 Mae blisnysau y", i'r gweithio i'r môl, yn 12845, yn y rhai Angus Robertson, ar y Stryd Scyddorol Cymru. Rwy'n dechrau'n gwybod a'n fawr i'r gweithio, gan ymdrygiadau i'r rai gweithio i'n dweud. A nu o'r ddechrau'n gwybod, I invite Angus Robertson to speak to and move the motion, cabinet secretary, around 13 minutes please. Thanks very much, Presiding Officer. This is the first opportunity since the Easter break to note some significant developments in relation to culture. So I begin by taking the opportunity to thank everybody who did so much to promote Scottish culture in the run-up to an on-tartend day itself, which was marked on the 6th of April in the United States of America and in Canada. Those included the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Lyceum Theatre amongst many others. I also put on record my sincere condolences following the untimely death of Scott Williamson, the consul general of New Zealand, to Scotland in recent days. Presiding Officer, I'm delighted to have the opportunity to open this debate on the Scottish Government's international culture strategy, which was published on 28 March this year. I know that all members of this Parliament will recognise the importance of our culture and create a sector to our communities, our society and our economy. I know that members will also recognise the importance of international activity to these vital sectors. The ability to collaborate across borders is key to developing opportunities for our creative professionals to make our culture and create a sector more diverse and vibrant and to reach new audiences and markets. While that makes a sector stronger internationally, it also supports the vibrancy and the diversity of Scotland's domestic cultural scene and helps us to contribute to global dialogue on some of the key challenges of our time. For the first time, our strategy will set out a strategic approach to these issues, and while we have supported the sector's international work, this strategy will seek to maximise its potential and to provide coherence to that approach. We're starting from a strong position, I believe, notwithstanding ongoing challenges. Scotland's deep and rich culture and creativity is recognised across the world, and the culture and creative sector is respected internationally for its creative output, but also for the approaches, business models and ideas that are inherent within the sector. In recent years, the sector has faced a range of challenges that have had a particular impact on their ability to carry out many international activities. The restrictions that resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic meant that creative professionals were, for the most part, unable to tour and exhibit as they had done before. This has been compounded by the increasing costs that we have seen in recent years, and we, as a Government, continue to work to support the sector to recover from these impacts, including a commitment to invest at least £100 million more annually in culture by the financial year 2028-29. However, those efforts have been further hampered by the ongoing impact to the UK's exit from the European Union. The UK Government's decision to leave the EU has put in place a range of barriers to international activity in one of our most important international markets. Creative professionals now often require costly visas or work permits to carry out activities such as touring in the EU and face extensive customs requirements for moving equipment and merchandise. In addition, the loss of access to key EU programmes such as Creative Europe has not only impacted funding in the sector, but has removed an important means of facilitating cross-border partnerships and collaborations. While we have taken action to mitigate these impacts, including through the funding of the Arts Info Point UK Mobility Support Service, the failure of the UK Government to negotiate favourable agreements for creative professionals with the EU means that extensive barriers to international activity remain. Our approach aims to ensure that international engagement is a key element of sectoral recovery from recent challenges and supports its long-term development and its resilience. It is in this context that this Government is committed to developing our international culture strategy in order to maximise a sector's international potential in a coherent manner. The overarching vision of this strategy is for Scotland's culture and creative sector to be globally connected and to have the means and the opportunities to achieve its international potential. It also envisages that the sector will further contribute to Scotland's cultural, social, economic and environmental well-being through its international activity. To achieve that, the strategy sets out three strategic outcomes. Those are, as follows, firstly, to support an innovative, more sustainable and economically stronger culture and creative sector, secondly, to develop an internationally connected and diverse culture and creative sector that contributes positively to people and communities, and thirdly, to enhance Scotland's international reputation for culture and creativity, including our response to global challenges. The strategy also considers the wider, of course, happy to give way. On the point of enhancing culture in Scotland, is the cabinet secretary concerned about the recent comments made in relation to Edinburgh fringe and does he agree with me that urgent action is needed to make sure that we do not know is one of the biggest events that people come to Scotland to see? As speaking both, there is a cabinet secretary for culture but also the MSP for Edinburgh central. I am sure that she appreciates as a matter that is close to my heart. I strongly support all efforts of building the resilience of the Edinburgh festival fringe. It is also important that one does not play up existential concerns but at the same time it is really important that wherever intervention is necessary, that is something that the Government is committed to. The conversations that we have with the Edinburgh festival fringe and others, because as we know there has been distress across the culture sector, is on-going and it will continue. I hope that I will have the support of other political parties in this chamber in securing the funding that we all know is necessary to make sure that we can ensure the resilience of the sector in the years ahead. Of course. Neil Bibby, thank you cabinet secretary for taking the intervention. I share the concern that Meghan Gallagher has raised about the need to support Edinburgh fringe and I know what the cabinet secretary has said. Cabinet secretary said that there was a fear of playing up existential crisis. Who is playing up existential crisis? I just heard from the Conservative front bench the concern that the Edinburgh festival fringe might not be able to continue. It is that kind of playing up concerns that I do not think is helpful for the Edinburgh festival fringe or any other festival for that matter. There is no matter of dispute that the cultural sector here, indeed in many other countries, has been going through a period of extraordinary distress over recent years. I know that we are all committed to see resilience and recovery in the sector and to that end wherever colleagues from different political perspectives have particular views on where extra funding might be sought or where other interventions may be secured. Mr Bibby knows that my door is open to them and I look forward to suggestions from both of the front benches in the course of today's statement. I'd be interested to hear what they have to say in terms of specific commitments but also suggestions in general. Forgive me, I've already given way twice. I want to make a bit more progress until it's absolutely clear how much my time remains but I will happily give way to Mr Stewart if my time allows. At turning to the issue of international mobility, mobility underpins activities across the culture and the creative sector. It allows creative professionals in Scotland to take their work to other countries and their counterparts from around the world to come to Scotland. A key area of action for this strategy will be efforts to mitigate the barriers to international mobility that have been put in place by Brexit, including working to push the UK government and EU to support visa-free arrangements for touring artists and working with the sector to explore new ways to support international mobility. Mobility is of course a key element of cultural export and exchange activity in the sector but cultural export activity goes far beyond this. In 2021, exports from the sector stood at £3.8 billion driven by an extensive and diverse range of activities supported both by commercial and public organisations. It will be necessary to build upon the success by developing connections, providing platforms, supporting organisations, all to develop the skills and the capacity to work internationally. Therefore, we will undertake a feasibility study into the development of a support service for cultural export and exchange. It would be good to hear from other parties whether that is an initiative that they would support. Our screen sector is also one of our most valuable assets in terms of cultural exports, and so we also work with Screen Scotland and our enterprise agencies to seek new opportunities abroad to support and grow the screen sector. On cultural reputation, as I have already said, this strategy also considers culture's role in how we as a nation respond to global challenges. To quote culture counts in their response to the public consultation on this strategy, and I quote them, the strength of Scotland's cultural reputation brings us a voice in international dialogue far beyond our size. This demonstrates the impact and success that our culture and creative sector already has internationally, but it also shows us the value that it can bring and why we must build on it. There is no escaping the fact that international cultural engagement and associated travel has implications for our work towards Scotland being a net zero contributor of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. At the same time, however, culture can help to bring new perspectives and ideas to discussions on how to tackle climate change. Scotland's culture and creative sectors are already showing leadership on schemes supporting environmental sustainability. Those include the Green Arts initiative, which supports Scottish arts and cultural organisations to reduce their impact on the climate and the environment. Historic environment Scotland's work to protect heritage from climate impacts is also world leading and can influence others in their approach. The Scottish Government will engage with the work that seeks to develop environmentally sustainable models for international cultural engagement and will consider what steps can be taken to support organisations to assess and balance their environmental impact. The strategy also recognises that culture has a unique and important role to play in addressing historic injustices. While in 2024 Scotland has a strong international image and a desire to be a good global citizen, we must recognise that historically our country has not always played a positive role. Cultural connections can seek to address, understand and recognise our role in historic injustices, including slavery and empire. For example, there are examples of objects that were acquired by Scottish collections unethically in the past, and recently some institutions have sought to address this through restitution of those objects. The empire, slavery and Scotland's museums project, which was co-ordinated by museums gallery Scotland and sponsored by the Scottish Government, has published recommendations for the Scottish Government for addressing legacies of historic injustice. As part of the strategy, we will support the implementation of the recommendations of this report, including championing the development of bespoke national guidance for repatriating objects acquired unethically. At this stage, I am looking to Mr Stewart, given that I have a little bit of time in offering him the opportunity to remember the question that he was wanting to ask. Alexander Stewart. I thank the cabinet secretary for taking the time. We talked about funding issues and relief when it came to the sector, and he was keen on that. I would like to ask the cabinet secretary his views on the UK Government's higher rate of tax relief to theatres, museums and art galleries, and how that has affected the sector and the support that it is giving to the sector. Well, as somebody who was in conversation with a treasurer to ask for this to happen, I am delighted that it has. I think that it is really important that we have not only what would have been a temporary relief but a longer-term horizon on that, so I am absolutely delighted to be able to put on record my appreciation for that continuing, my praise for all of the cultural organisations that, together with the Scottish Government, were pushing so strongly and so convincingly for it to happen, and I hope that he will continue to work with us in pressing the Treasury to retain that level of financial commitment in the future. It does matter to organisations and venues going forward. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, I have set out here today just some of the actions that this strategy will take forward. I believe it to be ambitious and comprehensive, building upon much of the work that has already been taken forward by this Government and our agencies. At its heart, this strategy will prioritise working alongside our culture and creative sector, collaborating with and drawing on the knowledge and expertise of those who know the sector best. I hope that this strategy will also play a positive role in initiating discussion and debate on how we can support international activity in the sector, how culture can help to address global issues, and how the sector in Scotland can realise its full potential internationally. Therefore, I look forward to that on-going dialogue on the chamber here today with organisations and individuals working in the sector and across society, and I am content to move the motion that stands in my name. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. I remind those who are looking to participate in the debate and have not already pressed their buttons to please do so for those making interventions as well. I remind them that pressing your intervention button as well as asking for the intervention would be very helpful, particularly those joining us online. I call Meghan Gallagher to speak to it and move amendment 12845.2, around nine minutes, Ms Gallagher. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I apologise for being guilty of that this afternoon. However, I move the amendment in my name and can I also associate myself with the remarks that the cabinet secretary made about Scott Williamson, council general of New Zealand to Scotland. There are many areas where Angus Robertson and I will disagree when it comes to the constitution and how best to expand Scotland's international culture. However, let me begin with some consensus this afternoon, one that is often overlooked in this chamber when partaking in debates, because we are all passionate about Scotland. Being elected to the Scottish Parliament comes with a responsibility. It is our responsibility for us to do everything that we can to make Scotland the best possible place to live, work, invest and visit. We have some of the most breathtakingly beautiful landscapes the world over and we have a deep, rooted history, one that makes us who we are today as Scots. We want Scotland to be the best it can be and we want to make sure that our heritage and our culture is protected. That is who we are as a nation. We are fiercely proud. Scotland's culture is among the most vibrant in the world and, of course, it should be promoted internationally. However, to grow our culture sector internationally, first we must ensure that it is thriving here in Scotland. To do that, the Scottish Government must focus on the domestic challenges that our culture sector is facing. We must harness the power of our culture sector before it is too late. Our culture sector has been through the mill in recent times. Of that, there can be no doubt. A successful business model needs strong foundations to grow. If the domestic flagship model is not working, then it is impossible to expand your global reach. Covid-19 certainly had an impact on the sector, but we are now two years on and we still need a long-term plan, not just an international plan, to restore and grow our culture sector. Many local tourism and culture services have not reopened their doors and too frequently we are seeing reports that many are being forced to close their doors for good. Recently we heard that Visit Scotland is closing their centres and that is the recent casualty in a long line of tourism businesses suffering from savage Scottish Government cuts. Those are the domestic challenges that this Government needs to address, otherwise we will not have the heritage, historical and cultural landmarks to promote internationally. Our creative industries are far too important. They contribute over £5 billion to our economy each year, providing some 90,000 jobs. In Scotland's art sphere for the future of Scottish culture we should stop and listen. That is not just my opinion, it is shared by writers and filmmakers after the closure of a film project in a book festival in an art magazine in Glasgow. That is the aftermath of the Government's decision to cut 10 per cent of funding to Creative Scotland, especially when Scotland's average culture spend is one of the lowest in Europe. Creative Scotland chief executive Ian Monroe has warned committee that parts of the creative sector will collapse if funding is not increased. I agreed with Claire Adamson when she said in November last year that the Scottish Government needs to restore the confidence of Scotland's culture sector. However, I am afraid that this document does not do that. That Government appears to be no more than what I see as a rehash of the independence white paper on culture published in February of this year, and the similarities are quite something. As with any white paper published by the Government, it glosses over any responsibility held by the SNP and deflects directly on to others. I think that the Scottish Government needs to be honest with itself. Has the Government assessed the economic damage to our culture sector should Scotland ever leave the United Kingdom? I thank the member for taking intervention. On the subject of being honest with ourselves, would she agree that anybody that cheers to the echo, the cuts to the Scottish Government's budget from Westminster and then demands more money for every area of spending would be the very definition of rank hypocrisy? I think that Keith Brown really needs to look at his own Government spending. On the amount of money that has been squandered over the years by the SNP Government, that money could easily have been diverted into areas and sectors that need it most, including, by the way, our culture sector that we are debating this afternoon. If this Government is being completely transparent with the public, work should have been done on this. However, I get to see anything that shows the reality of what the SNP's overall aim is. That brings me on to the case study that has been used of Quebec. Using another pro-separation movement as a benchmark for the paper is, in my view, not the right thing to do. It is not credible and it certainly does not give the full picture of what the overall policy aims are. This was highlighted by the National Gallery Scotland during the consultation stage of the document when they said, we believe that a light touch approach to furthering cultural relations builds on the existing strings of Scotland's cultural sector will likely bring more benefits than a heavy-handed top-down approach from Government that links culture too closely with explicit foreign policy aims. The Government motion is typical of the SNP. It is one that I feel does not address the priorities of the sector here, but it is in favour of promoting the SNP and their party's priorities elsewhere, and that, in my view, is definitely and absolutely the wrong way round. It will not help anyone in the sector long-term. However, when launching the document, Angus Roberson did say, our festivals, vibrant music scene and rich cultural heritage bring people from across the world to Scotland. That, of course, is true, but, as I have already raised in the exchange between myself and the cabinet secretary just moments ago, there are concerns about the future of Edinburgh Fringe. That is not me that is saying that. That is others that are saying that. It has been reported, of course, in the press. Big names such as Gail Porter, for example, are being priced out of attending the festival in our own home city due to overpriced accommodation. That raises another problem for Scotland's cultural sector. Laws and policies such as short-term lets brought in by the Government are having a detrimental impact on our culture sector. I hope that, in terms of suggestions and being helpful, the cabinet secretary understands those concerns that are being raised because, if the fringe is reduced or it is not held to the current capacity, a huge part of our culture will go with it. That includes platforms for new talent and the huge local economic advantages that it brings. It would be a travesty if anything should happen to the fringe and the Scottish Government would have something to do with that for bringing in incompatible legislation. Presiding Officer, I do not have too much time left, but if I may quickly summarise the points that I have made today. The culture sector needs a Government focused on fixing issues created domestically by the SNP Green Coalition. It needs a Government that is working on an international strategy, not rehashing independent documents pretending that they have all of the priorities right. The culture sector needs a light-touch approach from this Government, not a heavy-handed policy vehicle that links culture too closely with its own foreign policy aims. I now call Neil Bibby to speak to and move amendment 12845.1. Mr Bibby, around seven minutes please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I move the amendment in my name and I join others in paying condolences to the loved ones of Scott Williamson. We can rightly be proud of our culture here in Scotland from the songs of Robert Burns to the poems of Dame Caroline Duffy. This nation has produced some of the greatest cultural works, and those have made an invaluable contribution not only to our nation but also to the whole world. This legacy lives on, but we must also recognise a huge contribution today's cutting edge creators make here at home and abroad. Our screen sector brings millions of pounds to the Scottish economy, as do our video games makers. The Royal Conservatoire has just been ranked yet again in the top 10 performing art schools in the world. I therefore fully agree with the Cabinet Secretary that we can be proud of our international cultural reputation. However, I hope that the Cabinet Secretary will agree with me that the only way Scotland's culture sector can continue to have a strong international offering is if we have a strong domestic cultural ecosystem to support it. Presiding Officer, Scottish Labour notes the publication of the Scottish Government's international culture strategy. We largely agree with its sentiments and it has many welcome aspirations. However, as the campaign for the arts has said, the strategy entitled inspiring connections suggests that the spiriting disconnection from the reality in Scotland right now, as access to the arts is gravely at risk due to years of under investment in Scottish cultural organisations. The analysis shows that, despite the Scottish Government pledging last year to more than double investment in culture, this year's culture budget is actually 6% smaller in new terms than it was in 2022-23. The campaign for arts has rightly said that organisations cannot run on warm words, they need cold cash or they will cease to exist. On that, the strategy does lack substantial costed proposals. Perhaps this is because the strategy was informed by a consultation around tables last summer before the First Minister's announcement in the autumn. The strategy also fails to include the word soft power anywhere in the text. The culture sector is unrivalled in its soft power capabilities for a brand Scotland. Clear recognition is needed of this also. That brings me to the issue of festivals, which is one of Labour's areas of focus for this debate. The Scottish Government rightly states in its strategy that festivals are a key cultural asset for Scotland. This is absolutely true. Our festivals bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors every year and give creators the chance to make connections with producers from across the globe. Yet right now we are seeing many of our festivals in crisis despite the Government promising to double arts and culture funding. In the last few weeks alone we have regrettably seen Glasgow's iRite literature festival call of its plans this year because it couldn't secure funding from Creative Scotland. As Darren McArvy said, iRite is a big date on a literary calendar. In Scotland it makes literature accessible and affordable in Scotland's largest city. This should be a major wake-up call for all of us and a major wake-up call for the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government should be doing everything it can to get it back up and running. The Edinburgh death festival, the only festival that's kind in Scotland, is also announced. It is also in jeopardy for the same reason. What sort of message does this send out to the world if we are closing the book on book festivals and festivals for disabled people are under threat? The effects of this crisis and funding are affecting festivals of all shapes and sizes all over Scotland, as we've already heard. I mentioned the Edinburgh international festival earlier. Fran Heighay, the executive director, has told this Parliament that it is extremely difficult for any organisation to manage 16 years of flat funding irrespective of how well it is run or of other sources of income it might have. I've worked in the industry for coming up to 30 years and I've never known it to be as difficult. If that wasn't enough, this weekend, as we've heard, Shona McCarty, the chief executive of the Edinburgh Fringe Society, announced that the fringe is becoming almost impossible to deliver