 Rydw i'n meddwl sefydlu i ddulliannol i dda i ddydd y pethau, ac i ddiddordebeth ym certainty nad oeddennig ni'n gwneud sy'n gyfunctiadol gweithio'r pethau a'r ddifwud 나e Chymwysol, ac maen nhw'n cyfrwyngau i'r cyfrwyngau mewn cyfanithol o wrth i'r gwrthwyniacol i'r mewn i ddweith? I ddych yn fwy ddechrau i ddullliadol i ddyddu dda i ddweithio chi'n annos a'i ddedechrau i ddeddu i ddweithio. i ddweud â'r meddwl. Rydyn ni'n mwy'n arall,�u pob mwy'n dim… Ieithaf gwaith, mawr, a ddod wrth i ddododd яrgiad CymriLink 5 ar gyfer gynghwmnau i ddweud o hyffordd na'r cyfraniad yn ddweud i gyrtu i Gwyrddwrnau i Llywodraeth i Llywodraeth a'r gyfraniad hyn o hyfforddol i Gyfraniad i Gwyrddwrnau i Ddweud i gyrtiadol i Gwyrddwrnau i ddylch gyfer cadw i fel y gweithio i gan lwyfodd hefyd o gweithio eu ddны. Fodd o berthyniaeth sydd eisiau edrych o gweithredu i gael eu rhannu, oedd ysgriffen i'r ddiolch yn geiswyddo agosedd na ddwylo ar gyfer ddechrau ymrwydd. Ond, y dweud, mae'n fwyaf i ddylch i'r prydus es hogreib yn cycefnig a ddionnodd gweithio mewn gweithredu pullus yn gyfryd yn ddechrau'n gennym. I welcome the opportunity to deliver our update this year and provide the chamber with detail on the excellent work that's been undertaken. This week, we published Scottish Government support for the veterans and non-forces community 2021, which details the work that we have undertaken over the past 12 months, including those actions that were taken against the commitments that we made as part of our response to the veteran strategy. Despite the numerous challenges that we have all recently faced, we have achieved a great deal in those 12 months. As always, that has only been possible by working collaboratively and productively with partners in the public, private and third sectors. Almost two years ago, we published our response to the veteran strategy, which details how we intended to deliver our commitments through to 2028. As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, I believe that it would be prudent to take stock and to take the opportunity to review our commitments. I can confirm that, in 2022, we will be refreshing our strategy response and looking at the extent to which our existing commitments remain valid, and where there may be opportunities to add more detail to existing commitments or, indeed, to add new ones. As always, I am grateful to all of our partners across all sectors who continue to work with us to improve the lives of veterans and our armed forces families. I would also like to acknowledge and recognise the support of our armed forces in providing military aid to civilian authorities in Scotland throughout the past year. You will all be acutely aware of the acute challenges that the charitable sector has faced over the past 12 months and of the impact that the pandemic has had on their ability to conduct fundraising activities. I am right and sane that, across the UK, estimates suggest that there may be a shortfall of £250 million in fundraising when compared to a normal year. To counter that in Scotland, I launched the Armed Forces 3rd Sector Resilience Fund in June, and that is providing almost £800,000 in direct financial relief to the 19 3rd sector organisations that provide support to the armed forces community in Scotland. That is also seen as an event that has affected veterans right across the UK, namely the withdrawal from Afghanistan. I can report that veterans' mental wellbeing providers in Scotland received a significant increase in demand for support from veterans and family members concerned about their loved ones. We continue to engage with charities and service providers in order to monitor the position to ensure that we are able to provide support to our veterans. The Scottish Veterans Care Network has undertaken a national review of existing veterans' mental health and wellbeing services across Scotland. A veterans' mental health action plan will be produced in December of this year that will highlight needs and identify future priorities. That completed plan will aim to support veterans in Scotland to live a healthy life and to be able to reach their full potential. I am also aware of the work of the UK Government to improve support for veterans' mental health. Some of that is in light of the impact on veterans of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, I must be clear on this, that the Scottish Government does not receive any additional funding from the UK Government to support veterans. All the veterans' work that we have done over a decade or more is funded from Scottish budgets. Nevertheless, the Scottish Government has continued to fund both combat stress and veterans' first point, and I was thrilled in July of this year to be able to open a new facility for veterans' first point in Fife, saying first hand the value of the work that they do. From my part, I remain committed to improving access to healthcare for the veterans and armed forces community. The armed forces personnel and veterans health joint group is a key part of improving access to healthcare, and they will continue to prioritise mental health, the employment of veterans in the NHS, priority treatments and the addition of veteran-aware GP accreditation. I have already mentioned the importance of collaborative work when addressing the needs of our veterans. Nowhere is this more apparent than in relation to the Unforgotten Forces consortium. This year, the Scottish Government has contributed a further £250,000 to the consortium to insist them on their vital work in improving the health, wellbeing and quality of life for older veterans in Scotland. In 2021, the consortium expanded the targeting of their support to include all veterans over 60 years of age instead of the previous 65 years of age, and that will ensure that support is available to even more of Scotland's veterans. The challenges that our veterans face are also experienced by their families, and you will hear me make regular reference to the importance that I place on supporting families and all service personnel. This year, we have updated our welcome to Scotland guide, which ensures that we are able to present the most up-to-date and relevant information for personnel and their families ahead of relocation in Scotland. We are also working to tackle the difficulties facing our service families in accessing further and higher education. It is also the case that the partners of service personnel can often have difficulty finding employment due to the impact of service life through things such as mobility and separation. The Scottish Government continues to work with forces families' jobs to post vacancies by directing to Work for Scotland, our own job website, and we have recently visited some facilities in Faslane that are designed specifically to support the spouses of service families to gain employment. Members may have heard previously about the going forward into employment scheme, which aims to help veterans into employment within the civil service, and that programme helps to overcome potential barriers to employment by providing life chances by offering meaningful employment opportunities. I am pleased to report that we are now able to offer roles to spouses and partners of serving armed forces and ex-service personnel. We will be looking to increase the number of those roles offered within the Scottish Government in 2022, and we are working with partners to further embed the scheme into our recruitment practices. In relation to employment, the veterans employability strategic group has developed an action plan giving the group a clear focus on enabling service leavers and veterans to access, sustain and progress in good jobs. I think that that last point is very important because for a long enough, certainly in the early years when I was involved in veterans activity, the emphasis was very much on getting veterans jobs. Of course, they are entitled to have jobs commensurate with their experience and the skills that they have gained, while in the armed forces not just any job. Sometimes those skills and that experience are invaluable to potential employers. Through new members, private sector employers are now well represented on the group. Furthermore, next year the Scottish Government will deliver a public awareness campaign targeting employers and the business community to help to increase employment opportunities for veterans. This year, we have also seen further reports from the Scottish Veterans Commissioner Charlie Wallace. Late last year, Charlie published a new report on employability skills and learning, and in the summer, he produced an additional report on housing, both of which were in the context of transition from military to civilian life. We accepted all of the recommendations in the reports, and we have outlined to the commissioner how we intend to take those forward. It was welcomed that, for the first time, the Scottish Veterans Commissioner made recommendations to the UK Government, which was crucial, given the reserved nature of the transition process for service personnel. Addressing those recommendations is a key priority for us, and one that I believe is hugely important and a key strand of that work on housing will be the development of a pathway to prevent homelessness for veterans. That is currently being developed by members of the Veterans Scotland housing group, and will be published by the end of 2021. I am pleased that Charlie gave us the opportunity to contribute to his 2021 progress report, where he assessed the extent to which we have continued to deliver against his predecessor's recommendations. The commissioner plays an important role in holding the Government to account, and I am delighted that we have continued to make progress, and we will keep working with partners to prioritise the delivery of the outstanding recommendations. That will also be the final update to Parliament during Charlie's tenure, and I am very grateful to him for all that he has done on behalf of Scotland's service personnel, veterans and families, and I wish him all the best for the future. It is vital that we hold this debate, in my view, or fitting at least on Armistice Day, because it brings into sharp focus why we must never forget the sacrifices of our armed forces and the importance of giving them our full support, but also because this year marks some truly significant anniversaries, including the centenary year of the Royal British Legion Scotland and the iconic Poppy Appeal in Poppy Scotland. The critical role of our veterans' charities cannot be overestimated, and the vital support that they continue to provide to our veterans and their families across Scotland should always be recognised. It is excellent news that this year we will be able to gather together in celebration with a special concert, marking this centenary particularly, as we were prevented from doing so last year, both for the VE and the VJD anniversaries. I will speak more about remembrance in my closing remarks, but we must recognise that remembrance is a hollow gesture if we are not providing the best possible support to our veterans. Presiding Officer, in conclusion, our veterans and service families contribute a huge amount to our society right across Scotland. Of course, they continue to provide a huge contribution after they have left the service if we make sure that they have the opportunity to do so. I believe that we can make Scotland the destination of choice for our service leavers. I am very conscious of many service personnel that have come to Scotland, being drafted to Scotland, some with, if they are honest, trepidation and unknown territory for them to some extent. Once they have come here for many years, they have wanted to stay here and have their families remain here. We have to enhance that offer and enhance that experience so that we can tap into the potential of our veterans once they leave the service. We have to remain committed to providing the very best support for the entire veterans and armed forces community. I look forward to the contributions of members and responding to those when I get the chance to sum up. Members, I wish to be aware that we have time in hand this afternoon for interventions, and I now call on Edward Mountain. