 The next item of business is a debate on motion 6763, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on the future of Gaelic and Scots. I should advise members that interpretation facilities are available. Members can listen by inserting their headphones into the socket on the right hand side towards the front of the console. Any member unable to hear the interpretation should press the audio button on the console and select channel 1 English. I would invite members who wish to speak in the debate to please press their request to speak buttons now and I call on Shirley-Anne Somerville to speak to and move the motion up to 15 minutes, Cabinet Secretary. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I move the motion in my name. It's a privilege to open a debate in the Scottish Parliament about our support for Gaelic and Scots and at the outset I recognise that in this Parliament there has been strong cross-party support for both languages. I'm confident that we would all agree that that needs not just to be maintained but to be strengthened. As Poetain Crichton Smith said in a poem read out at the opening of the Scottish Parliament, let our three-voiced country sing in a new world. The focus of our discussions today is support for our Indigenous languages, Gaelic and Scots, and those two lines express in a few words the same sentiment and share the same priorities behind the motion that we are debating today. The Scottish Government is proud of our record in supporting our languages and we recognise the cultural and economic benefits that both Gaelic and Scots have for the whole of Scotland and the impact that they have internationally. We are witnessing a growing number of young people in particular who want to embrace their languages and the Scottish Government is determined to ensure that those who wish to learn and live their lives through Gaelic and Scots are afforded the opportunity to do so. We must also give those individuals the confidence to use their language without the negativity that we sometimes witness on our social media and in some sections of the press. We came to power on a manifesto which I feel demonstrates our commitment to our languages, however it has been a number of years since legislation was passed in support of the languages and now is the time to consider how we can further strengthen the current structures. I hope that today will be the first of many discussions that we have on the future of our languages and I want to work with all parties right across the chamber to ensure a bright future for Gaelic and Scots. I would like to first briefly refer to initiatives that are in place and the progress being made and also to the consultation paper that has been published on which we are still open and inviting comments. I think that the cabinet secretary is right that it is going to be a very consensual debate because I think that all the parties in this Parliament are in the same place, but before she progresses much further into her speech, would she agree with me that languages in general are an area in which we could do better in Scotland in terms of introducing languages to children much younger and all the way through their scholastic careers in primary and secondary school? It is an area in which, I think, together politically, we should have the will to make an improvement in our linguistic skills generally. If we can begin the intervention by me agreeing with Stephen Kerr, I think that we are off to a good start already. However, the member is quite correct to point to the importance of opening up languages and the learning of languages to all our young people. That is why the Government has the one-plus-two policy to ensure that languages are brought in to our primary schools and throughout the primary schools to ensure that they are opened up to that progress, but I am very happy perhaps on another debate to discuss that further or, indeed, our other opportunities. The Scots language has played a leading role in the life of your nation, both in our past and in the present. If we look back to see Scots used in public and community life, in our literature and our songs and if we look at our current cultural life, we still see Scots in use all around us. I am glad to say as well that there has been more support for Scots and more resources market available. The Scottish Government now has a Scots language policy. Further support for Scots can be funded in the Council of Europe's European Charter for regional or minority languages, and in the most hurtling information gather through the Scots question in the last census. Scots plays a mucklpert in education, publishing and the arts, and a thrangos small organisations with support for the Government are working together to ease up Scots in every way. The Scottish Government canes well that Scots needs more support, and we are increasing funding. We add it to the number of Scots bodies that are working to provide a brighter future for Scots speakers. We can see a number of Scots, particularly the young folk, where we are closely aligned with Scots language, and it is important that they have access to their own materials. By braiding access for young folk and teachers through the workplace, Scots House and the Yaldy books, we are danger stat. Those outstanding resources are helping young folk in their attainment and their educational outcomes, and, as they do, we can all agree that that is welcome. For bias for myself, this debate means an awful lot to me. I can mind when I was grown up in Fife being told not to speak slang and to speak properly. I couldn't understand how the language that I used in the playground was rang and needed to be changed once I got into skill. Thankfully, we have moved on through those attitudes, and my appreciation and pride in my language has grown. I now find that I am able to use the language in my home, in my community, and in my duties as a Cabinet Secretary. I have seen as well many others that are using Scots when you pride in confidence, and that has to be encouraged. Up to now, the Scots language has not benefited through formal support through legislation, but will be growing support for the language. We must think about what we can do in this regard. I will now turn to Gaelic, which I will not be attempting in Gaelic. Despite my best efforts to learn some of the language since coming into this part of government, the Scottish Government is also determined to support the Gaelic language and committed to the process of reversing how Gaelic has been viewed and treated. We are all aware of the injustices of the past and the steps taken to eradicate Gaelic. However, our aim is to create a secure future for Gaelic and Scots in Scotland, and that will be achieved by an increase in those learning-speaking and using the language. For Gaelic, important steps have been taken. Our support for Gaelic medium education has created a successful minority sector within Scottish education, operating at all levels and is increasingly popular with parents. To help meet the demand, the Scottish Government has provided funding to local authorities, and that continues to help to widen access to Gaelic through new schools and units across Scotland. Most recently, we announced a further round of capital to local authorities, including Cornwallon, Y Llywyddyn, Glasgow and Highland, to grow their Gaelic provision. In recent years, we have also witnessed other local authorities start their Gaelic journey by opening units to meet demand in their areas. Most recently, Renfrewshire Council opened provision in Paisley, which has been welcomed by parents and, no doubt, will be a duel in the crown for the local area when the Royal National Mod visits in 2023. To be clear, the Scottish Government wants to build on the ambitions of local authorities and parents, and I want to work with other local authorities to help to meet their particular needs. Of course, it is important to widen access so that all those who wish to learn Gaelic have the ability and the resources to do so. Through the Faster Rate of Progress initiative, we have seen the development of Speak Gaelic by MTA Alpa. The multi-platform learning resource is helping to build on the massive interests that are created by Duolingo and will help learners to reach fluency. I am proud that the Scottish Government has been able to provide on-going funding to the project. Our support for Gaelic broadcasting has transformed the broadcasting landscape in Scotland and has encouraged a minority community to have a significant impact on Scottish cultural life. We also recognise the economic and social benefits that Gaelic brings to the whole of Scotland. That is in no more evident than through the Royal National Mods, which was only debated in the chamber a couple of weeks ago. The annual Gaelic cultural festival is open to Gaelic and non-Gaelic speakers alike and is worth on average £2 million to the local area that hosts the 10-day event. Surely that is something that we can all be proud of. Michael Marra I thank the minister for taking the intervention. We certainly recognise the economic benefit of Gaelic and Scottish languages and the mod is a great example of that. The cabinet secretary does not recognise as well the reliance of the Gaelic community on a functioning economy and its heartlands. What is the Government going to do to deal with that issue to make sure that Gaelic can survive and thrive? It is one of the areas that is in the Labour amendment, which the Government would be happy to support today. I should have said for the avoidance of doubt that we are also happy to support the amendment in the name of the Conservative Party too. Michael Marra raises a very important point, but that is exactly why Kate Forbes set up a working group to look at the wider aspects right across Scottish Government that impact on the use of Gaelic communities. That working group is currently just completing its final report and, obviously, that will be published in due course and we can look at the recommendations that come from that, because Mr Marra, as he says, raises a very important point. Of course, we are all aware that the traditional Gaelic-speaking areas are under pressure from many outside factors, as we have just spoken about. Those communities must be given a level of support to help them thrive. That is why the Scottish Government has provided around £500,000 over the past two years to build on the network of Gaelic development officers who work across Scotland. For the language to be best further, we need to build on the important initiatives that are in place and support the community of speakers and learners wherever they are and whoever they may be. We now have the opportunity to reflect on how the Gaelic Language Scotland Act 2005, the School Consultation Act 2010 and the Education Scotland Act 2016 have operated in practice. The Scottish Government's consultation paper covers a wide-ranging set of issues relating to Gaelic in Scots, and in that paper there are four key commitments. They are to establish a new strategic approach to Gaelic medium education, to explore the creation of the Gael Tachd, to review the structure and functions of Borden the Gaelic and to take action on the Scots language. With the Scottish Government's commitments and the work that will follow from the consultation, there is another opportunity to build on the good progress that has been made and to strengthen Gaelic in Scots in Scotland by increasing the numbers of people using those languages. The consultation exercise and the views that are received will be an important element to making further progress. Where primary legislation is needed, we plan to introduce the Scottish Languages Bill to Parliament and that will enable progress to be made. In the consultation exercise, we are seeking contributions from across all relevant communities and the views that we receive will assist in shaping the Gaelic language plans and our plans for Scots and Gaelic in the future. As I have previously mentioned, our task is to strengthen the confidence of speakers and learners to encourage the use of those languages and to create opportunities for their use right across the public sector, the private sector and right across our communities. I believe that our consultation exercise is an important step on that journey. My officials have engaged with local communities and NHS groups for right across the country, both virtually and importantly in person. We have had a good response so far to this consultation with a very wide range of views, but I would encourage all those with an interest to respond before the consultation closes on 17 November. The debate also plays an important part in that consultation. As I said in my introduction, we have often had very informative and constructive debates when we have discussed Gaelic in Scots in this Parliament. I certainly hope that that will be another example from that, and something that the Government will take exceptionally seriously as we move to analyse the consultation results and move forward with our progress for Gaelic in Scots, something that I am sure we can provide support for right across this Parliament. I now call on Donald Cameron to speak to and move amendment 6763.1 up to 11 minutes, Mr Cameron. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I move the amendment in my name? As ever, the Scottish Conservatives welcome the opportunity to take part in a debate on Scotland's languages on Gaelic in Scots. We are Conservatives, after all. We believe in conserving things and conserving our heritage in particular. On a personal level, as someone who strongly supports the need to protect, preserve and promote all of Scotland's languages, I take a keen interest in this issue, especially when it comes to Gaelic. I thank the cabinet secretary for the consensual approach that she was taking today. She was right to acknowledge the cross-party support, and we will support both the Government's motion and Labour's amendment in any event. In order for all of Scotland's minority languages to survive and grow, this Parliament must continue to be united in its endeavour to deliver on the promises that we make. That is especially true in the case of Gaelic, which faces many existential threats that I will return to later and which will form the predominant part of my speech. The Scottish language is crucially important, too. It is not in the same perilous position as Gaelic, given that many variations have been spoken over by more than 1.5 million people across Scotland. However, we must not rest on our laurels here, either. As we look to the proposed Scottish Languages Bill, we have to ensure that legislation addresses the threats to Gaelic, but that we also learned from past mistakes that Scots 2 remains prevalent. Scots is, of course, made up of various regional languages, including border Scots and Doric, to name but a few, and I cannot help but mention my former colleague Peter Chapman, who is a champion of Doric in this chamber. Those languages have evolved over time, and in many cases people merge Scots with Gaelic. The Scottish Arts Council has supported various bodies, including the Scots Language Centre and the Scots Language Dictionary, for example, as well as other cultural organisations that rightly promote Scots as part of their work. To Gaelic, it is right to begin by acknowledging the many good things that are happening, especially in the media and in the arts, notably the ongoing success of Fasian and Gael and the work of M.G. Alibow. It is also particularly positive that, in recent years, Gaelic has gained an ever higher status within the academic community, with the University of the Highlands and Islands playing a leading role. Researchers are active both on campus and in many Gaelic-speaking communities, and we even see technology playing a part. The Gaelic Algorithmic Research Group at Edinburgh University has been developing an automatic speech recognition system for Gaelic, which can automatically transcribe Gaelic speech into writing, and is, for instance, particularly helpful for Gaelic speakers who struggle with dyslexia. We should also mention that 1.4 million people subscribe to learn Gaelic on the Duolingo app, around 80 per cent of which are based in Scotland. Those are all good news stories to celebrate, but we come to this chamber again and again to... Yes, of course. Emma Harper. I thank Donald Cameron for taking an intervention. He mentioned Duolingo. There isn't a Duolingo for Scots, so would you encourage maybe a Duolingo being created to help to speak Scots better? Absolutely, I would support that. I just regret that my technical ability in terms of that endeavour is probably fairly limited, but of course I accept that from Emma Harper. Those are all good news stories to celebrate, but we do come to this chamber again and again to debate Gaelic and