 I remind members that social distancing measures are in place in the chamber and across the Hollywood campus. I ask that members take care to preserve those measures, including when entering and exiting the chamber. The next item of business is urgent questions. I should say to those members who are in the main hall or in the public gallery, if you wish to ask a supplementary, please alert one of the clerks and they will ensure that you have access to a microphone. To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Police Scotland and Rangers Football Club regarding the reported Covid-19 regulation breaches, incidences of vandalism, violence and anti-catholic bigotry in Glasgow city centre and at Ibrox stadium in 15 May. Let me welcome you to your post, which I didn't get to do in my last urgent question. In response to James Arnaud's question, I was in regular contact with Police Scotland over the weekend as the appalling events unfolded in Glasgow. First and foremost, I want to record my thanks to the officers on the ground, some of whom suffered injuries as they went about their job. That assault on our officers is simply unacceptable. I am disappointed on many levels with the selfishness of the Covid breaches, but perhaps more so with the violence and vandalism that we saw in George Square and with the anti-catholic bigotry that we saw on display. Since the weekend, my officials and I have continued to liaise with Police Scotland, engage with Rangers Football Club directly to discuss the fall-out and consider next steps. Police Scotland has set up a dedicated team, an online portal, to investigate the George Square incidents. I envisage that arrests will follow in the days and weeks ahead. Rangers are working closely with Police Scotland to identify any supporters who are involved in criminal activity, and I urge Rangers to take strong action against any fan who has found to have broken the law. James Dornan I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Saturday scenes were an utter disgrace, and like many, I am sick and tired of Rangers fans thinking they are above the law. Vandalism, violence between themselves and towards the police, anti-catholic bigotry and anti-Irish racism shows us that we have a major problem in Scotland and we must tackle it. The blame for the abhorrence scenes lies squarely with Rangers fans and attendants, but the club itself has a major role to play in both the messages that it sends and the behaviour of club members. Can I ask the cabinet secretary how Saturday's chaos could affect Glasgow's Covid rate, which is already concerning, and what actions the Government is taking and intends to take to eradicate anti-catholic bigotry and anti-Irish racism in Scotland? James Dornan probably expresses the anger that many citizens of Glasgow, but I suspect even those right across the country, feel. What I will say in relation to Rangers Football Club is in fairness to the club. It has engaged for a number of weeks with Police Scotland, with the Scottish Government, with Glasgow City Council, and it has released a statement asking its fans, pleading with its fans, to respect the Covid guidelines. What I would say is that I would have liked that messaging to have been probably more explicit and stronger, but none the less that messaging did come forth. However, I think that James Dornan hits on an important point here, that as much as people may, and I think that legitimately, of course, I ask, could government have done more, could police have done more, could the club have done more, let's not forget that the responsibility for those scenes that we saw, those dreadful scenes, lies on the shoulders of those individuals who took part in that disorder. There must be personal responsibility for those who don't need government to tell them, don't need police to tell them, don't need a football club to tell them that we are in the midst of a global pandemic. Personal responsibility must be taken, as I say, Police Scotland will follow up. In terms of the health impact, Professor Jason Leitch, I heard him this morning on Good Morning Scotland, and he was saying from a clinical perspective that we may never know if mass gatherings byrangers, fans and Glasgow will be a superspreader event, of course, while expressing disappointment at the event, and we'll just need to see how the data looks in the coming weeks. In terms of the points that James Dornan raises around anti-Catholic and anti-Irish bigotry, it is disgusting, it is disgraceful, I have zero tolerance for it. I don't doubt for a second that it will be part of the investigations that Police Scotland have committed to following up, and every single one of us has a responsibility to call it out and call it what it is. James Dornan. I do thank Police Scotland, welcome Police Scotland, establishing a dedicated inquiry team to investigate the carnage at George Square. However, we also need to take steps from preventing these abhorrent scenes in the first place. As the cabinet secretary is well aware, I've been pushing strict liability for the years whereby clubs are held responsible for the actions of their fans, and whilst I do accept that personal responsibility is at the core of this, over the years I've been met with denial by football authorities and clubs and had death threats from rangers fans. Can I ask the cabinet secretary if he'll speak with rangers to ask them to reflect on what more they could have done as a club, what they can do in the future to dampen this climate of hate and