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Before I start to remind members that I am the third generation of my family to have served in the Fawzi and my son continues to serve today. I am delighted to be opening this debate on behalf of the Conservative party. Remembrance commemorations are so important to the history of this country and, indeed, to the Commonwealth. It is our chance to remember the sacrifices that were made to ensure our future, the future of world democracy and, importantly, the future of Europe. On Sunday, people will be gathering together to remember, and the way they do that will be very personal. Some will remember family and friends who died in two world wars, others will remember those who have died since, and there will be those who wish to reflect on their service and those who served with them. However, there is a commonality of purpose to pause, to reach out, to appreciate and to acknowledge all that has been given to secure our future. At this time of year, Presiding Officer, I always reflect on the price that has been paid to protect our freedom. It is a high price and, sometimes, the ultimate price. We should never ever forget that every serviceman and woman who serves our country makes an unconditional offer when they take the oath of allegiance, one that perhaps we do not fully appreciate. That offer is an unlimited commitment that binds them to defend their country. It is an oath without limit. It is all or nothing, and the ultimate sacrifice is required, and that is part of the deal. They know that, and perhaps we do, too. That ultimate sacrifice has been made by so many. There are over a million British soldiers killed in two world wars, and there have been numerous conflicts since, which have claimed the lives of this country's sons and daughters. The price that they have paid has also been reflected in the price that their families have had to pay. As we sleep safely in our beds, knowing that our servicemen and women are watching our backs, we probably give scant thought to those families who are supporting those on the front line. For them, every telephone call, every strange car that stops outside their house could bring bad news. Their lives are not normal, and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude as well. If they have to face the loss of their loved ones, we know that their lives will never ever be the same, because burying a son or a daughter is not something that any parent should ever have to do. However, his huge costs are the ones that we have to pay for peace and the protection of our country and indeed our way of life. It is right that we always pause to reflect what is given by others for our today and our tomorrow. Our servicemen and women are prepared to give their all for us, so we should do the same for them. That is why I welcome the combined approach that is being taken by the UK Government and the three devolved Governments in implementing a joint strategy for our veterans community. That shared commitment makes a real difference. I am encouraged that our own forces' terraces are due to receive £5 million from the UK Government and £1 million from the Scottish Government this year. There is so much to commend in the latest report from the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, which I agree with Keith Brown on. Good progress is being made when it comes to health and wellbeing, whether it is improving access to chronic pain treatment or creating veteran-friendly GP services. I also look forward to the publication of the long-awaited mental health plan for veterans, but there are other areas of the strategy that need more urgent attention. The Veterans Commissioner has identified that progress is still lacking when it comes to supporting veterans in new careers. That is a cause for concern. Let me be clear that former armed service personnel are such an asset to their employers, and they have so much to offer businesses, public services and, indeed, charities across the United Kingdom. I will be pressing the Scottish Government to do all it can to ensure that veterans are given the opportunities that they need to fulfil the undoubted potential that they have. There is much more that we can do in the Parliament too, which is why the Scottish Conservatives are proposing an armed forces and veterans bill this session. The bill would enshrine the armed forces covenant into law for devolved public bodies such as the NHS and would also introduce provisions to increase the support currently available to veterans and their families. We believe that the bill will improve transitions from military to civilian life by enhancing access to education, healthcare, housing and career opportunities. Legislation like this would underline our unwavering commitment to support veterans in their family. That never-ending commitment is something that I believe that we should strive for and that it should be reflected in another organisation that worked so hard during the course of the year. I want to briefly mention the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The commission works tirelessly to ensure the immaculate upkeeper of the graves that honour the sacrifices that were made for us. Their work never stops on a daily basis. They are doing more and ensuring that graves are maintained. I would like to take a moment to encourage people to contact the commission if they ever find a grave that is in less than perfect condition. They are very responsive, as I have found out, and they will be very diligent in their duty of care. In summary, this Sunday, at 11 o'clock, we remember those who gave their all for the freedoms there. Unlike last year, services will be taking place across the country. On Sunday, I say to you, do please visit your local war memorials and stand together with all those who are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice in memory of those who did it. It is an honour to be here to mark armistice day and place on the record my thanks to those who have proudly served our country and those who, over the years, have made the ultimate sacrifice. As someone who has been a member of the army reserves for over a decade, I know the sacrifices members of our armed forces make and we owe a debt of gratitude to them. It is a vocation, one that requires them to sacrifice spending time with family, friends and isolates them from everyday civilian life, yet, time and time again, they continue to be the very best of our country. This year, it feels apt to mezzabroad. There has been a key part of our Covid pandemic response and, at present, there are over 100 personnel currently deployed at mobile testing units. A croatio 5 per cent of all testing facilities were being run by the army. Recently, they have been asked to help with the ambulance crisis and a number of Scottish health boards. As recently as last month, approximately 200 servicemen and women have helped to deliver petrol to garages across the country in an attempt to ease the fuel crisis. Despite that personal sacrifice, they are often forgotten when they return from duty or leave the armed forces entirely. Those individuals are highly susceptible to experiencing mental health difficulties, drug and alcohol-related problems and, in many cases, homelessness. We often think of remembrance in the context of a century ago, but more than 100,000 people have served in Iraq and in Afghanistan in the last two decades. That is not about veterans of the World War II generation in isolation, but about people in my peer group, people in their 30s and 40s who served in those theatres of conflict and have suffered terribly as a result of losing their friends. I think about some of my friends that I lost in Afghanistan far too young, and I recognise the trauma that can have on those who are left behind. Even though we know that to be the case, the support still is not sufficient to alleviate those issues. It is a plight that has been exacerbated by the Covid restrictions and the recent calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Corin to help for heroes appeals for help during the pandemic lockdowns rose sharply and the mental health charity combat stress has experienced an increase in correspondence of over 50 per cent since the Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan. Those mental health issues often lead to a reliance and a dependence on alcohol and, to a lesser extent, drugs. A report by Forces and Mind Trust published last year detailed the impact that alcohol and drug abuse can have on veterans and their families. Their research suggests that alcohol is the primary substance misuse problem for veterans with many developing a reliance during their service. One veteran described the drinking culture in the armed forces as a way of life, and knowing the damage substance misuse can have, I find that very concerning and something that I would like to see addressed more robustly by the Ministry of Defence. We know that drug misuse is prevalent in the armed forces, with data from the Ministry of Defence showing in 2019 that there were 660 army personnel dismissed from their duties after failing a drugs test. Again, we need to ask ourselves why that is happening and how we can create a system where service personnel do not feel the need to turn to alcohol or drugs as a coping mechanism or as a way of fitting in and then lose their career as a result. Often with devastating personal consequences that result in death or imprisonment. Housing is another huge problem. A freedom of information request that was submitted to the Scottish Government last year showed that there were almost 250 ex-service personnel living in some form of temporary accommodation across Scotland. How can it be the case that, in 2021, we still have veterans, men and women who have served their country in some of the harshest environments in the world, go without the basic human right of a permanent roof over their head? That is an issue that we still very much need to get to grips with as a society. The problems that are faced by our veteran community are multifaceted. As a society, we owe it to them to confront those issues and to find solutions, but Government support is very often marching in the opposite direction. The British Government's Defence Command Paper published in March this year included plans to reduce the full-time established strength of the army from 82,500 to 72,000 by 2025, leaving the UK with the smallest army since 1714, with closures planned at Fort George, Glincorce Barracks and Redford Barracks, cutting the number of regular soldiers and the footprint of the forces community in Scotland from 3,700 to just 2,000. There will be a real-terms cut in revenue funding over the next four years. That means less money for forces recruitment, training, pay, families. It means a possible cut of 40 per cent to the budget of the Office for Veterans Affairs. Despite a recent announced pay rise across the board, members of the armed forces have overall faced a real-term pay cut since 2010, with private soldiers pay down 7.5 per cent over the decade. Additional funding for mental health projects and those tackling substance misuse at all levels of government is urgently needed as a starting point, but we need more than that. We need a cultural and societal change. I am happy to give way to the minister. Can I thank the member for taking intervention and saying that I agree with virtually every word that he has said? In relation to funding, would he acknowledge the fact that we receive no funding for either the work that we do to support the armed forces and families or for veterans? If it is the priority that all administrations think that it should be, surely that should be recognised in the settlement of the budget that we have for Westminster. Thank you for the intervention. I would rather not get into a debate about the economics of the Barnett formula, but there is an average 30 per cent higher per head public spending in Scotland than there is in England, so there is significant scope to do a lot in Scotland. I think that it is about not what the Government is doing, which I commend, but there is much more we can push the envelope on in Scotland that is perhaps recognised by the Government. Whilst I recognise that there is work being done, we need to go further in societal change and place an emphasis on the value veterans can bring to communities that Mr Mountain referred to once their services are completely offered so much to society. I would like to see more work being done by the Scottish Government when it comes to housing and mental health support. While I appreciate that there are restraints placed on the Government when it comes to areas such as drug misuse, there can be no such excuses when it comes to homelessness or a lack of access to mental health services. The extra 100,000 are announced by the minister, if it just does not go far enough to help those charities to address the scale of the challenge in Scotland. I can assure both Governments that they will have my full support and the support of the Labour benches on any measures that will improve the lives of our ex-servicemen and women, but in many areas they are simply found to be wanting. Thank you. I now call on Alex Cole-Hamilton. Thank you very much. It gives me a great pleasure to rise for the Liberal Democrats in support of the motion before us today. I would like to pay tribute to the speakers who went before me and to give them our thanks. I think that each of them is a veteran and I am profoundly grateful for the service that they have shown to this country. In France and Belgium, every year, farmers in fields unearth barbed wire, shell casing, shrapnel and bullets. It is referred to as the iron harvest, and it is the product and material of a war fought over 100 years ago. Whilst the memories of the men that served in that war have now passed away, it has always been striking to me that the land still gives up the product and the material of that war. It is almost metastasised into the very ground on which that war was fought. That word, I think, is very appropriate after Wilfred Owen described the mechanised slaughter of the western front as being as obscene as cancer. It is in Wilfred Owen's words that we have learned much of us what life was like in the trenches and in that difficult time. However, he also wrote that not even poetry was fit to speak of the sacrifices made in the lives that were lost. He, as we know, is one of his generation's finest poets. He was treated for his injuries not far from this building at Craiglocker hospital. There, he wrote some of his most famous poems and discovered his immense potential as a literary master. That potential was tragically dashed shortly after returning to the front line only a week before the armistice itself was signed. He was only 25 years old, I think, typical of so many of the young men that lost their lives in that conflict. He was not alone in those whose lives were cut so tragically short. That is at the core. I will gladly give way. Cabinet Secretary. I thank the member for his comments and just saying the relation to Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Zasun who benefited from treatment at Craiglocker. A vast number of people in armed forces did not benefit from that treatment, but they did. During the time there, they also taught at Tyncastle high school when the best schools in this country. Alex Cole-Hamilton. I am very grateful to the cabinet secretary for such a considered intervention. I had not known that about Tyncastle, so I am grateful to him for that. Unfortunately, Wilfred