 Rhaid reprodd iawn i ddefnyddio arweinydd túsel yn fwy oed y gwrthod! Mae Gweithio arllun roi crushed wrestler yng ngysylltiadau i fynd i nifer 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, neuỳ a  communism VP. Ken Children Rydym yn gwybod gyfly createig maen nhw fathaidd gydych ar gwyaskol смît gedgeol o tu dicegerwch gyfer i gefnodid gy lootf helpedu o hynny? The ammo st снимbe ddysgog eich g greistedur yn cerddiad SAWR now oes yn gweithreid I would further invite those members who are leaving the chamber to do so quickly and quietly. Please. I now call on Neil Bibby to open the debate. Mr Bibby, you have seven minutes. I welcome the opportunity to bring forward today's motion for debate. I would like to thank all members who have supported the motion. Fair trade and fruit ball is a very important issue. Why? Because around 40,000 people work in the ballmaking industry in the town of Sialkot in northern Pakistan producing tens of millions of footballs every year for multi national companies. A staggering 70 per cent of the world's sports balls are made there, but currently less than 1 per cent of the sports balls we play with around the world are made under fair trade conditions. The fair trade football campaign aims to improve the pay and working conditions for these men and women. Through fair trade certification, workers both in the factories and stitching centres benefit from decent conditions and the fair trade premium, which is an extra cash payment of 10 per cent, which workers democratically decide on what social and economic developmental projects to invest in. This is typically healthcare and education for families in schemes such as the fair price shop, so workers can obtain essential items at a fair cost. Following a visit to Sialkot last year, Angus Coole, a co-founder of Ballasport, which officially launched in February this year to expand awareness and the availability of fair trade sports balls, talked about the vast differences that he had found between the factories. He said, we visited four factories producing balls under fair trade agreements. You could see that they had fire escapes, fire extinguishers, health and safety notices, proper ventilation and everything that you would expect to find in a UK factory. The workers had face masks and eye protection, but we went to another factory that was nothing like that. It was underground in the basement of a building and the only ventilation was from holes in the ceiling. The differences between fair trade factories and others couldn't be clearer. Buying fair trade footballs really does make a difference to people's lives. By purchasing fair trade balls, we can demonstrate our commitment to fairness and to solidarity with others. That is why today I am sure that members across the chamber will join me in congratulating the pupils and staff at Glenifer High School in Paisley on their work with Ballasport to become their first member school in the UK. Ballasport has been a key driver of the fair trade football campaign, and by buying shares in the social enterprise, Glenifer High School will now have a say in how Ballasport is run. That is crucial because Ballasport is a member organisation. The idea behind the share issues is to raise more cash for further investment. That enables them to order and sell more balls so that more and more producers benefit in Pakistan. Those will not be high value shares, but they are crucial to the development of the organisation. Glenifer High School's commitment to Ballasport and to using fair trade footballs is not just a credit to the pupils and staff and to headteacher David Nicholls, but to the entire community. It would be remiss of me not to give special mention to PE teacher Dominic Tolan, who has been instrumental in making fair trade footballs a priority for the school. I was delighted to visit Glenifer High School earlier this year to donate fair trade footballs to the school team. I am very pleased to hear that they have attracted positive comments from pupils with regard to their quality, and I know that the school will be selling fair trade footballs during next year's fair trade fortnight. Plans are also being made to organise a football tournament within the school using the balls from Ballasport. I know that Dominic has been contacted by another fair trade organisation called Cool Schools, which is based in England to discuss developing additional fair trade initiatives at the school. Glenifer High School has led the way when it comes to the fair trade football campaign, and it is clear that it has kicked off a wider interest in the fair trade movement, which is very welcome. We should be doing everything that we can to encourage other schools now to follow Glenifer's examples. There are other organisations that I want to recognise in the debate. The 515 complex in Paisley has consistently supported the campaign and has given up their pitches free of charge for fair trade football tournaments that I have organised in Paisley, and the support of businesses and organisations is crucial to promoting the campaign, and the support of supporters direct should be mentioned as well. As I said, Ballasport is key to the fair trade football campaign, and I know that it is currently working with the fair trade foundation schools team on a video about the ball production process and the workers in Pakistan, as well as other resources to use in schools. Ballasport staff will also be visiting the factories again in late October and gathering case study information. In July, Stirling Albion and Harps played with the Ballasport Pro-Ball and a supporters direct Scotland Cup friendly. Ballasport recently became the official matchball sponsor of the United Glasgow FC, the refugee team, and they are sponsoring the spot of the ball competition in the big issue to continue the process of raising awareness. The campaign is continually a pace, and the key question for us today is what we can do to support the campaign and encourage more schools and clubs to get involved. Millions of football is bought and sold in the UK every year. Football is the people's game, although its reputation has