intimidation? Will he consider legislating to introduce strict liability, or even better, work with the SFA and SPFL with a view of implementing it to ensure that scenes such as Saturday are never seen in the streets of Glasgow again from so-called football fans? I certainly am happy to take that conversation forward, or indeed, of course, after tomorrow's events, whoever is in post, the cabinet secretary for justice working alongside any minister that has responsibility for sport. I think that it is important to engage with the clubs, and it is important to try to bring the clubs forward with us in this journey, as opposed to trying to impose measures upon them. Ultimately, that is what we may have to do. If the clubs are unwilling to acknowledge, unwilling to accept, unwilling to confront the fact that there is a problem among some fans, then, of course, we may have to work together as a chamber or as a Parliament to find a solution that is appropriate. However, I urge—we've just heard some excellent speeches—I urge parliamentarians to work collaboratively together, many here, right across the chamber, our football fans of various clubs. I think that we have a responsibility to work together to try to find a solution and a long-standing, lasting solution to this. However, I am happy to, in my role, and I am sure that whoever is the cabinet secretary for justice, I will be happy to work with James Dornan, because he has championed this issue. Strict liability, as one of those options, is one that should remain firmly on the table. I will take Pauline McNeill to be followed by Patrick Harvie. Given that Glasgow witnessed disorder and violence by some range of supporters in George Square only a few months previously, why did we not learn from this? However, in relation to the obscene anti-Catholic bigotry and anti-Irish racism, which I am pleased the First Minister and the Justice Secretary rightly called out, does the First Minister acknowledge that the Catholic community is sick and tired of this? We need everyone to work together, including the football organisations, and they need to take a much tougher stance than they have done previously, with zero tolerances to bigotry wherever it is found, football and beyond. I absolutely agree with Pauline McNeill's articulation on the problem. Let me say on her first question what we have learned in relation to the disorder that we saw in March. I would say to Pauline McNeill that this is extended to any other member. Having spoken to Police Scotland, they are willing to speak to any member of the Parliament to explain to them why the operational decisions were taken as they were taken. There is not an easy answer to this. People think that we can just throw 10,000 people in the back of a police van or in custody suites overnight, but that cannot be done. Therefore, ensuring that the disorder did not take place in the very heart of our communities was one of the very difficult decisions that Police Scotland had to try to take. Those operational questions are very legitimate for Pauline McNeill and other members to ask. Having spoken to Police Scotland, they have said to me that they are absolutely willing to do that. On the substance of her question about anti-Catholic hatred and anti-Irish hatred, I am disgusted by it. I think that she is absolutely correct to say that the Irish community, members of the Catholic community, have faced this for far too long. Perhaps, collectively as the Parliament, we have not done enough to call it out and accept that from my own Government perspective. I woke up this morning to two rabid anti-Catholic messages that I have reported to Police Scotland. I am neither a Catholic nor an Irish, but that hatred was directed towards me. I am intending to call out and I have reported it already to the police this morning. On this issue, I suspect that we will have support, we will have collaboration and I am happy to work with any member right across the chamber on calling out hatred and bigotry of any kind. To reinforce James Dornan's point, given that so many thousands of fans are clearly unwilling or incapable of listening to encouragement and appeals for civilised behaviour, is it not abundantly clear that we are only going to see significant change when every fan of every club knows that any hint of vandalism, violence, anti-social behaviour or bigotry will bring not only criminal sanctions for themselves as an individual but immediate and severe sanctions for the club that they follow, whether through the law or through the football authorities? Patrick Harvie makes a strong point, as did James Dornan. Strict liability should be on the table. Other suggestions that I have heard that should be on the table include potentially an independent regulator, as has been discussed for the English game. Therefore, if football is unable to regulate itself, perhaps somebody independent to look at that should be considered. I think that the clubs could also take stronger action. I have referenced in my opening answer that Rangers Football Club has committed to work with Police Scotland. I hope that any supporter, any fan, anybody involved in Rangers Football Club that has been found guilty of being involved in anti-catholic bigotry or vandalism or disorder will get a lifetime ban from the club. That is a punishment that probably fans would fear the most. I think that Patrick Harvie's points are well made. As I say, this Government will work cross-party to come to some my hope solution and hopefully we can bring the clubs with us on this journey. Liam Kerr, to be followed by Co-Cab Stewart. The scenes that we saw at the weekend were disgraceful. The attacks on our excellent police officers were particularly reprehensible. Crucially, coronavirus and the public health advice do not distinguish between reasons for gatherings, noting only that the risk of transmission is increased where they occur. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that to avoid public confusion it is very important to ensure consistency of public health messaging by advising against all gatherings? That absolutely is important. I get the point that Liam Kerr is trying to make. I stood here on Friday to an urgent question on Friday. I think that it was Alex Cole-Hamilton that asked me a supplementary question. I made it abundantly clear that any gatherings of any sort should not happen. We have said that from the podium of daily briefings. I have said—the First Minister has said—that if it was not for Covid regulations, we would have been, for example, at Kenmore Street, but we did not go, because any gathering of any sort is not something that we would encourage because of the public health emergency. However, I would say to Liam Kerr very genuinely that we did not see thuggish, loutish behaviour in Kenmore Street. We did not see disorder. We did not see protesters punching police officers. We did not see protesters urinating in public. We did not hear anti-catholic bigotry on Kenmore Street or, indeed, in some of the other gatherings. When it comes to the public health emergency, it is absolutely right. It does not distinguish, but let us not think that there is an absolute equivalence between what we saw at the weekend, those scenes of disorder, and what we saw in Pollock Shields or, indeed, in some other gatherings over the weekend. I will continue to do what is important and necessary in the public health interest. I hope that we can get the support of other parties in that endeavour. As the MSP for Glasgow Kelvin constituency that covers George Square, I have been contacted by numerous residents that live in the city centre and, along with myself, are appalled and disgusted by the behaviour of, frankly, a mob in the guise of football fans. Will the minister agree that my constituents in Glasgow Kelvin should not have to listen to such bigotry and racism and witness such disgusting violence and vandalism in their streets? What steps is the minister taking to prevent a repeat of those shameful events? First of all, I welcome Colcab Stewart to this chamber. I am delighted that she has been elected. I do not know whether that is her first intervention, but I suspect that it may well be. It is not a surprise to me that she has hit the ground running asking questions on behalf of her constituents within the first per week of parliamentary business. To answer her question directly, I will ensure that Police Scotland speaks to her and de-refer it as the local constituency MSP. I know that she has made that request. It is important that people can ask Police Scotland. I support the actions taken by Police Scotland over the weekend, but it is important that people ask those questions on behalf of their constituents about those operational matters. We will do our best to stop gatherings like that from taking place and disorder from taking place. Police Scotland will always do that in the best interest of public order and public safety. However, can I go back to the point that I made to James Dornan at the beginning of the question exchange? People must accept personal responsibility. You do not need the Government, nor police, nor football clubs to tell you that assaulting police officers is wrong, or that running a mock and creating disorder or vandalism in our city centre is wrong, or that uniting a public is wrong, or that engaging in anti-catholic bigotry is wrong. You should know that they are growing men and women taking part in those scenes that we saw over the weekend. The cocaps tour has my absolute commitment that we will work closely with any stakeholder, clubs, city council, police, to ensure that we can prevent things like that in the future. However, we must, too, be absolutely emphatic in saying that people hold personal responsibility for their actions, and that is why Police Scotland will follow up in the coming weeks. We now move on to the second urgent question from Sandesh Gulhane, who is joining us remotely. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on rising Covid-19 cases in Glasgow and parts of the greater Glasgow area. May I welcome Dr Gulhane to Parliament on the occasion of his first question to ministers? In her statement to Parliament on Friday 14 May, the First Minister outlined the latest status of the outbreaks in both Murray and Glasgow City, highlighting the public health response and plans to engage with local leaders, including around a package of support for the community and those affected. In the course of the last few days, there has been a significant expansion of the testing programme and capacity within the communities, most directly affected by the increase in cases. That has also been supported by an expansion of the vaccination programme. The First Minister committed to reviewing the situation again at the end of this week. That will include a review of any further areas where concerns emerge, and the formulation of an appropriate response to any such developments. As a GP and coming from Indian heritage, I am aware of the hesitancy of vaccine