Owen Siegfried Zasun and so many who were shell shocked as it was described at the time who felt that combat stress. It is a condition that has been replicated down the ages and there are many soldiers who are still fighting the conflicts that they participated in many years after those conflicts came to an end. The world wars are responsible for some of the greatest loss in the history of our islands, and each one is sending aftershocks through families and communities as they would in turn send aftershocks through global politics, some of which the reverberations are still felt today. My first speech in this chamber fell on a particular anniversary for my family that day, a century previous. My great-uncle, Private in the First Canadian Mounted Rifles out of Saskatchewan, at the age of 23, was killed along with 80 per cent of his battalion on the first day of the Battle of Montserral. His name was Alexander Bennett and I am named for him. I cannot imagine the horror with which he greeted his final arrows. In that battle, the Canadians were gassed, they were undermined, and it was also one of the first occasions on which Germans had used flamethrowers as a front-line weapon. I cannot imagine the horror that he would have experienced. His body was never found and his name appears on the men and gate, along with so many others. One million British army personnel died during the First and Second World Wars. While we remember their sacrifices today, we must also acknowledge the global nature of those conflicts. Soldiers from across the Commonwealth fought in countries such as Australia, Canada, Africa and India. Over 4 million Indian soldiers and 3 million African soldiers fought during the world wars. They fought under the British Union Jack, yet were often paid significantly less and treated worse than their white counterparts. The crucial effort and the sacrifices of those forces in securing Allied victory is often omitted from our history books. That is why I saw our motion, which I have signed on securing Scotland's first permanent memorial to the soldiers of the British Indian Army, is so important. Last remembrance Sunday, Presiding Officer, we could not come together in our communities. Instead, we were confined to commemorating remembrance within our household or on our own at Senatars. I did so with my family at the Davidson's Mains War Memorial on the Green. This year, I look forward to returning to Davidson's Mains, this time with our community once again. I will also attend at South Queensferry, where I will lay wreaths on behalf of this Parliament. This Sunday, we will be united once again. Whether it is in the wreaths that we lay or in the services that we attend in remembering those that we lost, we are reminded of the sacrifices that were made for us every day. Whether they are walking past the national war memorial here in Edinburgh or driving across the Churchill barriers up in Orkney or across Europe, there are constant reminders of the wars fought. In remembering the victims of war, we remember the cost of the conflict. Margaret Atwood once said that war is what happens when language fails. In recent times, both nationally and internationally, we have been divided. As often as a result, our language has failed. As events of the last century have taught us, peace is a fragile matter and is upheld only through communication and co-operation. We must all make an active effort to encompass those values in our daily and political practices. We owe it to everyone who lost their lives due to the absence of those values. The First World War gained its names posthumously. It was known at the time as the Great War and, originally, even by some as the war to end all wars, as those at the time struggled to conceive that such mass desolation and destruction were the idea that humanity would once again resort to such measures. I myself find that hard to reconcile and I am reminded of the old adage that those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. That is at the centre of why we remember that we must learn the lessons of history. The importance of conflict resolution and peaceful solutions to friction is one of the key reasons behind why I am a quaker. I am a quaker and I believe in non-violence, but I still carry the utmost respect for those who take up arms in harm's way and try to defend this country and our values for the greater good. Despite the fact that over 100 years have passed since the war to end all wars, hundreds of thousands continue to lose their lives to conflict across the world. We need to continue to recognise the courage and sacrifice of those people, whether it be in the context of the world wars four decades ago or in regard to how we treat our troops and our veterans today. I think that it is very summed up beautifully by Paul Sweeney. As time moves on, the first-hand accounts of those who gave their todays for our tomorrows will slip away, but age shall not weary their memory nor their spirit. What they sacrifice must never be in vain and must never be forgotten. We now move to open debate speakers. I call Jackie Dunbar to be followed by Alexander Burnett. I am grateful to have the opportunity today to speak in this debate, commemorating those who have given so much for our country and for the society that we live in today. I have long been a strong supporter of the Gordon Highlanders. My dad may have already completed his national service by the time I was born, but that did not stop me being brought up as a Gordon's Bern and having their values instilled in me growing up. With at least three generations of my family who have proudly served in the regiment, it will be no surprise to learn that I know the commitment and honour we owe to our servicemen, women and the armed forces community in Scotland. As I have said, my own family's history within the Gordon's is long and rich. My great-grandfather William Stephen on my mum's side served in the Boer Wars and won two medals in 1901 and 1902. I was honoured to be shown a portrait of him proudly mounted on his horse during a visit to the Gordon Highlanders museum, as well as having the opportunity to see and hold his medals. I owe a huge gratitude to the Gordon Highlanders museum for facilitating this, and this personal touch is just one reason why they are a five-star tourist attraction. My great-great-uncle Robert Dunbar died just age 23 at the Battle of Arras in 1918, and my grandad Dunbar was captured at St Valerie and became a prisoner of war during World War II. Although I do not want to often speak about his experiences, I know that he had a different opinion to his German guards and he ended up on a charge. I will not go into the details as it will take too long, but I will say that thanks to Spickinadoric, he came home after the war was ended to my grunny in his barns. Fit why? Because the Swiss interpreter could not understand his Buchen Deutsch accent and I was said that that was Fit saved him, something that I will always be grateful for. The Gordon Highlanders are also a part of my city's history and heritage and should be remembered with pride and gratitude for all that the regiment has done for over 200 years. It was my greatest honour to put a motion to Aberdeen City Council in 2007 to erect a commemorative statue, and it now stands proud at the castle gate. It depicts of two gardens, one from when the regiment was first raised and the other depict in their last tour. They have their backs to each other, showing that no matter where they were in the history of the gardens, they had each other's back. This is just a very local example, which is close to my heart, but it is also replicated across the country by other regiments who deserve to be honoured and remembered on this day. Moving on from my own family's experiences and the gardens to what our Scottish Government has done for the veterans across Scotland, I am proud to say that since 2008 our Scottish Government has supported more than 180 projects through the Scottish Veterans Fund, a fund that has most recently been doubled. I am pleased to see the renewed commitment to supporting the fund for the coming years, furthering the continuing and growing support available to our veterans. It is important to remember that supporting our veterans can bring much wider benefits. We know that veterans can offer a lot following their return to civilian employment, they are dependable, they are hardworking and they are adaptable. The offshore industry in Aberdeen is an example of one sector that has understood the hardworking commitment that veterans can offer, recruiting those who have experience in the armed forces, and it is clear that they have reaped the benefits. With this fund prioritising those leaving the forces to help them to find new career paths, there is a clear local tie-in, and as we look towards a just transition for our region, the adaptable skills that veterans have and can learn could help new businesses and industries establishing themselves in our city. I continue to encourage organisations not only within my constituency of Aberdeen-Donside but also in Aberdeen as a whole to consider applying to this fund, supporting those who have served our country but also ensuring that those leaving the armed forces can thrive as they transition into civilian life. I was pleased to receive assurances from the Scottish Government regarding the support services available to veterans and the ways in which the Scottish Government is working with veterans charities to ensure that the support provided meets our veterans' needs. The veterans strategy by the Scottish Government sets out to make Scotland a destination of choice for service leavers by creating an open, inclusive, supportive environment for them to come to. I was also pleased to hear further information regarding the funding to Housing Options Scotland, which provides advice and advocacy services to veterans, which helps to address homelessness within the population. The service is commissioned by Veterans Scotland housing group to ensure that the support is accessible and fit for purpose for all veterans. To finish, Presiding Officer, I will finish where I started with, the Gordon Highlanders, because I was brought up with the saying, once a Gordon, I was a Gordon, so I make no apology for finishing with the Gordon's motto, Biden. Thank you. I call Alexander Burnett to be followed by Gordon MacDonald. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would like to join colleagues across the chamber today in stating my gratitude to all the servicemen and women who have and continue to protect not only the rights and freedoms of us and the United Kingdom, but for those in need across the world. It is only right that we continue to commemorate this day on 11 November every year. We must not forget the lessons of the past. We must not forget the people who helped us to learn these lessons. We must remember them and we will remember them. As part of remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice, it is an opportunity to remember family members. On this occasion, I would like to pay tribute to my grandfather, who fought and died in the Second World War. He served as a lift tenant in the Parachute Regiment and the Gordon Highlanders, which has been so admirably described just now by Jackie Dunbar. But at the end of November 1942, the second battalion in which my grandfather served found itself at the head of a rapid eastward drive across North Africa as the Allies tried to sweep the Germans out of the continent. It was reported that his last action was when the battalion had been sent ahead of the main advance to destroy aircraft at German airfields in Tunisia. Their drop, 50 miles behind enemy lines, was spotted by German patrols who brought in reinforcements. At the same time, the main Allied force, which was supposed to be advancing, was delayed. The Germans called on the surrounded and relatively likely defended Paris to surrender, but the call was rejected. With tanks, heavy mortar, artillery and machine gun fire, the Germans attacked. After two hours, his unit, Sea Company, had, according to the documents, almost ceased to exist as a fighting unit. The survivors were saved only after a German fighter aircraft swooped down and mistakenly attacked their own men, knocking out several of their tanks. The remnants of the battalion then staged a lengthy fighting withdrawal over the following night and day, fending off German attacks before finally reaching Allied lines at Mejies El Barb. I'm very proud to be his grandson and I will always stand up for our veterans and ensuring we never forget the ultimate sacrifice that so many have made for us to live in a free country. I'd also like to thank those who maintain the war cemeteries in Tunisia and elsewhere around the world for the amazing job that they do in respecting those that fell by keeping such places of remembrance in immaculate condition. Now, in 2018, we celebrated the Armistice Day centenary and I took it upon myself to visit all 50 war memorials in my constituency of Aberdeenshire West from Fingen to Caugaf to Cairney. However, when I was visiting many of these memorials, I was disappointed to see that many graveyards are not being maintained properly. Many of our servicemen and women are laid to rest in these graveyards and it should be that their memories are honoured and headstones maintained. However, due to several cutbacks in councils across the country, this is a growing issue. I would urge the Scottish Government to increase funding to our councils who are seeing continuous cutbacks and ask the cabinet secretary if he will look into this issue, perhaps even considering direct funding to community councils or other local groups to ensure that all graveyards can be kept appropriately to show our respect. However, on a positive note, I am pleased that the Scottish Government collaborated with the UK Government