been tarnished by recent FIFA scandals, it is still a universal language that spans the globe. It is powerful, and we can harness that power to change the world around us. We see football used to raise awareness of all sorts of issues and to help tackle a variety of challenges. Our hope must be that football can have a real impact on raising awareness of the fair trade movement, particularly among young people and those who perhaps do not normally buy fair trade products. I have welcomed the opportunity to meet with the Minister Humzae Yousaf to discuss what more we can do. I know that he and Jamie Hepburn have a keen interest in this issue, and perhaps they would give further consideration this afternoon to the possibility of the Scottish Government supporting a national fair trade football tournament to raise the profile of the campaign even further. We have had a number of local tournaments, and I hope that we can work together. We can have a national tournament to potentially raise even more awareness to new heights and ensure that more fair trade balls are being bought. Of course, we should not forget that fair trade sports balls are not exclusive to football. Balas sports will have rugby balls on sale shortly after this year's Rugby World Cup, and we should consider how we extend the campaign to other sports. Our challenge is to support and expand the next and work being done by organisations such as Balas Sport. Lastly, I want to mention the role of our professional football clubs and authorities. People have said that it is futile to lobby clubs who are tied into long-term contracts and sponsorships, but given the amount of money that some of our professional clubs have, the least they can do is purchase ethically produced balls. I am going to write to all professional clubs and football authorities in the near future, to follow the example of schools such as Lenniford High. I hope that the Scottish Government will consider joining that call. I am sure that it will not be easy, but hopefully in time, fair trade footballs will be the norm and not the exception. Fair trade footballs can be a game changer for thousands of people, and we must do everything that we can to make that happen. I now call on Linda Fabiani to be followed by Patricia Figgs. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It is a long time since I spoke about fair trade in this chamber. I used to do that quite a lot because my home town was driven many, many, many years ago, along with Aberfeldy, jointly became Scotland's first fair trade town. It was something that we were very proud of at the time, and it certainly carries on, although I no longer represent it, so I do not get to go along with all the events that it has. It is something that this Parliament has always been very interested in is fair trade and its progression. That is why I welcome Neil Bibby's motions so much. I am going to the Malawi cross-party group after that, and it is to specifically talk about the links that our own schools have with schools in Malawi, and I know that a lot of that centres around fair trade. Fair trade is very often just discussed in terms of products such as coffee, sugar, tea and things like that, and also about agriculture. Very often, when we hear about producers getting a good deal, it is about agriculture. Certainly, the other thing that has happened there is, as time has moved on, we have recognised that fair trade practices in agriculture in less fortunate countries than ours can help towards climate justice as well, because the fair trade continuously promotes sustainable agricultural practices in the production of fair trade products. That brings me on to some of what I really welcome about Neil Bibby's motions. We are now talking in a motion in this Parliament about a different kind of fair trade. It is about fair trade in relation to factories and that kind of intensive production, and I think that that is so very, very important. As Neil said, it is also about workers' rights, and it is also about health and safety. We have seen terrible things happen in the production of the clothes factory, so it is good that we are talking openly about those things. Trade union rights, and some of the things that are still going on in parts of Latin America, for example, in the fruit fields, are still very much against union rights. We should always be aware of it. That is all part of fair trade. Procurement generally is something that is really, really important. I have spoken about this before, and at this point I would like to mention John McCallion, former MSP, who, when he left here, I think that it was Oxfammy that he was working for, and was really pushing for fair trade and procurement. I still have the opinion that we cannot really call ourselves Scotland, the fair trade nation, unless we are insisting on fair trade in more than consumables. I would like to see fair trade cotton, for example, used throughout the health service. I would like to see, eventually, all our public services insisting on fair trade in their procurement. Fair trade can apply at home as well, of course, but it does not have to be overseas. We should always be looking to procure fairly, particularly in our public services. I will go back to football. I should congratulate Glynifer High School. I think that it is a wonderful initiative that it is doing. However, I had to look at the Scottish Government's doing in football, because it is not something that I generally know much about. One of the commonwealth games legacies was giving funding to a project in Malawi for joint football coaching programme with the SFA and the Football Association of Malawi. It is about sustainable infrastructure over there, equipment and sharing knowledge and skills. I would like to think that the equipment is fair trade. I would like to think that the footballs that are being used are fair trade and that the strips are fair trade. For me, that fair trade would be about production in Malawi, not about gathering up shedloads of stuff and sending it over from here. That brings me back to that circle that says that all those things are so important. Fair