 First item business is a motion of condolence. Before we move to that, can I inform members that a public book of condolences is now being made available in the main hall of the Parliament for Member's staff and the general public design. I have also written this morning to President Siegrig Brack of the House of Representatives in the build-up parliament to express all our condolences. Our flags have been flying at half+, since yesterday afternoon, i rym ni yn rhoi i ddизredigu ar ein sgwrdd ffryd. Mae Gwyrddodd, ac rwyf yn reliant gan unrhyw gyda'i parlymynydd. F Curadir yn ymgyrch gyda Bryswl, yn dd comptu i ddweudd, a'r gorbyllfiddig, yn gweithio i ddylch yn trefyn. Felly, ddysgu'r ddylch yn Ancra a Istanbul, ac mae eich ddweud ym dus four months after the dreadful attacks on Paris. So today we mourn all those who died yesterday. We hope for a speedy recovery for all those who were injured and we send our thoughts and best wishes to all those affected. In doing so we show our solidarity with the people of Belgium and with victims of terrorism across the globe. I spoke yesterday afternoon with the ambassador of Belgium to express Scotland's deep shock and sorrow over what had happened and to make clear that Scotland does stand in solidarity with the people of Belgium at this time of extreme sadness. Attacks on our neighbours of course understandably provoke anxiety here at home as well. Yesterday I chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government's resilience committee and immediate priority was to help anyone who may have been caught up in the attacks or who was concerned about loved ones. We are and will continue to work very closely with the UK Government, with Police Scotland and with our other partners and agencies to ensure that those people have access to the advice, help and information that they need. I can also tell the chamber that we are, as would be expected, monitoring closely the security situation in Scotland. Police Scotland and others are responding proportionately and have increased patrols at key locations such as airports and railway stations. However, it is important to remember that there is no specific threat in Scotland. People of course should be vigilant but they should go about their daily business without fear. We are also seeking to provide reassurance to communities here at home who may feel particularly threatened. As news was breaking yesterday of the atrocities in Brussels, I was on my way to a conference in Glasgow dedicated to tackling hate crime. One of the points that was discussed at that conference was that, after terrorist atrocities, members of our Muslim community often feel a double burden. They feel the same shock and revulsion that everyone else does, but they also have to cope with knowing that there are some who would point the finger of blame at them. It is important that we provide reassurance and that additional protection is necessary and that we stand shoulder to shoulder with them. In doing that, we reaffirm a fundamental truth. All of us benefit hugely from being the diverse multicultural society that we are. This diversity should be cherished and celebrated. It is a source not of weakness but of great strength. Terrorist attacks are intended to divide us. They are intended to undermine the freedoms and the way of life that we all value so highly. We must unite as a community here at home and in solidarity with those in Brussels to make clear that the terrorists will not and not ever succeed. The evidence from yesterday suggests that that is what is happening. One thing that was obvious is that condemnation of terrorism is something that unites people of all faiths and none. Today's motion gives all of us in this chamber an opportunity to play our part in promoting that sense of unity. It enables us to put on record our deep sorrow for those who lost their lives yesterday, to show our solidarity with the Government and with the people of Belgium and to reaffirm once again our everlasting commitment to promoting an inclusive, tolerant and diverse society. I move the motion in my name. On behalf of my party and the communities that we represent on these benches, we offer our condolences to the loved ones of those who lost their lives in Belgium yesterday and we stand with the people of Brussels today. As always, in such tragedies, we watch with utter admiration the work of the emergency services and the armed forces who choose to put themselves in harm's way, who run against the flow and towards the danger, thinking of only how they might help others. We choose to remember their heroism, not the acts of cowardice that they were reacting to. If the attacks in Paris felt so wrong in that city that we associate with love and culture, those attacks in Brussels are against a city that represents peace and co-operation. For most of us in this chamber, Brussels, as the centre of political co-operation between European nations, is a city that we know well. It's where our party colleagues and friends live and work. We know it as a cosmopolitan and vibrant city. But there is another reason yesterday's events felt familiar. There can be few of us in Scotland watching the terrible footage from inside the airport terminal or outside metro stations yesterday who did not immediately call to mind events here at home. The thought that we were watching what could have been after the failed attack in Glasgow. Thoughts of the terrible loss when the underground was attacked in London. We know from bitter experience that evil that visited Brussels yesterday knows no borders and recognises no one as innocent. We also know this that the terrorists represent no religion, no moral cause, only their own perverse and primitive anger against the modern world. Let us also say loud and clear that we know that these attackers do not represent refugees. More than that, we understand