very little changes. We have had many debates here where there have been rightly lots of warm words, but precious little action. Let there be no doubt that Gaelic is in crisis and we are running out of time. It will die out if we do not do more. Back in 2018, UHI published its long-awaited report, The Gaelic Crisis, in the vernacular community. Its findings were sobering. It found that the social use and transmission of Gaelic was at the point of collapse in its traditional heartlands, according to its researchers. There were only 11,000 habitual speakers of Gaelic left. Even more worrying was the finding that there was general, quote, indifference among the young regarding the place of Gaelic in their lives. In his introduction to Anne Thule, the magisterial collection of Gaelic poetry, the editor Ronald Black noted the Gaelic revival in the final quarter of the last century, but he stated that the revival took place in education, mass media and various forms of prose, not in its use as a community language and not in poetry. That was published in 1999, the same year that the Scottish Parliament was reconvened. No doubt, hopes were high that, under devolution, a revival would gather pace, but the fatal flaw was that the revival was not taking place in the Gaeltoch and was not sufficiently rooted among young people. The challenge remains that, if anything, it is more daunting than it was two decades ago. Many of us in this chamber, across this chamber, feel a very strong sense of duty to ensuring the survival and growth of Gaelic, but it is one thing to will on the language, quite another, to have pragmatic solutions to achieve this. First and foremost, we require a more subtle approach and simply investing money at the issue in the hope that a mere injection of funds will alone solve the problems. Preserving a language and, by extension, a culture simply does not work like that. That is also, in part, the danger of bringing forward more legislation. We will, of course, engage with the Government on this bill to ensure that it has the best chance of delivering real and lasting change, but on its own it will not save the language. That has to come through community engagement within the wider Gaeltoch. It is also right that we de-politicise the debates around Gaelic and Scots and that we challenge those who have tried to do so. I wrote about that in 2018. I said that too often debates about Gaelic, especially online, descend into proxy battles over completely unrelated issues, the constitution being a particular culprit, particularly on social media. I said that Gaelic is frequently appropriated as a quasi nationalist cause on the one hand or attacked by unionist altars on the other. I said then that we all need to tone down the rhetoric, and I remain of that view. It is a language, not a political football. Like Scots, it is one of our national languages. It is quintessentially part of our country. In the words of the Scottish Land League and the West Highland Free Press, Chia and Canon Snedwynau, the land, the language and the people are intertwined. Just as everyone in Scotland can lay claim to Scottish nationhood, just as everyone in Scotland can lay claim to our national heritage, so can everyone in Scotland lay claim to Gaelic and Scots. They have iconic status as national languages. They belong to us all. The celebration of both also clues to Scottish identity itself and the vast concurrence of distinct national and regional identities within Scotland and within the UK. Let us not reduce this debate, an important debate, to one about whether or not bilingual road signs or Gaelic words on police cars should exist. That is a diversion from the urgency of this debate. I, for one, believe that it is a good thing that public sector organisations across Scotland have Gaelic language policies embedded within their structures and output, but we also have to recognise that a top-down approach will not necessarily work, because ultimately it will be communities that determine whether Gaelic remains a living and dynamic language. That means engaging younger generations, as well as investing in campaigns aimed at reviving Gaelic at its grass roots and among the people who currently speak or learn it. With that in mind, I agree with the Government's motion that there should be a review of the structure and functions of Gaelic. Those benches have a very positive relationship with the board and its leadership, and I support the work that it does to promote Gaelic. However, it is not a view that is universally shared by my constituents that I have met in recent years, or at least some of them. It is an on-going review to maintain the positive work that the board does but also to identify areas of improvement that are right and proper. There is also an urgent need to improve access to Gaelic in our schools, and this is the subject of our amendment. Members may be aware of a report recently presented to the Scottish Government by Dr Michael Foxley and Professor Bruce Robertson, both very prominent and respected individuals in the Highland Firmament. That report focused on the pressing need to address the shortage of Gaelic medium education teachers to meet the increasing demand across Scotland. It goes without saying that GME has been a success story, and this report acknowledges that, but it particularly notes its particular success in early years and primary education. However, it also highlights the stark challenges that exist for GME at present and, in the future, on-going unfilled teacher vacancies, the lack of cover for absent teachers with no GME supply teacher availability, the inability of local authorities to provide a meaningful GME curriculum in secondary schools, and it states that the new problems that may arise could include the fact that, as a result of the new national contract, there might be a reduction to 21 hours per week of class contact, and that will require at least a 7 per cent increase in GME teacher numbers. The most striking aspect of that report is the fact that it estimates that a minimum of 420 primary teachers and 228 secondary teachers will be needed nationally over the next five years to meet GME to mud. That is a significant challenge. We have to achieve it before we are to grow the number of Gaelic speakers. That report concludes with eight recommendations. There is one that I would actively encourage the Scottish Government to adopt. I hope that it adopts all of them, but one of the recommendations is to set up a task force to oversee a GME workforce planning project that will report very quickly in the next six months. Can I urge Plead, even, with the Cabinet Secretary to set that up and to take cognisance of the report's recommendations? I have spoken at length, Presiding Officer, about the challenges facing Gaelic. That is in large part because it continues to face uncertainty, especially in the region that I represent. It is the language of my forefathers, one that I feel passionate about. It is crucial that we do everything that we can to support both Gaelic and Scots. We need to identify and remedy the challenges facing Gaelic. There is so much that we can do, but there is only so much that Government can do, and we must recognise that communities are the key for both Gaelic and Scots in the future. That means ensuring that our schools can meet increasing demand. It means protecting cultural investment, supporting the fantastic organisations such as the Common, the Gaelic, the FFESH movement, the MOD, and it means ensuring that Government and its agencies are proactive and engaged with the community. I firmly believe that we can do all this and more to secure a future for all of Scotland's languages. I now call on Michael Marra to speak to and move amendment 6, 7, 6, 3.2, around nine minutes, please, Mr Marra. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I move the amendment in my name. Scots Labour, of course, supports all of Scotland's languages, a personal load as others have. Scots played a very significant part in my upbringing and the culture of my family. I felt quite well qualified to translate the cabinet secretary's speech for majority brethren here on my right. I would also associate Scottish Labour's concerns with Stephen Kerr's point regarding the drop in modern language teaching in our schools. A huge drop in German, French and Spanish reported this year, and 18 per cent drop in modern language teachers, when we consider the broad applicability and use of languages and the skills that come from learning languages, we should consider that in the round. My speech today will focus mainly on Gaelic, given the urgency of the issues that surround that. We will have to recognise that, over the past 40 years, Gaelic has had the support from all political parties and is very important that it stays that way. The biggest channel of growth for Gaelic media education was through the regional councils in Scotland, such as Strafclyde and Lothian in the 1980s and 1990s. Labour initiated the process that led to BBC Alba and signed up to the European Charter for Minority Languages and the responsibilities that it brought with it. The Gaelic language act went through Holyrood under the Labour-led administration in 2005. Beyond the communities that speak the language daily, the importance of the language of Gaelic to our Scottish culture is immeasurable, whether that be in music, literature or through the broader arts. Writers like Ian Crichton-Smith and Sorley MacLean are staples in the canon of Scottish literature, and the mod and the Celtic connections highlight to us, non-gales, the power of music from these Gaelic communities. It is central to what our country was. It is vital to who we still are, but at great risk when we consider what we might become. The urgent concern now is that much of the impetus that we have seen in the past to support the language has been lost, so in a recent paper, Malcolm MacLean, former director general of the National Gaelic Arts Agency, asked those questions. How did we get here? How has the success of Gaelic development strategy in the 1990s in terms of education, the media, the arts and the economy become a 21st century crisis in Gaelic's Hebridean heartlands? Have the government agencies responsible for Gaelic culture been oblivious to the deteriorating situation on the islands or have they known but opted for a state of denial? Those are really the questions that this debate must address, rather than retreating into smug self-congratulation. Anybody who denies that the language is at a critical point even in these places, regardless of his heartlands, is deluding him or herself. Do you not take my word for it? The major piece of research entitled The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community published last year spelled out the unavoidable evidence that, and I quote, the Gaelic-speaking community is no longer sustainable under current circumstances and policy provision. It is really that report that we should be debating today, rather than self-congratulation, and I do feel, although we will vote for much of it today, what is a largely delusional motion. Every minority language needs a home and the real danger is that their will, within a couple of decades, be no community left, where Gaelic is the language of the majority or even a substantial minority of the population. That does not need to be the outcome, but if it is to be avoided then there must be a far greater focus on the Gaelic-speaking areas that goes beyond the classroom by supporting the use of Gaelic in the community and as many contexts as possible. That is where the work of Bornegalic needs to be concentrated with great urgency and prioritisation of resources. The consultation paper talks about defining Gaelic-talk areas in order to give them support. However, the last thing that Gaelic needs is a long drawn-out bureaucratic exercise around definitions. It is not difficult to identify the areas where there is still a significant Gaelic-speaking population. They urgently need development workers and support for local initiatives. Whether they need to be formally identified as Gael-talk areas is a secondary question that should not delay action by a single day. It is impossible to separate language decline from the wider issues of de-population and its causes. Without people, there is no language. The fact that population continues to decline in the Gaelic communities without any effective interventions from the Scottish Government is critical to this debate. We have to consider social infrastructure and the declining resilience of Gaelic communities, so much more exposed to the economic incompetence of this Government than there would have been a generation ago. Take, for example, the crisis already highlighted in the teaching of Gaelic in schools due to a shortage of new teachers. A recent report suggests that, over the next five years, a minimum of 225 teachers would be needed to meet demand. Alarmingly, only 25 qualified for the whole of this year. The scale of that crisis cannot be understated, but it is not just the education that needs to be tackled, but it is the wider issues that are faced in the economy of Gaelic-speaking communities. In the words of Coralyn Eilan-Shar, the success of the economy of the Western Isles is dependent on a modern, efficient air and transport network. That is something that we discuss regularly in this chamber. However, the council made those remarks in the context of the two ferries being delayed by nearly five years and the older ferries in the CalMac fleet in frequent breakdown. The Harris Transport Forum has warned this Government that across the Western Isles, businesses are at the point of extinction. That represents, Presiding Officer, grotesque failure, and it only lies at this Government's door. The fractures in the sea transport network to the islands is leaving food shelves bare and people unable to reach the islands. Fifteen years ago, island life economies were less reliant on those connections. There have been local ideas to address the issue such as the Outer Hebrides food growing strategy, and those are the kind of projects that need support from ministers also. The list of the failures in policy for Gaelic-speaking communities does go on. The breakdown of crofting regulation, the delays in extending reliable broadband provision, housing policies, or the lack of them, which push families out of the villages. All of those are contributors to the decline of communities where Gaelic is still strongest. The language does not exist in isolation. Just today, the director of the University of the Highlands and Islands Language Sciences Institute warns all of us that Gaelic language promotion in Scotland has been overly concerned with issues of the symbolic status of the language, to the detriment of protecting existing communities of speakers, particularly in island communities. We need to hear from the education minister what actions are being taken to address the shortfall in Gaelic medium teachers. We also need to know why there is no job dispersal strategy to bring well-paid public sector jobs involving the use of Gaelic into communities where the language is spoken. Those are not issues that need to wait for legislation, but they do need practical actions now. In a few years' time, it will be too late. Labour has nothing but goodwill towards the Scots languages, which are spoken in varying forms around the country. We will look closely at whatever proposals come forward from the Government, but the needs are different from those of Gaelic. We should not fall into the trap of contrived equivalents. Both should be respected on their own merits. I want to end my contribution to today's debate with a reflection from one of the Gaelic language's most notable writer and poets. Ian Crichton-Smith, the great Lewis poet in a Gaelic that, as the cabinet secretary, I will not dishonour, wrote, "...this is my true language, the one that suits this land, the one that makes local conversation." Smith's words tell us that Gaelic language is Gaelic life, not a symbol to be promoted but a culture to be saved. The reality now, Presiding Officer, is that more and more people can no longer afford that life or find that an island life that works for them has been stolen. With only self-congratulation and total opposition to what is actually happening in homes and communities, we stand precariously at the beginning of the end of something very precious. Even though I do not speak Gaelic, I value the language and what it brings to our character, our culture, our heritage and our economy, and that is why I speak in support of it today. It has been under pressure over centuries on legal, social, education and economic fronts. Legal, because often the Government of the day sought to quell the language as a means to control the population. Economic, because to get a