updates by members of ethnic minorities, and they are at greater risk of a bad outcome. I would like to ask what measures will the Scottish Government provide to ensure that we appeal to and convince those who are hesitant to take up the vaccine. I think that this is a very significant issue that has been raised by Dr Gulhane, and I give him the assurance that the approaches taken in relation to the deployment and delivery of the vaccination programme have been specifically designed to address the very issue that he raises. By ensuring that communication and messages around the advantages of the vaccination programme are delivered within the communities that are affected, we identify and encourage members of the community to exercise a role in communicating the advantages of taking forward the vaccination programme, and to ensure that all individuals who have been eligible and will be in the future are supported by particular messaging of encouragement to take up the vaccination. Obviously, there are challenges in trying to reach some of the affected communities, but I assure Dr Gulhane of the specific communication measures that have been taken to make sure that that is in fact the case, and we will sustain those during this very critical period ahead. Mr Gulhane. Glasgow businesses thrive on people visiting the city from other parts of their country, to shop, to go to its restaurants and pubs, and are hard hit by the current non-essential travel restrictions in force. At what assessment has the Scottish Government undertaken to ensure that the £750 that they are receiving is sufficient to support effective businesses through the continued restrictions? Cabinet Secretary. There is obviously a necessity for us in those circumstances to take action, which none of us would ordinarily want to take, which essentially restricts movement because of the need to address the public health challenge that is before us. So the conditions that are being applied in the city of Glasgow, we would prefer not to have to put in place, but we have to do so because of the public health imperative. The financial support that has been made available is regularly reviewed to determine its effectiveness and its appropriateness. It is consistent with the approaches that we have taken in other parts of the country and in other similar circumstances. We hope that those restrictions will only have to last for a shorter period as possible, but during that period we will continue to review and engage with the business community around the detail and the substance of the financial support that is available. There is a great deal of interest in those questions, as you would expect. I am going to take Paul O'Kane to be followed by Pam Gossel. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and on my first contribution in this chamber, I congratulate you on being elected to the chair. We are now in a race against time between new variants spreading and the number of people vaccinated. That is particularly true in places such as Eshraim Feshire in my region and indeed Midlothian, where numbers are rising. Many local people and businesses I have spoken to are extremely anxious given speculation that Eshraim Feshire may move backwards to level 3 restrictions, just a matter of days after moving to level 2. Pass experience has shown us what is required to get outbreaks of the virus under control, and early evidence suggests that vaccines remain effective against the so-called Indian variant. It is imperative that businesses are able to plan as far ahead as possible in the face of spikes such as the ones that we are seeing in Eshraim Feshire, particularly given that many staff in businesses have been taken on in anticipation of restrictions easing that are not covered by UK furlough schemes. Does the Deputy First Minister agree that the Government needs to urgently prioritise an action plan for affected areas, which will ramp up vaccinations and testing and ensure proper measures for supporting local business to survive any changes and restrictions put in place at short notice? First of all, I welcome Mr Keane to Parliament and wish him well in representing his constituents. He raises a number of very significant issues and what I would assure him about is that we are carefully monitoring, on a daily basis, the progress of virus levels in every part of the country to ensure that we are able to signal where we may have to take action in due course. I am sure that Mr Keane will accept, as I am sure that Parliament will accept, that some of those circumstances can change quite dramatically over a relatively short space of time. We are reviewing that information and where we need to take action, we will do so. Having said that, I also accept the very clear view that I have heard from the business community that it wishes to avoid situations where there is volatility in level setting. We all agree that that is an undesirable situation to be in. We were keen to move, as a whole country, down the levels last week. That had been our intention but, for understandable reasons in Murray and Glasgow, we were unable to make the change from level 3 to level 2. However, we will be trying to minimise the degree of volatility in those judgments that are made at any stage. The last point that I would make is that there will be a need for on-going dialogue with the business community around the measures that are necessary to support recovery during these uncertain times. I give Mr Keane and Parliament the assurance that ministers