Meeting of the Parliament 02 December 2025
No—because there is also a cone on the head of Finnie, the mascot, who is on the badge that I am proudly wearing.
I will answer Sandesh Gulhane’s points, because they are serious ones, but I hope that, as a Parliament, we can also get into the spirit of what we are seeking to achieve next summer in Scotland. There will be the football world cup, which Scotland’s men’s team has just qualified for, and the Commonwealth games will come to Scotland. The games were literally saved by Glasgow stepping in in the way that only Scotland could. At the Commonwealth Sport general assembly event that I held last week, Maree Todd and I were approached by a number of delegates who told us that there had been no plan B—no other alternative—so, if Glasgow had not stepped in, there would have been no Commonwealth games. We must recognise and celebrate that.
We should also recognise the work that is being done by Glasgow City Council. The work at George Square has been some years in planning, and it is for the council to work through delivery in that regard. From my discussions with the likes of the Commonwealth Sport president, Donald Rukare, I am confident that, regardless of whether the work at George Square has been completed, given the facilities that people have seen and the engagement with the organising company—it, not the federation, is responsible for the delivery of the games—they are confident of Glasgow’s success, including its onward success in relation to the Commonwealth games to come.
I promised Donald Rukare that, by the summer, the weather would be better than it was last week, when he arrived, but, unfortunately, I do not have complete control over that.