because of a lack of funding. I would say to the cabinet secretary and to be fair to Meghan Grafaker that this isn't playing up fears, this is reflecting the reality of the situation that our festivals are facing right now. The Scottish Government is happy to use countless pictures of the fringe festival for their glossy brochures, but it is still not provided core funding to support it, despite the UK Government providing support. Can I thank Neil Bibby for taking intervention and be aware of the likely closure of the National Museum of Wales, which has been attributed to the cuts in funding for the Welsh Government? Does he accept that there's any part in some of the issues that he's raised that's played by the cuts from the UK Government? Has he mentioned some words that are not mentioned? Is he intending to use the word Brexit or address the consequences of Brexit in his speech? Neil Bibby. Well, there was a number of points there. First of all, we're in the Scottish Parliament not in Wales. I'm not aware of the situation in Wales, but I do know that we're seeing significant cuts to the culture sector in Scotland, which we are debating today, Mr Brown, and the cuts from the Scottish Government that are being passed on to our culture sector. I do intend to come to Brexit and I will do shortly. I understand creative Scotland's budget is tight. There has, of course, been rightful criticism of the £85,000 that was awarded to Project Rain, and many people have been saying that we could have used that money, but that money can only be spent once over and demand is significantly exceeding the supply of their resources. There is a clear and urgent need, therefore, to explore options to protect and save our festivals. The Scottish Government cannot sit idly by while they collapse around us. The French Society has called on the Scottish Government to hold a crisis summit. Scottish Labour agrees with that. The cabinet secretary was looking for suggestions. There is a suggestion. An urgent summit is a very important and reasonable request, and we are calling for that emergency summit on festivals in our amendment today, and I hope that all parties will support that. I also agree with the strategy's emphasis on the importance of international mobility. If we want to export our culture, we need to make it easier for our creators and performers, especially for our musicians, to tour, which is also in our amendment. I will take an intervention. Forgive me, Presiding Officer. I did not press my wish to intervene button. It would be helpful if Mr Biddie could clarify. Is a Labour Party's position that an incoming UK Labour Government will seek to rejoin creative Europe, yes or no? Neil Bibby. I will come on to Labour's plans shortly. We recognise that touring is vital for many performers to make income in reaching new audiences, but this has made it much more difficult because of Brexit. There are events being held today by the face of the music campaign on this very issue. The musicians union has said that national performing companies have already been cutting back touring within Scotland, and this is not surprising considering that they have been dealt a 20 per cent real terms cut to funding in the last 10 years, but the opportunities for domestic touring being limited already, it is crucial that there is a clear plan to make international touring easier. That is why Labour would push for a visa waiver for touring artists, and we would negotiate an EU-wide cultural touring agreement, including allowances for cabotage, carney and custom rules. In closing, Scotland's culture sector is clearly valuable, and it is good that we are discussing the international culture strategy today, but our international cultureing offering will only be strong in the future if we protect our cultural scene in Scotland today. I echo the comments of all three from Benches so far in the sad and sudden passing of Scott Williamson. I now call Alex Cole-Hamilton in around six minutes. Can I, too, on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, echo the comments made about the loss of Scott Morrison? I am grateful to Angus Robertson for making parliamentary time available from government time to discuss culture and the culture strategy. It doesn't get enough particularly in government time, and I welcome his motion today, particularly the remarks in it around Brexit. I recognise the impact of Brexit on the culture sector in the campaign that we have heard about just now in terms of the Face the Music campaign. Brexit has made a lot of travelling artists leaving Scotland and going on to the continent, and vice versa, almost intolerable, and is yet another hallmark of the hideous calamity of that enterprise. Does he agree with me, because I think we do on the issue of Erasmus Plus, just like Horizon Europe, being organisations that the United Kingdom could rejoin? Does he agree with me that Creative Europe would be a tremendous organisation for the UK to rejoin, as his party committed to doing so? I know we didn't have any clarification from the Labour Party on that simple and straightforward question. Alex Cole-Hamilton I'm very happy to say that we are. The Liberal Democrats are fundamentally committed to rebuilding our fractured relationship with Europe, whether that's Erasmus and it was a Welsh Liberal Democrat in Wales that I think was instrumental in bringing about their unique scheme. I hope that Scotland will follow suit in that respect as well, but we are committed to Creative Europe. While we will support the Government's motion today, I think that it does belie the steady erosion of culture on this Government's watch. There is nothing to disagree with in this motion, but it does miss some vital facts about what has happened to culture on Angus Robertson's watch. Culture matters, Presiding Officer. The arts matter. Without them, in the words of George Bernard, it's sure that crudeness and reality of the world would make the world unbearable. It's all too easy, I think, to have the arts and culture sector laid to one side. I can understand that, for good reason. We see public services crumbling every day. They rightly command the time that we have in this place to debate things, but it is important that we not lose sight of it. To disregard culture, we do so at our peril in an increasingly divided world. One of the few things that we have the power to bring us together is culture and the arts—at least from time to time. It is an increasingly frightening and uncertain time. Art comforts and enlightens us. It engages with us, and we can lessen our anxiety and support our mental health in its prosecution. It is a backbone of civilisation. It is a reason that the Nazis despise and sought to bend arts and culture to suit their own twisted ideology in 1930s Germany. Indeed, our culture sector can help us to examine the shadows of our own past, in particular as the motion states addressing Scotland's role in colonialism and in slavery. We dismiss its importance at our peril. I say that again. Let's also remember the creative industry. We've heard something of this already. It's estimated to be worth already £4.5 billion. The Scottish economy keeps 80,000 people, our fellow Scots and our constituents, in a job. It attracts tourism. That's no wonder. The beauty of Scotland is advertised in the many films and TV dramas that are shot here. We have a growing film and TV industry that punches well above its weight. It is baffling then that this SNP and Green Government has treated the sector with such disregard in the past. Holmes and Yrys have pledged £100 million of additional funding to the sector, the SNP conference last October, but that came after the Government cut £6.6 million from Creative Scotland's budget in December before reinstating that budget in February 2023 and cutting it again last September. It's spinning on the spot. It may seem like a joyless round of hokey-cokey, but it's had a profound consequence for Creative Scotland, which has been forced to use up its cash reserves to cover that shortfall. At the time, the chief executive of Creative Scotland Ian Monroe described the situation as, as I quote, trying to change the engines of an aeroplane while you're flying it. The offhand way in which the Scottish Government is treating the arts is reminiscent of the way it has disregarded the business community. Both need certainty and clarity in order to thrive, flourish and safeguard jobs. Under this Government's watch, we've seen our cultural sector threaten, like never before, the Edinburgh international film festival stripped back, paired back, almost to nothing. Edinburgh's historic film house cinema is forced to rely still on donations and still not opening its doors. Screen machines saved from the brink, but still uncertain about its future. The Highland games cancelled after the council was forced to withdraw funding. Glasgow's I write festival, we've heard several times, cancelled due to lack of funding. Dire warnings about the Edinburgh fringe festival itself, that jewel in the crown of our nation's cultural economy. Last week, Edinburgh's iconic jazz bar announced financial pressures that would close its doors for good. That was a shock, but it was not unexpected. It speaks to the symptomatic erosion of our hospitality sector, which has suffered since the pandemic, which has faced a perfect storm of increasing fuel costs, increasing wage bills and rent, and yet still this Government has not stepped in to help. By slashing the culture budget, Presiding Officer, cutting money from local government and failing to support businesses with the cost of living, SNP and green ministers are unleashing a rising tide of pressure on our culture and hospitality sectors. Creative Scotland is under such financial strain, it says that it can only support around 30 per cent of applications to its fund. This Government is guilty of cultural vandalism. I want to see the Scottish Government investing in the future to preserve Scotland's proud music, artistic and literary history. I'm working with the UK Government to help ease the strains on business struggling to stay afloat. Should they fail to hit the right note, then, rest assured, Liberal Democrats are waiting to save the day. We want to see a thriving and world-leading creative sector supported by a properly funded Creative Scotland. We want local authority budgets protected and enhanced to ensure that the benefits of arts and culture are available to everyone and to every generation that comes after us. The Government has a role to play in nourishing those routes as time it played it better. Thank you very much, Mr Cole-Hamilton. We now move to the open debate. I'd call for Sleer Adamson to be followed by Jamie Greene around six minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Scottish Opera's production studios in Glasgow. I'd like to thank Alex Redock and his staff for a wonderful tour of the props, wardrobe, set design and an opportunity to observe a rehearsal of La Traviata. That will be performed shortly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. However, the production began in 2008. It has been seen around the world. It has been developed in conjunction with Welsh Opera. It has also been staged with costumes, arrangements and set in Palo de la Musica in Catalonia in the Barcelona metropolitan. Thank you very much for giving way so early in the debate. I myself have also made that trip and found it most illuminating. What struck me was the amount of innovation that Scottish Opera is carrying out as a company in terms of renting out their sets, renting out their costumes and so on. Is that something that she would agree with? Yes, absolutely. I would agree with that. Of course, the work, as a convener of the Constitution of Europe, Excellent, Affairs and Culture Committee, we have seen that in many of our performing companies. Indeed, the RSNO studio has been used for the Scottish Games industry at the moment. Those are very important innovations and something that we should all be looking to as examples of what we can do going forward. Scottish Opera is also performing in New York frequently. It demonstrates the very best of a world-class opera and collaboration and touring. It is an exceptional example of regularly funded organisations and, of course, is also part of the Edinburgh International Festival in this year and on many, many previous years. Scottish Opera is just one of the world-class companies and culture offerings from Scotland. The Met in New York, as the cabinet secretary said, yes, certainly. Dax and Carlaw share everything that she has to say about Scottish Opera, but is she therefore not slightly disappointed and surprised that in 29 pages of the Government's international culture strategy, Scottish Opera has only mentioned once as footnote number three on page three? Nothing else, nothing of what she said, nothing about their international roller contribution to Scotland at all. I think we've got to remember this as a strategy paper and it's to delay the framework of how this will be delivered. I don't think anyone in this chamber, let alone the cabinet secretary, the minister or anyone who's seen or witnessed Scottish Opera would think anything other than that. They are so important to our cultural offering. They do perform in New York and, as the cabinet secretary said, we've just had Scotland Week in New York and that is