Meeting of the Parliament 09 October 2024
I, too, welcome Sue Webber to her new role.
We have heard contrasting views in the debate today, but all of us want to see support for people locally who are struggling. In Moray, we had a hotel converted to an asylum hostel where asylum seekers were placed, and they got a lot of support from the local community. The Elgin Sports Community Trust at the Gleaner arena offered free football sessions and provided kit and football boots, and the community came together to support people as much as they could.
However, what we have heard about from members so far today are specific cases of asylum seekers struggling to get to hospital appointments or a doctor’s surgery. Patrick Harvie said that that is a “real-life impact”. Maggie Chapman spoke about Ana. I am also hearing about such things in Moray, not from asylum seekers but from general constituents. There are people living in rural communities in Moray who cannot get to a hospital appointment or a GP surgery because the local transport network has been downgraded because of cuts to local government funding and—centrally—bus routes have been removed. Those bus routes are crucial not just for asylum seekers but for people living throughout our communities. That is why I think that Sue Webber is right to highlight in her amendment that we can improve our local services in order to benefit everyone.
We also have to look at choices. There was concern—I would go close to saying significant concern—from Green members and SNP members who supported the interventions on the comparison that Sue Webber made between the winter fuel payment being withdrawn and free bus travel not being taken forward. People were saying that we cannot conflate the two, but here is why I believe that we can. The Government’s amendment today is asking for more money from Westminster to pay for the proposal, and says that it will do it. The Government’s motion yesterday was asking for more money from Westminster for the winter fuel payment, and said that the Government would then do that.