Hansard

We will commission the group to come up with ideas about whether there should be a physical building, or a combination of virtual and physical or something else. We should leave that to the expert group and the people who have been campaigning along with CRER for a long time to say what we really need in Scotland. I hope that we get some diverse and interesting recommendations from the expert group; I am sure that we will, given the walk-through that I did with it in Glasgow last year. There are lots of interesting options.

There is a project funded by Museums Galleries Scotland called curating discomfort. The name speaks for itself. The project is led by the Hunterian in Glasgow, and it aims to identify new and inclusive ways to interpret existing collections to better address the many meanings and implications of the historical assets in their care. We have much to learn from other examples, such as those explained by Clare Adamson and Jamie Greene after their visits to Canada and Australia, and the approaches taken there.

Equality for us all is critical, nationally and locally, so it is vital to have these conversations in all the spheres that allow us to do so. Glasgow City Council demonstrated that in a recent motion from Councillor Graham Campbell and Councillor Annette Christie, which expresses solidarity with equality campaigners and commits to continuing the work with CRER. The council remains an “unwavering voice” alongside that of the Government

“that amplifies the idea that Black Lives Matter.”

It is good to hear about the motion in North Lanarkshire Council and that young people are learning about their heritage. In a few minutes, I will address the questions about education that Jamie Greene and Clare Adamson asked.

As a nation we are proud to recognise and protect the intrinsic value of all people, and to champion the pillars of dignity, equality and respect for everyone in our modern and inclusive Scotland. Human rights is very much at the heart of that. We are determined to engage in eradicating racism, inequality and injustice, and to build a better, fairer world. That is why we allocated £2.6 million last year to fund organisations that are working to advance race equality.

As Stuart McMillan, Jeremy Balfour, Neil Bibby, Clare Adamson and Stewart Stevenson said, we must not erase or ignore difficult elements of our history. Instead, we should seek to reinterpret them, adding new layers of meaning to develop better understanding of how we want to live together, working with others, and that is what this Government is committed to doing.

I also agree with Professor Sir Geoff Palmer’s points. Jamie Greene and Clare Adamson asked me specifically about education. We have funded the fairer future panel through Young Scot to look at the issue, and we are looking at ways of engaging Young Scot in that. Intercultural Youth Scotland, which is an amazing organisation based here in Edinburgh, has been funded to support minority ethnic young people throughout the pandemic. The Deputy First Minister is already working with partners to look at the curriculum, and I hope that he will have more to say about that in the weeks to come.

The work of the expert reference group and the accompanying national consultation will open up a conversation on this very important subject in all the areas that every member has mentioned tonight. They will deliver insights that will help us to establish how we can better manage, present and interpret those elements of our heritage to ensure that we look forward to an equal future and look back in a balanced and unbiased way. I look forward to progressing that work.