to publish a joint strategy for our veterans, which will run until 2028. The strategy aims to address the immediate needs of older veterans and to develop ways for the newer generation of veterans to be empowered and supported. Veterans welcomed the announcement of the strategy, noting that it was putting the needs of a community before party politics, and I would welcome to hear from the cabinet secretary any update on the strategies progressing. I am also delighted that the UK Government has been continuing to show their commitment to support veterans across the UK and Scotland. The new office for veterans affairs has been a huge benefit to the veterans community, which has since seen armed forces charities receive five million additional funding to support those who have served, as well as an extra 2.7 million put towards mental health services. Since April 2021, employers have been eligible for a holiday on national insurance contributions for veterans who have been hired during their first year of civilian employment after leaving the armed forces. There is a lot of support for veterans to help transition into alternative employment, with many organisations and charities working to help them to achieve their next career step. It is important that both our Governments work together to improve support for our veterans. I am pleased that much work is being done to achieve that. I thank those who have fought for us and those who continue to serve. In recent times, we have come to our aid when we needed support to protect us from an invisible disease. Each time, we always step up and do what is required for our country. We are grateful and we thank you for your service. The Army has played an important part in the area of Edinburgh that I represent for over 100 years with Dreghorn barracks in Redford Infantry and Cavalry barracks located in my constituency. I thank Paul Sweeney for reminding the chamber that the MOD is due to close Redford Infantry and Cavalry barracks in 2025. The soldiers and their families are very much part of the community, and I will take this opportunity to thank those individuals from our armed forces who are helping out during the pandemic, either driving ambulances or helping to accelerate the vaccine roll-out across Edinburgh. I have for a number of years raised the issue of empty MOD family accommodation units lying empty across Scotland and indeed the UK. The figures from earlier this year highlighted that 11,000 homes lie empty across the UK, 900 in Scotland and 160 in Edinburgh alone. Given the housing pressure in Edinburgh, those homes could be used to house veterans or, indeed, the Afghan refugees who worked with our armed forces instead of them being housed in hotels at the airport with their families. I welcome the Scottish Government's commitment to housing veterans through its military matters project that received 266 new housing referrals in the past year alone. The £6 million that has been spent since 2012 to build 100 homes for veterans, the £1.8 million Government grant to Riverside Scotland and the Hillcrest Housing Association to provide much-needed housing in other parts of the country, including new homes in Edinburgh, due to be completed in January 2022. The transition from army life to civilian life can be eased when there is enough housing available. I welcome Scotland's first long-term housing strategy Housing to 2040 and its implementation will hopefully alleviate the housing pressures on veterans. I also welcome the allocation practice guidance encouraging landlords and local authorities to consider giving priority to service personnel when allocating homes. I also want to take this opportunity to talk about the symbolism of the poppy and pay tribute to a family member in this remembrance commemoration. The remembrance day symbolism of the poppy started with a poem in Flandersfield, written by a World War Canadian brigade surgeon, Lieutenant Colonel John McCree, while serving in Edinburgh in 1915. He was struck by the sight of the red flowers growing on the ravaged battlefield among the dead. His poem channeled the voice of the fallen soldiers buried under those hard-dey poppies. Amongst the dead of that war were 147,690 soldiers whose names are recorded in the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle. One of those names recorded is my maternal great-grandfather, John McLaughlin, of the 7th Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, who was killed in April 1917 in Arras. The date of his death is recorded as the fifth, but the battalion chaplain wrote to my great-grandmother that he died on the fourth. The circumstances that ordinary private soldiers died was not normally recorded, but in this instance it was referred to in the regimental war diary as they were in a rest area away from the front line. From the 3rd to the 7th of April, the battalion was billeted in the cellars of the Grand Place Arras preparatory to the battle. The shelling by the enemy was now considerable, but we only suffered two casualties. My great-grandfather was one of the two killed during that period, no name recorded, nothing. I still have his dog tags in the letter from the chaplain to his widow. I was also the first of my family to visit his grave in Arras and lay a poppy wreath in his memory. That war was supposed to be the war to end all wars, a phrase first used by the author HG Wells, who felt that this war would put an end finally to the sort of Governments and attitudes that brought war about. It is important that we remember Scotland's war dead by wearing a red poppy and the hope that one day Governments across the world will no longer send young men and women to war. Poppies are worn in many countries around the world as an act of remembrance and we should remember that it was a French woman, Anna Gourin, who was the originator of the Remembrance poppy day. Initially, her poppy days benefited the widows and orphans of the war devastated regions of France. She was christened the poppy lady from France after being invited to address the American Legion at its 1920 convention about her original inter-allied poppy day idea. Artificial poppies were first sold in Britain in 1921 to raise money for the Earl Hague fund and were supplied by Anna Gourin. Selling poppies proved so popular that, in 1922, the British Legion founded a factory to produce its own. The first Scottish poppy factory opened in 1926 across the road from Parliament in the grounds of Whiteford House and an old wood chopping factory. Since 2019, poppy Scotland's temporary home has been located at the Redford barracks in my constituency to allow the refurbishment of the factory at Cannon Mills. The team of 34 veterans hand produced more than 5 million poppies and 15,000 wreaths every year. The staff removed back to that place that has been their home since 1965 in Cannon Mills after this year's poppy appeal ends. The Red Poppies are simple and minimum tribute to those who laid down their lives in the service of their country. The 2020 Scottish poppy appeal raised £2.3 million, which supported the armed forces community in six areas, providing help with financial support, advice, employment, mobility, housing and mental health. Many in this chamber I will be attending a community remembrance service on Sunday to remember my family members who paid the ultimate price. I call Carole Mawkin to be followed by Christine Grahame. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I share in the thoughts and wishes of members from across the chamber as we pay our respects to those who have fallen and those who still feel the pain of those losses to this day. As an MSP for south of Scotland, I, like many others here today, have met and worked alongside members of our armed forces community during campaigns and outreach down the years. At that time, I have been struck by the deep sense of commitment and dedication that they have not only to their country but to others who went before them and indeed the places that they live. Many of the charities and community groups that we all work with on a daily basis have people from a forces background at their heart, using the skills that they have learned to better improve the places that they call home. If we can reflect a sense of that commitment today, then we will have given something worthwhile back to our country and the rich culture that is a key part of the armed forces here in Scotland. In this spirit today, I am wearing a paupé made for me by the pupils at Keil Academy in Eir, a brilliant school full of inspiring teachers and bright young pupils. Those children are actively learning about the stories and events that led so many to lose their lives so that we could live without war. Sadly, we are not there yet and it is for their sake as much as those who fell that we must continue in our efforts to educate each generation that follows and move forward towards a world without war. After all, that is what we all want and, to my mind, is the best way to remember the sacrifices of the past. Those memorials, large and small, whether they are a national moment of silence or young people making crafts at school, are all important, not least because they force us to shine a light on the harsh lessons of war, whilst being reverent and educational about the issues surrounding it. For me that is the key, the educational aspect of remembrance commemorations and the understanding that war has so many victims, some of whom are never truly remembered and, if even for a moment I can persuade others to cast their minds towards those individuals too, I will have done some good. I want our children to grow up understanding why those wars happened but equally learn how we can avoid them in the future and hopefully they can teach us too, as there is no doubt that we still see much pain in the world due to conflict today. Part of getting to this point is appreciating the significant and the effects of war on those who fought and their families, both physical and mental aspects. Mental healthcare, if we have heard from Paul Sweeney to veterans and the loved one, is very important and must be available, whether it be self-guided, well-being support, one-to-one or group therapy or access to psychological services, all of which veterans have reported to be essential at various times in their journey back to civilian life. Paul Sweeney is a very important point about access to mental health support services, a very vital focus. My friend recognised the innovation recently by Samaritans, of introducing a specialised veterans app as a particularly effective way of potentially improving access to mental health services, particularly those in a crisis situation. I have other examples of charities and veteran organisations that are doing some great work to ensure that people get access, because what we hear is that it is getting the right thing at the right time that makes the biggest difference to people. Reaching out involves giving veterans and their families a place to talk and share their experiences. I welcome the work in my own area, as I said about some of the charities. The first point is that Ayrsharnan is in my own community, which also helps people to find jobs, housing and other support. Equally, there are many activity chapters of the SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity, and the Royal British Legion across the south of Scotland who do exceptional work in the community for their own members and those in need across the region from a veteran background and, of course, with their families. I close by drawing attention to a more recent, but equally overlooked aspect that other members in the chamber have mentioned around the vital role of the Armed Forces in protecting the health of Scotland in the UK during the pandemic and at the moment. There are civil assistance, which includes driving ambulances, HGVs and the vaccination programme, which has become increasingly important. That change goes to assure the evolving role that those brave men and women can play in many different parts of our country, and we should express our gratitude for all of that in the chamber here today. Thank you to all the members who have contributed to the debate. I call Christine Grahame to be called by Maggie Chapman. Thank you, Presiding Officer. In my constituency, it is a constituency of two halves, part with Lothian and part Borders, each with a close connection to the Armed Forces. In the Borders, we have the home of the Kingsland-Scotland Borders, which my late father joined to serve in the Second World War, along with his great pal, Jock Hunter, from Hoik. Jock was killed in the parachute landings at Arnhem, which, by the sheer luck of having bad feet, my father missed being posted instead to Shetland, such as the randomness of war. My father lived to be 93. Jock died in his 20s. In Penicook, and of course, I almost forgot my uncle Dolly's brother, who served in the notorious Arctic convoys, who terrified us as children, telling us that his great black beard froze so hard that he touched and broke into lots of little pieces. All I remember is that he told us about those Red Bull convoys. In Penicook, we have Glencoast Barracks, which I have also visited on several occasions. Last being to demonstrate against its closure, scheduled for 2032, tastelessly announced by the MOD during Armistice week in November 2016. It has been there since 1803 and is integral to the community. There is no sign of a reprieve. When I first entered this Parliament, the MOD support for veterans and their families was scant. With pressure from both parliaments here and Westminster and army veterans and their families, that has thankfully improved, though there is still much to be done, especially for those injured, traumatised, grieving and indeed finding civilian life a great challenge. It is a duty that politicians should never shrink from, shirkrom, as it is politicians who send