supported by the international office of the Scottish Government in New York that promotes just not the cultural aspects but Scotland, the brand. This is so important for going forward. Companies like Scottish Opera and the SNO and the Chamber Orchestra, along with their folk, contemporary artists, music performers, Scottish Green and the games industry, all are there to promote Scotland, including our world-class education, further education sector, as has mentioned by Mr Bibby, with the Royal Conservatoire being in the top 10 rankings. This international strategy, particularly the inspiring connections, will encourage further connections from our cultural sector at all levels to the wider world. However, that will not be without its challenges. As has been mentioned, the European movement in Scotland launches the face of music campaign today. They will be marching down the royal mill today and gather outside this parliament very shortly. It is also about the impact of Brexit on our musicians and the problems they have in touring and going to Europe. They have launched a petition with more than 24,000 signatures that says that music is a central part of cultural identity, it champions diversity and supports our local communities. We must act now. As convener of the constitution Europe, Exyn, Affairs and Culture Committee, we have been carrying out an inquiry that included a session with musicians from the musicians union back to the SNO, traditional artists in Scotland and active events. The SNO particularly talked about the problems of carny and cabotage, which have been mentioned already, but they also said that we need to access the European labour market to get the very best musicians and keep national orchestra at an international level. The combination of low salaries, increased complexity and visa costs is making it extremely difficult to recruit from outside the UK. Although they do not believe it as an impact to date, they do say that it is inevitable that through time it will. As convener of the SEAC committee, I also attend the PPA on behalf of this Parliament, which has been discussing some of the issues around Brexit and how we might take things forward. I have to say that no one is talking about doing something for their cultural sector as a whole. The conversation in Europe is very much about youth, mobility and emerging artists. That is people under the age of 28. That is not going to be looked at in any way in Europe in the near future. Although Europe is looking to the east and more concerned about some of the threats to the European Union, we are very much being marginalised by Brexit and our wishes and what we want do not seem to have a high priority. Quite frankly, I do not blame them. Alice Black of Bechtur has talked about how it is not only about the musicians but also a tour involves technicians, crews, producers, tour and production managers and drivers. We cannot talk about a tour without considering the ancillary staff that are absolutely vital for that. We have also been told that if Denmark or France wants to book a Celtic artist, it is easy to bypass Scotland and programme 1 from Ireland. Ireland, of course, has its own Ireland cultural body. As a small independent nation in Europe, with a £9.6 billion surplus, it is able to use its 92 diplomatic and consular offices to support its cultural strategy, something that we can only look on in awe and envy but, luckily, aspire to in an independent Scotland. Thank you very much indeed, Ms Adamson. I now call Jamie Greene to be followed by Michelle Thompson around six minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I think that last speech really summed up the head-in-the-sand approach that the Government takes on issues like this. Claire Adamson is very keen to talk about Ireland and its strategic approach to its creative sector. I wonder if Screen Ireland or Creative Ireland has seen a 10 per cent real-term cut to its budget since 2014, in the way that we have seen here in Scotland as a result of decisions made by her own front bench, but we will maybe find out in due course as we go through this debate. I always welcome a debate on culture in this Parliament, and in some cases there is plenty to agree with the cabinet secretary on we have a shared professional background in creative industries, a shared interest, and I myself was a one-time member of the culture committee of the Parliament. He is very right to address some of the very real concerns that creatives face here in Scotland, and many of which I think are shared across the UK and beyond. I welcome any report that comes out of the Government that seeks to try and address or resolve some of those issues. I have gone through every 29 page of this report, and unfortunately it fails to do so. It is okay to be ambitious about Scotland's culture and Scotland's creative industries, but arguably the Government has had 17 years to be ambitious about Scotland's creative industries. If that were the case, then the success story would be the one that we were debating about today, not the sort of speeches that I have heard this afternoon lamenting some of the issues that the industry is facing. Some of those industry problems, of course, Covid being the main one, we can never underestimate the effect that Covid had on the creative arts or people's ability at financial or physical or health or otherwise to go and attend mass gatherings. Footfall is on the rise, and that is good, but it is clearly still not at the level that it was at. The cabinet secretary in his report rightly identifies that rising costs mean that it is more difficult for artists to perform. That is undoubtedly true as well. The issue of Edinburgh fringe is a direct result of that. Anyone trying to perform at Edinburgh fringe will know that it is fast becoming the exclusive realm for artists who can afford to perform at the fringe, and with those who cannot simply being excluded, they cannot let that happen. It must be the nurturing ground for those who have created talent and ability and a desire to perform even not for monetary value. That is disappearing and it is disappearing fast. Of course, the point has already been very well made about one of the main costs rising as accommodation, and it is that reduction in available and affordable accommodation that has been widely cited as one of the problems. The fringe festival themselves, when this Parliament passed legislation to restrict short-term lets, said that it would reduce both the affordability and availability of temporary accommodation in the city. We need around 25,000 beds during the festival period to accommodate everyone. There simply are not enough. Once again, it is a shame that the Government is hindering the situation and not helping it. That is something that perhaps we can reflect on and I would like to hear more of in closing speeches. I think that the sector is really at a time of deep crisis, and I think that anyone who speaks to people in our creative sectors knows that that is the reality. That is not talking it down. It is having an honest conversation with the sector. They are telling us right here and right now that they are struggling. They are telling us that they need funding. They are telling us that grassroots is struggling. It is all very well pontificating over your international strategy about what you want to do at Tartan week. What about what is happening in Greenock or Gurgour? What is happening in Livingston? What is happening in the Highlands and Islands? It is these grassroots organisations that are closing. It is these local small festivals that are closing. We have heard so much in the last couple of weeks about the I write festival, but it should not take an intervention from a former First Minister to put this sort of thing on the agenda. There are not enough former First Ministers to take umbridge with the closure of all these festivals. For that reason, the Government needs to have a very serious conversation with grassroots creatives. That is not a huge surprise, because apart from the national funding cuts to creative sector, local government, which supplies often the majority of local funding, has seen a huge cut in funding. Anestimated 20 to 30 per cent cut across different local council areas. That has a massive effect on local small organisations. Of course, what about our biggest asset, our tourism sector, Visit Scotland? Visit Scotland is the standard bearer for Scotland's culture, setting to close all its visitor centres after another £5 million raid on its budget. I have to say for all the Cabinet Secretary and some of the speeches that we have heard from the SNP today about the EU, Scotland's average culture spend is one of the lowest in the EU. You do not need independence to resolve that. You just need to sit around the cabinet table and resolve that issue. If I had more time, I would talk about the report itself, but I would point members to page 7 of it, the national performance framework and its so-called vision. It is very clear to everyone who has read the report and misses the mark completely. I mean that with no disrespect to the civil servants who put a lot of work into it. There are a lot of outcomes, there is a lot of ambition, there are a lot of statements of intent, but none of them are measurable. It is a shopping list, in my view, of box-taking phrases rather than an actual strategy with actual money behind it. I am in my closing seconds, but I look forward to hearing how much money the cabinet secretary is actually going to pump into that sector. The creatives and artists right across Scotland are not pondering the details of the next American tour. What they want to know is how the Government will support them right here and right now. What they want is support from the Scottish Government to grow and develop in their own communities. We have always punched well above our weight, in my view, when it comes to international culture, and we will continue to do so, but I would argue that that is despite of those Government strategies, not because of them. I welcome the publication of Inspiring Connections Scotland's international cultural strategy, and I encourage everyone in the sector to read it. I also welcome the breadth, quality and depth of Scotland's culture offering. We pitch well above our weight across the world. Today, I want to make a few comments on music as a graduate of the world-leading Royal Conservatoire Scotland, and congratulations again to it for being ranked sixth in the world. I am also a former professional musician and convener of the cross-party group for music. We cannot get away from the Brexit question, no matter how much people want to avoid it. I stress that urgency and importance of rejoining the EU is fundamental for this sector. No sector has been more damaged by Brexit than the cultural sector, and so much has already been mentioned in conjunction with the European movement in Scotland. I have arranged a bus against Brexit today, and to that end, I apologise in advance. As notified, I will need to pop out of this chamber for a short while and welcome the buskers outside the Parliament. I am also hosting a round-table tonight with prominent individuals in the music sector to hear in more detail about their challenges and their ideas to make matters better. Such is the concern that I anticipate that it will be well attended. The fact that the UK Government refused concessions by the EU and the fact that the Labour Party continued to support Brexit is noted. Let me just briefly examine some of the issues. It has been mentioned already, but touring for many musicians is an imperative. They are first and foremost performers, and taking their product to other locations and cultures is emotionally fulfilling and builds their audience and brand. Yet the additional costs—paperwork, red tape such as carnets for each country now act as a real blocker. I have met bands and larger organisations that are either cutting their touring or stopping altogether. Issues are multiple, not just with musicians' touring, but also trying to welcome them here due to immigration being reserved. How many examples can we cite of musicians having their visas declined and outcry ensuing before a change of heart? This damages the profession, it damages our international brand. Never forget that our brilliant artists do not just take themselves to the world, they take Scotland. They take Scotland's brand, which I know from primary research I undertook a few years back, is strong, filled with integrity, quality and where provenance and authenticity opens doors. Our sense of fairness, ethics and capacity for innovation resonates too, and all of that shines through the culture, Secretary. I know that the Scottish Government has previously noted our egalitarian social values in relation to culture. That is written in our DNA and is another part of Scotland's story. A point that I would also make, which I do not know has come through clearly enough in this debate yet, musicians, bands and orchestras are all small businesses. You do not often hear them talk about their margins and their cost base and so on, but the fact of the matter is that in addition to Brexit, the cost of living crisis, which of course has a relationship with Brexit, has affected them hugely, our musical infrastructure is struggling and I know that this is across the UK, given my musical contacts. For example, many