trade, localism, sustainability and climate justice. It is only when we start to really look at it in the round that we can say that we are really making progress. I begin by congratulating my colleague Neil Bibby on securing this evening's debate. I also congratulate Glynifer High School on its excellent decision to invest in and promote balasport. I will say a little bit more about Glynifer High later in my contribution to the debate. Balasport is based in Glasgow. It is a co-operative launched in February this year, with a start-up grant of £190,000 from the co-operative Glasgow Development Fund, a fund that is established as part of the city council's drive to become a co-operative council. The aim of balasport is to promote the use of fair trade certified sports balls. Balasport is made by skilled people to the same specification as balls accredited by FIFA, and they undergo the same rigorous testing. The only difference between a bala ball and a FIFA ball is the logo. I am with bala when they say that we do not want to pay the fees imposed by FIFA for use of their logo, we would rather pay the makers of our balls more. Every FIFA certified ball that is purchased has involved a manufacturer or distributor paying a test fee to FIFA, and on top of that a royalty fee for every single ball sold. Those fees will obviously be reflected in the purchase price, too. Buying a bala ball ensures that the workers in Silicott and Pakistan who make the balls are paid fairly, have good working conditions and then have taken, as Neil Bibby rightly said, the democratic decision about how to invest their share of the profits. What they have done so far is to invest in free eye tests and treatment for eye disease and defects, free school backpacks and scholarships for workers' children, and a water purification plant that the entire community can use—surely a better use of money than payments to FIFA. It occurred to me when I was thinking about this this afternoon that, if FIFA were to adopt fair trade footballs, it might actually help its rather tattered and tarnished reputation somewhat. However, I was delighted to hear therefore that not only are Glenifer High School using bala balls in their sports but that they have also become shareholders in bala. That seems to me to be an excellent decision by the students and their teachers and is an example of their support for fair trade. Their experience of ethical investment is one that I am sure that they will take with them into their lives beyond school. They deserve our congratulations as do the students at Greenwood school who have also invested in it. I am very proud that Scotland is a fair trade nation, but achieving that accolade should only be the beginning of our campaign to make trade fair. I agree entirely with Linda Fabiani in her comments about that issue. The promotion of bala balls should be part of that campaign. My colleague Neil Bibby has promoted the idea of a national football tournament utilising fair trade balls. That is an excellent idea, I think, and could help not just to promote fair trade and fairly-traded footballs but also to boost participation in football by girls and boys. Nowadays, one in three bananas sold in the UK supermarkets bear the fair trade mark, but the number of fair trade-certified sports balls sold in the UK is less than a quarter of 1 per cent. Bala aims to increase that number significantly. Glenifer High School is supporting them, and we should do so, too. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. In today's times, there is what I think many people will see as an interesting but nonetheless controversial article by Magnus Link later. It decries the negativity that all too often surrounds Scottish football and which he perceives contrasts at these days with other sports in Scotland. However, he would, I am sure, be the first to recognise that what has happened at Glenifer is something to celebrate, not just because of the benefits to the local community but because of the benefits that clearly have a much wider implication through workers elsewhere. I congratulate Neil Bibby for what I thought was a very moving and informative speech from bringing that motion to Parliament and, obviously, to Glenifer High School and to Balasport. It is a tremendous accomplishment to be the first school to do that, and I note that Patricia Ferguson says that Greenwood school is now on the same basis, so I hope that it will not be long before other schools across Scotland are inspired to do exactly that. Acts like those are so good for local communities, the spirit of local communities, and clearly for all those who are in the process of making the balls. I have to say that I did not realise the statistics until they were explained just a little while ago, and that they are impressive. Special mention must go to Dominic Holland. I understand that he was very influential in terms of Glenifer High School's membership and investment in Balasport, and it is only right that individuals such as Mr Tullin receive our congratulations. It is very important to understand the background to Balasport, which is why Patricia Ferguson gave us some very interesting information about how it came together as a co-operative and by seeking to help workers in Pakistan by ensuring that those who make 70 per cent of the world's footballs receive a fair wage for their work and for fair working conditions. I think that Linda Fabiani makes an excellent point about trying to spread the benefits of fair trade, because I think that you are quite right to say that the impression in many minds of public is that it is about food, and it is not all about food by any stretch, in fact, far from it. I think that the benefits that have been described this afternoon show how much it can be diverse. I think that the value of sport in that context is so often forgotten, and that is where I would agree with Magnus Linc later in one aspect of his article today, where he did home in on the negativity that can surround it. I think that that is a great pity sometimes that we hear only about that. Many of our young people across Scotland are doing fantastic things, and