 The final item of business is members' business debate on motion 9.3.2.8 in the name of John McAlpine on the economic potential of Robert Burns. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those members who wish to contribute to press the request-to-speak buttons. I call on John McAlpine to open the debate. I can't find her. Oh, there she is. I'll put my glasses on. I call on John McAlpine to open the debate for around seven minutes, please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It is now 15 years since the BBC programme Burns the Brand attempted to quantify in hard cash terms what our national bard contributes to Scotland's contemporary economy. The producer, David Stenhouse, commissioned a World Bank economist who calculated that Burns made us £157 million per annum in year-round tourism and merchandising, including the bonanza of the supper season, with spending on hospitality, whisky, haggis, kilt-hire and even paying the piper. £157 million is a tidy sum back in 2003, and it would have left the impoverished port uncharacteristically lost for words, but it did not include activity outwith Scotland. It took place long before the opening of the Burns' Birthplace Museum with its 300,000 visitors a year and Scotland's 390,000 winter festival programme with Burns Night as the Keasting. It also took place before the watershed homecoming year of 2009 for Burns' 250th anniversary, which itself resulted in additional £360 million of visitor spend and of course reached out to Scotland's diaspora as never before. Nor did the £157 million figure include the free advertising and promotion that our country and its businesses get via Burns' and Goodwill, not just on the Burns' Birthday, but through things like Old Langzine, when the whole world welcomes in the new year in Scots, a song that has been recorded by hundreds of stars from Jimi Hendrix to Mariah Carey. Any economic study conducted today would surely find that Burns' capital had increased exponentially, and, if God forbid, he was a listed company, his share price would be through the roof of his old clay biggan. That, Presiding Officer, is the purpose of this debate. It's high time that we look seriously at the value of Burns' brand and updated the 2003 study. We cannot put a price on the cultural value of Burns. He is the most significant Scotsman of his millennium, in my view. He cemented our national identity and self-confidence, he represents democracy, equality, the importance of universal education, the lyrical power of the Scots' language and so much more, including peace, enjoyment, love and pleasure in his own words. However, there is no contradiction between honouring Burns as an artist and recognising his commercial worth. I am indebted to the Centre for Robert Burns studies at the University of Glasgow and Professor Murray Pittock, Pro Vice-Principal of the University and Bradley Chair of English Literature, for advising me on this debate. I would like to welcome Professor Pittock and his colleagues to the gallery today, although I have to say that they are not responsible for the content of my speech. The Centre for Robert Burns studies has itself been an income generator and a job creator since it was founded in 2007, as indeed befits the track record of our world-class universities here in Scotland. Students from all over the world come there to study Burns and other writers of his period, such as John Gault and Alan Ramsey. The Centre secured an arts and humanities research council grant, the AAHRC grant, with £1.1 million towards the project editing Robert Burns for the 21st century. The new multi-volume edition, published by Oxford University Press, is edited by the Centre's professor, Jerry Carothers. The accompanying website and social media mean that everyone can engage and benefit from their expertise, and the Centre provides strategic support to the National Burns Collection, which is housed across 26 different sites in Glasgow, Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Freeson Galloway. The website burnsscotland.com brings that collection together in a way that serves both the general public, the tourist and the scholar, and I can particularly recommend interactive maps that allow you to see all the different locations and what is there. I know that other members will talk about other parts of Scotland in Ayrshire in particular. I know that there are members from Ayrshire here. I do not have time to mention everything, but I would like to point out to Dumfries and Galloway, where many of the collection sites are, the Burns House to Museum in Dumfries and of course Ellisland Farm on the banks of the Nith. The Dumfries Globe in where he enjoyed a dram and romanced the barmaid and a park is a piece of living history where you can view stanzas scratched on the windowpence, as I know that the cabinet secretary has done, and sit fast by an angle in the post's own chair. The Globe is a major venue in Dumfries's big burn supper festival, running from the 18th to 28th of January this year, which is the biggest Burns event in the winter festival's programme and has seen audiences grow every year. Last year saw a 16 per cent increase in ticketed events and, of course, it is a really important aspect of town centre regeneration. The proliferation of Burns festivals