job, especially if you moved, you needed to speak English. Education, because it was expected in school that you would speak English, not the Gaelic. Social, because people became more mobile, English has become the dominant language in social circles. So the language was almost underground, considered inferior by both government but also by society. Thank goodness that has changed, not just for the Gales but also for Scotland as a whole. It is no longer suppressed by the state, it is officially recognised and supported. There is an economic value in the language as people need it for jobs, and it attracts tourism, music and culture. We see that with the Royal National Mod, with MG Albert, which leads to a GVA of £17.2 million. The Glasgow Gaelic economy is apparently worth £21 million and 700 jobs. Between 2018 and 2021, there was a 72 per cent increase in the number of Visit Scotland users visiting Gaelic-related content. Gaelic medium schools are spreading across the country, so valued by parents, guardians and pupils alike that there is a high demand for them. Governments of all colours and political parties are fully in support as we have heard today, but there is still a crisis, a massive crisis, and it is in social circles that it suffers. We know that the number of people who speak Gaelic at home in the shop or in the pub is not high, it is in decline. Whether it is confidence or habit, it is not an everyday occurrence. Michael Marra is absolutely bang on by talking about the economic housing issues that are directly related to the wellbeing of the language, but what do we do? I accept the point that Donald Cameron has made, that this has to be a grass-roots growth rather than a top-down instruction for people to speak the language, but the Government has to take action, it has to take a lead, it has to take a role in order to encourage that community action and growth, which is why I support some of the proposals that are discussed in the consultation about the Gael tag for a designated area for the higher proportion of Gaelic speakers. That cannot just be a bureaucratic process and I am afraid that the discussion so far within the consultation document is just that. It needs to be firm but sensitive action. I would target the area for now. I know that there is a discussion about having the whole of Scotland as a Gael tag, but we need to focus on the areas where it would be more naturally spoken in the home. That is how I would focus to make sure that we target our efforts to make sure that those efforts are not spread too thinly. There may also be different solutions for different parts of the country, so let us start with the strongest area and build from there. Through local planning and decision making in the Highlands and Islands, we could implement policies such as whether all schools should be Gaelic medium education and whether the public sector organisations should be bilingual. It is quite a shift, but with care and good planning, it could be the shift that we need to ensure that community use of Gaelic is embedded in daily life. I support the further advancement of Gaelic medium education, but as opportunities in the central belt and other parts of Scotland increase for those teachers, we need to make sure that schools, especially in the islands, are able to attract those teachers, too. It would be tragic if the very areas that have kept the language alive through the dark decades lost out because it is now flourishing everywhere else. I would want to explore extending the rights of parents to request early years and secondary Gaelic medium education provision. I support the review of the functions of Bordd MacGaelic and also a greater, sharper focus on plans, targets, functions, education authorities, workforce plans and measuring progress. I support the enhancement of Scots, which is an important part of our culture and certainly my heritage, too. I was reading back the official report from the passing of the 2005 act and was struck by the powerful contribution from a Conservative Lord James Douglas Hamilton. He was explaining the role of his ancestor, Selkirk, of Red River, who chartered ships following Culloden to transfer 1,000 struggling Gaelic-speaking Highlanders from Skye and Rassie to Prince Edward Island in Canada. He concluded, "...we have no power to amend the wrongdoings of bygone centuries that led to immigration. We do not need to dwell on the other side of sorrow, but we can at the very least give strong support and encouragement to those who speak our country's largest indigenous language after England. Much progress has been made. There has been an improvement in policy over those 17 years following that act, but we should acknowledge that we should never settle that there is a crisis, which is why we need a Scottish Languages Bill, combined with renewed support and encouragement, which should be a priority for this Parliament." Thank you, Mr Rennie. We will now move to the open debate. There are speeches of around six minutes, and I would advise that, at the present time, there is some time in hand should members wish to take and or receive interventions. I call Emma Harper to be followed by myrtle Fraser. As a co-convener of the Scots lead cross-party group, with my colleague Jackie Dunbar MSP, I am awfully chuffed to be speaking here the day, and I am going to focus my contribution on Scots. I want to see legislation endorsing the Scots lead, and I think that we need an act to owe the Scots lead. The Scots lead is mighty important as part of our Scotland's cultural hairship, cithun yn sang, poems and literature, and in Il Cadey we gaze and in our communities for buy every day. The 211 census spared a question and then the Scots lead for the first time. Yn y half million folk reported that they could speak Scots, and 1.9 million cumultively reported that they could speak, read, screave or understand Scots. I look for it to the results of the most recent census, and I do lose, Presiding Officer, that those numbers will be mere, and to see all the numbers, o'w'w'r folk will speak, read, screave and understand Scots. Scots is not just a collection of regional dialects, there is muckle history of this now evolving lead. Here is a weak quote from Scots screver, TV presenter and broadcaster Alistair Heather. The Scots have kent that they had their own lead for the last six hundred years. It is only in the last 40 that they have forgotten it. The activists for Scots will make sure that their words will be shared in our wise, and as I said, sang, poems, essays and on the telly, radio, social media and across the internet in money forms. Presiding Officer, here in Scotland we have suns in place names and people's names that didn't match the spellings. Collaine Castle, it's spelt Collzin, Mingus spelt Menzys, Curgunion, which is a village near Dalbyty, spelt Curgunzion and Diel, which is spelt Dalzil. Those are all currently misspelled because they contain the letter Joch. The letter Joch is the 27th letter of the Scots alphabet, and it has been lost its tint. The Joch was replaced by the Z or the Y by early printers. At some point in the future, we should correct this muckl mistake and bring back the letter Joch, Presiding Officer. As we have heard, the Scots is our home language. It is one of the three languages in use in Scotland today. Words in Scots by the likes of Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Hugh McDermott are screed on the foons or the waz, the foundations of this very building. Scots words are literally hodding up our national parliament. The Scots Language Centre stands up for Trad, the Scots Language Awards, Wee Windies, Our Vice, Scots Hoose and ambassadors like Lenny Penney, Emma Gray, Billy Kay and my pal Susie Briggs, Fygalloway. She's a broad story teller, Presiding Officer, and there's a second few mayor. They help to widen access to Scots. Are these folk and mayor are doing fantastic work and they need support it? In session four of this Parliament, Rob Gibson MSP convened the Scots lead cross-party group, which created the statement of principles to advance Scots. As the statement of principle says, nabody should be penalised or pit and done for speaking Scots. There are 13 statements of principles here in Rob's Wee Red Book. Some of those principles are being addressed than new. Some haven't yet though. Number five in the statement of principles shows that the Scots lead must receive mere funding and investment. Currently, the Scottish Government provides £480,000 in funding each year for the Scots lead compared with £29.6 million, which was spent on Gaelic. In any way, I'm asking, Presiding Officer, that Gaelic isn't important. It absolutely is. Across Scotland, we aim money historic ties to Gaelic, including place names in Galloway, in Dumfries and Galloway, where I'm from. My ask of the cabinet secretary is to increase the funding for the Scots lead to secure its future. I hope that that can be addressed in the legislation as we are moving for it. The consultation that was referred to by money folk and the cabinet secretary today, which I encourage folk to hear their say on, has until midnight on the 17th. It provides an exciting opportunity to create a sustainable future for Scots. We need to enhance the work of the Scots organisations. We need to bolster the use of Scots in education, and we need to invest in Scots to make secure its future. Pursuing an act of the Scots lead is key to helping to deliver the recognition that activists have been working on for money a year. The Scots lead activists are doing a phenomenal job, an act and a funding support is crucial to delivering education and awareness in Scots. As the old Scots saying goes, tack tent or its tent, take care or its loss. I ask if the cabinet secretary will comment on whether a border and a Gaelic equivalent for the Scots lead is needed, or will the existing established bodies, sick like the Scots language centre, be a vehicle to continue to deliver as it is currently doing? I welcome the debate, and I look for it to elk at other contributions. I now call Murdo Fraser to be followed by Alasdair Allan. I am pleased to contribute to the debate around the future of two Scotland's two indigenous languages. Growing up in the highlands, my cultural background was always in Gaelic rather than Scots. Indeed, it was always famously said that people in Inverness spoke with the finest English that could be found anywhere, deemed to be the case because it was a town originally of Gaelic speakers who learned pure English directly. There was no great tradition of Scots language, as was the case in many other parts of the Lowlands. My knowledge of Scots came from school, reading the poems of Robert Burns and, more particularly, the novels of Walter Scott, which Emma Harper has just mentioned. It has always been in my view a great pity that Scots prose style is deemed too flowery for modern tastes, as he is the greatest Scottish author of all time. Language society is a superlative storyteller, and novels like Ivanhoe, Rob Roy and the Fair Maid of Perth have tremendous plots, great believable characters who leap from the page, and they are all rooted in real history, mostly of Scotland, but also of England, too, in the case of Ivanhoe. Under those Scots novels that are written in English, many of his characters in them, of course, speak in Scots. Like wandering Willie in Redgottonlet, whose tale of Steny Stevenson's Encounter with the Devil must be the finest and, certainly, the most chilling Scottish short story ever written. I'll let others. Yes, of course, the counter to the devil. If you name him, he appears. I thank the member for giving way on that basis. I agree with much of what he says. Given the importance of Scotland and much else in Scottish literature that he rightly mentions, would he agree that it should be a right of every child going to school in Scotland to learn about Scottish literature and not merely left to the enthusiasm of individual teachers, whether they are or not? That's a very interesting point from Mr Allen, and probably we need a longer debate. I think that we need to be very careful about prescribing in our schools exactly what is taught in different classes and whether or not individual pupils and heads should have the right to make these choices rather than have a set curriculum that every pupil has to learn. Although I share his ambition that Scottish peoples should read Scottish writers, I would be nervous about too much top-down prescription, but perhaps we can extend that debate on another occasion. I was very pleased to lead a member's debate just three weeks ago, celebrating the success of the Royal National Mod in Perth and paying tribute to Anne Cymyn Gaelic for not just organising the mod and making it such a success every year, but also for all the work that it does in promoting the Gaelic language. We should also recognise the work that the board of Gaelic is doing in supporting the language too. It is certainly true that there is strong cross-party support for Gaelic, as we have already heard in this debate. It was back in the 1990s that the then Conservative Government provided the financial support to create the Gaelic broadcasting committee, which led to the launch of BBC ALBA. Since then, successive Governments, both the Labour-Liberal Democrat Coalition and the SNP Government, have continued with that tradition, and that is very much to be welcomed because Gaelic belongs to us all. The most recent census data that we have in Gaelic comes from 2011, which at that point showed that just over 87,000 people had some Gaelic language skills. We, of course, still await the results of this year's census, but I fear that the numbers will show a drop since then. The news may not all be bad with the recent Scottish social attitudes survey, showing that the number of Scots that can speak some Gaelic has doubled in the past decade. Overall, I think that Donald Cameron is correct when he says that Gaelic is in crisis, and I think that we will see when the census comes out. There are some very worrying statistics there. There has been a growth in Gaelic medium education, popular with parents, even with those who have no Gaelic background themselves. This is a success story that we should celebrate, but not one that is unqualified. I know of parents groups in different parts of Scotland who would very much welcome the opportunity of Gaelic medium education, but it is not currently available to them. I would like to see the Scottish Government doing more to encourage local authorities who do not provide GME where there is demand to make sure that it is available. I have, for example, heard from parents in Dundee that they would welcome Gaelic medium education in that city, but currently there is no provision. Perhaps that is an issue that the cabinet secretary could address in her closing remarks. We also have, as Donald Cameron has highlighted, serious issues with the recruitment of Gaelic medium teachers. The study last month by Dr Michael Foxley and Professor Ruth Robertson found that we will need 225 teachers over the next five years, but only 25 qualified this year. In their view, that is a crisis. We need to look at how attractive teaching as a profession is and how we might attract more of those with Gaelic language skills into it. Having a demand for Gaelic medium education amongst parents and pupils is one thing, but it would be a tragedy if Gaelic continues to decline because we cannot meet that demand. I seriously hope that that can be addressed. Young people learning Gaelic and being educated through a Gaelic medium provides great hope for the future, but there will only be of lasting value if there are opportunities to use the language in the rest of their lives at home, in education, in the workplace. Gaelic should not become an academic museum piece, such as Latin or Ancient Greek. It needs to be a language that should be alive and spoken daily. People sometimes will ask the question, why should we waste money on Gaelic if it is a dying language? What is the point of putting taxpayers' money into keeping it alive? My answer to that question is very simple, because it is part of the richness and diversity of our culture as a country. Although it might make life easier for some, I would not want to live in a world where we all speak the same language, we all eat the same food, we all wear the same clothes, we all hold the same views. What makes the world such an intriguing and interesting place is that we have such a diversity of cultures, of languages and of opinions. By investing in supporting Gaelic, or for that matter, Scots, we can play a small part in keeping the tapestry of human life as colourful as possible instead of simply being monochrome. I hope that that is an ambition that unites all of us in the chamber. On that basis, I am very happy to support the Government's motion