will be engaged in that dialogue on an on-going basis to make sure that we support Covid recovery in every respect in our communities and that we try to manage our way through those challenging times. Obviously, the more there is public compliance with the measures that are in place, the quicker we can get those outbreaks under control, and I would encourage such an approach to be taken in due course. I thank you, Presiding Officer, and I would also like to extend my congratulations to you. To ask the Scottish Government what actions the Government is taking to encourage people from the ethnic minority communities with lower vaccination uptake to make an appointment with their first dose as soon as possible, given the potential risks from the new Indian variant. First of all, I welcome Pam Gossel to Parliament and wish her well in representing her constituents. I covered a number of those points in my response to Sandesh Gulhane in my earlier answers, but it is important that we all, as members of Parliament, have a role here where we can encourage members of different communities to take up the vaccination. It is clear from all the available data that vaccination provides a very substantial level of protection to any individual from the virus. On the early evidence so far—I stress it—it is early evidence that the existing vaccinations are providing a very robust protection against the so-called Indian variant. My message would be—and it is reinforced by the Government's communication work and the public health work that is undertaken—of the advantages of vaccination for every member of our community, as it offers a higher degree of protection in all circumstances. We have taken steps over the past few days to reinforce that message, particularly given the intensity of the outbreak in the south-side area of Glasgow. We will continue to do so in the coming weeks. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is writing to all those in the G41 and G42 postcode sectors to ask them to get tested. We know that surge testing works best when you go door to door. Any medical intervention should always be voluntary, but uptake is greatly heightened when the opportunity for a test appears on your doorstep. Can I ask the Deputy First Minister what consideration his Government is giving to that measure? In addition to the written correspondence to which Mr Cole Hamilton refers, there are a number of steps that have been taken to deploy various aspects of testing capacity right into the heart of those communities. Lateral flow devices for self-testing are available from the Glasgow central mosque and seven other sites at mosques and Islamic education centres. As of Friday, more than 3,000 boxes of seven-pack test kits have been distributed through those channels. Eleven local test sites in Glasgow have been adapted to operate as dual PCR and lateral flow device sites all day from Saturday—across the working hours, eight in the morning to eight at night. Mobile testing units have been deployed in a number of locations. We are also working with Glasgow City Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to deliver lateral flow devices to more than 30,000 households early this week, and we will have 40,000 packs in Glasgow in the course of this week. There are a number of steps that have been taken to directly distribute lateral flow tests directly to households, and we will continue to review all possible steps to make sure that we maximise uptake to minimise the spread of the virus by maximising testing capability within individual households. My apologies to those members who have been unable to take it. I move on to question 3, and I call Monica Lennon. I refer to my register of interest as a member of the United Nations Union and the GMB. To ask the Scottish Government, further to green-sil capital entering administration, what action it is taking to mitigate the risk to jobs, vital industries and public finances in Scotland. Can I also welcome you, Presiding Officer, to your role? In answer to Monica Lennon, on 24 March, the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing, gave a statement to Parliament outlining the potential impacts of green-sil capital UK limiters entering into administration on Scottish businesses. In particular, his statement focused on the potential impacts to the Lochaber aluminium smelter and the DL steelworks. The Scottish Government's priority is to support Scotland's steel and aluminium sectors, and the highly skilled jobs that it provides. A ministerial task group and officials have been active throughout the election period, engaging with local management at Lepidge steel and the Lochaber smelter, union representatives, the STUC, GFG and the UK Government. The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism met MSPs and MPs across the parties in April to provide an update on the GFG Alliance situation, and we will continue to update parties across the Parliament. I thank the cabinet secretary for her response. When the cabinet secretary for rural economy gave that update to Parliament, he gave the impression that the GFG Alliance only needed to refinance. However, with the reported collapse of rescue deal talks, the situation is increasingly worrying for workers in local communities such as those at Clydebridge and DL in my own parliamentary region. At least 340 jobs in Scotland are at risk, and Scottish Government deals, which have promised more jobs in the future, are now looking doubtful. We welcome the engagement that