Meeting of the Parliament 10 February 2026 [Draft]
First, I congratulate Finlay Carson on securing what I think is a very important debate. The first two speakers have been from the south of Scotland, I am here representing the Highlands, and we have members from the north-east and from central Scotland, too. All of us will have received very much the same feedback from our communities.
I wish to touch on three areas, the first of which is the Moray FLOW-Park. It will not be a surprise to members that I mention it, as I am actively campaigning on the issue as hard as I possibly can, for good reason. I will go into the subject in more detail in a members’ business debate next week. Last Thursday, I asked the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy a question about it, and she seemed slightly annoyed with me about what I was saying. I want to expand on that—I will make this point again next week. In responding to me about the Moray FLOW-Park, the Government has consistently said that there is no application in yet. That is the excuse; the reason for the Government not saying anything else is because there is no application in. However, community is clearly telling me that we do not want an application to go in. Some £1.83 million of public money is being spent on a project that the community clearly does not feel is in the right place, and the community, councils and various other businesses are saying, “Work with us. We are not saying no, but come and talk to us, and perhaps we can find other locations around the Highlands where you can do this.”