on my colleague Donald Cameron's amendment. Thank you, Mr Fraser. I now call Alasdair Allan to be followed by Jack in the Bar. When calling Dr Allan, I would point out that I understand that Dr Allan will be making his contribution in Gaelic and that, should members wish to avail themselves of the simultaneous translation, they should be. Thank you, Presiding Officer. One of these days, I will stand up in this chamber and speak in Gaelic about health services or the Ukraine. To tell the truth, I have tried to do something along those lines a couple of times in the past at question time in Parliament. Afterwards, people have invariably asked me questions like, why do you speak in Gaelic? We were not speaking about the subject of Gaelic today. Indeed, some still ask various questions about Gaelic that they would never think of asking about English. Nobody asks what the public services delivered through the medium of English cost in Scotland. English medium schools have services in English. English road signs, and before that point is seized on, let me say that I make no complaint about such services in English. Yet, those questions are reserved especially for such services when they are delivered in Gaelic. Although the majority, as close to 100%, makes no statistical difference of these services are delivered in English, even in the islands, the majority of public services are delivered through English. We all regularly agree about Gaelic, and it's good that that is agreed that, as everyone today said, it is that Gaelic is precious and that it is an important part of our culture, our music and history. But Gaelic is something else too. It is a language. No language dwells in some silent theoretical place, somewhere else. A language is spoken and heard and seen. People will use it even if there sometimes happen to be others nearby who may not know their language. That is the normal situation with many other languages in many other countries. That is the mainstream, as they say. So, I hope that this new bill will create new opportunities so that Gaelic will be heard and used more frequently so that Gaelic will be in the mainstream, and that we might reach a more normal situation where more parts of the public and private sector provide services in Gaelic to the many types of community in which the demand exists to speak or to learn the language that I speak now. Rw's some folk when I mind them at this place, wasn't it invented Utanithan ataw, 20 years ago, but I didn't mean to fashion them. Of course, speaking of Scots in here, their days, can be an unchancy business. Looking at evidence for the last wee whily, I doubt what I'm day and right now means that they'll be trolled by all men are a folk at its opinions and in a muckl care about. At the very least, I can make a short leap now at the newspapers that will cry me ill-menert or donert or warner thon. It isn't time today to hulk far and yuch ben into the national psychology to explain all that though. However, just as I did with Gaelic the new, rather than to speak about specific policies of the bill, I'd you lose that mace to my speech would be better days just atling at something else, myth busting. Scots doesn't really form air and repair to the linguistic tradition of the place I buy new, the Western Isles, but it does of the place I come from, the borders. I'm speaking more or less, I was speaking more or less standard Gaelic in my speech. Gaelic, like mace leads, has sundry spoken dialects for bias grievance standard, dinner lipping on honour to be the tellsy at its gist. Scots does that. I'll try to use as near to a standard Scots as exists. However, if we were all agreed for me to use border Scots, I'm sure I could oblige, I'm sure I'd be more as happy to say the numbers A and Twa and Echt as Yn, Tway and Eit. But Twa three minutes isn't enough to get to the work of myth busting around Scots. My brush, Ablen, seems brave enough to be a bism, but let me just tack on A Norrie to touch on a point that Mr Cameron rightly brought up. I can it in the media while some folk runs a Scots miles through the Scots language of their days because they see it as some kind of Trojan horse, or at the very least a Trojan cudi for a ye political point of view. It isn't, Sir Walter Scott. His name was brought in by the lug in the horn, a wee bitty sign. Sir Walter Scott was a political unionist, and John Buchan was a Tory peer. It didn't hinder them from screaming at Scots. I say, everybody can keep a calm political sooch. Presiding Officer, I am just Alden Ych to mind and see in a teacher, spear a laddie at the skill, if he had done his punishment exercise, and sign convert the sentence to the toss when he got the answer back aye. I hope I'm young enough, Presiding Officer, to see a Scotland where both Scots and Gaelic. I'd like to thank the Government for the work that they are doing for Scots and Gaelic in this bill. I'd like to thank the Government for the work that they are doing for Gaelic in Scots in this bill. Dr Allan, I now call Jackie Dunbar to be followed by Rhoda Grant. I'm just fair trick it to speaking this debate today in, like my fellow convener of the Scots LEAD CPG, Emma Harper MSP. I want to use my time to focus on the Doric in Scots LEAD, and I agree we often at Emma said in her contribution. Presiding Officer, a LEAD, Max Fowke, a common LEAD brings us all together, and a country's LEAD shapes its culture. Scots, Doric, Gaelic, they've all made us far we are today, and they have to be a part of our future in all. In my own education, like the Cabinet Secretary, I was constantly taught to speak English and name a language, so I want to touch on attainment in education today. The curriculum for excellence marks clear that a language's dialects and literature of Scotland provide a rich resource for barons and young folk to learn about Scotland's culture, identity and language. Through engaging with a wide range of texts, they will develop an appreciation of Scotland's literary and linguistic heritage and its indigenous languages and dialects. I would be affograteful if the Cabinet Secretary would confirm that Doric texts will be equitable to Scots. That educational principle permeates the experience and outcomes and is expected that our teachers will build upon the diversity of language represented within the communities of Scotland, valuing the languages that barons and young folk bring to the school. More than 50 per cent of folk in Aberdeen in the Shire, Spectoric or Scots, so it's important to ensure that folk in the region are supported to use their own mother tongue. Especially for our young folk, promoting their own language is just so important in education. I'm very grateful to Jackie Dunbar giving way. On that very important point about our young people and across a number of speeches today, would you like to comment on the importance of modern technologies grasping Scots and Gaelic so that our young people see it in a format which they are perhaps better suited to use than perhaps some of us across this chamber including myself? Jackie Dunbar I thank the member for the question. I also thank the member for understanding what I'm saying. Absolutely, I agree with him, especially the Doric, which is a form of Scots. It's sometimes difficult to write down what you're trying to say, so I absolutely agree with what you're saying just now. The Scottish Qualifications Authority has confirmed the use of Scots in education and it tackles the attainment gap by allowing students to speak in their own vice. Also, bilingualism has many other educational benefits. Promoting Scots bilingualism assists in the Government's in and twa language policy goal. Fundamentally, promoting Scots and Doric in education is about building a parity or esteem over language so that it is thought to in equal terms with other European languages. It's about showing our bairns and young folk that it is okay, it's our right to use their own language. It's nae slang, it's nae inferior to English and it's a language and it's use needs to be promoted and protected. Doric's rules have got vocabulary and it's pickers a certain why of looking at the world that Gingswy only language. If you lose only language or lose only aspect of the language, you lose something that is unique. Many folk associate Doric with humour and, roughly so, as there's a great tradition of self-aware humour rift across the northeast, but if it is only seen through this lens, the power and status of the language is soon undermined. As my colleague Emma Harper said, Scots, like a Doric, is often seen as a non-professional language. We need to overcome those barriers and normalise the use of Scots Doric, not just in humour but in everyday life, in particular in squales, because currently Scots Doric is often used socially but nae professionally. For example, if you go up to the broch or Peter Heade you'll find, for example, Sparkiesby, Poland and Lithuania, who have squeal English but find themselves learning the Doric. In their work life it is folk-spick. In plenty what's a life, Doric is useful and used. We need to see mere work gone in to embed the language into the curriculum and into social life and aspire it to cabinet secretary for a commitment on this, as the legislation is taking forward. I want to reflect on a recent poem that I have seen on the Facebook written by Brian Thompson, a manny originally faith in the north-east, and he wrote, "'A Doric was used by your folks at home. It was not used in school. If you answered a teacher in Doric Tung, it did the king doonwheel. When you got home it was Doric again until the school next day. Sitting thinking other words, you can, you've made to say. If in my burns were growing up, Doric was left a hen. I didn't pass on. Ah, a word. It really was a sin. But now at last I understand the words I hate to say. A Doric words are precious. Don't attack them to your grave. So Billy start your screaming. We wanted to pass on. It's in our bleed. It's history. We didn't want it gone. And mind and tell your loons and quines to keep a words alive. We are, Monday, our very best to help it to survive." Brian is absolutely right in a book that he writes and it really resonates with me. I was told me to use a Doric in school and it does hate an impact. Young burns heading at the school for the first time. I'm excited and the first thing they're telling is that they're speaking wrong. And quite frankly, Presiding Officer, that's just cruel and we need to stop it. We need to embrace our Scots and let them learn the English at their own pace. So in closing, Presiding Officer, I want this bill to genuinely be used to normalise, support and protect Scots in Doric and I look forward to being involved as the work is taken forward. Thank you, Ms Inbar. I now call Rhoda Grant, who's joining us remotely to be followed by Jim Fairlie. Ms Grant. Happy live, Ophika, really. I want to focus, my remarks mainly, on Gaelic. And to start with, I want to say I'm slightly concerned about having a language bill that tries to cover both Gaelic and Scots in one piece of legislation. Father, for a huge amount of doing Gaelic, Scots lags even further behind with regard to official recognition. I would prefer the Scottish Government would try to wail us on the Welsh language as a guide as to how to proceed with Gaelic rather than to measure it against the progress of Scots which you have heard about. And that's not about putting a greater value on either language, just to recognise that they have very different needs and ways in which they will need to protect and promote them. I know that there will be many people who will criticise and ask why we are speaking about languages that have fewer and fewer speakers today. Ms Grant, could you please stop just for a wee second? I have a request to you, Ms Grant, for an intervention from Emma Harper. Are you willing to take that intervention, Ms Grant? Yes, I'll take that intervention. Okay, thank you. I call Emma Harper. Thanks, Presiding Officer, and thanks to Rhoda Grant for hearing us. My understanding is that the consultation is looking at both Scots and Gaelic, but it's not necessarily going to be one revised bill. Understanding that it's what we have to do, we're not even going to measure Gaelic and Scots because you can't measure them both at the same time. So I just want to clarify what she's trying to present. Ms Grant? Well, if Emma Harper knows something more than I do about how this is going to proceed, then I'm glad to have that reassurance that both will be looked at separately depending on their needs. Presiding Officer, I know that there will be many people who criticise and ask why we're speaking about languages, and they might also say why are we talking about this during a cost-of-living crisis? Is it not better to spend money elsewhere? I want to address that head on. Firstly, our language holds our history and culture. The richer museums and art galleries stuffed full of their history and culture recorded at great length for the common people. Our history is held in songspones, and stories handed down in the generations held in the language that were spoken. When Gaelic was spoken throughout most of Scotland and indeed into England, it has died back to the West Highlands and Islands, and sadly the history of the lowlands that was held in Gaelic has already been lost. So let's avoid that happening to the West Highlands and Islands in these areas and indeed other areas of Scotland. Many people depend on language for their livelihood, be it teaching, broadcasting or promotion. Without Gaelic, there would not be a media industry in our islands, and yet many of our English medium broadcasters started their careers in Gaelic broadcasting, and that goes for many of the support staff as well, careers that would be unknown in these parts were it not for Gaelic. In these areas, good careers and well-paid jobs can be hard to find, therefore Gaelic finds itself as an economic bastion against depopulation of young people. Therefore, the promotion of Gaelic is part of the solution in tackling the cost of living crisis and not a choice to be measured against it. There are also arguments and debates around how we protect and promote Gaelic, and that's healthy. We cannot leave the protection and promotion of Gaelic solely to Board and Gaelic. Everyone has a role to play, and it's also right that the work of the Board is scrutinised. The UHI publication, The Gaelic Crisis and the Renacular Community, cost a stir, highlighted the need to protect Gaelic-speaking communities in order to protect the language. An issue that is raised with me time and time again is the need for jobs and homes in the Gaelic heartlands in order to keep our young people there and to keep Gaelic-speaking communities together, because too often our homes go to the highest bidder people from parts of the country and indeed the world that are more affluent than our local population and people who do not speak Gaelic or feel the need to learn, and that needs to change. We need to make sure that we have a local housing market to allow local people to stay and we also need to provide them with meaningful careers. When we welcome people into our communities, we must also encourage them to learn the language and to play their part in keeping it alive, and I know many do this, and native speakers also need to encourage them. It's a strange sensation to hear someone speaking Gaelic and believe that they're local, only to discover that their accent is very different in English, revealing a very different heritage. While protecting the vernacular community and promoting Gaelic-speaking there, we need to create more new Gaelic speakers as well. We need education to strengthen the children and child's rights to learn Gaelic. We need to ensure that Gaelic medium starts preschool and follows on throughout the whole of the education system. Last week, Jim Hunter called for a salmo rostig to have university status in its own right. UHI is, of course, a university in salmo rostig forms part of that and provides Gaelic degree courses, but what Jim Hunter was looking for is a university that allows students to study other academic courses through the medium of Gaelic. It is, of course, necessary for students who have spent their whole lives learning through that medium. It's, of course, not easy. We have a shortage of Gaelic teachers and it is also a struggle to provide for teaching of Gaelic as a language in English medium schools. We should have Gaelic as a compulsory subject for every child in Scotland if we want to keep up with Wales and their promotion of Welsh. To do that, we need to increase Gaelic speakers and their by-teachers. Our ambition shouldn't be limited by the imagination of government. We need to protect and grow the number of Gaelic speakers we need to take this action. That action might not be universally popular, but it is