men and women into the battlefields of war, crisis and starvation, unfortunately too often with no exit strategy, sometimes with poor equipment. Iraq, both wars, Afghanistan, several wars and it is our front-line service personnel who are left to pick up the pieces of human misery. The impact of their mental wellbeing, mentioned by many and on family life, must be substantial. However, there is support out there. Veterans First Point Borders branch run by NHS Scotland and part of the Armed Forces Covenant is there. It opened on 24 June 2016 providing veterans services throughout the borders. It consists of veterans peer support workers, clinicians, therapists and an administrative team providing information and signposting, understanding, listening, support on social networking, health and wellbeing to ex-forces personnel, families and carers with services and support to address whatever issues may be concerning them, including transition from the armed forces, a huge difficulty for many. In Midlothian, we have the Lothians veterans centre in Dalkeith, which, in addition to core services, organised a number of social activities with the opportunity to create new friendships, rekindle old ones and indulge in some military banter. Pre-Covid, for example, monthly outings to Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Yacht Britannia are simply gone fishing. It was then that I met up with the Royal British Legion riders branch, a national branch of the Royal British Legion covering the whole of the UK. It supports and promotes the work of the Royal British Legion as it in turn supports the serving and ex-serving members of the British Armed Forces. They are brought together by the enthusiasm for motorbikes and willingness to support the aims and charitable efforts of the Royal British Legion. I supported them coming to Parliament and I'm afraid Liam Kerr's not here, I'm about to mention him. Somewhere in the archives there is a photo of me in indeed an overexcited Liam Kerr astride a buffed up and shiny Harley Davidson. I hastened to add, we were on separate bikes. In conclusion, I welcome this opportunity to highlight some of the good work being done but mindful that our service personnel cannot express dissent when politicians take decisions, when it's putting their lives, not the politicians' lives, on the line so they have every right to complain when they and their families are not supported on discharge. Valuing our service personnel must extend beyond one day a year and that will be in my thoughts as I represent the Scottish Parliament in Peoples on Sunday wearing this gifted collection of poppies, the red for poppy Scotland, the white poppy of peace and this one here, which people have asked about, which is about all the animals that were part of the war, particularly the First World War, were slaughtered when we were on the front line along with all the other people. We must remember all. Thank you. I call Maggie Chapman to be followed by Liz Smith. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Today, this remembrance day, I wear a white poppy. The white poppy has been worn for over 80 years to symbolise three things, remembrance for all victims of war, a commitment to peace and a challenge to attempts to glamourise and celebrate war. On this armistice day, I remember all victims of all wars, those wars past and those being fought as we speak. Suffering does not stop at national borders and so I include people of all nationalities, members of all armed forces and all civilians. I remember and acknowledge all those killed in war, wounded in body or mind, all those left without homes or health, family or community. I remember family member, friend, stranger. I remember those killed or imprisoned for resisting war or refusing to fight. But it is not enough simply to remember. Our remembering must be active. We have a responsibility to all those we remember today to act, to strive for a better world, so we can genuinely mean it when we say never again. That is why I include both a commitment to peace and a challenge to militarism in my remembering. This means always seeking nonviolent solutions to conflict. It means building our communities and economies on systems and processes that do not lead to war. It means working to ensure that all of our Governments and institutions do not promote or contribute to war. It means challenging our economic reliance on the arms sales and our investment in nuclear weapons. It means building the support systems, the housing, the healthcare community that will keep us all safe and well. White poppies challenged the promotion of militarism by drawing attention to the human and environmental cost of war. They highlight the urgency of our struggle for peace. They remind us of the importance of year-round resistance to war and to military conflict, because war is not the present or the future we want. We will all be familiar with the fine words, sometimes stark words, words of warning and condemnations of violence that come to us in the form of the poetry of the war poets, those who served in the First World War. I would like to read a bit of poetry today. I would like to read an extract not from one of those First World War poets but from Hamish Henderson's Elegies for the Dead in Surinaca. Incidentally, Henderson was born on the first anniversary of Armistice Day. He would have been 102 today. The extract was written during, after and about the Allied Campaign in North Africa in the Second World War, in which Henderson himself played a part. It does, I think, something very important. It does something profoundly human, yet something deeply difficult. It recognises the enemy. It values the enemy, living and dead. It acknowledges the humanity of the enemy. So this is from Henderson's End of a Campaign. There are many dead in the British desert who lie uneasy among the scrub in this landscape of half-wit stunted ill-will. For the dead, land is insatiate and necrophilous. The sand is blowing about still. Many who for various reasons or because of mere unanswerable compulsion came here and fought among the clutching gravestones. Shivered and sweated, cried out, suffered thirst, was stoically silent, cursed the spittering machine guns, were homesick for Europe and fast embedded in quicksand of Africa, agonised and died. And sleep now, sleep here, the sleep of dust. There were our own, there were the others, their deaths were like their lives, human and animal. There were no gods and precious few heroes. What they regretted when they died had nothing to do with race and leader, realm indivisible, laboured or gust in speeches or vague imperial heritage. They saw through that guff long before the axe fell. Their longing turned to the lost world glimpsed in the memory of letters and evening at the pictures in the friendly dark, two knowing conspirators smiling and whispering secrets or else a family gathering in the homely kitchen with mum so proud of her boys in uniform. Their thoughts trembled between moments of estrangement and ecstatic moments of reconciliation and their desire crucified itself against the unnatural shadow of someone whose photo was in their wallets. Their death made his incision. There were our own, there were the others. Therefore, minding the great words of Glencoe's son that we should not disfigure ourselves with villainy or hatred and seeing that all have gone down like curves into anonymous silence, I will bear witness for I knew the others. Seeing that literal and interior are alike indifferent and the birds are drawn again to our welcoming north, why should I not sing them the dead, the innocent? So today I wear a white poppy. Today I remember all the victims of all wars. Today I think of all that war destroys innocence, safety, hope, love, life and today I reaffirm my commitment to work for peace for all. Thank you. I now call on Liz Smith to be followed by Paul O'Kane. Thank you. On Sunday in Whitehall the Senataph will once again be the focus of this nation's annual remembrance. The monument's simplicity and its grace, as well as the poignant say of the tomb of the unknown warrior and the poppy are together the most powerful symbols of our remembrance. As the years pass, so too do the anniversaries of our war history, but the significance of our acts of remembrance only grows. Nothing, nothing at all can ever dim the memory of all those who have given their lives so that we can enjoy our freedom or the nation's determination to remember them. Those acts of remembrance, small or large, public or private, are part of the very being of this nation and rightly so, and so too are our veterans and their families. Because improving their lives and that of their families should be a core part of the legacy that those who did not come home would want. Every single veteran, whatever their personal background should feel supported around the clock on every day of every year and should know that that support will be provided by our two Governments, which are absolutely in unison when it comes to the priorities within that support. No one should ever feel left behind or that we do not care, which is why at this stage it is so important to recognise the very considerable progress that has been made in recent years, ably led in many respects by the cabinet secretary's predecessor Graham Day and by himself now. All too often, this Parliament can descend into aggressive tribal politics, but when it comes to veterans support, we are united, something that I believe is testimony to the esteem in which our veterans are held. Of course, Covid has brought home to us just how much we lie upon the armed services and just how important they are when it comes to serving the best interests of the civilian population. How vital were their efforts to help communities to deliver essential services, to drive ambulances and other blue-right vehicles, to assist with the vaccination and testing programmes, and, of course, to carry out their usual duties? It is often remarked upon that the British Armed Services have the highest standards of professionalism in the world. Alex Cole-Hamilton rightly mentioned those from other nations who served this country. Can I also draw attention to the contributions made by the 4 million service personnel in the British Indian Army, which include Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Gurkhas, many of whom gave their lives to free Europe? Unfortunately, the role of the British Indian Army seems to be forgotten. Does the member acknowledge the role played by the British Indian Army in both the First and Second World War? I thank the member and my colleague for that intervention. I absolutely would associate myself with the remarks that she has made. It is very important, and I would certainly urge anybody who is looking after veterans' interests to always recognise just how many people from very different countries and backgrounds have been involved. Of course, no matter the challenges that they face, including the realignments that often happen within the military, including some that are happening right now, they display a professionalism that is beyond reproach. When we look after them following their return to civilian life, they deserve the same standards. Let me take some of those in turn. As other speakers have said, healthcare and mental wellbeing is paramount. Our veterans often have complex issues, including physical disability, which impacts on their mobility, and they often find themselves alone. Being proud men and women because of their professional training can often make them reluctant to ask for help, and, as we all know, suffering and silence can only make things worse. It is imperative that we support them well in terms of their medical needs, and that we work with those in the third sector and within the veterans' charities to help them cope. I have to commend the trauma risk management system in the British Armed Forces, which allows senior professionals or retired professionals to provide appropriate support to their colleagues in the aftermath of traumatic events, or at least point them in the right direction to get adequate support. At this point, may I say just how much regard I have for those who work in these support networks? Too many to mention by name, but they are the real lifeline that few of the rest of us could ever provide. It is good to see the increased level of funding that supports these networks, but we should never underestimate the extent of the pressure on their resources. Nor should we ever underestimate the number of veterans who are either homeless or facing significant issues within housing, which is why we are so much in favour of the dedicated veterans' help to buy schemes so that veterans find it easier to get on to the property ladder. That measure, together with the Scottish Income Tax Mitigation, awarded to veterans by the UK Government, is very important and should be an essential part of the any-arm forces covenant to help veterans' transition to civilian life. May I also turn to education and skills, where I think that some aspects remain in need of some improvement? At a time when it is quite clear that the Scottish economy is a mismatch of skills in the job market, it is vitally important that the assistance provided to veterans is based on the need to provide the relevant training to ensure that they have a diverse range of skills that suits the inevitability of a much more flexible future job market. That is not easy, but it is an essential part of moving back to civilian life and greater stability for veterans' families. It is essential that there are no barriers in the way. For example, some years ago veterans and some partners of armed forces personnel who wanted to resume their teaching career in Scotland found that impossible because of some of the restrictions imposed on teacher training qualifications overseen by the GTC. Happily, moves were made to amend those