of the small businesses that operate as music venues are closing and if a local level musicians cannot perform, they cannot tour, how do they sell their product apart from streaming, for example, which is also subject to multiple issues. Thank goodness that the SNP has worked so hard to protect the arts. I openly admit that I can, on occasion, be critical of the Scottish Government, but I have seen first-hand the determined attempts to protect our musical infrastructure via the likes of the youth music initiatives, systema, keeping instrumental instruction available and free—I cannot tell you how important that is—and, of course, commitments about funding. Of course, some people might not like it, independence and rejoining the EU is the answer, because it is normal to be able to set immigration policies that allow the best and brightest talent to visit our country. It is normal to create embassies that act as a vocal point for all our cultural assets and our diaspora. It is normal to take one's place in the world, and where a country such as Scotland has such a strong brand, it is positively abnormal to want to diminish that by clouding it under something else. More importantly, related to what I said about business, it is normal to have the power to create funds, to create hypothecated taxis, for example, and tax incentives. That is a really, really important point when people claim, oh, you could be doing this, they are not giving specific examples relative to the limited powers that this Parliament has. Of course, it is normal for a country to decide how much and in what ways they spend money and to what priorities, and I would love to hear someone in this debate to say where we should spend more money here to say what they would propose cutting for that increased spend, and I very, very rarely hear that from the Opposition. It is normal and highly desirable to encourage and support diversity in music and the arts, and I will never forget the difference that it made when musicians many from the EU joined our Scottish orchestras. The new sounds, especially in the strings across many sections of the orchestras, for example, made a huge difference. Given the limitations over budget, macroeconomic powers, immigration and the madness of Brexit, it is a miracle that our arts and culture and creative sectors thrive in the way they do. I salute them all and encourage them all to read this paper and imagine what could be. Thank you. Thank you. Just a reminder to the chamber, we have no time in hand, I call Alec Rowley, to be followed by Evelyn Tweed up to six minutes, Mr Rowley. Presiding Officer, we are having this debate today on Scotland's international cultural strategy at a time when artists, writers and filmmakers have expressed their fears for the future of Scottish culture following the closure of a film project, a book festival and an arts magazine within days of each other. I am very passionate about local arts and engage regularly with an independent theatre in my constituency as well as other art groups and enterprises. I absolutely agree that the arts and culture sector is incredibly important, not only for the benefits it provides for participants in enriching their lives, but also from a business point of view and the contribution the sector makes to our economy. However, let us be clear, there are serious issues and concerns across this sector in Scotland. For example, the Musicians Union has sent a brief for today's debate and I believe it is important that the points they make are put on record for this debate today. They reiterate the point that the international cultural strategy is welcome and it is important that the value of Scotland's arts and culture industries are recognised and celebrated by Government. However, they argue that the Government's international cultural strategy, which we are debating today glosses over concerns about culture strategy at home and say, and I quote, unfortunately this strategy is heavy on aspiration and light on detail and crucially funding. The key points from the Musicians Union are the strategy rightly notes that public sector support for arts and culture has been under pressure, but does little to address specifically how the aspirations in the strategy will be funded and delivered. National performance companies continue to cut back on their touring within Scotland and the idea that they will find resources and capacity to increase international touring on the back of these warm words is optimistic. When Scottish Ballet tours internationally, they will often leave the orchestra at home, depriving musicians of work and income. National performing companies have faced a 20% real terms cut in the last 10 years and have been offered a 3% inflationary uplift in the £24.25 budget, which, while welcome, does not come close to reflecting the cuts that they have faced. The additional £100 million per year for arts and culture over the next five years, announced by the First Minister last year, is welcome that it should be viewed in the context of a standstill budget over the last decade or more and looked upon as a restoration of funding. Musicians Union analysis has shown that Scottish Ballet has the lowest ballet orchestra rate in the UK, Scottish Opera the lowest opera orchestra rate, and RSNO the second lowest to beauty rate. Only RSNO is a full-time employed orchestra. For the national performing companies, there should be an aspiration to do better. Creative Scotland also faces static budgets and a huge demand for their multi-year funding and opening funding programmes. Demand has grown substantially since the pandemic and the resource has not kept pace. This insecurity of work, precarious funding and comparably poor pay must be addressed if the Scottish Government is to meet the commitments to fair work and the well-being economy and the aspirations of a cultural strategy for Scotland. The Scottish Government should be focusing on tangible actions that will directly impact the working lives of musicians and artists. A cultural strategy for Scotland action plan published last year was too inward-looking, focusing on Government actions and this international cultural strategy lacks the detail on how it will be delivered. The sector reference group should include representatives of all the creative industry trade unions to ensure that the worker voice is fairly represented. I urge the Government to listen to those in the sector. I do not believe that anyone will disagree with the vision set out in the strategy that the Scottish culture and creative sector to be globally connected with the means and opportunities to achieve its international ambitions and potential and contribute to Scotland's cultural, social, economic and environmental well-being through its international work. The problem being that a strategy without sustained resources is just another publication to add to the many publications of this Government that will gather dust on the shelf and deliver very little of the ambition that amounts to no more than rhetoric and wishful thinking. I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate on Scotland's international culture strategy. Scotland and its worldwide connections have been on my mind recently and I do think that our international strategy is important. I was lucky enough to be invited by the Presiding Officer to spend some time from recess as part of the Parliament's delegation to the Tartenday celebrations in New York. Tartenday is a chance for people around the world to celebrate their connections to Scotland. The first Tartenday was celebrated in Canada in 1987 and now the event is marked around the world annually. With streets closed for the parade, pipers and dancers tapping on every corner and even a model empire state building built from Scottish shortbread, I was left in no doubt about the place Scotland has on the global stage. The atmosphere was electric with people celebrating everything Scottish and it was amazing to see the number of people closer to home that had actually come to New York to celebrate with us. I must give a special shout out to the Vikings from Shetland. It was great to visit and to meet with you and to meet your family and friends and to see so many of you in New York and I've actually got your badge on today. The theme of the Government's strategy is inspiring connections and indeed connections are strong and global. We accompanied actor Dougry Scott, the Grand Marshal of the Tartenday Parade, who recently presented a BBC documentary on Scotland's role in creating modern football. This documentary also starred the world's oldest surviving football found in the rafters of Stirling Castle, which was made around 1540. It now resides in the Stirling Smith Museum and if you get a chance to come and see the football, I can tell you it would not be allowed in the game today. This example of our part in a global phenomenon is illustrative of a general theme in Scotland's contribution to arts and culture. Creative Scotland and the British Council undertook a two-part research project called to see ourselves as others see us, aiming to understand how the sector is perceived both internally and externally. It found that the culture and art sector is recognised both at home and overseas as ambitious and driven, punching above its weight on an international stage. Innovation was cited often, especially in relation to site-specific arts and unexpected use of venues. Indeed, I can think of several examples of this in my own Stirling constituency from the city walls bar, which is built into the city walls itself, to creative Stirling's latest endeavour in an old water mill in Cullin. Venues with stunning backdrops such as the summer sessions built for Stirling that will have the castle setting the scene. I can remember from my own point of view seeing REM at Stirling Castle and it was really one of those amazing memories that will last with me forever. Who can forget the exciting and challenging finishing line that the climb up to Stirling Castle provided during the UCI Cycling World Championships? As well as cultural gains, this event brought around £4.5 million into the Stirling area. Another example of the economic benefits of Scotland playing host to international events, and as convener of the cross-party group for tourism, that makes me very proud. These beautiful landscapes and urban environments are both key cultural assets and a real driver for visitors. On my recent trip to New York, I was also struck by the strong emotional connections many people have to Scotland. As with the Scottish Connections Framework, we welcome anyone who feels a connection to Scotland, no matter who they are. We are an open and welcoming nation, and it's great to see the Scottish Government promote those connections. As Angus Robertson has highlighted recently, more and more people are taking DNA tests to establish the story of their ancestry. As a result, more African Americans are learning that they too have Scottish connections. Some of those connections may be a result of Scotland's role in the transatlantic trade of enslaved people, so it's vital that we work to understand and address any negative historic impact. I'm glad to see those links being addressed and their future potential celebrated through a strategy that aims for an internationally connected and diverse culture sector that contributes positively to people and communities. Those connections really have a positive impact on our economy. Visit Scotland says that the American visitor market to Scotland made a very strong recovery following the pandemic, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for both visits and spend. Scotland was the only UK region to record an increase in visitors from North America last summer. In 2022, American visitors spent nearly £1.2 billion here. Our culture in that sector provides a great deal to us and our visitors, and we must do everything that we can to allow it to flourish. I welcome the Government's commitment to increasing funding to the culture and creative sector by £15.8 million next year, financial year, and to finish, Presiding Officer, that resource will allow our culture sector to continue to flourish and to inspire even more and greater connections worldwide. This is good for Scotland, our cultural links worldwide and our growing economy. I am going to have to ask members to stick to their speaking allocations. I now call Fulton McGregor to be followed by Jackson Carlaw up to six minutes. Mr McGregor. Thank you Presiding Officer, and I appreciate you calling me because I'm a last minute addition to speaking this debate, which I am absolutely delighted to do. I should also start just by saying to everyone on Twitter that I was also at that REM gig at Stirling Castle that she mentions. I think it was actually my first gig. I was 19 at the time, and that was a really good event. I am also talking about her constituency and how well some of the cultural stuff is doing. I did try to make a last minute decision to book the kids into the Barnockburn experience on, I think, Barnockburn's constituency, on Friday and found it fully booked out. That is obviously a good sign, not for me in that particular day, but a good sign generally. Three weeks ago, the Scottish Government published Inspiring Connections Scotland's international culture strategy. The strategy is an outward looking one which seeks to develop and advance Scotland's excellent creative sector by way of international collaboration and engagement. Currently Scotland's cultural sector employs 155,000 people who contributed 4.4 billion to Scotland's economy in 2020. 