a big choice. We are at the crossroads. Continuing as we are will lead to the future decline of our languages. We must take positive action to promote both Gaelic and Scots if we are not going to lose them all together. I would like to thank the cabinet secretary for education for bringing this motion forward today. I had the great pleasure recently to visit Gwylabun primary school in my constituency, where I was able to see first-hand Gaelic medium education in work. The head teacher, Anne-Marie Sands and the early years teacher, Christine MacGregor, had an enthusiasm that I have to say was utterly infectious for what they were doing. I was just a wee bit envious of the opportunity that GME is giving to those kids, but also immensely proud of the fact that the Scottish Government is pursuing it. There is a richness to the language of both Scots and Gaelic. I think we would be all the worse off for not having. For the majority of us, as has been demonstrated today, Gaelic is probably a step too far. I want to try to teach myself the language where we blackgabook a Gaelic words and phrases. It was utterly impossible, because the language is a living, breathing thing that cannot be learned and wrote. For me, what I see in the gales is that they live in the language. The GMA programme gives the children and the young people the chance to live in that language as it should be used, and that bilingual skill of being proficient in Gaelic in English will be life-cheat. I can assure the member that it is possible to learn Gaelic by wrote. I have done it. I stand corrected and absolutely in your shadow. Is that the primary one? The classes follow the exact same curriculum as the English language and education, but most lessons are taught in Gaelic. As the children are learning any particular subject, be it master history, they are also picking up another language. From primary 3 onwards, English is introduced so that pupils are bilingual by the time they reach primary 7. There is a wee bit of an issue here in that we need to consider whether primary one is in fact young enough to be starting. I know that Goodlip Warner is in fact trying to introduce an early years education as well. It is well known that there are many developmental benefits to the kids learning Gaelic. Beyond learning to speak in a different code, research shows that children who understand more than one language are able to think more flexibly and creatively and also tend to demonstrate more focus at multitasking—clearly something that I have not learned. Further and more in future life, being bilingual offers many career opportunities, while studies show that it may also keep the brain sharper for longer and later years. It is a great policy and one that I wish was more readily accessible. In fact, it was even available when I was a laddie. I sincerely hope that it will be clear pathways for the children at Goodlip Warner to continue their education in Gaelic into the next stage of their life as they move on to secondary school. I hope that the Scottish Government's commitment to support and grow Gaelic education will deliver tangible results such as wider availability for more kids in the coming years. Perhaps there may be value in looking at the Covid solution to teaching Gaelic at Goodlip Warner primary when they go to secondary school by things such as the oil or strolling, and the cabinet secretary might want to address how we are going to develop it in secondary. It is hugely encouraging to see the youngsters with a keen interest to speak Gaelic, a language that is thriving in Scottish social attitudes survey reeling, that the number of Scots who speak some Gaelic has doubled in the past decade, while globally upwards of 449,000 people have used the geolingo but well done to Emma Harper for starting the campaign to also include Scots. The members will recall the real belter of a speech given by Billy Kaye in time for reflection back in April of this year. He highlighted how important it is to the future generations that the tongue they speak is not out of place in Scotland where they live. The language that we do most of our business here in the Parliament is English, which is socially, politically and economically dominant in our culture and society, but we should never lose sight of the fact of how important the native languages here in Scotland are to our land and our people. There are a million and a half people who speak Scots, and as Billy Kaye said, Fave made in Kirk to Johnny Grots and Anant. To those people that represent an important symbol of their identity, their history and their culture, and our intangible heritage. Last month, when I was climbing Kilimanjaro, the royal modge took place in Perth, which Murdo Fraser talked about earlier on. I am glad to say that it was reported as a huge success. I am proud that our Parliament recognised that Scotland is a nation of different folk, different cultures and different languages, and it is important that we protect and enhance the richness of our linguistic diversity. Languages such as Gallic in Scots contribute to the ecological balance of our societies and the way biodiversity does in nature. We must protect this diversity by supporting the Government's aims to turn up the volume for our Gallic in Scots-speaking communities. In this chamber, where we represent the folk, to quote Billy Kaye again, it is more important than none that you will gain a signal to the wanes and scale that the culture of their home is valued by folk, elected by their mothers and fathers. That is no slang as we were once told. That is the language that you are in, Keith and Kinne. Thank you, Mr Fairlie. I now call Co-Cab Stewart to be followed by Arianne Burgess. I am delighted to take part in this debate. With my first language being Punjabi, I learned English, tuned into Scots, fully appreciative of Gallic. Dating back centuries, Gallic is one of the oldest indigenous languages in Europe. Over 1,000 years older than English, Gallic is an integral part of Scotland's make-up. It has been said that what is true for bones is also true for the human language. The essential elements are just one piece of a much wider, ever-evolving picture. Gallic is more than words which comprise it. It is an emotional connection to Scotland's cultural heritage. I welcome this discussion today and will celebrate its revival and reconsider the key to its preservation. While Gallic can appear a wee bit intimidating to those who are not speaking it, Scots may feel more familiar. Now, also recognised as a regional language under the European Charter for regional or minority languages, Scots is much closer in style to English but varies considerably even across relatively small geographical areas. As University of Glasgow's sociolinguistics Professor Jennifer Smith said, lots of people say, oh, I don't speak Scots, but just because you don't sound like Robert Burns doesn't mean to say that you're not speaking Scots. Professor Smith headed the University's Glasgow-Scots syntax atlas, an incredible online resource research tool that was launched in 2019, which maps out the use of Scots across Scotland. From the Gonynaws in Glasgow to the Fitlike in North East, the atlas confirmed that you don't have to travel very far to appreciate the rich differences. We should be proud of a vibrant local lexicon, an indigenous tongue, as well as the host of other languages found here, including my own Punjabi and Urdu. There are over 170 languages spoken in Scotland, including Macaton, French, Cantonese, German, Bengali, Spanish, the list goes on. Embracing the nuances of your own history and heritage allows for a deeper respect and understanding of other cultures, and I have been pleased to see a resurgence that mirrors the Gallic renaissance elsewhere, such as within the Sami communities of Europe's far north and through the Indigenous Languages Act in Canada. Here in Scotland, the revival of Scots and Gallic has been aided in recent years by a variety of wondrous efforts. Within my constituency of Glasgow Kelvin, Partick Thistle Football Club, in collaboration with Glasgow City Council, Gallic Education Services and Board of Gallic, became the first Scottish professional football club to have bilingual English and Gallic signage at the stadium in a bid to increase the visibility of the language, and I would cheekily encourage them to also add Scots to their signage in due course. This is one of a number of exciting projects, activities in the pipeline, which seeks to encourage engagement with Gallic medium education schools. This brings us to another gem within my constituency, the Glasgow Gallic School, opened in 1999. It is one of four nurseries, three primaries and one secondary within the city currently providing Gallic medium education. Whilst teaching Gallic was sadly never part of my repertoire, I did find that children really connected with the Scots language, although I did have to emphasise that it was not slang. I remember a couple of wee laddies in particular who had struggled immensely with reading and writing. Average texts in English were of no interest to them. They liked cars. I discovered the Scots poem, The Wee Rid Motor, by Sandy Thomas Ross, which captured their imagination because the words sounded like how they talked. Their imagination was engaged. They were able to read out loud to an audience of parents who listened intently as they read, Presiding Officer, having not been able to read before. In My Wee Rid Motor, I can gang for miles up and down the garden through the lobby wiles. Money a big motor, gangs, te tun of our, none can gang where I gang in My Wee Rid car. Bly the memories indeed and children reading inspired by Scots. The Scottish Government has also recognised the many benefits of Gallic and Scots within our schools and I am pleased to see a new national strategic approach to Gallic medium education is one of the areas currently under consultation. Those languages should indeed be normalised within our institutions and across all of our communities. The proposed Scottish Languages Bill has the opportunity to contribute towards that significantly. I echo the recommendation of Gordon Gallic that the education strategy should include a workforce recruitment and development priority and that any new education agencies that are created should have Gallic education responsibilities embedded within them. In closing, Presiding Officer, research has demonstrated that bilingual children enjoy improved cognitive development and the earlier the second language is introduced the better in a way that most adults cannot. Children absorb sounds, patterns and structures and are unencumbered by years of lessons that drill us into us, just one singular way of communicating. Languages equip us with so much, it is vital that we protect them. Arrian Burgess, to be followed by Emma Roddick, for a generous six minutes. I welcome the debate on the future of Gallic and Scots and the intention to draw attention to the consultation on the Scottish Languages Bill. It is vital that everyone in Scotland plays their part. Gallic and Scots are crucial to our culture, our society, our relationship with our environment and our future. I will play my role as MSP for the Highlands and Islands and encourage engagement. Consultations can be challenging to engage with, so I would ask the cabinet secretary what support is in place to make engagement more accessible. It is only with the persistence of many people engaging over decades, each one bringing their kindling, that we have the level of support for Gallic today and I trust that with this upcoming bill we will see support for Scots. Action is required before the flames of both languages flicker out, Gallic, more so. This bill is our opportunity to stoke the fire, to add the much needed wood to ensure that we have great bonnie fires blazing long into the future. We must take leadership to remove the mantle of shame foisted upon speakers of both languages over generations. Shame creates inertia and reluctance. There should be no shame in speaking any of our languages and there should be no inertia on the part of any organisation tasked with supporting their growth or development. I am grateful to my colleagues in this chamber, including the cabinet secretary, demonstrating leadership in speaking Gallic and Scots, not just today but at other times. I will centre the rest of my contribution on Gallic, not because Scots is any less important. I have been studying Gallic for a while, including Cursa integral, and I have reached a thousand-day streak on Scottish duolingo, whereas I have only had time to take a much-loved three-week Scots course as part of an academic research project, so bring on that Scots language duolingo. We can learn from what has happened to Gallic since the 2005 Gallic Language Act and, in turn, ensure swifter and more robust support for Scots in this legislation. Presiding Officer, the stark reality is that today most Scottish pupils leave school without ever having studied Gallic. There is a focus, quite rightly, on Gallic medium education, GME, but we should also make provision for Gallic learner education at primary and high school levels. Making that provision could spark greater interest and enthusiasm and make it possible for pupils to access Gallic without having to attend a fully immersive school. Turning to GME, the consultation includes a proposal for a new strategic approach. It is good to see that the Government recognises that there is a need. Since the 2005 act, progress in GME development has been limited and slow. While the number of pupils in primary GME has risen by 80 per cent, that is actually only 1 per cent of the national total of primary school pupils. Improvement in secondary level has been slower, where only 0.5 per cent of the total secondary school pupils are in GME. The long-promised high school in Scotland's capital could go a long way to underscoring Gallic's importance. I recognise the challenges for secondary level, where there is the need for teachers who teach a speciality subject in Gallic, but if we are to recruit well and for the long term, we need plans that provide support and a clear career path. The Gallic Act requires all public bodies, including local authorities, to develop Gallic language plans. The good news is that 30 of the 32 local authorities have plans for Gael and Bute, North Ayrshire, Midlothian, Aberdeen City, Inverclyde, Scottish Borders, and so on. Of those 30 councils, 13 make no provision for Gallic in any of their schools. A further three now provide GME, but that only came about through persistent campaigning by parents. Parents should not have to battle for a language that should be provided. That is why I would like to see an enforceable parental right to Gallic medium, preschool and primary school education established. In areas where Gallic is widely spoken, Gallic language plans must ensure that the language is taken into account in relation to provision in fields such as housing, employment and transport. There is a proposal to review Board of Gallic, the statutory language board. It would be good to hear from stakeholders on the board's ability to carry out its responsibilities. Does it have the right powers? Is it funded adequately? We can look to Wales, where the Welsh Government provides leadership for their ambitions by requiring local authorities to heed numerical targets and develop Welsh education strategic plans. Most concerning in the proposals for the bill is the Scottish Government's inclusion of the Galtach, in which stakeholders say that they seem to have come out of nowhere. Where would we draw the line? Toppenamara, Motherwell, Kiljuarnac, Kilmarnac, Dunagion. There is concern that drawing boundaries would undermine and demoralise those in weaker areas who are working hard to maintain the language. Presiding Officer, with much more that could be said, I close by saying that I will play my part to encourage engagement in the development of this bill and the future of Gallic and Scots. Thank you very much, Ms Burgess, and I call Emma Roddick to be followed by Jamie Halcro Johnston, again a generous six minutes. Scots, two languages that I enjoy constantly learning about and linking to my experience growing up in this country, which is so rich in culture. I think that too often we talk about the past of those languages and many still think that they are in the past, but there is a future for them and I encourage as many people as possible to engage in this conversation and discuss what that future should look like. I do have to say that I am worried about the policy to create a Galtach, not just because to me it already exists. I have grown up believing that I live in it. I would like to know more detail about whether that could mean giving up on Gallic in other places. Bordna Gallic sent round a very helpful briefing on Friday outlining