regulations, but I think that there is still a little bit of a way to go to open up new opportunities. Of course, one of the most difficult readjustments can be when young families of new veterans have to change school across different educational jurisdictions where school curriculum is different. I have some personal case work experience of this and know just how important it is that families receive both accurate and good quality advice about what the different curricular can offer. Educational security at school is essential for helping veterans' families to settle into their new circumstances and it is important that they have professional guidance to hand. The Scottish Conservatives have the very highest regard for our armed forces and we will always stand up for them and for all 220,000 veterans in Scotland in every way that we can. We salute the service that they have given, which is why we owe them so very much. As we mark Armistice's day today and we look ahead to this weekend's commemorations, I am pleased to be able to contribute to this debate. In doing so, I wish to remember all those who have lost their lives and conflict down through the years and to remember those who are still living with pain today. Indeed, I think of all veterans across our communities and how we must do more to support them. I also wish to pay tribute to our serving personnel, whether at home or abroad, and particularly to highlight the incredible work that is done by our armed forces throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Whether staffing the asymptomatic testing centre in Barhead close to where I live, driving ambulances across West Scotland or supporting the logistics of those first vaccination centres from Gifnick to Greenock, they have made a huge difference to the lives of people in the communities that I serve. At the heart of remembrance, we reflect on service, the service of keeping us safe, of protecting our freedom and of helping the most vulnerable in our world. We remember those who have given their lives in this service, whether in two world wars or in more recent conflicts. I wish to speak today about those who keep the flame of remembrance alive in our communities and those who continue to work to support veterans across Scotland. I never failed to be amazed by the dedication of the Royal British Legion and the Scottish Poppy appeal, which, as we have heard already this week, marks its 100th anniversary. As custodians of remembrance, they ensure that, down through the generations, people have space to reflect and remember, but they also do amazing work to support veterans across Scotland. They are supported by groups of volunteers, and I was honoured, along with many other colleagues, to meet some of them at the launch of the Scottish Poppy appeal here in Parliament. I was particularly pleased to meet Donna Louise Armstrong from Luck-Winnock, who organises the annual appeal in the village and further afield in Johnston and received the president's award for her amazing fundraising efforts. She is an inspiration and draws people to support the appeal every year. Donna Louise has also undertaken a range of fundraising efforts to support Poppy Scotland, including a terrifying wing walk. Her fundraising makes a real difference to the lives of veterans across Scotland, and she does all of that in memory of her nephew, who died in service in Afghanistan. I also think of the wonderful team of people that I have been proud to work with over many years as part of the Neilston War Memorial Association. I know that my village and our quest for a war memorial, which culminated with its unveiling in 2015, has been mentioned in this place a few times, but it is a real honour for me to be able to highlight the work of the association today, having been involved since its inception in 2011. It is also the first opportunity that I have had to pay tribute to Corporal David Timmons since his death in January. David was awarded the Queen's gallantry medal for his bravery in rescuing a comrad during an IED explosion in Afghanistan. David worked for veterans rights and support after his recovery, and was influential in setting up the War Memorial Association in Neilston. I know that his loss is keenly felt in the community, but his legacy lives on in all the work that is done. The association, supported by the sterling work of its secretary, Matt Drennan, not only cares for the memorial gardens and continues the act of remembrance in the village each year, but has grown to deliver for the people of the village in memory of all those who never came home from the frontlines of the First and Second World War. Money is raised by the association each year to deliver Christmas lights and celebrations, gifts for local children from Santa and an annual poppy stone hunt. During the pandemic, the association delivered hundreds of craft packs to local children, organised afternoon teas for older people who were shielding, and helped to facilitate community newsletters, food parcels and even socially distanced doorstep community concerts with the outstanding Neilston pipe band at Kirkleib sheltered housing complex. When people ask Matt why the association does all this, he points to the stories of hundreds of young men who never returned to Neilston from Flanders and the beaches of Normandy. Those names are etched on the War Memorial, but remembrance, as we all know, is about more than that. Their stories have been recorded and meticulously researched so that they are not forgotten. In their name, the association seeks to work for the benefit of children and young people who live today in the village of a similar age to those young men when they died. Not to glorify the horrors of war, but to aspire to peace and reconciliation. I also want to talk about the wonderful Erskine charity that is based in my region, and along with other veterans charities, they have called for real and meaningful action to improve support for those who have served and returned to our communities. On those benches, we support their calls to establish clear statutory targets to underpin delivery of the armed forces covenant. We also support the implementations of the recommendations of Poppy Scotland and other armed forces charities to strengthen engagement, implement the veterans housing pathway and target provision aimed at ensuring that the most vulnerable service personnel and veterans experience a good transition back to civilian life. On Sunday, whether at Abbey Cemetery in Eldersley, at the War Memorial in Neilston, or on Lyle Hill at the Free French Monument in Greenock, I will stand silently and think of all those lost and all we must still do for the living, and I know that colleagues will do similar in their communities. I now call David Torrance, who will be the last speaker in the open debate to Mr Torrance. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As homes and businesses across Scotland fall silent today, in remembrance of the nation's fallen, I am honoured to participate in this debate to reflect and show my gratitude to all those who have served and sacrificed. Today, we come together to remember all those who sacrificed so much over a century ago when the world changed forever. To remember the day that exhausted soldiers shook hands in their guns fell silent along the western front. To remember all the men and women who have served and suffered in conflicts in 103 years that have followed. And to remember in respect all involved in the armed forces and veterans community, including service personnel, veterans and families and children. Service life impacts on families in many ways, where postings take people away from their support networks, spouses away from employment and children, uprooted from schools. Therefore, it is vital that we remain committed to providing the very best support for them. On that point, Presiding Officer, it is really important about families, as somebody is a parent who is both boys in the armed forces. One in the second Scots in the 18-year-old went to do his first tour of Afghanistan, I know what worry it brought, and the other one is in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Veterans, charities and third sector organisations play an essential role in delivering key support, but have faced many challenges as a result of the pandemic. I am pleased that the Scottish Government not only recognises and addresses those challenges, but has strengthened its financial support to allow his vital services to continue to provide and help where needed. The one million armed forces third sector resilience fund is a clear commitment to Scotland's former military personnel and builds upon our proud track record of being there for our serving and military communities and their families. In addition to setting up the national veterans care network to ensure parity across to access to specialist services and supporting improved access to employment for spouses and partners of serving military, this fund will allow veterans' first point to continue their dynamic work. Developed by veterans for veterans and staffed by an alliance of clinicians and veterans, the service provides accessible, credible and co-ordinated services to veterans and the veteran community. In Fife, veterans' first point have been providing support all across the kingdom since 2016. Earlier this year, they moved to a new dedicated centre, open by a Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans, allowing improved opportunities to improve the lives of the people of Fife and to deliver the services supporting care needed in the right places at the right time. One of the six Scottish centres jointly funded by the Scottish Government, the partnership between veterans' first point, NHS Fife and Fife Council has been great success in delivering accessible, credible and co-ordinated services, ensuring that veterans get the best possible care and support. The partnership was further strengthened in 2017 when Fife Council reaffirmed their support to Fife's Armed Forces community with the appointment of an armed forces and veteran community champion. Acting as a elected representative linked between the armed forces, veterans, the community and the council, the appointment of Councillor Cairnhar, who works very closely with the services, has brought a hugely positive impact locally. Once every user described in the centre as a haven for myself and others, providing a variety of welfare, social and mental health support, together with comradeship and, most importantly, a cuppa and a catch-up, giving us a sense of wellbeing. Statistics reported by group show that 37 per cent of veterans' first point veterans have experienced homelessness at some time in their lives. 31 per cent have addresses in the areas of the highest levels of social deprivation in Scotland, and 7.5 per cent are living with friends or currently homeless or residing homes of multiple occupancy. Those figures highlight the clear need for continued focus around the key transition areas such as housing, health, education and families and the importance of accessible, practical and emotional support. As we continue work of ensuring that all veterans and armed forces personnel have the access to suitable and safe housing, investing in programmes and strategies to aid mental health, tackle issues of social isolation and loneliness, secure and improve employment opportunities, ensuring that veterans can access good jobs once their time in the military is over, it is important that we further develop our understanding and awareness of the needs of our veterans and armed forces communities. That is why I am delighted that Scotland's census in March 2022 will for the first time include a question on previous service in the UK armed forces. That information will give us a much better understanding of the veteran community in Scotland, including numbers, location, housing, employment stages and other needs such as healthcare and education. In addition to that, the inclusion of the veteran census question in the Scottish Government's free primary surveys, the Scottish household survey, the Scottish health survey and the Scottish crime and justice survey will vastly improve our understanding of the profile circumstances needs of veterans in Scotland. Those are important steps that will make sure that we have access to an increased quality and quantity of data that will best inform policy development, future strategy and enable target support. Before I finish up today, I would like to put on record my thanks and gratitude to the armed forces community for their support for the pandemic and across every level of our Covid-19 response. From the work alongside the dedicated men and women of the Scottish Army Service, to the operation of mobile testing units to help to identify infections and break chains of transmission, and the support that will ensure more than 8 million first and second doses of vaccine have been delivered. In conclusion, today is a great day of emotion and rightly so. It is time to remember and honour the memory of those we served, are currently seven and those we have lost. To acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of those who have served our country for the democracy that we enjoy today and acknowledge our responsibility to work for peace that we have fought hard to achieve. I now call on Jackie Baillie to wind up for Labour, and Ms Baillie is joining us remotely. I thank the Scottish Labour Party for all those who have served our country and those in particular who, over the years, have made the ultimate sacrifice. I also welcome Keith Brown back to this portfolio and thank Graham Day for his work as a veterans minister. For all the contributions that were made across the chamber this afternoon, there have been some really powerful personal stories of family members who have served their country over the years. I am very pleased, of course, to