is a relatively recent development, but Burns suppers, which began after the poet's death even in the 21st century, continue to multiply exponentially. Many are, of course, run by volunteers such as those to the Robert Burns World Federation, which has 250 members clubs worldwide. Nowadays, all sorts of people around the world are having Burns suppers, business organisations, hotels, restaurants and loose networks of friends. Will they all raise their glasses and sharpen their dicks this month? Burns is fashionable. If you look at the booking service event bright, it shows that, in London alone, Jamie Oliver is hosting a Burns night celebration of £50 a person, including Llyntfiddiff cocktails, and Fortnum and Mason's event comes in at a somewhat pricier £75 a head. Anta, the design and textile interiors company, is offering haggis, canopies and 20 per cent off in its showrooms. From Washington, D.C. to Calilunpa, those events are increasing demand for Scottish produce. The premier butcher, Simon Howe, says that a third of the haggis in the UK is sold in the three weeks around 25 January and year-round sales in the UK are now £8 million. Slightly more haggis is sold in the Burns period in England than in Scotland. Of course, we all know that whisky sales are booming, with exports of £125 every single second. Around the world, many people get their first taste of malt whisky and haggis at Burns Supper, and, of course, they come back for more. Increasingly, they come back for more samples of other Scottish produce such as oatcakes, craft beers and Scottish gin. Many of the international events are held by chambers of commerce, and they sell themselves quite openly as networking opportunities. It is not really possible to see all those disparate events on a single site, but I wonder whether, perhaps, there is potential in exploring that, so that exporting companies can take advantage of this amazing network. However, as much as the deal is struck, as much as the sales of our produce, there is the soft power of the poet to consider. Ireland has St Patrick's Day, of course, and it is absolutely great fun. However, the mythical snake-killing saint does not quite have rabbi's contemporary resonance. He celebrates universalism and is now everyone's national poet for a day. He is embraced by Scotland's own diverse communities. I know, with pleasure, the briefing from Beemons today, the organisation for Scotland's ethnic and cultural minority communities. Their community burns events this year, including the Giffnock Hebrew community, the Glasgow Afghan United organisation, the African Caribbean Women's Association and the 25th anniversary of the Celtic Connections this year sees Beemons celebrate burns in a grand multicultural caley at Glasgow's fruit market. Burns is for everyone, and he is for everyone all year round, not just on Burns night. Camperdown in Victoria, Australia is holding a Robert Burns festival this May, and it is showcasing a lot of Scottish talent. Of course, as native Ayrshire is having Burns fest in the same month, Burns continues to inspire other artists and makers and manufacturers of original merchandise. Some of it will find its way into the wee box, which is an amazing initiative of a subscription home delivery hamper, which was highlighted in Vogue magazine last month, aimed at all who identify with or admire our culture. Each month, it arrives with the quirky original gift of a high-quality mindings from home. This month, the wee box contains Craig McGill's ultimate Burns supper book by Lewis Press with a foreword by Professor Pittock. It is a DIY guide that allows even more people around the world to join in the world's biggest party of poetry. Burns the brand is inseparable from Scotland. The index, which ranks the reputation of countries, the Anhalt Gfk Roper brand index, puts Scotland 15th place out of 50 countries, which is quite an astonishing performance. Burns contributes to that success considerably by enhancing the way others see us. First and foremost, of course, he enriches our culture, but by investing in his cultural legacy, we also enrich our country and the prosperity of the Scottish people who keep his immortal memory alive. Thank you very much. I think that I'm drew one of these wee boxes for letting you speak on for 10 minutes. We now move on to the debate, and may I call Willie Coffey to be followed by John Scott. John Scott, I thank you and congratulations to John McAlpine for bringing forward this worthy motion on the economic impact of Robert Burns. The first thing to say is that it is quite difficult to establish accurate values to the continuing economic impact of Burns on local or even Scottish economies, but it is substantial. The books, translations, the suppers, the memorabilia, the whisky, the tourist facilities, visits to Ayrshire and beyond, not to discount the international dimension that John McAlpine mentioned, are substantial indeed. They are ever-present, diverse and still growing after 259 years. If we had a revenue line in the Scottish budget every year attributed to the income from Robert Burns, I am certain that it would be significant enough to justify its inclusion in Mr Mackay's annual budget statement to the Parliament. In Ayrshire, we know that there are about a million tourist visits each