Finally there is time for business debate this evening on motion six, nine, double, seven in the name of Jim Auth favorly on male suicide in Scotland. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put I would 그다음vo y members wishing to participate, to press the request to speak buttons now as soon as possible. I call on Mr Fairlie to open the debate around seven minutesrif Mr Fairlie Thank you, Presiding Officer. Hold. First of all I'd like to thank so many members for staying tonight and for being supportive of the debate, particularly given it is a thir dece evening there's a band called Steriophonics who wrote a song called Local Boy in a Photograph and there's a lyric in it which has always touched me very deeply. It goes, all the friends lay down the flowers, sit in the bank and drink for hours, talk of the way they saw him last the local boy in the photograph. Everyone in this chamber have at least one local boy in the photograph. When Kelly Jones wrote those lyrics he was writing about a 23-year-old lad called Paul David Bogus Ar venud Dono, chi'n sgweinwch i maes i'r cmit, er fyddai gwyll gweld. Fy hwnna yw'r pethau sy'n credu allanol, yn gwneud hynny. Fy nid, ddyn nhw, yn gaf, wedi iddo rydych chi fod yn gwneud daeth, ac rwy'n meddwl i'w gallu gweld a bod nhw'n sefydlu i'r rubiannol. Fe nid, nid, fe rydyn ni'n gweithio'n gweithio i'r pryd swyddoi nid ar y peirhau rydyn nhw gyfnod i rydyn ni, ac nid oeddwn ni'n trafodaethau a dweithio'n gweld. Sounds My Boy became my future wife when we had her kids and I've often reflected on that moment because it always struck me that two young guys in their 20s with it all out there in front of us was so much to come and where our lives then took us and he was a good looking guy, full of fun, outward confidence and he had a great voice and he would sing in the pub where I used to work on a Sunday. His voice was amazing and all these closed pals called him fluffy and I never thought to ask why but I afterwards wished it all was sad. I bet that they would sit in their banks and they'd have recalled why they called them fluffy and laugh at whatever it was that brought about that nickname. With Dino, we were on the tap and armoured trip and Dino's fancy dress outfits were legend. You can just imagine some European city invaded by strive hoards of tap and clad Scotland fans singing songs or drinking copious amounts of local refreshments and having loads of fun as the locals stared on at yen and wonder. They said he'd dressed up as either a pink panther, a spider man or a gorilla, laupping around entertaining folk wherever he happened to bump into them and I mean that quite literally, he just made folk laugh. He was also a great football player and I played alongside him at school but I was never a great football player. I have to point that out for all the guys in Perth going eye right fairly. I was never a great football player and I played alongside him at school and he was a guy who drove everyone on. Whereas he had iron determination to win every ball and every game. He was a year younger than me at school, but on the park he was someone that I genuinely looked up to and admired. I met Gaird for the last time in Tesco and he was raging against the injustice that the Tories were doing. He had not long lost his dad during Covid and I was telling him about how old my dad was, having contracted it and then taken the ileum. We were talking about how we'd get back to normal, whatever that was going to be, but we parted in very good spirits, o'r absoluta digonau i chi'n cael eu gaeli'n gweithio. A phoblau yn ymgêl. Gav was that paradox of a flawed tortured guy, a measurly kind, funny and generous to her fault. He was also a fabulous musician. He had an immense stage presence, could play like a demon, and had a voice that just exploded out of him. He was Neil's friend and they played together yn y same pub that I spoke about earlier. It may have been nearly 30 years of a gap between their lost or suicide, but they had the same devastating effect on those closest to them, and quite simple it should never have happened. Ffuneral, his best friend, Roddy, told me that he had spoken to Gav the week before he died, and he reminded him, a fluffiest Ffuneral, and said, if Fluffy knew the effect his death had had on folk, he would never have done it, but he would have known that and haven't lived through the pain Gav still couldn't stop himself from doing it. I've been in contact with all the families of these guys, and they're okay to have their loved ones spoken about in this debate, because they know that the way we help to tackle this horrendous, needless laws of life is not to hide from it or to stigmatise it, but to talk and talk loudly and often about it, so that those who need help know that the help is there. That brings us also to what we do about the risk of death of suicide and the means of allowing us to help prevent it. According to the Public Health Scotland record, overall death of suicide has fallen slightly, but the number is still stubbornly high, and men outnumber women, with men three times more likely to die by suicide than women. The reasons for people taking their lives are complex, but many of those who die are known to the mental health services before they're lost. In Scotland, men in the most deprived areas are three times more likely to die by suicide than in the most affluent areas. Financial stress is a critical cause of male suicide, so with the current cost of living crisis, we've got to be more vigilant than ever, because suicide is still the highest killer of men under the age of 50. While we've got to talk about those statistics, for me it's important, more important, to talk about how we help and how we make things better. The Government have a policy