7.5 per cent of all registered businesses in Scotland are registered as being part of the creative industries growth sector. Scotland punches well above its weight on the international cultural stage. Our Celtic connections and fringe festivals bring huge numbers of tourists to Scotland annually. Music, film, theatre, video games, literature and performing arts are just a few of the cultural areas where Scotland exceeded globally. Every single member in this chamber this afternoon will have cultural assets within their constituencies, and we have already heard many of them. In my constituency of Cochbridge and Crescent, for example, the TV studio facility Night Sky Studios opened last year. The multi-studio film and TV complex has asserted that Scotland has been at the forefront of storytelling and culture throughout history, and I truly believe that the best storytelling technology should be based in its natural home in Scotland. It is this attitude that has seen out our cultural sector to be so successful. I would say to the cabinet secretary that I visited the Night Sky Studios very recently, very warm welcome I received from them, and I see noddins. He has maybe had some contact with them as well. I think that he would be fascinated by a visit to them, and I would encourage him to do that if possible. With such a rich, diverse and vibrant sector in our country, it is important that we work on devising a strategy that will best suit its needs and allow it to flourish. The strategy was born out of a consultation that was launched in the early 2023, as we have heard, which sought to gather views on sectoral needs, aspirations and motivations in terms of international activity in order to shape the strategy. Respondents overwhelming underlined the globally interconnected way in which the Scottish cultural sector operates today, and although many respondents noted that their cultural endeavours had global reach, Europe and North America were the most common regions for international activity. With this in mind, recent years have shown the tremendous obstacles that events such as Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and the UK's ongoing cost of living crisis have inflicted on our cultural sector. Those events have undoubtedly curtailed the sector's ability to engage international. The recognition of the international collaboration within our cultural organisations and the need for improved resilience in the face of challenges such as the ones I have just mentioned are the two key tenants that have shaped the three goals of the strategy. Those goals are to foster an innovative, more sustainable and economically stronger culture and creative sector, to invest in an internationally connected and diverse culture and creative sector and contributes positively to the people and communities, to advance and enhance international reputation for culture and creativity, including Scotland's response to the various global challenges mentioned. The strategy is not unearthed and has been devised to be adaptable to any future constitutional changes. The Scottish Government's building a new Scotland culture in an independent Scotland paper, which was published last February, sets out how independence would open new avenues to support international cultural activity, including those visa powers and access to transformative EU and UN programmes. The European Education and Culture Executive Agency, for example, offer a multi-billion pound Euro grant scheme via their Creative Europe programme. The strategy also recognises the need for the organisations to have skills, knowledge, expertise and networking opportunities if they are to thrive in an international context. As on this point, the largest structural obstacle by far is the exit of the UK from the EU. I am sure that even my colleagues in the Conservative benches in the chamber today would agree that Scotland's culture sector would be greatly enriched if Scotland had full powers over migration, employment and more to return to the EU's single market. With little confidence that the Tories or Labour and Westminster have plans to reverse the untold damage caused by Brexit, the SNP will continue to advocate for the sector by urging the UK Government to organise visa-free arrangements for touring artists, by facilitating cultural export and exchange through programmes like the festivals, the expo fund, by promoting access to international platforms such as UNESCO and by advocating for renewed connections with the EU, such as pushing for a return to its Creative Europe programme, as I mentioned earlier. I have outlined the importance of international connections in our cultural sector, but this strategy can only succeed with real investment. That is why I was pleased to see the Scottish Government increase culture and creative funding by nearly £16 million to bring the total funding this year to just under £200 million. This investment is the beginning of the commitment made by the Scottish Government to increase this funding by at least £100 million by 2029. As well as this increased funding, ensuring that the strategy, as it says, will be monitored via an on-going review process. That strategy currently applies from 24 to 2030, and it will be delivered in close collaboration with the Scottish Government international networks, national bodies and the Strategic Cross Organisational Partnership Board Scotland. As well as those collaborative efforts, it will also closely align with work to implement the recent Scottish... Do you need to conclude now, Mr MacGregor? ...which seeks to engage with Scotland's wide and vibrant global dysboda. I don't have a bit further to say, Mr MacGregor. No, but you're not going to be able to say it, Mr MacGregor. Thank you very much indeed. I now call Jackson Carlaw to be followed by Keith Brown up to six minutes, Mr Carlaw. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Please God spare the arts from politicians. I have to say I was so full of enthusiasm for the prospect of this debate. When I heard that we were going to be debating after years of neglect culture before the recess, I said to my team, look, put me down, I really want to be in a debate where we celebrate, where we nurture, where we encourage Scotland's arts. And I was so hopeful. This is the Cabinet Secretary who has written an uplifting, enlightened, inspiring book about Vienna, where Mozart performed the home of Schubert, of Gustav Klimt, of the Vienna Riding School. I was so full of hope and expectation, and I cannot believe, having read this dry as dust document, that it's the Cabinet Secretary's own work. This does not sparkle, as did his book in Vienna. This is the dead hand of civil servants on the arts, a complete travesty of the ambition and enterprise that we would hope to see. It's a polemic on independence, on Brexit. It's Stalinist in its direction of the arts. You will celebrate climate change. You will talk about our colonial past. I don't want the arts to be told what to do. If they want to discuss or celebrate or perform these issues, I want them to do it organically. I don't expect the Government to tell them any more than I expect them to tell them about tractor production factory figures. This is not what politicians should be doing. As I pointed out, our national companies are five national companies in 29 pages. I mentioned a little footnote on page 3, which simply says what they are. It doesn't talk, as Claire Adamson did, about the enormous contribution that Scottish Opera has made with its productions of Inadomar and Ilteratico directed by Sir David MacVicker, now being performed in different continents of the planet. It didn't talk about the work that we are seeing from other production companies. I hope, in fact, that Scottish Opera will be performing in this Parliament later in the year, as will the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. It didn't talk about the pressure on the Edinburgh festival. I heard Brexit mention time and again. Here's the programme for the Edinburgh festival. Production major companies from Germany, from Amsterdam, from Berlin, from France, from Ireland. I remember the debates that we had on Brexit in the last Parliament. None of them were going to be coming. They were all going to be unable to perform here in the United Kingdom, and here they are all coming. I recognise the on-going challenges that there are as a result of Brexit, but those are challenges that major companies are overcoming to come here and which our major companies are overcoming to go elsewhere. Yes, as Michelle Thompson said, there are far smaller companies that we want to encourage and nurture, so let's work together. I think that we probably all do generally agree that we want to see a visa scheme for the arts to ensure that, as many companies can perform wherever they need to perform around Europe. I will give way to the cabinet secretary. Would Jackson Carlaw perhaps then just spare a second to reflect on a specific suggestion? He may not like the wording. He may not sparkle enough, but I think it's a very important deliverable suggestion that there should be a support service for cultural export and exchange. I don't know whether his colleagues have yet mentioned that. The suggestion comes from the sector. We are very interested in delivering. Will he and his colleagues do so as well? He should work with the cabinet secretary on matters like that, but he should also understand that, as well as Brexit, yes, the changes in rent arrangements on short-term lets are having an impact on the viability of artists being able to come and perform here. Although I don't want to dwell on it because it is a controversial subject, we have heard from artists to a concern that other recent legislation might inhibit their performance. We know that there could be a potential tourist tax that, too, could have an impact on our arts and crafts sector. The I-Rite festival being cancelled, as Neil Bibby said, is a dangerous signpost. Yes, the UK Government has intervened with the theatre tax. Sir Andrew Lloyd-Lloyd-Webbas is a once-in-a-generation transformational change that will ensure Britain remains the global capital creativity, as has the James Bond director of Skyfall and Spectre, Sir Sam Mendes. What we lost the opportunity to do in the last Parliament, which I hope we can yet recover, is to capitalise the opportunity that there is in the modern streaming sector for film and television. When we failed to back the Pentland Integrated Film Studios initiative, we need an integrated film studios here in Scotland, not just studio capacity but post-production and the ability to see from stoop to nuts major film productions produced here in Scotland, because we have the scenery, we have the talent and in the creative arts sector, as again Claire Adamson demonstrated from her visit to the Scottish Opera production studios, we have the ability to create a whole flourishing employment sector for young people in the creative arts in Scotland, so we need to get behind that. I realise time is short, Presiding Officer. Do you hear the people sing? It's the voices of angry men. It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again. They don't want the creative arts to be told by government what they want to do. Alex Cole-Hamilton will be thrilled that the UK Government has backed the Edinburgh Film Theatre. Our former colleague Donald Cameron was there just a few weeks ago with £1.5 million of money to open them up. I want to be moved in international audience to be moved by Scottish song. I want them to be marvelling at Scottish dance, to be inspired by Scottish acting, to be challenged by Scottish paint and sculpture, to be provoked by Scottish writing. Let's not lead the artists, let's the artists lead us. Our job is to back them, not direct them. They don't need pamphlets, they need practical support, and that's what this Parliament should be celebrating and delivering. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It's a point of consensus that Scotland has always been one of the world's most culturally identifiable, indeed, prolific countries. Because of this, there is a huge affinity for Scotland around the world. As has been mentioned already, the report is the first to outline Scotland's international culture strategy for the future, but also outlines where we are now and shows clearly that devolution has allowed Scotland to formalise that affinity, turn it into a relationship between Scotland and those with an interest in Scotland around the world and use it for the benefit of the people of Scotland. Much of the debate is centred on the issue of funding, perhaps, inevitably. I attribute no credibility whatsoever to those who argue that we should be spending more money in this area, as we should be spending more money in transport, health, education, and yet, at the same time, gleefully accept cuts from the Westminster Government, but also attack the tax-raising initiatives of the Scottish Government. There's no credibility in that position. It's also true to say that it's worth, given the constrained environment that we all find ourselves in, that we look at ways in which additional finance can be raised. The only person I'd like to have done that was Michelle Thomson, but I'd like to suggest a couple of things. First of all, it's a plea to the cabinet secretary that the point—I think one of the points that Jackson Carlaw was raising—about the ability to ensure imagination informs what we do here. I think it would be useful to have the cabinet secretary confirm that he is willing to push the various agencies involved. I'm talking about Historic Scotland, Visit Scotland and so on, to make the most of the assets that we have, and I'll give a couple of examples of those. About 20 years ago, I was responsible, believe it or not, for taking the Wallace sword to New York, or the Braveheart sword, as we sought to exploit the aftermath of the movie. It was hugely well received, although I understood that if it was lost I could never return to Scotland, but it was hugely well received. There were queues around the block coming into the Grand Central terminal to see it. Afterwards, the benefits of that meant that the needed renovation works at the Wallace monument were basically funded by the increased visitor numbers because of the interest of the sword and, of course, the movie had created. I think that that could be done in many more areas as well. In the mid-1980s, believe it or not, I wrote to British telecom saying to newly privatise £2 billion in profit. Why did they not buy Alexander Graham Bell's house, where he was born, which is only a stone's throw from Bute House in the new town, and then develop it perhaps using telecommunications or whatever it is these days, students, to explain to people about the development of technology, which allowed first of all Alexander Graham Bell and Marconi to do what they did in terms of the invention of the telephone and use that as an international pull for people to come. I think that there are two visitor centres in Canada for Alexander Graham Bell. There is one in the States, and it was born in Edinburgh and it is not being exploited, and I think it could be exploited. Similarly, John Logie Baird, given what he achieved, albeit when he was in London, there should be massive potential for us to capitalise on these things. Right around the country—we have heard this in the committee—there are buildings that provoke niche interests around the world for different reasons, whether it is a clan-based interest or otherwise, which I do not think that we are properly exploiting, and which, if he did properly exploit it, perhaps by niche advertising, he could massively increase both the visitors to Scotland and visitors to those buildings or sites around Scotland, which in turn could help to fund the development, which is very hard for the Scottish Government to find the money to do. I think that it may be not the done thing in terms of a culture debate, but a more commercial and imaginative approach, given the constrained financial circumstances that we find ourselves in, could be one that pays dividends. Also, if we look at the money that could be raised for that and the things that could be done, that could fund other initiatives. It would also mean that there is more money free to do some of the things that should be mentioned by members in the debate. Can I mention the Edinburgh festival and the friends that have been mentioned? That was born in Edinburgh. I have been going to events in the friends in the festival for over 40 years, but I have to say that there is more to Scotland than Edinburgh. There are lots of parts of Scotland that also need investment as well. We have to confront those choices that have to be made because of constrained finances. There is no point in imagining that it is not an issue. Other parts of Scotland also have to have to say that they want to see the fringe, the various festivals that go along with it. Prospers, of course, we all do, but at the same time we have to acknowledge that there are other parts of Scotland as well. Somebody I think was Jamie Greene who mentioned the comparison with Ireland. There are pretty big differences that help to explain the difference approach. First of all, they have a budget surplus—wouldn't that be nice? Billions of pounds in a budget surplus. Also, they have not had to do with Brexit and their members of the European Union, and of course they are independent. If you want to see the effect of that, look at the consequences of Brexit in terms of people that are able to tour from Scotland across the EU. We have heard many of the examples already, and that space has been taken up by Irish initiatives. It is often the case that we heard at the committee that Scottish artists only get to go because Irish artists are willing to help them to get across, particularly to Germany but to other venues as well. That shows the benefit in my view of being part of the EU and of course being independent. If he had some acknowledgement of that, it would have helped the debate. Brexit, to be honest, the evidence that we have heard in the committee, the long-lasting effects of artists whose careers have been put in jeopardy because of the inability, for the various practical reasons that we have heard, mainly to do with visas, but also to do with the costs and the ability to get into those countries, that would be very hard to reverse if we are honest about it, because it will take a long time to do so. The member must begin to conclude. Just to say that, if we want to have a real debate about it, let's start from the same place. Understand what the financial pressures are. Don't pretend that they are not the case. Don't pretend that they happen in Wales but that they don't happen in Scotland. Let's start from an honest place if we want to see the sector thrive. Thank you and we move to winding up speeches. I call on Foisal Chowdry up to six minutes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As we have here today, Scotland culture and creative sectors are world-class. As Michelle Thompson said, as a nation, when it comes to culture, our influence and global recognition, we punch well above our way. Whether that be our world-leading festivals or our food and art sectors, international cultural engagement can bring a wealth of benefit to Scotland. As Alex Cole Hamilton said, our vibrant and diverse culture attracts tourists from around the globe. An international strategy can depend relationships with our international partners, increasing opportunities for collaboration. As many members said, the recognition of the importance of the international engagement to Scotland's culture sector should be welcomed. The struggles of touring artists after Brexit are noted. As Claire Adamson pointed out, increased regulation and cost associated with the touring are hurting artists, making Scotland less attractive as a cultural destination. If cultural collaboration is to remain strong, regulation placed on artists and creatives must be made simpler. As my colleague Neil Bibby said, a UK Labour Government will push for a touring agreement with the EU, keeping Scotland as the premier place for global talent. Despite the warm plattitude shown towards the cultural sector today, the situation on the ground does not reflect this. Last year, the Edinburgh and Venice project, which facilitates Scotland's participation in the Venice Biennel Festival, had its funding paused by the Scottish Government. The Venice and Edinburgh project's mission statement is to promote the best of contemporary art and architecture from Scotland on the world stage. Yet they have had to petition the Scottish Parliament to fight for their participation in the international festival. That does not align with the sentiment of this motion or this strategy. The Scottish Government has neglected the cultural sector for too long and has feeling the effect. As Megan Gallacher mentioned, the 10% cut to Creative Scotland's sound seal budget for our national performing companies, funding pulled for Edinburgh Deaf Festival. None of this point to a Government which appreciates the value of Scotland's deep and rich culture and wishes to make the culture accessible for all. As cabinet secretary Angus Robertson said, the sector had been hit with various pressures in recent years. But we must understand that it is during this time when Government cooperation is key. Edinburgh Film House will be able to reopen a store after an award from the UK Government's Community Ownership Fund. The King's Theatre received funding also, which will go towards making the facility accessible for all. Community hub revitalised culture being made accessible to those who were previously shut out. This is what we could achieve if the Scottish Government fully supported the sector. Scottish cultural institution must have sustainable, predictable funding and cannot rely on philanthropic to operate. As my colleague Neil Bibby said, we want culture to continue to be strong abroad. We have to have a strong culture sector domestically. The extra funding available to culture over the next five years will help support the sector. But the work cannot stop there. We cannot allow one of our greatest asset to be let down by SNP in action. That is why Scottish Labour is proposing our amendments today. Calling for the Scottish Government to convene a summit with the cultural sector to discuss how to protect and our support Scotland festival over the coming years. As Neil Bibby outlined, Scottish Labour is committed to using the cultural sector to grow Scotland's soft power globally. In closing, Presiding Officer, the focus on promoting Scottish culture and the recognition of the importance of the international collaboration is welcome. But, as has been made clear today, to be strong internationally, we must support the cultural sector at home. I am pleased to close on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives and I will support the amendment named by Megan Gallagher. When it comes to the cultural sector, Scotland is truly able to punch above its weight on the world stage. We have heard that today from many speakers. It is an area that is fantastic because the international footprint that we have in Scotland is renowned and continues to be renowned. We have heard the comments about Brexit, but international individuals are still coming to Scotland and we are still sending people to other parts of the world. I look forward to seeing that to continue. The Scottish Government's international cultural strategy follows the publication of its 2020 cultural strategy. The strategy has the opportunity that the Government wants to promote and has that. This is the first time that the Government has published an international cultural strategy of this kind. I welcome that, Presiding Officer, that today we have a debate in this chamber that talks about the positivities of a sector and we get the chance to debate that here. There are certain aspects within that strategy. For example, when it talks about the value of international, the cultural exchanges, the knowledge exchanges and the engagement of cultures across many countries is vitally important. It talks about the bodies that we have here in Scotland. Creative Scotland, the Museums and Art Gallies and the British Council of Scotland, they all have an important part to play along with Historic Environment Scotland, which looks after over hundreds of significant sites across the country. We know that many of them have been suffering of late because of the pandemic but we are now starting to see that developing and move forward. The strategy highlights that it generates £4.4 billion for Scotland's economy and supports nearly 70,000 jobs across Scotland. That is good for us and the sector. It is important that we look at that and analyse that and look at what we can achieve as we go forward. As I have said, the pandemic had a massive impact. The sector has told us that when it has come to committee. It has talked about the areas of concern. It has talked about the closures and the difficulties that it is having to deal with. The Government has had to stand up and listen to that. We have to acknowledge that when we talk about what is happening within the process. Those benches here do understand the importance of the sector and do understand the opportunities that we need to give them to ensure that we can continue to have a fantastic worldwide potential that expands and goes forward. We have heard many contributions today. The Cabinet Secretary himself has talked about the importance of the cultural sector and the funding and the realisation that we need to have those opportunities. However, the Cabinet Secretary needs to be funded. You have heard as well as we have heard that there are still areas of real concern across the sector. My colleague Mengalaga talked about the deep-rooted culture that we have in this country and that we need a business model that is successful. That is trying to inspire, because VisitScotland has a chance to do things. However, by closing their information centres, that is the wrong direction to be going. That is the wrong message for us to be sending out to our communities and to the world at large. Funding is vitally important when we talk about it. Neil Bibby talked about a sector that is struggling and that had a crisis and that there was a perfect storm. We have also heard that on committee when people have come forward and told us that the power that we have and the way in which that is being