year, generating about £90 million in supporting over 1,600 jobs, and Burns will be a major contributor to those figures. However, what they do not include, of course, is all of the associated Burns activities that go unrecorded. There are about 5,000 visits to the Moklin Museum each year, which is free, plus a number of other locations in and around the area, including the Burns Monument and Genealogy Centre in Kilmarnock, Ms Gilfarm, where Burns lived for about four years, and Burns World Federation will soon be moving into its new premises in Kilmarnock Town Centre, not too far away from where it all started, of course, with the publication of its Kilmarnock edition in July 1786. The Federation, if not directly being promoting itself as a visitor attraction, may well find that there is demand for all things relating to Burns in this very central and attractive location in the town. The jewel in the crown, of course, is the magnificent Burns national heritage park in Allaway, which attracts well over 300,000 visitors each year to that stunning location where the cottage of the Kirk, Tams Brig set in beautiful gardens adjacent to the Brigadune hotel, showing what is possible with significant investment to deliver the kind of quality visitor experience that local and international visitors expect. So Burns continues to make his money, and he is even on our money, on a Clydesdale bank and Bank of Scotland notes. He's translated into over 40 languages, including fairways and Esperanto, and he's celebrated in every corner of the world. But we might, Presiding Officer, have a wee bit of work to do to improve the standing of Burns in Japan, as some of the translations when you see them back in English might explain why our Japanese friends are a little bemused at times. Apparently those immortal lines from to a hagus, fair for your honest 20-phase great chieft in the pudden race, have emerged as good luck to your honest friendly face, great king of the sausages. Leaving our Japanese friends wondering what the fuss is all about, so we might have a little way to go there to improve our offering to our Japanese friends. Presiding Officer, it's been a pleasure to offer this contribution and, once again, to speak in a Robert Burns debate in this wonderful Parliament of ours, and to thank my colleague Joan McAlpine for giving us this opportunity and to wonder what the bar would make of it all some 259 years after that blast a January wind brought them into this world and into all our lives. John Scott, followed by Emma Harper. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I begin by congratulating Joan McAlpine on securing her motion for debate this evening. I note that it is one of the most comprehensive motions that I have supported in a very long time. With your encouragement, Presiding Officer, I begin by giving you the opening lines of Tamashanta, a famous poem by Robert Burns. When Chapman Billies leaves the street and Ruthie Neabour's meet, as market days are wearing late and folk begin to tack the gate, we sit boozing at the nappy, getting foo and unka happy with thinkna and the long Scotch miles, the mossies, the waters, slaps and stiles that lie between us in our home, where sits our silky sullen dame, gael on our bruise like gael on stones, and there's no wrath to keep it one. This truth, if I'm not as Tamashanta, is he fair, ae nech did canter, all the air where nearer tune surpasses for honest men and Bonnie Lasses, cabinet secretary. Presiding Officer, as an airshire man born and bred and as the MSP for air for the last 17 years, it's a great pleasure and I need a privilege to speak in this debate. As a son of the soil myself, I was brought up to have an affinity with Burns, the airshire ploughman, and the language of Burns is still the language of much of the farming community in airshire today. The particular dialect of Broad Scotch I learned at my mother's knee has given me insights into his remarkable work, not so easily accessed by others. For example, how many of you in this room, apart from Emma Harper, knows what to spain a foal would mean, answers in a postcard. That Burns, as part of the Scottish Enlightenment, has had a remarkable impact on airshire and Scottish people, as well as the Scottish diaspora and beyond, is beyond doubt. His poetry and letters have influenced millions of people, including philosophers, presidents of the United States, as well as working men and women of the world over, who so readily identify with his works. As the MSP for air, I have been very lucky to be invited to many Burns suppers over the years, and one of my favourite ones is the Newton Burns club, where Alex Neil and I both spoke last year. As the MSP for air in January, I regard myself as eating haggies for airshire at this time of year, and so I'm indeed fortunate that I enjoy it as well. However, today we are debating the economic impact of Burns, and certainly I know that this is very significant for airshire particularly, but Scotland as a whole generally, and I endorse all of what Joan McAlpine has already drawn to our attention. The Robert Burns workplace museum in Allaway is a must-see destination of choice for those interested in his work, and the museum contains many artefacts from his life and times. While I'm open to correction, I believe that