Hansard

It is a privilege to follow Dr Alasdair Allan, who has done so much to contribute to Gaelic and Scots.

As has already been said, this bill alone will not save Gaelic or restore Scots to the status that it deserves—there are so many other factors at play. I will start by touching on an issue that a few other members have mentioned, which is the housing crisis that is driving the crisis in Gaelic as a living language. That crisis is largely being driven by the increase in holiday homes and short-term lets.

One councillor in Skye reckons that 60 per cent of properties there are empty over the winter because they are second homes or short-term lets. House prices on Skye are £60,000 higher than the national average. That is driving young people and young Gaelic speakers out of their communities. Those are exactly the kind of people who we need to stay in these communities to continue Gaelic as a living language, but they are being driven out because, as adults, it is simply impossible for them to find somewhere to live in their own community.

The licensing of short-term lets has definitely helped, but it does not go nearly far enough. Far more targeted housing policy is needed specifically to support the recovery and survival of Gaelic as a living language. I suggest targeted increases in the additional dwelling supplement for areas of linguistic significance as one of the most obvious ways in which we can lever tax policies to support Gaelic speakers to stay, live and raise families in the communities that they have grown up in. The third stage of the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which will take place after the summer recess, is an opportunity for all parties to make proposals, given that, across the stages of this bill, speakers from all parties have raised housing as one of the key issues for us to consider.

To stick with Skye, I am proud of the provisions in the bill for Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and my work with Gillian Munro, Willie Rennie, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and the bill team. We have set a clear process and direction of travel. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is a world-class institution and a change in its status and enhanced abilities will be crucial to the delivery of the wider agenda that we all share for Gaelic recovery, not least to address the shortage of GME teachers.

The teaching resource provisions that we have just agreed to will also make GME teaching a more attractive prospect and will, I hope, reduce and eliminate the significant additional workload that puts Gaelic speakers off becoming Gaelic-medium teachers. I was surprised by Labour’s opposition to those provisions being extended to Scots. I would be happy to discuss that with Labour, but I am glad that those provisions have been passed, because we need to end the shame that has been felt by millions of Scots for speaking our own language in our own country. Most, if not all, of us have been reprimanded at some point in our lives and told to speak properly simply for using one of this country’s native languages.

Success will look different in different places. In our cities, it is about moving beyond GME school provision and into community spaces, whereas, in the likes of Skye or Lewis, it is about protecting Gaelic as a community and a living language. That latter point is the most critical.

I want to recognise the different perceptions and appetites in different communities, and we should recognise the hostility to these efforts. There is not always an inherent hostility to Gaelic; in some cases, and in our cities, we need to recognise the class dynamics around GME education. I welcome the location of the new GME school in the Calton in Glasgow. We should recognise that parents of kids whose needs are not being met in English-medium schools can understandably be frustrated to see additional resources for GME schools, whose pupils are overwhelmingly drawn from more privileged socioeconomic backgrounds. However, the solution is to resource all schools and to meet the needs of all kids, not to play different needs off against one other.

It grates a bit when some argue that the range of social ills that we face means that we should not be prioritising the recovery of our native languages. After centuries of decline and deliberate marginalisation and oppression, when should that start? I hope that all parties remember the comments that they have made today when it comes to budget time and the allocation of resources.

This is a good day for Gaelic, Scots and Scotland. The bill is just one part of the puzzle, but the Parliament is sending a message today that these are our languages. If Scotland’s Parliament will not support and protect them, no one else will. It may be that I am being optimistic, but I hope that today will be seen as a turning point and, in particular, that it will be the start of Gaelic’s recovery as a living, celebrated language.