continue as deputy convener of the cross-party group on armed forces, the veterans and their families in this new Parliament. I very much welcome the support and expertise over the years that is shown to us by the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, Charlie Wallace, both in identifying improvement and change required, but also in holding the Government to account. Members will know very well that my constituency has a large armed forces community. It is made up of veterans, but it is also made up of current forces personnel who serve our country at Her Majesty's naval base client. It is a community that is growing, because in addition to the 11,000 people who rely on Faslane for employment, 6,500 who work directly with the MOD or their partners, there are something like another 2,000 navy personnel and their families who are relocating and have relocated to Faslane as a result of the decision by the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to relocate all of the UK's submarines to Faslane. You can imagine the complexity of transferring 2,000 forces personnel and their families is quite large. There has been considerable co-operation and working in partnership between Argyll and Bute Council, the MOD, Western Barbshire Council and others besides. Just to make sure that there is sufficient housing, sufficient places in our schools and that there are opportunities for military spouses to also access employment. I am very pleased that the minister or the cabinet secretary has had the opportunity to visit one such of those projects at Faslane, where they are matching the skills and talents of spouses to either job opportunities or encouraging them to set up in business themselves. Colleagues across the chamber have raised issues in relation to homelessness, access to housing, access to healthcare and mental healthcare in particular and many other issues besides. I want to focus most of my comments on education and an area that has not really been touched on other than by Liz Smith. I have raised those issues before, there is nothing new. I am sure that I have raised them with the cabinet secretary as well as with his predecessor, the minister, so he will know that I am persistent about that. First, I want to raise the question of the service pupil premium. It is provided by the Department of Education for pastoral care to schools in England for forces children. The service pupil premium is not available in Scotland, it is not part of the pupil equity funding, so it is genuinely disappointing, given the concentration of forces families in particular geographical areas of Scotland and those local authorities that could well do with the additional funding. It is the case that the Scottish Government received Barnett consequentials for that, but it is wrapped up in the general education budget and is not teased out. I would ask the cabinet secretary to look at that again. Let me then turn secondly to the MOD education support fund. This is a UK-wide fund that had a budget of £3 million in it. It was doubled to £6 million, which is always welcome, but, unfortunately, the trajectory in the last few years has been downwards and the amount of funding has dropped. The reason I mention that is that Scotland does particularly well out of the fund. We punch well above our weight. I do not even know if the fund still exists, but there is a need for it. As others have said, the transition for young people going from school to school is really quite challenging, and that kind of funding helps both schools and young people settle and do well. It is disappointing that that money is not there, because local authorities, such as Argyll and Bute, in my area, would do well out of it. The fund has supported a range of activities in a number of different local authorities in Scotland, where there are large clusters of forces children in schools. It does help during stressful periods of relocation or deployment separation that those young people experience. It will not surprise the cabinet secretary when I say that education is a devolved matter. I am looking for him and his colleagues in government to do something about this. It does not cost a lot of money. It would make for sustainable planning in the long term. It will improve the opportunities for those young people, for the armed forces personnel and their families. I urge the cabinet secretary to have a look at this again. It is a small amount of money that would make a significant difference. Let me touch on the points made by Paul Sweeney. He is right to highlight the issues that are going to be faced in the future. He is right to highlight the implication of the UK Government's command paper, because it will reduce the strength of the army. It will precipitate the closure of some barracks that members have referred to. It will reduce real-terms funding over the next four years. The implication of that is that that will mean less money for recruitment, less money for pay, less money for veterans and less money for their families. That simply is not acceptable. It is not good enough. We cannot say that we support the armed forces and veterans when resources are being cut simultaneously. I appreciate investment made over the years for veterans and agree with Christine Grahame's remarks about efforts made by both Governments from a standing starter of having very little in place before to improving the investment. Frankly, there is much more to do. I want to thank all our armed forces personnel as many members across the chamber have done already. Their service to our country is greatly appreciated, but in particular I want to thank them for the hundreds of them helping our paramedics and ambulance drivers in what is a significant period of crisis. The hundreds of them acting as vaccinators in towns across the country helping our hard-press NHS staff ensure that we are safe, and the many of them helping with the extreme pressures in our hospitals for all that they do every single day we are grateful to them. Like many across the chamber, I will be attending community remembrance services. I know that time is moving on, Ms Bailey, in terms of your time allocation. Thank you very much. I will conclude at that point. Yesterday I had the honour of speaking in a debate brought forward by my good friend Alexander Stewart MSP to commemorate 100 years of the poppy. It was a moving debate, and today's debate has also had some very notable contributions. If I might just mention the contribution of my colleague Edward Mountain, who spoke about the fragility and price of peace and talked about the unconditional offer that members of our armed forces make in their service, and he spoke about the role of families. I thought Paul Swinney was right to bring up the issues that he brought up in relation to the current service conditions of our armed forces and also the implications of future configuration. Alex Cole-Hamilton spoke movingly about his great uncle. I also have great uncles buried in the fields of France and Flanders, and the remarkable story of Welforddon. He chose, pretty much chose, to go back to the front in those dying days, as it turned out, of the war and tragically led to his death. Jackie Dunbar gave an excellent speech about her pride and her family pride in the Gordon Highlanders, and I was particularly struck by the concept that they had each other's backs. That absolutely describes the spirit and tradition of Scotland's regiments and the regiments of the British Army. Alexander Burnett spoke movingly about his grandfather. He also praised the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. I have seen that work as many of you will have seen, and it is hugely moving to see how well manicured those graveyards are. Gordon MacDonald reminded us of the important role that our services play in the lives of our community. Christine Grahame spoke about the duty of politicians in respect to sending our armed forces in harm's way and conjured up the image of an overexcited Liam Kerr on a Harley-Davidson, which I must see that picture, by the way, of Christine Grahame. Liz Smith spoke with—yes, indeed. Christine Grahame. It will cost your donation to Poppy Scotland to see that picture. Stephen Kerr. I will happily make that donation to Poppy Scotland for the privilege of seeing that picture. Liz Smith spoke with her usual authority about matters relating to education. She also spoke about how the spirit of remembrance continues to grow, and I think that we will see that again this weekend. Paul O'Kane spoke, I think, quite rightly about the work of the Nielsen War Memorial Association of which he is a part and the excellent work that they do in the community all the year round. David Torrance reminded us of the power of a cuppa and a catch-up. Absolutely. One of the blights of our modern society is loneliness, and I also agree with him in relation to his comments about the census question. Many members are rightly reflected on the important work done by Poppy Scotland in offering support to veterans in active service personnel and their families. The work of the Royal British Legion, SAFA, Combat Stress and the Anchorsawm Association and so many other service charities is so immensely important, and we are grateful for what they do. Today, armistice day is really a most appropriate time to take time to thank our servicemen and women for everything that they do and to thank our veterans for the contribution that they continue to make in so many walks of life. It has been my good fortune for as long as I can remember to have the privilege of working alongside veterans. They are men and women of exceptional character and capacity, and I pay tribute to them. They truly are an asset in every situation that you come across them. I have learned and continue to learn much from the veterans that I work alongside. For example, I am very grateful to my colleague Edward Mountain, the Scottish Conservative deputy chief whip. I value his leadership and guidance. Edward is someone whose life is fashioned by the values of service, duty and patriotism. I also want to reflect on those who paid the ultimate price to preserve our freedoms and our way of life. We owe it to them to never forget what they did for us and to devote ourselves to continuing to work for a better, more civilised, freer world for every human being. I especially want to thank Her Majesty's Armed Forces for all their work in the past year, for helping the most vulnerable Afghans and other nationals to escape the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. We heard about the emotional consequences of that for many others. To help the Scottish Government to set up NHS Louisa Jordan at the height of the pandemic, the successful roll-out of the vaccine programme throughout Scotland supported by our Armed Forces personnel, boosting the protection of the most vulnerable against Covid-19. As we speak, members of the Armed Forces are working in our NHS, easing the crisis that pressures our national health services are facing. It is in recognition of their service that Governments across the UK have a duty and obligation to veterans and their families. This week, the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, Charlie Wallace, published his report on the Scottish Government's progress against the commissioner's recommendations to improve veteran services and support in Scotland. Whilst welcoming progress, as we do on those benches, the commissioner also stated that there remain stubborn challenges. Last year, the Scottish Veterans Commissioner identified 20 recommendations in need of more attention from the Scottish Government to drive change and highlighted his concerns around employment, skills development and health and mental health services. Those were the areas where, among others, the commissioner felt that the on-going pandemic posed an increased risk to service leavers and veterans, who often also faced additional challenges when seeking civilian employment or health or mental health care services. The commissioner stated that we have seen more people suffering from increased anxiety, isolation and job losses and services that are slow to respond to need. Those are still areas where a strong focus and emphasis on support and early intervention needs to be maintained. The commissioner stated that he wanted to see further progress in other areas that he had previously flagged, including the lack of recognition of service leavers and veterans qualifications, skills and experience, which prevents them from competing for employment opportunities, efforts to better align veteran skills and abilities with known skills gaps in key sectors of the Scottish economy and where there are labour shortages, and ensuring that early service leavers get the right levels of support because they can often be vulnerable to poor transition back into civilian life. The UK Government has introduced an armed forces champion in every job centre plus district, which ensures that they provide the support that best needs the needs of the armed forces community. Scotland's social security system presents opportunities to make a positive and meaningful difference for the armed forces community in Scotland. One of the ways that that can be achieved is through the Scottish Government establishing a nationwide armed forces and veterans champion network within social security Scotland. Such a network would allow the agency to better understand the specific needs of the armed forces community in Scotland and to build relationships with a view to sharing information and encouraging the community to get more involved in the agency's experience panels in other forums. That brings me to the wider issue of the Scottish Government's use of working groups to oversee policy planning, development and delivery. The membership of those working groups often includes people with experience of the policy being examined. However, despite