Meeting of the Parliament 17 September 2025
I agree with everything that Liz Smith has just said, but I want to move the subject on slightly.
As you will know, Presiding Officer, I have tried numerous times this week to get a statement on Minister Jim Fairlie’s seagull summit, which is happening next Tuesday. You have competing demands to deal with, Presiding Officer, and you have your own reasons for not selecting questions, and I respect that. However, through parliamentary procedures, I now have an opportunity to speak for up to five minutes on the issue.
The reason why I want to raise it is that what the minister is doing next Tuesday is a sham and a farce. He came to the chamber months ago and said:
“I will have a summit later this year to discuss with members and the people who are raising those issues”.—[Official Report, 28 May 2025; c 9.]
The summit that he plans to go ahead with next Tuesday is excluding members, because politicians are not invited; it is excluding the public, because it is not open to the public; and it is also excluding the press. A cast-iron commitment that was given, in the Parliament, to have a meaningful summit is now turning into a Scottish National Party talking shop, and the participants will be talking to themselves. Jim Fairlie will be sitting in Great Glen house, which is the headquarters of NatureScot, listening to his officials, listening to himself and listening to quango bosses, and not listening to the public.