that the attackers represent the ideology of violence that the refugees are fleeing from. As after Paris and London, to Boc where the girls were taken in Nigeria and Swat Valley where Malala was shot in Pakistan, Madrid, Ankara, Istanbul and New York. As with those previous outrages, we resolved today to defy those who view difference with fear and anger. We defy them by celebrating our diversity. We defy them by living a life of freedom and of tolerance. We defy them by offering in the place of the fear and division the terrorists seek, love and solidarity to everyone across the world affected by this pointless violence. We stand with the people of Belgium and repeat the words of their national motto, the union fellow force, unity makes strength. I support today's motion and in so doing may I extend the condolences of myself and my party to the people of Brussels in the wake of yesterday's tragic attacks. As with Paris four months ago, this Parliament stands united with the families of those lost to another senseless act of murder and with a city that is in mourning. As with Paris, this will feel personal to many of us. Yesterday I watched the TV bulletins as my colleague and friend Ian Duncan spoke from his office in the city. As always in these cases, there is a sense of unreality of seeing a familiar face and a familiar place now having faced up to this modern form of barbarism. For all our friends working and living in Brussels, the coming days will be difficult and unsettling and I hope they know that they are in our thoughts. I also want to pay tributes today to our own police and security forces who once again face a heightened period of alert. It is only when incidents like yesterday's happen that we remember the constant watch they keep over us. I want to thank them for everything that they do. The debate will now turn to our reaction. I hope that it is calm, it is steadfast and it is resolute. I hope that we remain united and that we remember that these people by their actions do not act in the name of religion. They are members of a millenarian cult which is already losing support. I hope that as we mourn for the people of Brussels, we also keep in mind Paris as well. Yesterday, four months on from that terrible attack on the Bataclan theatre, the city was going about its business, the cafes were back in business, the people were back at work. The killers there wanted to halt our way of life, they wanted to bring a stop to our civilisation. While, of course, the wounds in Paris will take years to heal for those who lost loved ones, their attempts failed. They did not win, Paris won, as Brussels will win too, because those killers are doomed to fail. Let us extend our condolences to Brussels today, but let us also have confidence in our values and redouble our determination never to be cowed. A resident of Brussels told the radio this morning, are we going to stop going to the cinema, travelling on the train, shopping in the centres, flying on the planes? No, that is what we do. But am I afraid? Yes, I am afraid. As we witness the scenes of devastation in Brussels, it is only natural, only human, to be afraid. However, it is hoped that if this gathering today and similar gatherings across the world provide for anything, it is some degree of solidarity for the victims and the families and friends of those who have lost their lives. In Brussels, but also in Istanbul, Ankara, Baghdad and many cities and towns across the globe. The people who set off the bombs in Brussels yesterday are the kind of people that the refugees are fleeing from in Syria. That is why we must make it clear today that those terrorists do not speak for the people of the Muslim faith, they only speak for their distorted, cruel ideology. Whilst we are afraid, there is a temptation to turn in, to blame, to generalise to never trust others. However, that is exactly the moment when we must reach out to strengthen our relationships with the good people across the world. I, too, on behalf of the green and independent group, would like to offer my thoughts and the comfort that I can to all the families and friends of those killed and to those injured or affected by yesterday's terrible bombing in Brussels. It was a shocking event, perpetrated by criminals, but to which people are demonstrating incredible resilience. Reports on the radio this morning talked to people going back to work, restarting the city again after the shock, demonstrating a determination to not be cowed. I am sure that many people in this chamber have friends or family in Brussels. Colleagues from our green office in Parliament now working in Brussels have confirmed that they are okay. However, for too many other families, the news is devastating and that search has ended in grief. I can only imagine a tormented confused grief filled with questions of why now, why here. We as MSPs are used to standing up to explain why things have happened, dictating thoughts about what should happen. However, at this point, there is little of that that can help directly except to offer our solidarity. Belgium, in its neighbours, Scotland and the UK included, woke up today with hot memories of what happened yesterday, but also memories of other attacks. Paris, of course, and my colleague Patrick Harvie spoke of others in November, reminding us of the global nature of violence and the global nature of the solidarity that we need. To people in Brussels and the world, we offer our commitment to overcome hate with human compassion, to overcome division based on prejudice or fear, and our commitment to focus our actions on criminals who seek to divide and to never fall into the trap of mistrust based on religion or colour. Thank you. That ends the motion of condolence for Brussels. Before we move to next item business, we are going to have a very short break to allow people to get into position. Thank you.