between two and three hundred thousand people a year visit this museum and Burns cottage, as well as the soon-to-be refurbished Burns monument, which benefits the hotels and restaurants in air and airshire. Indeed, many hotels, restaurants and bars in airshire have memorable names, some of them taken from his most famous works such as the Brigadoon, the Twa Dugs, Sootars, Wally Wassells and Robert Burns Influence and Attitudes, still influence the way of life in airshire today. Although there is already a whole industry built around Burns in airshire and Scotland, much more could be done to increase visitor numbers to airshire. A relatively recent innovation is the Burns humanitarian award that is made every year to a suitable, deserving and emblematic person selected from a worldwide stage that recognises their particular contribution and which publicises airshire and Scotland as well. Several festivals at different times of year acclaim his work in air and airshire and elsewhere and bring welcome visitors to our relatively undiscovered part of South West Scotland. While I applaud the success of the North Coast 500 route in terms of tourist development, what many visitors to Scotland are not even aware of is the magnificent land and seascapes of the Firth of Clyde, the Solwy Firth and the A75 and the A77 coastal routes are as good if not better than the North Coast 500 route, and all were travelled on by Burns in his day as an excisement and local farmer. South West Scotland, but particularly airshire, is the hidden jewel in the crown of Scottish tourism with uncluttered roads, easily navigated by camper vans—take note—magnificent restaurants such as the recently refurbished tree house in Eir, and a warm welcome at every hotel and bed and breakfast awaits those who journey to the west to see for themselves the legendary sunsets over Arran in the Firth of Clyde. We in airshire, notwithstanding the foregoing, are not good enough at making the many millions worldwide with airshire and Scottish ancestry as well as an interest in Burns aware of what South West Scotland has to offer. I have not even mentioned the championship golf courses of Royal Toon Press and Trump Ternbury, or the 40 local authority golf courses that are so easily available and within 20 minutes of air. Nor have I mentioned Dumfries House, a second home of the Duke of Rossy or Colleen Castle, also designed by Robert Adam and perched romantically on the cliffs above the Firth of Clyde. Robert Burns, his work, his legacy, his landscapes are all part of the treasure trove waiting to be discovered by active tourists making their way west off the M74, and I commend them and Joan McAlpine's motion to Parliament today. I would like to add my congratulations also to my colleague Joan McAlpine for securing this debate, what a comprehensive contribution that is absolutely commendable. As an enthusiastic Burnsy and an immediate past president of Dumfries Ladies Burns Club number one, I am delighted to speak this evening. We are eternally grateful to Robert Burns for his cultural legacy and contribution to Scottish language and poetry. However, we rarely speak about his lasting or potential economic impact in Scotland, which has realised, mainly through the tourism and food and drink industries, two very important sectors to Scotland's rural economy. I have been involved in Burns clubs for many years and even attended Robert Burns celebrations when I lived in Los Angeles, so I am well aware of the international influence Burns has. Even in LA, I was able to source my chieftain of the pudding race, my haggis, my FDA-approved haggis from a butcher in Oregon, whose last name was actually Lamb. Burns Night was an event marked by many. Similar events will take place on January 25 every year in some of the most far-flung corners of the globe, from Tanzania to Delhi to St Petersburg. I was well chuffed to read the beamers briefing ahead of this debate, too. What an influence Robert Burns truly has on us all. There are more than 170 statues across the world dedicated to Robert Burns, more than Christopher Columbus, Queen Victoria and even another writer, Charles Dickens. Fourteen of those statues can be found in the USA, which is not surprising as President Abraham Lincoln counted himself as a fan of Robert Burns. Bob Dylan cited a red red rose as one of his greatest creative inspirations. Many have speculated what exactly it is about the bard that makes his legacy so wide-reaching and enduring. Whether it was his talent as a poet, his heartfelt politics or the universal human themes of his writing, we are privileged that his work continues to benefit Scotland economically as well as culturally. There is no question that visitors to Scotland come from across the world to attractions such as Robert Burns' birthplace museum in beautiful Ayrshire village of Allaway and to visit the cottage where he was born, or the globe in has been mentioned on Dumfries High Street, established in 1610. Robert Burns started frequenting what is now one of Scotland's oldest hostelries or his favourite house while he was working at the farm at Ellisland. As Joan McAlpine has highlighted, in Dumfries and Galloway, Burns Night celebrations contribute significantly to the local economy. She mentioned the Big Burns supper. It runs for 11 