in place, and I will leave it to the minister to talk to that policy, but there are other things that are so vital in helping men who are in crisis. Andy's manclub. If you haven't heard of him, the herd of them use this debate to find out who they are. A fantastic organisation once again born into the tragic loss of a 23-year-old Andy Roberts, who died from suicide in 2016 in Halifax. His mother and brother-in-law set up Andy's manclub with the catchphrase, It's Okay to Talk. The Smarrans are another fabulous organisation doing some great work and have done since I was a boy. My mother used to be on the late night phone calls from folk in real distress because this is not a new problem. So what do we do? In our position as MSPs, we've got a role in making sure that this conversation continues tonight, tomorrow and continuously, so that more lives are saved. Raising awareness and removing the stigma of suicide so that we can talk about it openly is critical. It's my intention to organise a Parliament reception later in the year so that we can bring folk together and do as much as we can to continue the conversations that will help to save more lives. I thank Mr Fairlie for bringing this debate and for taking the intervention. Would he welcome the intervention of Motherwell Football Club and their trust? The fact that they have got suicide awareness on the strips and have done so much in an area where I live and where, unfortunately, I know so many people who have succumbed to this. Does he welcome that initiative from Motherwell Football Club to encourage people to talk? Absolutely. I would encourage every football club to do exactly the same thing through Scotland. However, we should treat tonight's debate as just the start of more to do as this Parliament recession progresses so that there aren't more families and friends talking about the local boy in the photograph. Thank you very much, Mr Fairlie. We now move to the open debate. I call Russell Finlay to be followed by David Torrance around four minutes. I commend Jim Fairlie for his moving contribution and his important campaign on the subject. Police officers of Scotland's everyday heroes deal with people who are dangerous, who abuse them, threaten them, spit at them and attack them. They deal with people who are vulnerable, anxious and unpredictable. They risk to themselves and others. They are there at the darkest of times. When death occurs, it is police officers who see the bodies, adults and children, some having died of natural causes, others having been victims of extreme violence or horrific accidents. Then there are those who end their own lives. It is police officers who must knock on doors and tell families that their loved ones are gone. It should be no surprise therefore that many officers end up in a dark place. In my past life as a journalist, I investigated a number of police suicides, the majority of whom were men. What I discovered was a strange reluctance by the authorities to ask questions. Nine months ago, I asked Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority how many officers had died from suicide. They said that they did not know. The SPA later said that there was nothing to suggest that any of the recent cases were caused directly by work pressures. I disagree. There is evidence readily available that some of the officers who I had inquired about were subject to protracted work-related difficulties. Their friends told me that, while suicide is complex, some of those officers were under serious and sustained pressure consumed by a process that they felt was unjust. One officer who twice came close to ending his own life told me that there is a clear link between some suicides and the policing culture, including its disciplinary processes. I asked the Crown Office how many of those suicides had been the subject of a fatal accident inquiry. The answer was none, not a single one. It is worth noting that every single death in custody is quite rightly subject of an FAI. Evidence is assessed, facts are established, judicial scrutiny is applied, mistakes, wrongdoing and systemic failings can then be identified and put right. Why this lack of curiosity when a police officer dies from suicide? I believe that there are two main factors. The first being respect for the dead and the grieving relatives, friends and colleagues. The other is perhaps less easy to understand. Some officers believe that some in authority do not like to ask questions that might yield uncomfortable answers. Answers about the pressures placed on officers by the organisation, their role and indeed the more general lack of support for those in need. One officer described the lack of FAIs to be, and I quote, nothing short of disgraceful. Now, some of this may sound shocking, perhaps unpalatable, but I believe that it needs to be said. And while society helped by Mr Fairle's debate, such as this, has transformed the way in which we understand and talk about mental health, it is clear that more, much more still needs to be done. And in closing, I will say that officers deserve greater understanding and more support. And I'm afraid if the authorities maintain this blinker approach, there's a risk that more officers will die. Thank you. Thank you very much. David Torrance to be followed by Paul Swinney, around four minutes, Mr Torrance. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank you to Jim Fairlie for securing this debate about me's suicide today. It's okay to talk about suicide. As a country, in our communities and with friends and loved ones, we simply can't say enough because talking openly about suicide opens the door for people to get help that they need. There have been a sizable shift in the number of people, and particularly men, having these kinds of conversations over recent years, and it's encouraging to see the changing attitude in our younger generation of men and the perception about acceptable masculine norms. I'm sure that, like most of the mature men in this chamber, we'd agree that growing up, it wasn't unusual to hear a phrase, man up, boys don't cry, and toughen up. We were talking about crying, talking about our feelings, showing our emotions as it was weak and not the manly thing to do. More and more, these toxic masculinity is becoming a thing of the past, and this is great news for men, because we all feel overwhelmed by difficult emotions or situations sometimes. Over time, suppression of emotions and lack of openness about our mental health will only make things progressively worse. Leading to a range of mental and physical problems, including anxiety, depression, stress, aggression and violence, or turning to alcohol or drugs to try and block out our feelings. As we've heard in 2021, there were 753 deaths by suicide across Scotland. While those numbers are at the lowest levels since 2017, the figure of tribute to men remains disproportionately high. The question remains how do we tackle inequalities that can lead to suicides and help men that are at most risk? Because just as there are many paths to finding the right support and feeling better, there are a number of factors that can be a tribute to men considering suicide. We've heard about the fantastic Andy Mann's club and their peer-to-peer support groups. Approach of this group and others like it works so well because men go along when they need to and when they are ready to. People might be every week or every other week or others once a month. There is no sexual help or eight-week programme that suddenly ends leavers using feeling lost. They provide a safe space for men to talk about whatever storm they may be going through or have been through. Within the room, the chances are that there are other men who have been in similar, if not identical, storms and that they support each other to get through it. In Kirkcaldy, we are fortunate not only to have Andy Mann's club but also to have Pete's man chat movement. Launched in 2020 by Pete Melville, after helping some of his own friends through tough times, the group offers men who feel like they have nowhere to turn a safe space to talk about their problems. The rising groups like these are a clear reflection of the progress that has been made in breaking down harmful stirrup types of what it means to be a man and how a real man should deal with their problems. I would like to share a story of a local business owner who describes his own words, his experience of attending a support group. Two years ago, I was really struggling. My life was in turmoil for no apparent reason. I have a great family, brilliant job and no worries. However, things were getting on top of me and I couldn't sleep. I was losing interest in things that I loved. Eventually, my GP dies on me and I have a nervous breakdown. For the first time in 25 years, I was off by work. I was so uptight, restless and emotional. I tried various things to try and help, but nothing worked for me. When I left the first meeting, I sat in my car and cried for an hour and a half. I felt like a world had been lifted from my shoulders. Without a doubt, Andy's Man Club saved my life. He is an amazing group of brothers, which has helped me to move forward. Guys can just show up that there are no booking in or referrals. They can come and go as they please with no pressure. The hardest part will be walking through that door for the first time that they won't look back after they do. In conclusion, we know that normalisation and conversation are all mental health and suicide to remove the stigma that works, and we know that talking works, and we have seen the benefits. We must carry on talking and we must continue to promote conversations that we are having now within our communities. For every loss to suicide, it is an estimated that between 6 and 135 people are impacted. That includes families, friends and colleagues, and first responders and acquaintances. Evidence also shows that people who are believed by suicide are at greater risk of experiencing suicidal ideation and attempting suicide themselves. A good friend of mine posted this afternoon on Facebook a poem, and I will read it. Men cry, men break down, men get anxiety, men feel insecure, men have emotions, men have mental illnesses. It is not unmanly to struggle. Let's support men, let's encourage men, don't be little or silence men, men struggle too. Educating people about risk factors, the warning signs and how we can prevent and reduce stigmas around men's mental health and suicide can make a real difference. Let's keep Scotland talking. Thank you very much, Mr Tons. I now call Paul Sweeney to be followed by Emma Ruddick, around four minutes, Mr Sweeney. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Just let me start by saying thank you to the member for Persia, South and Cunrosia for securing this motion for debating the chamber today. I was happy to sign it in support and indeed commend him for a very moving speech indeed, which really hammered home how important this is in our society today. We often hear about public health emergencies and crises, and in my opinion male suicide is a public health emergency that is often overlooked. It is a public health emergency that disproportionately impacts certain age groups more than others, severely impacts people from more deprived social economic backgrounds and drastically impacts men more than women. It is vital that we understand why that is the case, but more importantly that we have put in place tangible and measurable policies to try and deal with what is clearly an enormous problem. Those