the findings in the Scottish social attitude survey, which showed that those who come into contact with Gallic are more likely to hold positive views about the language, and that does not surprise me. Have bacon Gallic acum, and the more that I have a little Gallic, the more how much Highland Scots I know is influenced by it. Even words like smashing, which sounds best in Highland accents, I think, are thought by some controversially to originate in Gallic smashing. But like most, I did not realise that I had been experiencing Gallic out with watching BBC Allopah coverage of Scotland's women's and championship football, and quickly learning what Booyah and Gerek meant. When I was wee, the Gallic side of it seemed somehow out of reach, and therefore folk who already knew how to speak it, which I am going to try to do now if folk want to use it. It is not often that you have opportunities to hear about Gallic when you are of an age where your parents in particular want you to learn it and sending you to FM chief or classes in French. My mother told me to take French instead of Gallic, and I remember the difficulties my friends had who were in Gallic classes, in having a teacher and classes, and at normal times, and immersing themselves in the language in the little cupboard where they were taught. It was a little bit thick, although I can order coffee and lunch in French on holiday. It is much more difficult to get the same kind of attention in Gallic. It is easier than more that we put into it. For example, I now love to look out the window on train journeys and learn about the origins of Gallic placenames, or Google-wide Dingwall Norse is an inverpefer or, alternatively, does not have a Parliament in it. I also want to address the mention of my region in the consultation. I accept that the consultation is probably not referring to it in whole, but that is not clear. The Highlands and Islands is referred to repeatedly as the area where Gallic would once have been the predominant language, and while there are some communities in the Highlands who would take issue with that, putting that to one side, I think that the natural inclusion by readers of Orkney and Shetland is the biggest problem. Those are places where not only was Gallic never the predominant language but it would be extremely rare for someone to have any. The predominant language in the Isles was Nornan and is now a dialect of Scots and English. It is important that, in recognising the cultural heritage of some areas, we do not forget or damage others. I thank the member for giving way, and I agree with the point that she is making about the diversity of languages that exist around Scotland. Might it be said that a motivation for having an official gueltych is simply to include that we do not work on a low-common denominator basis? Dr Allan, could you perhaps address your remarks to the microphone? A bigger problem. Maith ag case by made, as I think it could, for an official gueltych policy based around the idea of ensuring that we do not have a kind of low-common denominator approach to language policy and that the areas where there is a great tradition enjoy particular support? That is, as I said, I would be keen to hear more detail about what is being proposed. I do hope that folk in the Highlands and Islands who may be thinking along the same lines as myself will engage with the consultation to shape it as we would want it to be shaped. I would recommend to anyone interested in Shetland in particular that they check out Shetland for words, who promote the language of words found in those islands. While there are words that will be familiar to most with any Scots like Oxter, there is also a very much Shetland-specific vocabulary, many with old Norse origins. My cousin was giving me and my sister a lift recently, and we enjoyed comparing the vocabularies of our Shetland and Rosher families. Some words used in tellings off were in common, though that could be our granny's influence, whereas others were extremely specific. I love finding out the geography of certain words and phrases. I still have not figured out where along the east coast seagulls start to become Scories, and I will not say in the chamber what my mum's name for them was. Like many, I did not know some of the words that I had heard growing up were Scots and usually cannot until I came to Edinburgh and started using them. Not only did my uni pals frequently pester me to say chicken dippers, which was a favourite meal back then, they would often be very confused when I called my cat a weebism, accused one of them of being a clipe or called somebody thron. Almost as confused as I was when I learned that you cannot order a red pudding supper in the capital. I very much welcome the announcement that the Gallot Capital Fund will develop school units in tain sky in my region. When I went to Bridgend nursery, I remember the teachers being very strict with me on some of my words. I spent the first three years of my life in Cardras and I might have picked up some weegeisms when I was wee. I am quite happy to now have a Highland accent, though my sister thinks that it is more inverness now than the Rosher one she has, but I do think that it is a shame that many schools will still tell burns off for speaking in their native language. In my region, many places are still hurting from the historic oppression of Gaelic and our culture in general, which perhaps makes me a bit sensitive to those things, but if we want both those Scottish languages to survive, we cannot be teaching kids that it is bad or wrong to speak them. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ms Roddick, and I call Jamie Halcro Johnston to be followed by Clare Adamson for again a generous six minutes, Mr Halcro Johnston. Thank you, Presiding Officers. I will not be speaking in the Gaelic Ho Scots today, but I do welcome the opportunity to speak in today's debate on Scotland's minority languages. Scotland, of course, has a long and diverse linguistic heritage, and representing the Highlands and Islands of our region remains, most obviously, the home of the majority of native Gaelic speakers, but Northern Scotland also contains a number of different traditions, representing our long and complicated history. Our previous language, Pictish, is still obscured in some mystery. Its relationship to other languages of these islands is hotly contested, but its legacy remains, like many of our dead languages, names and places. Although Pictish might feel long lost, I mention it because the process of language death is perhaps not as distant as we might think. In the mid-19th century, the Nortong once flourishing died. A north language it had endured in Orkney, Shetland and parts of the north of the mainland for centuries, long after the islands had been traded off to the Scottish Crown. At times, Gaelic has seemed similarly at risk, but there's always been a significant work to keep it going, to preserve it as a cultural marker of my region. It's in this case, though, that modern times have brought a convergence. In language varieties in the UK, we speak more like each other than ever before. Geographical differences, while distinct and sometimes pronounced, have softened whether that's in the north of Scotland or in the tip of Cornwall. Some of the cultural richness that languages preserve has undoubtedly been blunted, but, increasingly, we are finding the tools to recognise and embrace that heritage, to bring it to wider audiences. Last year, I had the pleasure of visiting Salma Rostig in Sky, part of the University of Highlands and Islands, as I mentioned earlier. I only found it in the late 70s. By the early 80s, this institution had captured the imagination of government and cultural institutions at all levels, who supported and become a thriving academic institution that it is today. My own attempt to learn a little Gaelic when I first started working as a young adviser here in Parliament and took some lessons have not endured quite so well. Beyond basic greetings, I am afraid my abilities fall far short, particularly of speaking in the debate like this. On a visit to Salma Rostig in 2004, our new king remarked that Scottish life is greatly enriched by the Gaelic dimension. In Sky and across my region, that remains very much the case today. Indeed, it's impossible to imagine a Scotland without this dimension. It's part of our story. I've previously enjoyed visiting the Western Isles and hearing the local songs in Gaelic, preserving what is very much a living language and culture, one which exists alongside English and where the two survive strongly alongside one another. Both are enriched by this coexistence, but it's not just Gaelic that is part of our culture tradition in the Highlands and Islands. The various distinct and overlapping dialects and variants of Scots, for example, are key markers of who we are in the north. As I mentioned, my good friend and former parliamentary colleague Peter Chapman, a proud Buckingman, is a great champion of the Doric in the North East, probably one of Scotland's most distinctive language varieties. Many a happy evening can be had past... I will, yes. Emma Harper. Thanks very much for letting me intervene. You mentioned Peter Chapman. Peter Chapman wanted to join the Scots lead cross-party group. Would he not have any Conservative members than he would have, so would the member maybe do some encouragement to see if any of his colleagues would want to join your cross-party group? I can certainly encourage my colleagues to join, if that's the way I know. As I say, Peter has been a great supporter and promoter of the Gaelic. I've enjoyed, as I say, many times with his poems and sangs in the Doric and his efforts to produce that, so perhaps I will do my best to encourage others to get involved with that. In the Northern Isles, where I call home, Shetlandic is increasingly being recognised for its distinctiveness as a language or dialect retaining and keeping alive some of the noticeable influences from Norn. Culture will change and adjust, but keeping alive some of those links with the past has value in itself. Not just as a curiosity but as a reflection of what builds distinctiveness of places and of communities. This Parliament has long been supportive of Scotland's minority languages, and so too has local government and the UK government, and they've been key in work to maintain them. Other organisations have played an important role as well. The National Lottery has, since its outset, provided important funding to language and cultural projects and organisations across my region. Institutions such as Fashion a Gael, based in Portree, but with a Scotland-wide reach, have kept the flame of Gaelic's cultural heritage alive and flourishing, particularly among young people. Last week, the UHI team running Just Unearthed was displaying in this Parliament showing the potential of new technology to educate and inform, bringing culture from the region to new audiences across the world. As has been mentioned, repeatedly the royal national mod has endured since the 19th century, interrupted only by war or most recently pandemic. While the BBC's role in providing Gaelic language services through radio and television is well known, the creation of BBC Alipa has brought many of these cultural attributes of Gaelic heritage into homes across the country and beyond. Fashion has been the motive force behind these ventures. Many people have given hours, sometimes lifetimes, in the preservation of the cultural tradition or other traditions of my region. This goes beyond the work of the state or any strategy, but it is important that this work continues and we welcome further proposals to bring this about and to support both the institutions and the grass-root efforts that sustain languages, heritage and culture. We want to see a thriving linguistic culture, particularly in my own region, where Gaelic is such an everyday part of life and remains a first language in many communities, something that the Scottish Government has indicated that it will clearly recognise. Among that will be greater focus on language skills, not just for Gaelic, but for other modern languages as well in emphasising their importance in education. Presiding Officer, there is a great deal of consensus around this chamber on the need to preserve and protect Scotland's minority languages. In this area, we have often managed to move forward in a constructive and cross-party way, but more importantly, Government language policy must be based on wide consultation with speakers, communities and organisations. It is in that spirit that I hope we will move forward with any developments in this area. Thank you very much, Mr Halcro Johnston. I now call Claire Adamson, who is the final speaker in the open debate, after which we will move to closing speeches, at which point all those who have participated in the debate will be expected to be in the chamber. With that, Claire Adamson, again, a generous six minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I am a North Lanarkshire resident and I was a councillor there from 2007 to 2011. As such, I was very familiar with the Gaelic education medium schools in the area. The delivery model there has been so successful in nurturing Gaelic in my community, and I was glad to hear Mr Fairlie mention it in his speech as well. I was also delighted to visit Ily a few years ago and meet former head teacher in her community, Kathy Johnston. The strength of Gaelic language there is evident in song and poetry, as well as at the supermarket when I was maybe buying a little brucladi. It is a love of the songs and the poems that I would like to focus on today. I want to commend all of my colleagues speaking in Gaelic, Scots and Doric today. I do not have their fflair or their experience. I was a wee lass in Lanarkshire unless Lockheith, Scots and English Poem Bairnsang speaks to my experience. It was January, a gay three-day, the first day that I went to the school. So my mum hat me up in my good-to-davy blue neck coat with the red tartan hood, barrelled a scarf around my neck and put on my pixie and my pokies. It was that bitter. She said, new you'll no starve. She gave me a wee kiss and a kid on scalp on the bum sent me across the playground to the place. I'd learned to say it was January and a really dismal day, the first day that I went to school. I listened to the comments about prescription and teaching Scots language, but Liz Lockheith is from Lanarkshire. She went to Newt Hill primary in my colleague Stephanie's constituency and went to DL High School in Motherwell. I think that it would be a real shame if the young people there weren't able to enjoy her poems or indeed her incredible translation of Euripides Medea that was such a success at the Edinburgh festival just this year. My experience was the experience of so many of us and mother tongue was not correct, appropriate, valued or tolerated. I hope that we have moved on from telling weens their rang at every turn, especially with the wealth of literature and songs at their fingertips today. Fingertip aptly reminds me of my own primary rendition of The Seerfinger. A few years ago, I was delighted to attend the Scots language awards and see literature such as Nipnebs, written by Susie Briggs and illustrated by Ruthie Redden, telling the story of Jack Frost in Scots celebrated. Wonderful translations and, for doubters, translation means the process of expressing the sense of words or text in another language. Matthew Fitt translated children's classics such as Roald Dahl's Twits into the Egypts and his works with Scottish writer James Robertson have been celebrated for their depth and knowledge of Scots. It was Billy Kay's book The Mother tongue that was a game changer for me. It stripped away that Scottish cringe and the notion that the words that resonated with me were acceptable, appropriate and evocative in a way that truly speaks to my soul, especially in poetry and songs. At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the world was enthralled at the beautiful rendition of Hamish Henderson's Freedom Camalee by Pozema Machitska. Over one billion people saw that performance. A contemporary song written in Scots describes the wind of change blowing through Scotland and the world, sweeping away exploitation and imperialism. It extols Scottish values, but it is when you hear the Scots, I swear you feel that wind. Rock the wind in a clear day's dawdin, blows the clouds, heals their gaudi, ur the bay, but there is near no a rock wind blowing through the great glen of the world today. Scots is recognised as meeting the European charter for regional and minority languages. Languages, remember, is a human right. Languages mentioned in many of the articles of human rights in justice, education and children's rights. It is the culture that defines people. It is inherent to identity