it is good that, as MSPs, we can highlight some of those, because they are very special and they bind together not only the school but, obviously, people in far-gone countries. I think that that is a very important part of that. I think that there is a very important need to promote the collaboration between consumers and producers, NGOs and Governments to further fair trade in Scotland and worldwide. It is becoming increasingly evident about the benefits that that can bring, and that is something that must encourage all of us as we work together to secure market access to low-income countries, but to tackle a lot of the social and cultural issues that they have, particularly when it comes to the border obstacles that they often face when it comes to training. I think that a strong united voice from this Parliament is important. I also think that it is important that we can support and promote the open rules-based, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system. Once again, I congratulate Neil Bibby on that. The schools and Bala for all the excellent work that they have done—I am sure that they have a very bright future. We certainly support the idea of an international tournament across Scotland to demonstrate that we take this issue very seriously. I thank Neil Bibby for securing today's debate, and I thank Greenwood School for their participation in the whole scheme. I have visited Salcote myself, and I have seen first-hand the footballs being made. I can assure this House that the skill that is needed to produce these items is very high, an exceptional skill indeed. I am sure that many Patec Thistle fans will also be happy to learn that the Football Club in Glasgow actually sells the footballs made in Pakistan with the Patec Thistle official logo on them. That made my grandson very proud as a Patec Thistle supporter. Also, may I say that Pakistan has been well-known and well-renowned throughout the world for its manufacturing of sporting equipment, including footballs, hockey and cricket, and Pakistan, in fact, is one of the largest manufacturers of pipe bags in the world today. So, you will not be surprised to see that there are many skills in Pakistan. However, Neil Bibby makes such an important point that a fair day's work deserves a fair day's pay. I think that the Bala scheme is going to be very good not only for the workers, but also I am sure that the Pakistan Government will appreciate it because under the day they are competing in the world theatre and I think it's important to see that the produce that they produce are not only just valued, but the workers are actually paid a fair pay because footballs in particular that are produced in South Korea. I've seen logos like Coca-Cola and some other some very large companies using those footballs, including the world football tournaments and many other tournaments around the Middle East and so on. So it's a very popular and very demanding item from that part of the world and I'm sure this is why I'm very keen and in fact very thankful to people who want to actually make sure that these people are paid a fair wage for the work that they do. Also take this opportunity to thank everybody involved in fair trade. I think when I first became aware of fair trade around the world was when I first became a counsellor and I was invited to one of the churches in my own ward and I for the first time saw various things manufactured and made around the world from jam, tea, coffee and chocolate, chocolate being a weakness of my own and I have to say that when I actually understood the concept I was really very proud that we in Scotland care enough for people around the world to do something like this and so when I heard of the debate and about Sealcote and the footballs I was really impressed. I felt yes, this is something that I want to take part in and I want to discuss this and I want to also send a message to the Government of Pakistan is to support us, help them do this because I think their help will be very important for us as well. We now move to closing the speech from the minister. Thank you very much. Let me begin by saying to Hanzala Malik, his grandson, that he would always be very proud to be a Patec Thistle supporter but that could just be my own perspective, probably shared with Patricia Ferguson no doubt. I am very delighted to have the opportunity to close the debate on behalf of the Government. I begin by thanking Neil Bibby for bringing forward this motion and the other members for their contribution. I join Neil Bibby and the other colleagues in congratulating the staff and especially the pupils at Glynifer High School for their hard work in promoting fair trade generally. They are also their interesting initiative with Bala. It is very hard to hear that Greenwood secondary school are following suit. We are primarily tonight focused on Glynifer High School's work with Bala Sports but, of course, it does build on the existing initiatives that they have at the school and I think that it should be placed on record. I am sure that Mr Bibby would want that as well, that they have a long-standing interest in this area and that they should be congratulated for that. I know that that has led to the school being heavily involved in fundraising for Malawi. I mentioned that to turn to the point that was made by Linda Fabiani about the Scottish Government and the SFAs partnership with Malawi for football coaching, which is an excellent initiative. I say to Linda Fabiani that I will undertake to look into her point. I think that it is an entirely reasonable one about the utilisation of fair trade equipment as part of that project and I will undertake to get back to her on that particular point. Since 2007, the Scottish Government has awarded more than £1.2 million core funding to the Scottish Fair Trade Forum in order to take forward our ambition for Scotland to become a fair trade nation, which I think that we were all collectively in this part delighted to see Scotland achieving in 2013. Although our funding has hopefully been felt to be important, fair trade nation status would not have been possible without people in cities, towns and villages, university schools and colleges up and down the length and the breadth of the country committed to supporting fair trade. They are the individuals making the difference often in their own small individual way to making a big and positive change around the world. Of course, we now know that we have 100 per cent of local authority areas having active groups working towards fair trade status. 