policies will require a whole-of-government approach. We cannot simply assign this as a health problem and leave it to the health directorate to solve it. As Mr Maraton says, suicide is rarely caused by one thing, but what we do know is that it is often an inequality issue and that there are strong associations between financial difficulties, poor mental health and suicide. We all know that the cost of living crisis is hitting working people hard and it is causing serious financial difficulties for millions of people who may otherwise never have experienced financial hardship before. That should be a real cause for concern. As Mr Maraton has reported, from August 2022 to October 2022, more than one in every 14 calls to their helpline were about concerns related to finance and unemployment, the highest level for at least five years. Between January 2022 and September 2022, their data shows that over 100,000 emotional support contacts have mentioned finance and unemployment concerns. When you combine all those factors and consider the evidence and the data, that shows the impact financial hardship can have on men, on those from particular socioeconomic backgrounds and on those of certain ages. It is the recipe for a perfect storm. As legislators and policy makers, we need to be alert to that, and that is why today's debate is so important. We often throw metaphorical brick backs at each other across the chamber, but today's debate gives us the opportunity to come together and say as one Parliament that this requires not only a cross-government response, but a cross-party response in this chamber. A response that will have to encapsulate policy change in amongst others our public healthcare system, our education system, our justice system, our housing and social security systems. A response that will be required to get to the root cause of the fundamental inequalities that are ingrained in our society. A response that will have to bring people together in the spirit of openness and transparency. Deputy Presiding Officer, in that spirit of openness and transparency, in an attempt to show that this is a crisis that does not discriminate and can impact on anyone, I would like to briefly share my own experience. The chamber will be aware that I lost my seat as a member of the House of Commons in 2019, and less than three months later we were in a national lockdown with no end in sight. I live alone and I found myself relying on benefits to make ends meet after just a few months. I was doing some volunteer work with a couple of different charities, helping asylum seekers and hotel accommodation in Glasgow and working with Peter Criken at the unofficial overdose prevention centre in Glasgow's Trondgate. Every day I was seeing people who were living on the very edge forced there by government policies in many cases, whether drug or asylum related, and it certainly was taking its toll. There were times when I would go home to my flat alone staring at the four walls, struggling to see an end to this lockdown and failing to see any kind of light at the end of the tunnel, and no positive destination in sight after various job opportunities fell through. It felt like sometimes there was nothing more excellent than an XMP, and my mental health was really suffering. There were in fact times where I really didn't care whether I was alive or not. It wasn't an immediate feeling that I was going to do anything deliberate to end my life, but there certainly was an ambivalence there as to whether I wanted to continue living. My self-esteem and self-sense of purpose was at rock bottom. It was only thinking about what impact it might have on my family and friends that held me back. I don't say that for sympathy, I certainly don't say it for attention, and I simply say it to raise awareness and illustrate how quickly things can turn and how quickly people can be impacted to me never felt feelings like that before, no matter how secure, happy or successful someone may seem. It doesn't take much for those pillars of support in your life to collapse and the resulting trauma and despair can be all too tragic for many people who have heard how that impact affects people here today. I once again congratulate and applaud the member for Persia south in Cunrosha for bringing this motion for debate to the chamber today. I can assure him that in me he has an ally and I will work with him and anyone else here to bring about an end to an often overlooked crisis in our country. Thank you very much, Mr Suni. I now call Emma Roddick who joins us online around four minutes. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I want to say first that I'm grateful to my colleague Jim Fairlie for raising such an important issue and doing it so powerfully as well. That was a cracking contribution and I'm glad to hear that he has support in the chamber. He asked us in his motion to discuss that openly and he's certainly done that and it's something that I always hope to do as well. The statistics on male suicide are overwhelming and it's clear that there is a gendered issue. This is a deeply personal issue for me too, having been bereaved by male suicide at the age of four. I understood more about depression and what it can do to people than many do before I even learned my times tables. I also had an early insight into what the idea of idyllic highland life masks folk hear about the beautiful scenery that we have here and how Orkney or Inverness are the happiest places to live and they imagine this peaceful joyful life free of stress and of sadness. I love the islands and Russia and Inverness but suicide rates in the highlands, Orkney and Western Isles, are the highest in the country. Male dominated jobs like farming, fishing and forestry, which are really important