Meeting of the Parliament 11 September 2025
I would be grateful for that. I say to the Deputy First Minister that there might well be interesting phenomena and dynamics—or even initiatives—but we have not seen progress against the fundamental target. Interestingly, there was progress immediately after the pandemic, but it has stalled since then.
A final aspect of the report that we have seen no further examination of is its useful segmentation of exporters into four categories: top 100, solid performers, sleeping giants and global by birth. I would like to know what progress has been made against those key segments, because that would give the sort of strategic clarity that we need.
The document “A Trading Nation” was a serious bit of work, and I would like to see some robust reporting and measurement against it. It set out a good pipeline. Unfortunately, as ever with this Government, its intention is good, but its follow-through and consistency are poor.
I move amendment S6M-18795.1, to leave out from first “notes” to end and insert:
“welcomes UK Government action to strengthen international alliances and reduce trade barriers with economies around the world through diplomacy and the delivery of trade deals with India, the US and the EU; calls on the Scottish Government to stop contributing to instability for business through its repeated calls for an independence referendum, and believes that exporting to the rest of the UK, Scotland’s biggest trading partner, is a key stepping stone for international exports, and that both should be imbedded in business support from day one.”
15:54Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.