNP
I would be happy to do that and to talk to any member who is particularly concerned about the issue. Although we must do all that we can to stem the plast...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The cabinet secretary is quite right to let us know about the extra time. The previous item overran considerably, so the opening speakers have agreed to cut ...
Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I refer members to my entry in the register of interests with respect to having worked for Zero Waste Scotland. Having listened to the cabinet secretary, I ...
Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP)
SNP
Does the member accept that his amendment is simply an attempt to hijack an important debate and is also an attack on local democracy? Can he tell me why his...
Maurice Golden
Con
The member could have had a word with ministers in the SNP Government and ensured that there would be a moratorium on all new incineration facilities. It is ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I call Claudia Beamish to speak to and move amendment S5M-10307.4. 15:50
Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome the Scottish Government’s motion for debate today, and I add Labour’s voice to the call to ban single-use plastics in Scotland by 2030. If we were...
Ruth Maguire (Cunninghame South) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Claudia Beamish
Lab
I do not have time today—I am sorry. It is essential that the Scottish Government gives guidance and support to manufacturers that are changing the material...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I call Mark Ruskell to speak to and move amendment S5M-10307.2—six minutes, please, Mr Ruskell. 15:56
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green)
Green
The great surge in public awareness around the health of our seas has been building for many years. Documentary films such as “A Plastic Ocean” and “Blue Pla...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I thank all the opening speakers for keeping to their time. That practice will now be continued by all the open debate speakers. I call Kate Forbes, to be fo...
Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP)
SNP
Fast-food restaurants in the EU are apparently using enough plastic straws every year to get to the moon and back 10 times. If members are shocked by that, t...
John Scott (Ayr) (Con)
Con
I welcome the debate and I could not agree more with what has been said. Given that I represent Ayr, I know from my local area just what a problem litter, p...
Tom Arthur (Renfrewshire South) (SNP)
SNP
For some time, we have been aware of the threat that plastic pollution poses to the environment, the ecosystem and human health. The term “single-use plastic...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Mr Arthur, I hope that one day you learn what is meant by four minutes and 30 seconds. 16:15
Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Plastic presents a complex problem for our marine and terrestrial ecosystems, as we have heard; for our economy; and most important, for our environment, and...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Thank you very much, Mr Gray—you showed Mr Arthur how it ought to be done. 16:20
Clare Adamson (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)
SNP
Last Friday, a primary 7 delegation from Glencairn primary school visited my constituency office. Katie, Kara, Thomas, Regan and their classmates told me of ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Thank you—what you said about the caterpillars was fascinating. 16:25
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I am not sure that I can match that, Presiding Officer. As the issue of plastic pollution accelerates up the political agenda, reflecting a growing public a...
Maurice Golden
Con
Will Liam McArthur take an intervention?
Liam McArthur
LD
I am sorry, but I do not have time. That said, each party has rightly offered options on how we can deal with the challenges of tackling harmful use of plas...
Ivan McKee (Glasgow Provan) (SNP)
SNP
I want to start with a quote from the 1967 film “The Graduate”. A young Ben Braddock was being given some career advice. He was told one word: “Plastics”. Th...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
Shocking images that showed a seahorse holding a cotton bud, as featured on “Blue Planet II”, have alerted us all to the impact of single-use plastics on the...
Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP)
SNP
As a member of the Rural Affairs and Climate Change Committee in the previous session of Parliament and now the convener of the Environment, Climate Change a...