sectors in the highlands and islands, also have some of the highest suicide rates and employment. Last year, Change Mental Health shared with me the survey that showed four-fifths of farmers under the age of 40 consider mental health to be the biggest hidden problem facing the agricultural community. Perception might only go so far but I really do worry what the flashy tourism lines say to those who are suffering because a quiet view of a Loch and the feeling of being alone in nature can be wonderfully relieving when you're content. When you're depressed it can be isolating to the point of being deadly and when you see news articles claiming that the area you live in is the happiest place to live and that doesn't match up with your emotions you can feel like you're wrong. You might think well if I'm here and I'm unhappy I won't ever be happy anywhere and I can see views across Inverness from the window next to me here and I've always loved the sight of its skyline, the tower of Rhaigmoor hospital, the four red lights at the top of the Kessick bridge, whether I'm coming up the A9, coming through Culloden on the train or over from Nairnway, seeing these always meant that I was almost home. As a kid it meant we were about half an hour away from all this and possibly that it was time to stop for a takeaway but recently I look at these sites and I wonder if there's another human in A&E at Rhaigmoor or out on the streets in intense overwhelming crushing pain being talked to by a police officer and going through that internal struggle of desperately wanting it all to be over versus that nagging human instinct to survive and I know there are discussions on going about what can be done to prevent travel route closures in the highlands due to concern for persons but we need to be clear this isn't just an issue for the transport portfolio we need to make sure that these people can access the mental health help that they need. One final thing I want to raise is the comment Jim Fairlie's motion rightly makes about the link between deprivation and mental illness and suicide. The problem of accurately measuring rural deprivation in my region in a way that allows us to successfully compare it with urban areas has never been solved and we know that there are folk in really difficult situations living in areas that the SIMD will tell you are doing quite well. Poverty is harder to see and perhaps easier to ignore in sparsely populated areas and constituents tell me constantly that they are more likely to try and keep it quiet in communities where everyone likes to know your business. We have to do more to tackle male suicide rates but it's clear that the problems and the solutions will be different in rural and island communities. My thanks again to Jim Fairlie and all who supported this motion to be debated today. I look forward to the minister's reply. Thank you very much indeed Ms Roddick. I now invite Kevin Stewart to respond to the debate around seven minutes, minister. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I want to start off by thanking Jim Fairlie for bringing forward this motion and giving the emotional speech that he did. I would also like to thank the families of Neil, Dino and Gav for allowing Jim to talk about their stories today. Obviously, I recognise how much of a loss these guys are to Jim and to many others. David Torrance and his speech talked about the impact on friends and families but it's often entire communities that are affected by suicide and that is why suicide is everyone's business. Every suicide is a tragedy with profound and devastating impacts on people's lives and whilst the number of people taking their lives has fallen in the past two years, we are determined to do more to further reduce suicide deaths in Scotland because there are still far too many. In October last year, I asked the chamber to support the Scottish Government and COSLA's new 10-year suicide prevention strategy and its vision to reduce suicide deaths in Scotland whilst tackling the inequalities that contribute to suicide. As mentioned in Mr Fairlie's motion, deprivation is a key risk factor for suicide, which is why the new strategy, Creating Hope Together, sets out how we will tackle the social determinant and inequalities that increase suicide risk by taking a whole government and society approach. I know that Mr Sweeney mentioned that in his speech. What that means in practice is that we are integrating suicide prevention into key programmes of work such as child poverty and homelessness, for example, but it goes beyond that. We also have to look right across Government at every single aspect of everything that we do. As a former building standards minister, I'd never really thought enough about suicide and what building standards and planning can do to help to decrease the amount of suicides in our country. I have learnt that there is a role for every single minister in this place in getting that right. I am pleased that colleagues have co-operated really well in helping with that strategy, but I also recognise that we all have something to contribute to reducing suicide. I am most grateful to the minister for giving way and he mentions that every minister has a role to play. He is probably aware of the good work done by the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution that was founded in order to assist hardship and poverty in rural Scotland, particularly among farmers who may not see anybody, another human being, for a month at a time and do great work to help to reduce the financial pressures and perhaps reduce suicides as well. Will he consider with Mary Gougeon how we can continue to support our sabi in his good work? I will talk to my colleague Mary Gougeon around the issues that Mr Ewing has raised. I