days across Dumfries and is now in its seventh year. The festival is intended as a winter gathering, as well as a celebration of the meaning behind Burns Night. It is a deliberate attempt to encourage people out of their homes to socialise with each other during the dark January evenings. In Dumfries, the economic impact of Burns season is evident and can be measured when I chat to the local butchers who tell me they, of course, benefit from the spike in sales of haggis. In turn, Scottish farmers profit from the demand for authentic Scotch lamb. The last comprehensive piece of research showed that Scottish tourism benefits from the birth of its most famous poet by £157 million each year. Those findings date from 2003, and it would certainly be interesting to see updated figures. Although we can measure how many haggis and Scottish tatties are purchased and kilts hired, as Joan McAlpine has mentioned, it is perhaps more difficult to quantify how Burns the brand has helped to establish Scotland's reputation on the world stage as a place of culture, beauty and synonymous with the values of the bard, from egalitarianism and intellectualism to environmentalism. Fortunately, that does not stop us appreciating the financial as well as the cultural rewards. I welcome the support for a south-west tourist route that John Scott has described. It is a project that I am promoting and involved in, so I welcome any support to get more tourists into the south-west of Scotland. On closing, I would like to pay tribute to the many sciency-faced volunteers across Scotland who are instrumental to the success of Burns Night. For my own experience in Dumfries and Galloway, the world of Burns would have a hard time existing and competing without the D&G Burns Association and the Robert Burns World Federation volunteers. Once again, I thank Joan McAlpine for securing this debate today. I congratulate Joan McAlpine for securing this debate through her motion, which I was delighted to support. My family on my mum's side were very much into Burns, so I grew up listening to Burns' poems, songs and stories, although I must confess that talent for Burns passed me by, but I do take a strong interest in celebrating Burns and enjoying my love of hagus, totys and neeps. In the Burns season, there will be thousands of Burns suppers, some very grand, some in community halls and some in people's living rooms all over Scotland and the rest of the UK, indeed across the world. As Joan McAlpine says in her motion, this will generate much business supporting jobs within the Scottish economy. It is also the case that the Burns legacy plays a major part in promoting Scotland across the world. Indeed, I was quite surprised to learn that, other than Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus, Burns has more statues dedicated to him around the world than any other non-religious figure. Presiding Officer, Scotland's sense of promoting outward-looking cultural identity is flourishing to the point where the readers of Rough Guide, an online tourism worldwide blog, voted Scotland the most beautiful country in the world. Surely Burns is a significant contributor to this, along with our world-renowned food and drink and glorious glens, lochs, towns, villages, cities and coastlines. However, the most important for me in the Burns season is that children and schools up and down Scotland will be learning about the amazing works of Robert Burns that has stood the test of time. They will be learning about Scottish culture and what it was like to live in that period of Scottish history. Burns wrote about real people, real emotions and the levels of inequality that existed for so many at that time. I wonder what he would have to say about the levels of inequality that are still here if not more prevalent over 200 years since his time. I know that he was not impressed with politicians of his time, describing them as a parcel of rogues. I do wonder. So, in conclusion, Joan McAlpine is absolutely right to highlight the importance of Robert Burns for Scotland's culture and our economy. Long may it continue. I thank Joan McAlpine for the opportunity to speak on this subject. As he is often the case when I have a new intern, Chase Linderman started with me yesterday, I set him the challenge of writing a speech for me. Chase has written tonight's speech. Chase has come from the United States, he has not been to Scotland before, but I think that it is an indication of the reach of Burns that, in a very short space of time, he has produced an insightful and interesting speech on Robert Burns. One of the things that he has identified is that Sophie Craig, who is a 16-year-old member of the Allaway Burns Club in Aire, has been given the opportunity to travel to Hungary to promote the works of Robert Burns. She will be reciting poetry and songs at the Corinthia hotel for over 300 guests, helping to raise money for sick and disadvantaged children in central Europe. The financial benefits of Robert Burns are more diverse than perhaps even we have selfishly looked in our own mirror thought about. She is a young adult showcasing the power that Robert Burns poetry has to unite people in all walks of life. A poem, like To a Mouse, transcends socioeconomic status, allowing all and any to delight in the humorous comparisons and