56 per cent of local authority areas have achieved fair trade status. All cities have fair trade status. 88 of Scotland's 156 towns in Scotland either have that status or have active groups working towards it. Linda Fabiani reminded us that Straven and Aberfeldy led the way in that regard, and we see more and more people across the country buying fair trade products on a regular basis. Schools such as Glynifer High, whose teachers and pupils are leading the way by investing in balasports and so having a direct impact in the lives of football stitchers in Pakistan, are the epitome of this effort across the country. Of course, it is not just that football is over the last six years. The availability and range of fair trade products has continued to rise with more than 4,500 fair trade products. Readily, available meaning consumers can buy everything from fair trade gold and clothes to wine and flowers. The list continues to grow. As the number of fair trade products has risen so has awareness of the fair trade mark at the last poll, the fair trade forum undertook 81 per cent of the population recognised by the fair trade mark. With 63 per cent of people regularly buying fair trade products, which is positive, it shows that there is still growth potential there and there is more work still to be done. It is very easy to assume that someone else is taking care of business that you do not have to think about where the projects that you buy are coming from or how the choices you make affects the choices that someone else will have to make, such as having to choose which of your children gets an education, decides who needs medicine the most or who will eat that day. We all know that this is a miserable and grinding reality faced by millions of people around the world each and every day. It is that knowledge that should spur us on to spread the message that making small changes to the way that we shop makes a massive difference to the lives of others. We all have a responsibility to do what we can and we can all buy fair trade, not just because it ensures that small-scale farmers and other producers are paid a fair price and can provide for their families, but because of the impact it has on them as people leading a dignified life, making decisions and controlling their futures is something that we all have a right to expect, whatever our circumstances, wherever in the world we happen to be born. Of course, fair trade is just a small part of the work that we, as the Government, are involved in to help to promote fairness and equality, not just here in Scotland but around the world as well. Our international development and climate justice funds are making a real difference to the lives of vulnerable people in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and our commitment to tackling climate change and promoting renewable energy so that we are taking the responsibility for our actions and the impact that we have on people around the world. As a fair trade nation, we are leading the way in highlighting how fair trade means support for people in the developing world. Just as Glynuffer High School is leading the way in highlighting how support for bala sports and fair trade sports involves means support for stitchers in Pakistan, I know that the school is working closely with the Balasports Managing Director Angus Coole to promote the organisation and their community share issue, and I hope that the publicity will help to generate and inspire other schools, as we have heard it is starting to do sports groups and sporting organisations to get involved. Liz Smith spoke of the power of sport to leverage social change in Neil Bibby's sport, in particular the power of football through its universality to make a difference. We have heard some action from football clubs, the match that took place between Stirling Albion and Heart of Midlothian that was mentioned by Neil Bibby, the work that has been done by Patrick Thistle and by Hens Alamalt. We also know that the SFA does have a contract for the provision of fair trade footballs at community and grassroots level. Neil Bibby spoke of the leadership role in other sports, and I was delighted that previously there has been some work undertaken with the Scottish Rugby Union to try and help to promote fair trade rugby balls. I am grateful to the minister for taking an intervention so late in his speech, but when he mentioned leadership, it occurs to me that we have heard in the last 24 hours of the appointment of Louise Martin as the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, a very worthy woman and a very worthy Scott. Given her new role, I wonder whether we might want to make contact with her to urge that the Commonwealth Games Federation takes account of the availability of sports equipment and sports balls, particularly those that are fairly traded. I am not sure that I welcome the intervention, because I will be in trouble for not being the person who mentioned her appointment. Of course, congratulations to her on her appointment, and indeed I am happy that I will be writing to her to congratulate her, and I am in regular contact with her and I am happy to raise that as an issue with her. Another issue that Ms Ferguson and indeed Neil Bibby raised was the idea, the innovative suggestion of a national fair trade football. Let me say that I am very happy to consider any serious proposal made, so if one is forthcoming, I will give it my utmost consideration. Let me close by thanking Neil Bibby again for his motion, and all who have contributed to the debate for continuing to highlight our shared commitment to ensuring that we can all hear in Scotland play our part in helping to make the world a fairer place. Thank you very much.