recognise that those in rural communities and those that are working and farming often have difficulties, which largely in the past have not been talked about enough. Talking to Emma Harper last night, he was at a cross-party group on rural affairs. The subject last night was mental health in rural communities. We all have a job of work to do in promoting what we are doing, continuing to reduce stigma and getting people to talk about their experiences. The new strategy prioritises key parts of the workforce, including those who work in rural pursuits. We are doing work with, for example, the money advice sector so that we can reach and support people who are at a higher risk of suicides when they are experiencing financial distress. There is a lot of financial distress out there at this moment. That approach is all the more important at a time when we have the cost of living crisis, because that is impacting significantly on people's lives. I will give way to Mr Lumsden. I thank the minister for taking an intervention. Would the minister agree with me that there is some great work being done by the Scottish Men's Sheds Association without trying to get political? I hope that he would have a word with the Deputy First Minister to see if the money that was removed from their funding could maybe be reinstated, because I do feel that they have a lot of good work that they could contribute in this area. I had discussion last night with my colleague Tom Arthur, who I believe is in discussions with the Scottish Men's Sheds Association, but I would say as well that the Scottish Men's Sheds Association has benefited greatly from the adult community's mental health and wellbeing fund right across the country. I would ask that they continue to go to third sector interfaces and apply for funding from there for local communities too. The cost of living crisis is bringing an enormous strain across our communities. Poverty has a huge impact on mental health, and people already struggling with poor mental health and money worries are likely to be amongst the hardest hit, leading to rising levels of anxiety and distress. That is why we are taking actions to mitigate some things and ensure that we get to our most vulnerable citizens. That is why we have put £50 million into the adult community's mental health and wellbeing fund in 2022-23. It is so important that we continue to invest there, because the stories that I have heard from organisations and individuals who have benefited from that funding are pretty immense, and it really has made some real difference. One really important protective factor for suicide is social connection. I am delighted that those funds have helped in that regard. A lot of that work is focusing on adults who are socially isolated and lonely. The fund has supported a range of projects that are focused on men, including UN's Room in Lochaber, Manon and Inverclyde. I would also like to touch on peer support, which is central to the new strategy. A number of folk have mentioned Andy's Man Club today, and in recent months I have met Andy's Man Club, and I visited Men Matter Scotland to learn about their great work in using peer support to help men with their mental health. I visited Fort William with Samaritan Scotland, recognising the issues that Emma Roddick brought to bear, and we have a programme, a project with them there in West Highland, which aims to help to support the mental health of isolated workers in remote areas. I have taken away from all of those visits that peer support can give people, particularly men, a deep connection that not only offers personal support but can create a pathway to recovery. That peer support is, as Ms Adamson said, also prevalent in work that is going on in football clubs in Motherwell in the changing rooms project, which we are in partnership with Sam H in a number of the clubs across the country. Of course, there is the great work of FC United to prevent suicide, which encourages the footballing community in Scotland to talk more openly about mental health and suicide. There are many more that I can mention, but I know that time is well against me. I would like to thank Mr Fairlie for bringing forward today's debate. I would like to thank all members for their contributions and their views and experiences today. I will take on board what has been said today. Mr Finlay talked about the experiences of police officers, and while we have looked at a number of sectors, I think that maybe we need to do a little bit more in looking at the police officer's experience, and we will do so. I would also say that my door is always open to anyone, because that needs to be cross-party. It needs to be cross-party in order that we get that absolutely right, and I want that to happen. We all have a role to play in destigmatising suicide prevention and making it everyone's business, as I said earlier. My last point would be an appeal. An appeal to everyone in this chamber, and an appeal to folk right across the country, because we often ask people how they are feeling, and we often get the stock response. When I am asked how I am doing, my stock response is normally fair to Midland, and that is it. Sometimes I am not fair to Midland, and sometimes asking somebody twice you get the true picture of what is going on with them, and that often opens up the opportunity for further discussion, to help them to find the right solutions, to get over the mental health difficulties that they may be having. Do not just take the first answer, please ask twice, and I think that we can all do our part in helping folk and reducing suicide right across our country. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Thank you very much, minister. That concludes the debate, and I close this meeting of Parliament.