linkages between the lives of mice and men. The universality of his message makes it easy for Burns poetry to reach non-Scottish years. Of course, his poems permeate the minds of people across the planet. The likes of Haggis and Whiskey spread likewise, introducing more to Scottish culture, Scottish cuisine, and well done to the Parliament's canteen for providing the Haggis today. I'll ask no whisky, but ho hum, there we are. Between 2011 and 2015, we exported £4.85 million worth of Haggis to 28 different countries. Of course, Whiskey has enjoyed an increase in exports. In 2013, 1.3 billion bottles were exported, worth £4.37 million. Tourism is a... Yes, I will. John Scott It's my understanding that the Scottish Government has secured access to the American market for Haggis now. Can you confirm that that is indeed correct, Mr Steeveson? Whisper tells me that it might be Canada that the states may still be of... But I think, and I'm prepared to be corrected if necessary, that there are now some quite good vegetarian Haggis, and I believe that some of them are going to the states. Hopefully, the real thing will follow quite soon. Returning to tourism, all, is an important part of our economy. Burns is an important part of why people come here, the tartan, the bagpipes, whisky tours, and our history of which Burns is an important part. Thank you to Robert Burns for creating the opportunity and helping us there. Of course, his poetry covers a wide range of themes, from quite short poems to narrative tales of wonderful complexity and interests. Of course, the use of the Scottish language has helped to deduce 20 million Scots-Americans to the language of their ancestry. I note today that Kenneth McCall, Kenneth Gibson, circulated a motion asking us to rename Glasgow Presswick Airport to Robert Burns International Airport. I'm sure that John Scott will be on that case. That would be a good thing for Presswick and a good thing for Burns. Of course, Burns clubs don't just exist as a means of cherishing the life and poetry of Robert Burns. They encourage the young to take an interest in the poet and poetry in general and songs and competitions. Clubs are an avenue for people of all social classes. On 25 January, people in Atlanta, Georgia, and Budapest, all the way down to Bendingo in Australia, will celebrate the birth of our bard. Members of international Burns clubs will join millions of Scots for taking an evening of Haggis, whisky and Poetry recital. For my part personally, I look forward to visiting your constituency shortly. I'm with my colleague Ruth Maguire. I'm sure that you will lay out the red carpet for us as we come to speak on Burns. My favourite place, the most prestigious place that I've spoken, was in the British Embassy in Paris, which is the most wonderful building where I spoke to Burns and I have in the United States and elsewhere. The heaven-sent ploughman has sent us a lot of enormous value, but I can't help before sitting down reminding members that the Burns family actually came from the north-east of Scotland. Just before I call Oliver Mundell, I'm waiting for the minister to finish reading my note. Due to the number of speakers, we are going to run out of time shortly, so I'm minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 8143 to extend the debate by the short time necessary. I invite Joan McAlpine to move a motion without notice. Thank you very much. The question is that the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes. Are we all agreed? That's there for agreed. I now call Oliver Mundell, who will be followed by Ruth Maguire. I also begin by congratulating Joan McAlpine on securing this important debate on Burns. I must start by saying that Mr Stevenson should definitely keep chase on in the speech writing department. As someone who is standing up to speak without any speech at all and only a few notes, I ask people to stick with me. I would like to mention the fact that I am proudly wearing my Robert Burns tie for tonight's occasion, but it comes with a confession, because whilst the tie was bought in Scotland contributing to our Scottish economy, I noticed this morning when putting it on that it says that it is made in England on the back, so there are definitely other parts of the United Kingdom who also benefit significantly from Robert Burns' global influence and reach. I also, as other members have touched upon, want to talk about the big burn supper in Dumfries. It's been a greatly welcomed initiative that has brought out audiences of up to 9,000 people to more than 100 shows across 50 locations in Dumfries and Galloway, and every year it goes from strength to strength. I am particularly delighted this year to see Camille O'Sullivan, one of the mainstays of the Edinburgh festival appearing in Dumfries, and I am delighted to have secured my own tickets in just enough time before it sold out. However, there really is something for everyone at the festival, and I'm sure like myself, Joan McAlpine and others will enjoy seeing those such as Eddie Reader, who has such a close affinity with Burns. Burns' universal nature and his ability to unite people certainly goes a long way in bringing together people who maybe don't always agree on everything else politically. However, as the MSP for Dumfriesshire, with Burns' really