their unique needs, members of Scotland's armed forces community are noticeably absent from the membership of those policy working groups. Therefore, in the light of the unique and often multiple and complex needs of the armed forces community in Scotland, who additionally represent a significant group within society, it is imperative that the Scottish Government consults with and involves that community in future policy development. We believe that there should be a cross-government commitment to involve our armed forces community in any working groups that establish, develop and take forward policy ensuring that their specific needs are recognised and that their experiences are learned from. Although we in the Scottish Conservatives recognise that progress has been made, we also recognise that much more needs to be done to support our service personnel and our veterans. We need to ensure financial security and prosperity, provide opportunities for further education and employment and look after physical and mental health. That is why, as Edward Mountain said in the opening contribution to the debate from those benches, the Scottish Conservatives are proposing to introduce an Armed Forces and Veterans Bill in this session. Today, at 11 am, we felt silent to remember the sacrifices made to protect the freedoms that we enjoy today. On Sunday, we will do the same. Let us come together and show our collective respect to those who paid the ultimate price. We will remember them. I now call on Keith Brown, cabinet secretary, to wind up the debate for around nine minutes or so. It has been a very interesting debate, not least in relation to the last contribution from Stephen Kerr, which is markedly different from the contribution from Liz Smith, who quite rightly talked about the consensus that we usually have in these debates. We have had for a number of years and there is a real value to that. I know that the many veterans and armed forces personnel watch the debates and they take a lot of comfort from that. It is also true to say that, especially in relation to veterans, they have real needs and they are not unwilling to engage in an argument. So we should, as Stephen Kerr has done, as Paul Sweeney has done, make where they feel it is appropriate, trench in criticism of the Scottish Government, and I will respond to that criticism. It may be a bit odd that we have a debate that does both remembrance and veterans, and it may be, certainly from my part, that I am more than willing to attend any debate that wants to talk about our veterans. It is probably hard to respond to all the points that we have made today, but I would be happy to do that. I do not think that I have ever had a request for—not that it is for me—to decide, of course, for a debate of that nature. I would be happy to have one. There have been a number of criticisms made. I will come back to the criticisms in a minute, but, first of all, in relation to some of the back bench contributions that Stephen Kerr has mentioned, I apologise if I miss anybody out. I also have a next point about graveyards. I am not sure that I agree, but I just give a dollop of further cash to local government and hope that that will affect the change that he is looking for. It is also true to say that, as his colleague Edward Mountain said, that any graves that are within a graveyard, which are for fallen personnel, can be looked after—not in every case—by the Commonwealth Graves Commission, so if there are any that he is aware of that are not being looked after, he should feel free to do that. In fact, one came to mind to myself and King UC Cemetery, when it was mentioned by Edward Mountain. I think that that is the appropriate way. You will know also that it is the practice of the UK Government and the Scottish Government not to fund, for example, war memorials, but we did introduce a fund a number of years ago to help people to maintain and improve war memorials where that was required. A number of other contributions—Gordon MacDonald's contribution around his great-grandfather and his support for Jackie Dunbar's point that once a Gordon, always a Gordon. Gordon MacDonald liked that a huge deal, but it is a very good point made in relation to the Gordon Highlanders. It is amazing how many different parts of Scotland claim to be Highlanders. I was in Glasgow today at a remembrance event in the Glasgow Highlanders. There is also a thing, and they say that that is to do with the reputation of Highlanders in Scotland. Christine Grahame mentioned the situation in Glencourts, which is bizarre. The idea that they would close a facility like that, which only recently had £60 million spent on it, I do remember when I did this job before talking to a former UK veterans minister who secretly or confidentially—he is now long since out of the position—said that he could not understand that it was totally treasuray mandated. It made no sense whatsoever, and I hope that, like Christine Grahame, he also believed that it would shortly be turned around and maintained. I hope that that will be the outcome. Can I mention Maggie Chapman's comment, which is really interesting on her contribution? She mentioned once quoting Hamish Henderson—I am not a pacifist, I should make that clear. From her contribution, I think that Maggie Chapman probably is. She mentioned the point about half-wit stunted ill-will, which I thought was fantastic as much of Hamish Henderson's writing is. A fantastic description sometimes of those who are happy to send other people to war, and I think that it is a very important point that she made. I know that those are not necessarily going in the order that I would want to do them, but Liz Smith's point and a number of points about education. It also feeds into, I think, Stephen Kerr's point. It is fair enough to meet the demands of the Scottish Government that we should do more in relation to education. My constituency has the only school in Scotland devoted to the children of personnel in Scotland at Queen Victoria in Dumblane, but if it is a situation where the UK Government decides, as it did about five years ago, to move people from Germany to Scotland to Northern Ireland within the space of 18 months, subject those children to that disruption to three different education systems, I am not sure exactly how the Scottish Government is meant to respond to those demands. Of course, there is more that we should do, and I will go back to Jackie Baillie's point. Liz Smith? I am very grateful to him. I agree with him on that point. Having said that, there were specific issues when it came to the general teaching council in Scotland a few years ago because of the barriers that they had put in place—not deliberately, but they had those barriers in place—that prevented some people who would have been valuable additions to the teaching profession from actually becoming teachers. That cannot be acceptable. It is a very good point, and it has been made to me by a number of personnel or their spouses more often. That is true, and I am pleased that Liz Smith has acknowledged that work has been done. It is also something that was a general teaching council, and it was not a Scottish Government bar, if you like, but it is a fair point that is well made. I will want to come back to the members. There is so much more that I want to respond. There is a real departure, I think, in the Labour Party's approach to these debates from Paul Sweeney. It is also just to say that if people want more money spent on veterans, and if, as seems to be the case, the position is that we should not seek that from the UK Government, just to point out one or two anomalies, the Welsh Government is about to have imposed upon it a commissioner for veterans by the UK Government, which the UK Government will fund. We did this first. It was my idea to do it and we have established that we have paid for it. All I am saying is that, if our continuing demands as a result of UK Government actions—for example, I have mentioned in relation to children that might get moved around the education system—you could also say, which Paul Sweeney mentioned, that the calamity strawdown from Afghanistan produced an immediate demand on mental health services. You have to have a way to plan for that, and if we are not part of that discussion, that is more difficult to do. One other point that I want to make very quickly. I know that this point is—sorry, yes. Paul Sweeney. Giving way on that point, just to clarify the position, we are not certainly saying that the UK Government should not step up to the plate on this. We are really saying that it is not a zero-sum game necessarily, and we need to have efforts innovating at all levels of government to try and produce the best possible outcome. It is not precious about where it comes from, it is just getting more resource into the sector. I acknowledge that point. I am not asking for anybody to be on the side of the Scottish Government to be on the side of veterans. If we are pursuing more money for things that we think are legitimate for veterans, because of actions of the UK Government—sometimes legitimate actions of the UK Government—I would hope that we would get generalised support. Just to say one other thing, because it has not been mentioned, and I think that this is going to become increasingly important—LGBT people who were in the armed forces and the way they were treated—some of them drummed out of the service, disgraced and all the rest of it—huge impact on their lives, and a particular woman. This is going to be a very big issue coming up. I talked to, when I went to the veterans' first point mentioned by Douglas David Torrance in Fife, a woman who has won the first range to go on to a ship. The experience that she had was absolutely horrendous, and it attributes her PTSD to her experience at that time. Those things are going to become very important. I know that having spoken to Mellor on the week, the second state for defence shares that view. In any event, I will sign off her to conclude with a couple of comments that I have heard about remembrance, because that is the day that we are on. Pam Gosall might have gone on, but she made a very important point about the contribution of people from the British Indian Army. I was very pleased earlier on this year to go up to where my own family came from in the north of Scotland to Lairg and to Borora and to Dornach. We went to a thing called the Tin Church in Lairg, which was used as a makeshift mosque during the Second World War by force K6, as there were known soldiers, mostly from Pakistan, from the Punjab area of Pakistan. It came from Pakistan at Churchill's request to the DDA's landings. After that, it went to Wales and came to Scotland, being asked to do mountain arctic warfare training. If you have come from Pakistan, many of you have died during that process. However, it was also true that this Tin Church, which was previously a free church of Scotland, was used by the Muslim soldiers as a mosque. Just the very thought of the call to prayer coming out in the first thing in the morning in Lairg, and hundreds of shoes sitting outside this tiny Tin Church is an amazing part of our cultural history. Pam Gosall was absolutely right that we did not do nearly enough to recognise the contribution that was made from people from Pakistan, from the Indian Army. Of course, it was one thing at that time, and the rest of the Commonwealth and further afield. Just to say, two and a half million men who volunteered for the Indian Army during the Second World War and many millions of others from elsewhere around the Commonwealth, a huge contribution. We, in Scotland, are happy to work with colourful heritage, which is the organisation that is seeking to make sure that we do not forget the contribution that is being made. Just to say that we, of course, have to remember today. Today is the day that we all tend to pay attention at 11 o'clock, two minutes silence, and Sunday, of course, will be a huge day. All members, I think, have said that they intend to be involved in that as well. Just to confirm, of course, that the Scottish Government values and appreciates our relationships with Scotland's diverse South Asian communities, but our faith communities. We welcome the contribution that is made by service personnel from wherever they have come, so, Presiding Officer, Armistice State and Remembrance Day period again serves a vital purpose in allowing everyone in Scotland a moment to pause and to be thankful. We will all have in mind, and many members have said who they would have for me, that the four members are my troop who died during the Falklands war, and others. We all have relatives that we can remember at that time who served in different parts of the armed forces. Remembrance is a time for reflection, and there should always be time within that to reflect on our personal links to the past. It is important that we continue to remember those who served and lost their lives in all conflicts. Not to glorify war and Maggie Chapman was quite right in that, but to recognise the sacrifices that were made to protect the freedoms that we enjoyed today. I also, as a number of other members have said, to make sure that we do not make the same mistakes again. Thank you, cabinet secretary. That concludes the debate on remembrance, commemorations and the Scottish Government's support for veterans and armed forces community in Scotland 2021. I am minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 11.2.4 of the standing orders that decision time be brought forward to now. I invite Stephen Kerr on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move the motion. The question is that decision time be brought forward to now. Are we all agreed? We are all agreed, so we will move to decision time. In fact, there are no questions to be put as a result of today's business, so that concludes decision time. I close this meeting.