and it shouldn't be rolled out once a year for Burns Night, though Burns is indisputably a phenomenon. We have talked about the economy and tourism and how we can support our languages, but Robert Burns and the Scottish economy is a ground-baiting study that was led by Marie Pittock for the University of Glasgow. Indeed, I should mention my colleague Joan McCallmine for her exemplary work in this area. An estimated 9.5 million people attend Burns suppers every year and the report puts the overall annual value of Burns to the Scottish economy at £203 million, with a further £139 million contributed to the value of Scotland itself, the brand. Our tourism includes new visitor facilities, burn-related festivals and branded products. Cultural tourism in particular is highly beneficial to the economy. Robert Burns's birthplace museum in Allaway is second only to Shakespeare's birthplace in visitor numbers in the UK. A Scots language bill will underpin the language in its potential in Scotland. William McElvaney opined that Scotland is among role nation. Our Scots language shall fix that, with influences as mentioned by my colleagues from all over our history, our battles, invasions, our tribes, words from Latin, Danish, French, Welsh, to name but a few, including Norse, as mentioned by my colleague. However, the language of our Mongolian nation does not mean that it is dogro, as Burns was once cherddlisha described by Jeremy Paxman. By way of evidence, I will finish with a bird's coat in education. A set o dyl conceited hashes confuse the bairns in college classes. The gang-eye sticks and come out asses. Gee me eye, spark o nature's fire. That's all the learning I desire. Thank you very much, Ms Adamson. We move to the closing speeches. I know that there's a couple of colleagues who are participating in the debate who are not in the chamber at the moment, which is very disappointing. I will at least expect some explanation for that. With that, I call Martin Whitfield to close for around seven minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I will open slowly to allow those to return to the chamber. Not a usual tactic of mine, but I think that it is right to say that if we look at the quality of the debate and the agreement that has existed across this chamber about the importance of the subject matter, it is worth giving those who are slightly late the chance to come back if only to hear good words said about them. I would start by suggesting to the Scottish Government that there is an opportunity here, an opportunity that doesn't come along very often, where across this chamber, with the bravery to reach out, the bravery to listen and the bravery to discuss, we could come towards the end of this session with a superb bill that supports the importance of language. I think that contributions from across this chamber have spoken not just about the purity of language, but about what that empowers the people of Scotland, and in particular, many people have spoken about how that empowers our young people, so that they do not go to school and feel that the language that they are speaking marks them out as being different from them teachers, or as Michael Marra so helpfully pointed out. My Geordie background, I must say, gives me a far greater access to Scots than perhaps I'd ever believed possible, and I'm a real grateful one to that. Scottish Labour recognised the importance of Gallic and Scots to our communities in Scotland and welcomed the Scottish Government's consultation on their commitments in this area, a simple statement that is made, but measures a great depth to the challenges that face Scotland with regard to Gallic and Scots, because it is a gateway problem to some of the challenges that our communities face. Communities that historically were isolated because of geography that allowed the growth of fine languages that speak volumes when storytelling, when singing, when poetry that we've heard from across this chamber is used, because that was the strength of the community. The ability to tie its own history with events that may indeed have been tragic, may indeed have been positive, but they did so in their own language, and the language is developed to allow their experiences to be passed on. But as our communities came closer together and through, we look now in the more modern age with the internet, and hence my question about technology, because we are the people who need to allow these languages to continue to develop through modern technology. The requirement of the dot scot simply with regard to emails has made such a difference. There are challenges ahead with regard to technology, and we've heard some of them. More than pleasure to hear. Emma Harper. I can't even get my sentence out, Presiding Officer. He talked about technology. I know that one of the things that's happening in Dumfries and Galloway is when they're recruiting new nurses that are years in Scots so that when they look after patients, when somebody says they've got a say or heed, it's something that even nurses from other countries can understand. Would you welcome that? Martin Whitfield. I may be challenged to keep to the relatively short time that you've granted me, Deputy Presiding Officer, because again, what we are talking about is the importance of language in some situations that can be incredibly stressful, where someone is speaking to you and you understand them, not hidden behind professional phrases, not hidden behind words that are described to set aside a profession from others, but to speak to people so that they understand. That is a treasure that we should really formulate in our young people, the way they speak in the playground, and when they go in, is the way that they can speak to their teacher, is the way that they can answer the challenging questions, be those questions indeed in another language, a modern language from France, Germany, Spain or others, but to do so comfortable in the way that they know they're being communicated and they can be communicated so that when they have a challenge, they can reach out in the best way they feel safe to go, can you help? The teacher, the parent, the stranger, the police officer, the nurse, the doctor, all of the ranked professionals that we put there can stand there and say yes and give the confidence for them to express that. I do want to make short mention of the Gallic Immersion High School in Edinburgh and ask the Cabinet Secretary what the current situation is, because I am aware of parents who I think phrase the need so brilliant, the need to create a linguistic bubble where pupils and staff would speak Gallic throughout the day, which they say is the best way of learning a language, and that is so very true, so I'd be most grateful if in summing up we can have a current situation with regard to the events here in Edinburgh. Very quickly and with time slightly against me, let me turn to some of the fine contributions that we have today, and I apologise to the front benches as I'm going to skip them because there was such a depth of submissions that we heard today, theirs can be read by others later. I'll turn to Willie Rennie because of his comments on focusing on areas where languages are naturally spoken, and there is a tension through the consultation about how the funds and resources are going to be put, and it would be interesting to hear the Cabinet Secretary's thoughts and views on that. Emma Harper mentioned something, which I think is maybe a myth, maybe that's too strong a word. She talked about Scots not just being a collection of dialects, and I think that's hugely important to understand, and she also powerfully mentioned that it is of course in Scots that the foundations of this Parliament are held up, and it is a question I often hear that Scots is not a language, it's just a dialect. Now I'm happy to acquiesce much to the concerns should I next visit my birthplace that Geordie is a dialect, it is not a language. But Scots is a language, it holds the treasured items of the ability to develop, and yes that language is different geographically where you are, but all languages are different geographically, that is one of their strengths, and that is one of the great keys they hold to understanding a culture that sits behind those languages. It was Murdo Fraser who of course commented about the importance of storytelling in language, and it is in that past, in that storytelling, but in the future of storytelling that we need to look to Gaelic, we need to look to Scots, we need to look to Doric, and we possibly need to look to English as well I must say. Yes, Clare Adamson. Thank you, I'll be PDE intervention, Presiding Officer. I was just going to say, I did mention Hamish Henderson in my speech and does he agree that he was talking about technology, that the fact that we have archives of spoken words and storytelling in the voices of the people is so important to how we can work towards securing the future of both these languages. Martin Woodfield, I'm very grateful. You're absolutely right to preserve the spoken language in the way it is spoken is so important. What I would say is, I fear it's not a particularly new thing in that my father had reel-to-reel tapes of dialects and languages from across the United Kingdom and bored me senseless about Northumbrian, a dialect that I truly love, but I think what is important now is that the access to those recordings is so much easier than it was in the past and it allows people who are inquisitive about the name place that they come from, inquisitive about someone's surname, or actually sometimes in the case of young people trying to just find something that's funny, but it allows them to listen and it was interesting the comments about humour being damaging or there is a risk of humour being damaging to a language where it's looked on and almost mocked, I use that word carefully by others, but what I would say is often the communities that speak Gaelic, Doric, Scots, the communities that are closest together are sometimes the communities that share the greatest humour about their own predicament because it allows them to get over some of the challenges that outside those communities thrust upon them. It was interesting to hear Jackie Dunpart emphasise the importance of the parity of esteem and I think that's really important. There are many languages spoken across Scotland and that is much to Scotland's credit, but there needs to be a parity. Calcob Stuart talks about the 170 languages that she's aware of that's spoken across Scotland. Each has the right to a parity of understanding because that is the respect that a listener shows to someone who is speaking and it is through that respect we really should continue to build the character of Scotland. I am conscious of time, Deputy Presiding Officer, but I do want to mention Rhoda Grant's contribution, which I think was very powerful and did raise a challenging question about how is this bill going to address two very separate languages? I must say the very separate needs of preserving, enriching and allowing those languages to go forward because it is in those communities where the answers lie and the answers may be different depending on which communities we look at. I would also add it was a great pleasure to see an intervention occurring from someone within this chamber to someone remotely and it to be handled so well. I am now desperately conscious of time and I will not push any further. Could I tempt you a little? Excellent, because to do so allows an opportunity to make mention of Allister, Allan and others who spoke in Gaelic, Doric and in Scots and that the translation service worked for once brilliantly and will not allow members across this chamber to pester you to find out what it was that was said. What a fascinating step forward that we can get to that. I echo Allister Allan's comments about a chamber in which multi-languages can be used but backed up by all of that paperwork and support that needs to happen behind the scene and my compliments to those today who provided that. I will now start to draw my contribution to the end and say we are at a powerful moment where we can, as Partick Thistle have discovered, by putting dual signage up reach out and so across this chamber we do have an opportunity. I think it would be—and I just used the word shame—it would be a shame if this opportunity was missed during this session, not to come out, both with a powerful statement about the languages of Scotland, which I think we all agree are very important, but more importantly we look at how we can firstly preserve—I think we are getting there on that—empower, which I think our educationists have an obligation to do and our meeting that obligation, but most importantly how do we allow our languages to expand so that the people across Scotland understand their link with history. As we were told, Gallic, one of the oldest languages across Europe, we are at A Crossroads and it would be a benefit if we went forward together and achieved the most. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, for your patience. Thank you very much, Mr Witfield. I am obliged. I am, though, more than disappointed that one of the members who participated in the debate still does not appear to have been returned to the chamber. With that, I call Stephen Kerr for around about eight minutes, Mr Kerr. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It is always a pleasure to follow Mark Wittfield, when he speaks. On that occasion, he had me grabbing for Google to find out what exactly PARTICTISL had done, but I compliment PARTICTISL on their dual signage, something that had escaped my attention. Like Donald Cameron said, as a Scottish Conservative, it will surprise no members of this Parliament that we are very interested in preserving, conserving and promoting Scotland's national culture, because our national culture is the very definition of who we are. It creates our belonging, and that is a very important part of what it means to be a Scott. We belong to this land and we belong to each other. From our natural landscape and all its beauty to our magnificent shared history, to our cultural traditions, some of which have been referred to during this debate, and our locally produced legendary food and drink, we have a collective pride as Scots in everything that is Scottish. That extends to and includes our national languages and our local dialects. This has been a very full and wide-ranging debate. We have allocated a considerable amount of time to the subject, and quite rightly so. The opening speech from the cabinet secretary I thought set the tone very well. She reminded us of the economic benefits of Gaelic in particular, and her encouragement that people who speak Gaelic should feel free and confident to speak in that language without the negativity that she described, and how important it is that our young people are encouraged to speak to learn and to speak Gaelic. Donald Cameron gave his usual masterful speech about a subject that I know is very dear to his heart. I hope that the cabinet secretary or the minister—I do not know who is winding up—will take to heart. The heart felt plea that Donald Cameron made about the need for Gaelic medium education workforce planning. He called in his speech for a task force to address the issues that have been mentioned by a number of speakers, and I felt that that emotional appeal in this debate requires an answer. Michael Marra in his contribution also talked about the shortage of GME teachers and that something needs to be done to address that. Willie Rennie highlighted the need for Gaelic speaking to be seen in the context of everyday use. He mentioned the crisis in social circles and underpinned the importance of getting the economic infrastructure and pillars right in order for those societies in the parts of Scotland where Gaelic should be the predominant language to thrive and to prosper. Murdo Fraser introduced characters from Sir Walter Scott. He was just about in his usual eloquent way to describe some passage or other about an encounter with the devil that he says stands out in his imagination as being an epoch of Scott's literature and upshot Alistair Allen. I do not know whether an encounter with the devil and Alistair Allen go together because the good doctor always has something very useful to say and he did today, and I am delighted to give way. It is really more of an observation really that in the Scott's New Testament translated from the Greek by Lorimer, at least in the apocryphal bit at the end, the only character to speak in standard English is the devil. Stephen Cair. Well, I cannot better that. That goes to the heart of this debate, if I may say so. He reminds me, as an MSP for Central Scotland, that I will come back to my quote in a minute. I will give way to Fergus Ewing. Fergus Ewing is the spirit of continuing the worthy cause of