close connection to so many communities locally, there can be absolutely no denying his central importance to the local economy. I find it amusing often being out and about at places such as the Browwell that sits just outside Rathwell, and you bump into all sorts of people who have found themselves from all different parts of the world, from different parts of Scotland visiting sites along the Robert Burns trail. It is really important that we work harder and pull together all different initiatives on a cross-party basis and take as much support as we can get from the Scottish Government and Visit Scotland to make sure that that trail is easy to follow, well-promoted and that people know just how much there is to see across a very interesting part of Scotland. It is often tempting being from Dumfries to think that Ayrshire tries to steal Robert Burns from us, and we have still got him. He is still there in the mausoleum, but I think that we have got to work better as a region, as the south-west, to promote the shared link that we have and to make the most of bringing those visitors who make their way to his birthplace encouraging them to follow the trail through his life and get them to travel to Dumfries as well. There is much more modern influences. I was delighted last year to attend the opening of the Annandale distillery after 99 years. You see how important Burns is to the area and his significant economic draw, because he has chosen to name one of his two new whiskeys, Manow words after the bard. He has a special and funny importance, because it is believed that Robert Burns used to go there to collect his excise duties when the distillery was in its former life. We also see, as Alex Rowley has done, that young people continue to enjoy Burns and get involved in his legacy. It is important that we maximise those opportunities for the future in this year of the young people. The last of the open debate contributions is Ruth Maguire. I thank my colleague Joan McAlpine for bringing the debate to the chamber and highlighting in her interesting opening speech not just the cultural but the economic benefits that Robert Burns brings us. Without Irvine, there would not have been a world-famous poet called Robert Burns for us to debate today. That is why I was surprised and a wee bit disappointed to have seen no reference to the town of Irvine on the website of the Centre for Burns studies that the motion refers to. As I spoke about at length last year and make no apologies for repeating it today, Irvine is without doubt the cradle of the poet. In 1781, a young Robert Burns arrived in Irvine as an apprentice flax worker. By the time he left Irvine the following year, he had resolved to endeavour at the character of a poet. In large part, due to the friendship that developed between Burns and a local sea captain, Richard Brown, who encouraged him to become a poet. Burns the man may have been born in Allaway, but Burns the poet was born in Irvine. It seems fitting that Irvine is home to the oldest Burns club in the world, with an unbroken history since it was first established in 1826. Later this month, Annie Small will be installed as the first ever female president of the club in its nearly 200-year history. As a lifelong egalitarian and as a man who expressed support for women's rights long before those views were even remotely fashionable, I am sure that the Bard would have welcomed this as much as I do. As well as the oldest Burns club in the world, Irvine is home to the Wellwood Burns Centre and Museum, which cares for a hugely impressive collection of Burns-related items, from priceless original manuscripts and letters to rare and significant books and paintings. Amongst the museum's collection are six of the original manuscripts that Burns sent to the printer John Wilson in Kilmarnock for his famous Kilmarnock edition. Visitors can also see the world-famous painting Burns in Edinburgh, painted in 1887 by C. M. Hardy, as well as a set of five large oil paintings of scenes from Tamil Shantar commissioned by the club. The museum possesses original letters from Robert Burns to his friend David Siller, as well as a letter to Robert Burns from his brother Gilbert Burns, dealing with family and farming matters. This is just a really small snapshot of the vast array of unique and priceless Burns-related items and artefacts held by our museum in Irvine. A museum located in the heart of the very town where the poet was created. I trust members by now will share my surprise and disappointment that Irvine Burns club and museum is not listed alongside the likes of the Burns Birthplace Museum and the National Library of Scotland as a must-visit for Burns enthusiasts. It is often said that Irvine is the best-kept secret in the Burns world, and that certainly seems to be the case, but I do not think that we want it to be a secret any longer. We want it to enjoy national and international recognition, that recognition that it deserves, and we want to see Irvine take its place in the Burns-related cultural tourism hotspot that it rightly should be. As Burns Day approaches, I would like to extend an invite to the cabinet secretary and to the minister, and indeed bearing in mind Oliver Mundell's contribution to all of you in the chamber, to come and see the magnificent