managed and the fundamental problems that the sector is facing. All of those are important. The convener spoke about Scottish Opera and the RSNO. Yes, great, but as was alluded to, it makes a footnote in the strategy, and that in itself needs to be looked at as well. We cannot stand and talk from the rafters about the benefits that we have and the things that we have if we do not give them the full support. I am inspired by those organisations because they do work really hard to achieve many of the issues, and sometimes they are working with one hand tied behind their back. Jamie Greene gave a very good speech about how the Scottish Government cannot keep their head in the sands. They cannot blame other people. They have been running the country here for 17 years during all of that time. They are running costs, the freedom of the fridge, the affordability about performers, the whole understanding of accommodation and availability. Those are very important to any organisation, and they have heard that, the grass roots about where we are and how funding local government and cutting local government has had a massive impact on many of those sectors. Jackson Callow gave a passionate speech today, as we would expect, and really showed where the priorities should be and how we should realise those priorities. We have five national companies that are phenomenal, that give us opportunities and real pride in where we are, but they do require to be supported and the whole idea about what we are trying to achieve in the coming years. It is worth looking at our international culture strategy. I repeat many of the things that have been said today. The Scottish Government has a role to play in that. The strategy broadly claims that independence would open new opportunities. We have heard that many times before, and in reality we know that that could have an issue when it comes to funding. The United Kingdom's international influence and the broad financial shoulders that we have could be risked at that process. We already know of that. It is right that this Parliament debates how Scotland's fantastic culture sector is built upon, and it has that world-wide reputation. However, the strategy fails and the ambition that the culture sector wants to see and needs to see following years of being treated thereafter. The Government at the moment is playing with some of that. It is attempting to show that there are opportunities, but at the same time it is also giving individuals, companies and organisations a difficult strategy to manage. I look at the ambition, and I want to see it, but that ambition needs to be realised and to have opportunities behind it, because it cannot be the strategy itself that makes things happen. It is the public and processes. In conclusion, the creative sector is innovative and sustainable. It has a strong culture going forward, but the Government must turn that narrative into reality. It must support it. It must put their money where their mouth is, if they are going to ensure that our strategy and our culture and our environment continue to succeed, because we want all that to happen. We know that we have that ability, and that ability has to be endorsed by this Government and by this Parliament. If we can do that, then success will be success. Before I respond to the points raised, I would like to thank all Members who contributed to this afternoon's debate, which I think has been a positive one. I would also like to thank all the cultural organisations and individuals from across Scotland who contributed to the development of this very strategy. The knowledge and expertise of those working in our culture and creative sectors is, as ever, invaluable in ensuring that the proposals that we take forward have the interests of the sector at their heart, and that is exactly what this document is. It is a product of co-operative working between the Scottish Government and the cultural sector. As I noted in my opening speech, creativity is critical in finding new ways to build international partnerships, building upon our international cultural links, which is a priority for the Scottish Government. We remain an open and outward-looking country where people from around the world can come to enjoy our wonderful and unique music scene, and we want our creative professionals and organisations to be able to bring their work to audiences and markets around the world and to build those partnerships. Our culture is informed and inspired by our global connections, and the experience and knowledge gained by travelling to other countries is important, but its skills developed through collaboration and special friendships made that deepens that understanding, and it is these principles that underpin our international culture strategy. The starting point for this work has always been the needs and interests of Scotland's cultural and creative organisations and professionals in terms of their international engagement. The development of the strategy was informed by in-depth consultation and engagement with stakeholders throughout the sector, drawing on their knowledge, their direct experience of the impacts that international activity can have and the barriers that exist to developing it. As we work to deliver the strategy, we will continue to collaborate closely with stakeholders to ensure that activity under it reflects their priorities and that there is joint ownership. Scottish Government is also making resources, forgive me, I haven't even got to my feedback on Mr Bibby's own own contribution, so I'll give him an opportunity after I do that perhaps. Scottish Government is also making resources available to carry out this work, and we've committed to increasing funding to the culture and trade sector by £100 million by 2028-2029. Turning to the contributions by individual members, there were a number who raised specific queries around the recovery and flourishing of the culture sector. Given challenges, discussions with cultural organisations are on-going constantly, including the Edinburgh Festival fringe. We take all those concerns seriously, but we also want to take the opportunity to echo the predictions of, amongst others, Shona McCarthy, who this morning on the radio talked about her confidence that this year's fringe will be a tremendous event, and we remain seized to ensure that that continues long into the future. To Megan Gallacher, forgive me, I didn't take the opportunity to welcome her to her place as her party spokesperson on culture, and I do that. I look forward to working with her in the years ahead. No mention was made of the fact that the Scottish Government is increasing funding on culture, comparing contrasts with the UK Government, which is cutting the budget of the department responsible for culture of more than 25 per cent. Not even the labour cuts to culture in Wales get anywhere close to it. Unfortunately, if we look at the record, as opposed to the rhetoric of the Opposition parties in this chamber, they never confront the fact that their record when it comes to culture funding is, frankly, appalling. There was also, similarly, disappointingly nothing said about strategic proposals included in the document proposed from the sector, including the development of a support service for cultural export and exchange. I am glad that we heard that from the bank benches. Perhaps Megan Gallacher would like to confirm that from the front bench now. Thank you, cabinet secretary, for giving way. The point that I was trying to make across my contribution this afternoon is that there is not enough emphasis on what we need to do domestically here in Scotland. That is exactly what our culture sector needs. It needs support from this Government. You have heard that right across the speeches this afternoon. I am just wondering what is the cabinet secretary going to do here to make improvements here instead of focusing outwards? Unlike Megan Gallacher, I have the ambition to promote Scottish culture internationally as well as domestically. One of the ways of doing that is by introducing a support service for cultural export and exchange. I think that she has had now two or three opportunities to confirm whether a party would support that or not. We still are none the wiser. To Neil Bibby, a number of times the issue of creative Europe has been raised and has still yet to be answered. Neil Bibby was wanting to intervene and maybe wants to clarify now whether an incoming Labour Government will accede to membership of creative Europe. I think what people want to hear is from the cabinet secretary. There is an urgent call for an urgent summit on festivals. We have festivals that are being cancelled. We have festivals under threat. There is a call from the sector. The Scottish Government told an urgent summit on funding for our festivals this year. Is the cabinet secretary going to hold that summit yes or no? That is what people in the sector want to hear. For the second or perhaps a third time in seeking clarification from the Labour Party as to whether an incoming Labour Government would seek to rejoin creative Europe, we have absolutely no answer. To Alex Cole-Hamilton, I am pleased that he is supporting the Government's motion today. It is a sensible motion. It is one that everybody should buy into, not least because of the fact that the strategy has been developed with the culture sector. No, I won't. It has been developed with the culture sector, and we will continue to do so going forward into the future. To Claire Adamson, she raised feedback from Scottish Opera. Opera is indeed one of the big hitters, one of the jewels in our cultural firmament and the ambition that they have to work more internationally as one that I wholeheartedly support. To Jamie Greene, he talked about creative Scotland. Sadly failed to acknowledge its strength in financial position. That's happened, of course, since he left the committee. Maybe he just hasn't been reading the updates on all of that. To Michelle Thompson, excellent to have a colleague with a professional cultural background making such interventions and highlighting the real damage, the real damage that Brexit has been doing. To Alex Rowley, he welcomed the international culture strategy, and I think that is a good thing. Stress again, it is crucial to have domestic cultural recovery and support. We have to do both. It's not one or the other, it's both. Moving on to Evelyn Tweed, she rightly highlighted the advantages of cultural and economic benefits from international engagement, whether that's through tartan day, tartan week as it's becoming, whether it's through sporting events like UCI and others. Forgive me, I don't have enough time. To Fulton MacGregor, he suggested that I should visit the Night Sky studio in Coatbridge. I already have. It's a very positive reflection on the massive growth of the screen sector. To Jackson Carlaw, who sadly clearly hadn't even made it to page 3 of the strategy, which talks about Scotland's five national performing companies. I'm sorry, he doesn't know who Scotland's national performing company are. They are the National Theatre of Scotland. They are the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. They are the Scottish Now Won't. They are Scottish Ballet. They are Scottish Chamber Orchestra. And they are Scottish Opera. He would use his time a little bit more constructively. I'm delighted he's read my book and, again, I perhaps should read this strategy. No, I don't have enough time. And I stress again, this strategy has been developed with the sector. It is not a top-down exercise. To Keith Brown, he raised two very specific suggestions. One, that we should have imagination, and that there are agencies involved in supporting the arts. Whether that's Historic Environment Scotland, whether that's Creative Scotland and others, should be imaginative in terms of delivering and thinking new thoughts about how we can support the sector. I absolutely agree with him and look forward to working with him. There are a lot of initiatives that are already underway, and I think there are many more that we could be supportive of. He underlined a point that must lie close to the hearts for MSPs representing the broadest of swathes of Scotland, which is that we need culture to flourish in all parts of the country. To Faisal Choudhury, he called for a discussion to happen with the sector. A point made in intervention a number of times by Neil Bibby, almost suggesting that there is not a discussion on going with the sector at the present time. There is a discussion going on with the sector, and it is on-going. It is not about headline-grabbing. It is about meeting day in, day out, week in, week out and talking about the challenges with the sector. I must ask you to include Cabinet Secretary. I can confirm that we are already doing that, and we will continue to do that lastly. To finish on Alexander Stewart summing up, he welcomed the international culture strategy. I think that's a profoundly good thing. We have to look forward to all parties, all MSP supporting the international promotion of Scotland and its culture international. I look forward to him doing that. I'll be happy to work with him and colleagues in all parties right across the chamber in doing just that. Thank you very much. Thank you. That concludes the debate on Scotland's international culture strategy. It's now time to move on to the next item of business.