educating Mr Cair. Could I share with him a piece of information that I gleaned when one evening reading the fascinating and excellent Jameson's Scotch dictionary where I came across a word that I thought may be of interest to Mr Cair, an old Scotch's word called bluffle heat. Bluffle heat, yes, Presiding Officer. I can see your recognition. Bluffle heat members will know means a person usually male with a very large head but a very small brain. I just wondered if that is the word that Mr Cair might want to say without describing the word to any member of this chamber because that would be unparlamentary. If you could assume your seat, Mr Ewing, I would remind you, Mr Ewing, of the need to retain respect while engaging in debate within the chamber. With that, I call Stephen Cair. I accept the education on offer from Fergus Ewing in the spirit in which it was offered and that will be a word that I will definitely now add to my vocabulary. However, I was about to say as a Central Scotland MSP in reference to Lorimer's superb translation of the New Testament into Scots. There is a wonderful phrase, those of you who are familiar with the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 13. I remember Falkirk. Falkirk is very much dear to my heart as a Central Scotland MSP. The Scots version of this verse from 1 Corinthians 13 is that, in my barren days, I heard the speech of a barren, the mind of a barren, the thoughts of a barren, but now I am growing man-muckel. I am through with Athens bernley, which I think is a fantastic Scots translation. I am glad that you gave me the opportunity, Dr Allan, to introduce that into this debate. He also mentioned in his speech Walter Scott and John Bucking, the two great Scottish national patriots, who were also unionists. There are many other contributions that I could mention, but time does not permit me to mention them all. However, there was a lot of reference to our rich, diverse national culture and that language is at the heart of it. Cokab Stewart said something to the Deputy Presiding Officer, which I think is worthy of repetition, and that is how adept young children are from the very earliest of their years of understanding to pick up languages. I have grandchildren who are learning in addition to English, they are learning Russian, they are learning Norwegian, they are learning French. What they have the capacity to absorb is phenomenal. I speak as an awestruck grandfather, but I also speak as an awestruck monoglot, because, unfortunately, English is the only language that I can honestly say that I have a slight grasp of. I thank Jamie Halcro Johnston for mentioning the good work that the national lottery has done in this particular field. Let me just say that having been born in Dundee and raised in Forfer, I am very well aware of the diversity of language and dialects. One of the things that is true of growing up in a place like Forfer is that you are caught between Dundee and Aberdeen, you are caught between Dondonian and Dorech, and there is a developing uniqueness about the language. That idea that these dialects exist only in Scots can be challengeable, because, for example, my wife, who comes from Ayr, when she first met my father, who was born and lived all his days in Angus, when my wife said to me after her first meeting, what was he saying? She could not fully understand everything that he was saying, and that is part of the richness of our language, culture and part of the heritage that we all enjoy. Dialect and language, by definition, is central to the identity of the towns, villages and cities of Scotland. Dialect and language is undoubtedly something that is recognisable. Locally, when we hear someone speaking in the dialect and language of our homes, then we instantly feel that sense of belonging are referred to earlier. I welcome the new national Gaelic language plan. Gaelic is a vitally important asset for Scotland, as has been mentioned, and is representative of the richness, depth and variation that we enjoy as Scots in our cultural and social life. I am not very sure, because of the way that we do things in this Parliament, how much time I have left, but I would suggest that maybe I do not have very much time. How much time do I have left? I can give you another minute or so. Let me conclude, if I have only got a minute or so, by saying that we go for two hours and 40 minutes and then we do not have any time at the end. Children and young people in our classrooms who want to learn Gaelic should be able to learn the language, and we should utilise the technology. That has been alluded to a number of times. Why not create more virtual learning spaces? Why not create more virtual classrooms where pupils can be taught Gaelic or any other subject where there is a risk that we do not have enough of a teaching complement via Microsoft Teams or Zoom? The teaching and promotion of Scotland's languages must not be just limited to Gaelic. That has been mentioned on a number of occasions. Let me conclude by saying that all this discussion of diversity and culture in the context of what it means to be a Scot and to enjoy the fantastic culture that we have as a nation is the reason why I and my fellow Scottish Conservative colleagues believe that the teaching and promotion of Scot's languages should be very much part of Scotland's language plan and that we should revel in that local diversity that has been on display today. That diversity, which is brought together, creates the richness of the country that we all love. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Kerr. I now call on the cabinet secretary to respond to the debate for around about 10 minutes, cabinet secretary. I think that it has been a very constructive and useful debate as we continue on the consultation that is on going on Gaelic and Scot at the moment. Donald Cameron began, as always, with a very informative and exceptionally useful speech at this stage in our journey. He particularly spoke about the use of Gaelic as a community language. That is an exceptionally important part for us to be cognisant of as we move forward. He, of course, laid the challenge that legislation on its own cannot save a language, and he is absolutely quite correct in that. It is not just for us here in the Scottish Parliament, but also for everyone who has an interest in languages to ensure that we can work together on that and legislation is but one small part in that. He and many other speakers spoke about the importance of Gaelic medium education, and particularly the Robertson-Foxley report that came out recently. I think that there is a number of important challenges and proposals on how to take things forward in this matter. We do recognise, as is mentioned in the consultation, that the need for a strategic view on Gaelic medium education is exceptionally important. The recognition that we have as a Government already, as part of that, is about increasing the number of Gaelic teachers in the system. There are already a number of measures in place to try and support GME teachers and to increase them, but we keep that constantly under review, with new initiatives being considered and developed. There are, of course, a range of options in place for students and teachers to enter GME teaching, whether it is postgraduate, undergraduate options, remote learning options and immersion routes, but there is more that can be done. We know that there is room for improvement. My officials are actually meeting with Bruce Robertson and Michael Foxley at the start of December, and we will certainly make sure that we are looking at all the consultation responses that we get in on the matter to see what more can be done on the issue. As Donald Cameron and others pointed out, it is something that we are cognisant of, and we know that it is very important for us to move forward with the protection and, importantly, the ability to grow the Gaelic language and its use. Michael Marra suggested that there is a self-congratory motion. I think that that is being a bit unkind, because I have written those self-congratory motions, I have to admit, for other debates that he and I have taken part in. However, genuinely, if that one was self-congratory, it was congratulating the work that has been done across parties over time on the issue of Gaelic and Scots, but again, it is an absolute recognition that there is more to do when the consultation is a part of that. Michael Marra, I appreciate the cabinet secretary's comments on that, but I would say that there is a real frustration in the Gaelic community, particularly in the Western Isles, given the current economic turmoil and the fact that, if you have ended up with empty shelves in the supermarkets, you cannot live a life, how are you meant to sustain a community? I think that it is that tension that I was hoping to illustrate, which I was asked to the cabinet secretary to direct her comments. It is another very important point. I mentioned this briefly in my introductory speech about the working group that Kate Forbes initiated that is looking at, for example, issues around increasing the population and communities, the retention of communities, affordable housing, transport, the increasing use of Gaelic as an economic asset in the area. Working group is due to report this winter, and it is something that we will take active look at, but, of course, recognising the impact of policies right across Government on this important issue. I could also pay tribute to the many development officers and community officers that are around 50 posts across Scotland that are creating opportunities for the use of the Gaelic language. That is a very important part of our work to recognise that there is a real need to ensure that Gaelic is being used and being encouraged both in public services and in the private sector in different parts of our community. Willy Rennie also spoke about the need to get on with it when it comes to the creation of the Gaeletact. I would suggest that you listen to the debate as we went on. There were different thoughts on the issue within our debate, and we have already had differing views as part of the consultation. There is a genuine offer in that consultation response to come forward with folk's thoughts on the creation of a Gaeletact, and if that was to happen where that would be. However, it is an important issue for us to look at and get right. Emma Harper spoke, as she always does, very eloquently in Scotland, particularly about Scots words holding up this Parliament. That is a very important recognition that we should have. She also mentioned a number of particularly young authors and those in the arts that promote Scots, and I am particularly mindful of that and their work to promote the Scots language as we move forward. She also spoke about whether we needed a board and the Gaelic equivalent for Scots, or whether the Scots language centre could fill a similar type of role. The consultation is there to genuinely look at what would be right for Scots, not comparing it to Gaelic, but what is right for Scots. It suggests building up the use of the Scottish language centre as an option, but the consultation will certainly have, again, a variety of views on that. I look forward to seeing what people would suggest is the best way forward. Walter Scott was mentioned by Murdo Fraser, who talked about his knowledge of Scots being from school. As I said in my opening speech, I did not have such a positive experience of being introduced to Scots, apart from one day a year on Burns Day. We again are moving on from that, thankfully, but it is something that we still need to ensure that we see flourishing in all parts of our schools where there is a wish for that to be done. Given that it is Scottish Book Week, I will perhaps take his offer of Walter Scott and the importance of that in Scottish literature. I also mention a new book by Graham Armstrong, or a reasonably new book by Graham Armstrong, the young team that is written in Scots uses Scots. It is an exceptionally important and powerful illustration of how Scots can be used in a very comprehensive way in a very new manner on a subject that is important to all of us growing up in Scotland. There was also a discussion about Gaelic needs and education and ensuring that that is taking place where there is demand for that to happen. Again, the consultation asks genuine questions on that, whether we have the balance right on Gaelic needs and education and about the needs of parents having to prove that there is a demand. Where should that lie between the role of parents, the role of local authorities? Within that, again, there will be a variety of views. However, there is a point about how we can attempt to move forward and to see whether what was right when that legislation was passed, perhaps we have moved on and we should be looking at something different at this point, which is a very, very fair one. I would certainly expect changes in that area what that change will be. We will be very much up to the consultation responses. Alasdair Allan, I think, outdid us all by obviously doing a speech in Gaelic and Scots, again showing the importance of using Gaelic as a community language, which is exceptionally important. Jackie Dunbar's contribution on Scots really got to the heart of something, which is a particular importance to me. That is the use of Scots within education and its ability to improve young people's attainment. There have been numerous studies that have shown that, if you provide a young person to see the value of their own language, whether that is Doric, Scots or Gaelic, they gain a better appreciation not just of their own home language, but of their use of English improves, as does their confidence overall. Cocab Stewart's anecdote from her time as a teacher about my wee red motor really did sum that up exceptionally well. I reassure Rhoda Grant that, while we are looking at the consultation, we will very much look at the different needs of Scots and Gaelic. They will be looked at separately. Where those languages are is exceptionally different, what their challenges are is different and, therefore, what the solutions will be will be different. I recognise also the moves by Sir Morostig to be recognised as a small specialist institution. I visited them recently and had an exceptionally enjoyable time on their campus. I know that they are continuing to work with the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Funding Council's criteria on SSIs to see what can be done on that. There was also mention by Arianna Burgess and again by Martin Whitfield on what is happening in Edinburgh and the demands for a Gaelic medium education secondary school. I met recently with the parents and found it a very useful and constructive meeting. We have worked with the council to try and find a suitable site. There is nothing in the Scottish Government properties that is of use for that, but I do think that we need to see early progress by the council. I was disappointed to find out, certainly at the time that I met the parents, that the City of Edinburgh council had not met them since the local government elections. I have written to the council to encourage them to do so. There were a number of speakers who I have not had the attention to give due attention to in my closing remarks, but I will add a piece of consensus at the end. As Martin Whitfield said, we have a real opportunity to produce an exceptionally good bill, and it is important that the impact that it could have on Gaelic in Scotland is right across Scotland. That is an important aspect of my role. I thank members for their contributions and their suggestions about how we can improve our support for Gaelic and Scots, and I look forward to continuing the debate as the Scots Languages Bill eventually gets to Parliament later in the parliamentary term. That concludes the debate on the future of Gaelic and Scots. It is now time to move on to the next item of business. There are three questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first is amendment 6763.1, in the name of Donald Cameron, which seeks to amend motion 6763, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on the future of Gaelic and Scots, be agreed. Are we all agreed? The amendment is therefore agreed. The next question is that amendment 6763.2, in the name of Michael Marra, which seeks to amend motion 6763, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on the future of Gaelic and Scots, be agreed. Are we all agreed? The amendment is therefore agreed. The final question is that motion 6763, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, as amended, on the future of Gaelic and Scots, be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. That concludes decision time. We will now move on to members' business. I would be grateful if members who are leaving the chamber could please do so quietly.