is on-going, but what are the contingency plans in place to protect these vital jobs and industries, and if the GFG Alliance fails to refinance, will the Government bring the Lochaber smelter under public ownership? As the member will be aware, and as would have been relayed to her at the time of refinancing, she understands it and should understand it, it is a sensitive commercial matter for the GFG Alliance, and we need to be careful not to prejudice or undermine that process. However, I think that the member was alluding to the fact that this is a potentially changing situation. Clearly, the ministerial task group, which has been involved in two ministers and two cabinet secretaries regularly throughout this period, has been ensuring that we have clarity and understanding of what, as you can understand, is a very complex situation. Our current plans are not to take into public ownership any of the sites. However, as we did when we intervened to save the sites previously, we will look at all options as required when those situations present themselves. However, as of now, we are monitoring the situation. We are keeping very close contact, as she will be aware, with the management and workforce unions in both sites. It is important that they will have relayed to her, as they have relayed to us, that we have confidence in those sites, that we recognise the skills and strategic assets that those sites present. I now call Clare Adamson to be followed by Maurice Golden. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I also welcome you to your new role. Cabinet Secretary, you talked about the skills of the workforce at Diel and Clyde bridge. As someone who served on the steel task force last time, I recognise that it is their skill and dedication that has secured production over the past five years. Can you ask how we can now engage, given the collegiate nature of the last steel task force, how elected members can engage with the Government in support of their efforts, and how will you keep us informed of any developments in a timuous manner? The local constituency member is right to emphasise the need to work collaboratively and collegially across the chamber. That is what we have been doing and will continue to do. I think that it is also important that we recognise that we have had assurances that the group's aluminium and steel operations here in Scotland are performing well and benefiting from strong order books and rising prices. Together with the experience and skills that she refers to in the workforce, those are important foundations on which we can build as we chart a way forward when things become clearer. I think that the point about keeping members informed is really important, and that is why my colleague Fyrus Ewing has done that in recent weeks, and we are committed to doing so. Indeed, at our last meeting only two days ago, we were discussing when might be the appropriate point, recognising that, although I welcome you back because you are in your constituency capacity, there are many new members from different parties, and it is important that we make sure that they are properly briefed as well, and we will take an early opportunity to do that. Maurice Golden, to be followed by Daniel Johnson. Simple question, exactly how much is the Scottish taxpayer potentially liable for? Well clearly, as the Parliament would expect, we have taken a series of securities over the assets of the GFG Alliance at Lochaber. We have not published details, you can understand some of the commercial confidential issues involved in that. However, the full details of the total exposure and the securities were shared with the Scottish Parliament's Finance and Constitution Committee in 2016, when they approved the guarantee. We recently updated the Finance Committee with GFG's business plans, and that correspondence is publicly available. Daniel Johnson, to your position. I wrote to the Auditor General at the beginning of April, asking him to look into those matters, and he confirmed that, in the last consolidated audits, he expressed concern about the lack of a clear framework regarding the Scottish Government's interventions into private companies. Does the cabinet secretary share that concern, and what actions has the Scottish Government taken to correct that, since those consolidated accounts were provided in December 2020? The member may be aware, but the permanent secretary has given evidence, I think that it may have been to the Audit Committee, but I'm happy to correct that, if that's not the case, setting out how the Scottish Government would approach situations in the future. Indeed, the advice from that, and indeed from the Auditor General, has been taken on board. Indeed, I have ensured that, in the operation of the Ministerial Task Force to date, we have been carrying out the principles and practice as recommended in that, and has been set out by the permanent secretary in her evidence. Thank you. That concludes urgent questions, and it's now time to move on to the next item of business. The next item of business is consideration of business motion 00045, in the name of Graham Day, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a business programme for Thursday. Any member who wishes to speak against the motion should press their request to speak button now. I call on Graham Day to move the motion. Therefore, the question is that motion 45 be agreed, are we all agreed? Or agreed, and that concludes business for today, and I conclude this meeting of Parliament.