collection in Irvine. Come and see the museum. I will look forward to welcoming you all. I now call Alasdair Allan to respond to this debate. Thank you, Presiding Officer. First, as others have done, I thank Joan McAlpine for bringing this motion to Parliament tonight and allowing us all the chance to celebrate collectively the work of Robert Burns and his impact on our culture and on our economy. The debate is framed around the impact that Burns has had on Scotland's economy, but as Ms McAlpine and other speakers have mentioned, we remember not just how that economic impact operates but also how it comes to exist. Burns sometimes needs to be emphasised at this time of the year a poet, with an output that is at least as important as anything that is written by anyone anywhere in the 18th century world. It is an output that more than stands the test of time. If his only work were Tama Shantar so ably performed by John Scott, then Burns's reputation would be assured, but he wrote much, much more. Burns wrote powerfully not just as a Scottish patriot but as a man passionately interested in internationalism, interested in the French Revolution and American slavery, which is now demonstrated to pick up one illustration by a letter to Elizabeth Kemble, the well-known actress who is renowned for her performance in anti-slavery plays. His anthem, Old Lang Syne, sung the world war from Times Square to Sydney Harbour, and, as Ruth Maguire has been able to set the record straight, he has a special importance to the people of Irvine. It burns the sense of the importance of liberty for individuals and for peoples and his sense of humanity and responsibility for one another that prevails today. All from a man who would most probably have found himself in prison if he had too explicitly suggested that he might have the right to vote. Robert Burns's humanitarian awards are one way in which the Scottish Government seeks to reflect that legacy. It is a truly international legacy, as Emma Harper, Stuart Stevenson and many others have emphasised tonight. Working in partnership with Beamus Scotland, the Scottish Government has provided funding to support the multicultural celebration of Robert Burns, which other speakers have referred to. Burns is, of course, an icon of Scotland, and, as Miss McAlpine mentioned, it has a direct impact on our economy, on our tourist industry indeed, and what some would call the Burns cult is itself part of our national culture. That began in Burns' own lifetime, and the first Burns suppers were scarcely after Burns' lifetime. Burns was a celebrity and a rock star, as well as a thinker and a poet, and we overlooked that at our peril. At times in the 19th century, admittedly, the Burns cult may have got slightly out of hand. Long before the widespread celebration of Christmas in Scotland, at least one artist sought to depict the nativity of Burns in messianic terms, and some exhibitions of Burns' life in the past have at times resembled reliquaries. I have an early childhood recollection of visiting Allaway and seeing, amongst other things, some of them of questionable relevance, a sock believed to have belonged to Robert Burns. I think that Scotland makes a much more concerted effort now as a country to share with the world Burns the man and the poet. We also do a pretty good job, I think, of explaining now just what Burns has meant for the Scottish language and musical tradition. All that and more is now very evident from the hugely impressive Burns Birthplace Museum, which was supported by an £8 million grant from the Scottish Government. In 2016, that museum attracted over 140,000 visitors to see its world-class collections. That capacity to draw people to Scotland is truly significant economically, and the Burns season is important not just to our bootchairs and distillers, but also to our tourist industry. Likewise, homecoming 2009, which celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, attracted some 72,000 additional visitors to Scotland and generated net additional expenditure of £53 million. I agree with John Scott that we need, incidentally, to ensure that the undiscovered jewel that is the south-west of Scotland is discovered by more people and that Robert Burns is at the very heart of doing that. Events such as the Big Burns Supper and Dumfries in Galloway have gained worldwide recognition and attracted talent and visitors from across the world. As Ms McAlpine mentioned, that gem among pubs that is the globe in Dumfries is truly worthy of celebrating in its own right. Willie Coffey mentioned the huge impact that Burns has had on the economy of Ayrshire. In 2017, around 62,000 people attended the eight events that celebrated Robert Burns, which were funded from Scotland's winter festivals. Burns Night 2018 is gearing up to be an even, bigger and better event. On occasions like this, there is sometimes the temptation to fear that there might be some truth in McDermid's observation made no doubt, after hearing a bad immortal memory, that others to say has not been said before. However, with a number of speakers, many of them representing places in Burns' life speaking eloquently today, we hope that we have confounded that expectation today and have managed as a Parliament to lay another modest stone on the cairn of Robert Burns.