 I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place and that face coverings should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 2301, in the name of Fulton MacGregor, on human rights day 2021. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put. I would ask those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons now, and I call on Fulton MacGregor to open the debate up to seven minutes, please, Mr MacGregor. It is a real privilege to bring this member's debate to the chamber today, and I want to thank those members across the chamber who supported the motion. Tomorrow marks human rights day 10 December, which is the day that the United Nations General Assembly adopted in 1948 the universal declaration of human rights. As members will mode out the declaration was and still is a milestone document that proclaims the unchallangable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being, regardless of race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or any other status. The theme this year relates to equality and article 1 of the UDHR, namely that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The principles of equality and non-discrimination are at the heart of human rights, and now more than ever we need to show that human rights are at the centre of everything we do. The pandemic has shown that, as we make a recovery, people under rights have to be front and centre to ensure nobody is left behind. Just the other day, for example, in the equality and human rights committee, during an evidence session on women's unfair responsibility and unpaid care and domestic work, we heard quite clearly what I think we already knew that almost every aspect of the pandemic affected women more than men, every aspect from the virus itself to the restrictions imposed. For example, from working from home and balancing childcare and home schooling to a front-line workforce, mainly women, to even very simple things, like women taking their one-hour-per-day less exercise than men did. I would encourage members to read the evidence sessions from Tuesday, as that is just a snippet of it. However, whether it is based on the scientific advice or the political decisions, it is clear that the structural bias is there and present. We cannot get away from that, and the fact that restrictions are very similar across the world demonstrates that that is an issue beyond individual advisers and Governments. However, as we consider more restrictions, we must not make the same mistakes when or hopefully more like it if more restrictions are put in place. Let us make sure that they do not unequally harm women and lessons are learned from the past two years. More generally, as we build back and through this pandemic, we need to do it with the human rights grounding. As we remobilise our health services, improve our justice system, move to net zero and take the opportunity to reshape our education system for our children and young people, who, as we all know, have sacrificed so much already, they need to be first and foremost in our considerations as we build back. For example, I was glad earlier this year that reopening schools safely was prioritised above all else. On the issue of young people and human rights, I think that the Government has already demonstrated that through our commitment to the incorporation into law of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to the maximum extent possible as soon as practical. I was on the committee that took the bill through Parliament in the last session, a bill unanimously agreed by the Parliament, a bill that sought to remedy any human rights violations that children and young people experience by Government and or public bodies in Scotland, as well as other reporting mechanisms around children's rights violations and how Scotland can best protect its young people and their rights. Members will not need me to remind them that the UK Government took the bill to court to stop it, and maybe that will tell you all that you need to know about the values and priorities of the two Governments. By moving on to the First Minister's advisory group that was established in 2017 to make recommendations on how Scotland can continue to lead, for example, in the field of human rights, this was an approach that was multidisciplinary with human rights being discussed through economic, social, cultural and environmental factors. The group published its full report in December 2018 with seven key recommendations, and in responding to the advisory group's report, the First Minister welcomed the proposal for a new statutory human rights framework for Scotland, put to be delivered by means of an act of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government, as we know, is already committed via the 1819 programme for government to prioritise actions that can be taken to address the human rights and the quality impacts of Brexit. I know that the cabinet secretary might speak a bit more about that. As referred to in the motion, we have also seen the action through the establishment of a national task force for human rights leadership, which was established in 2019 to take forward the recommendations of the aforementioned advisory group. Its further remit was to design and deliver detailed proposals for new statutory human rights framework for Scotland, together with the associated requirements for a public participatory process and for capacity building initiatives. On the final report, which was published on 12 March 2021, it contained 30 recommendations that have been unanimously accepted by the Scottish Government. Upon publication of the report, Professor Miller noted how remarkable Scotland's increasing confidence in its international approach to human rights leadership and noted the progress that had been made since devolution. He talked through his experience throughout the process of developing human rights in Scotland from pre-devolution into the present and noted that the UK's exit from the EU and the Covid pandemic had put human rights into sharp focus at the forefront. The establishment of such a new statutory human rights framework is, in itself, an urgent and essential part of Scotland's value-based and sustainable post-Covid recovery. In view of the UN, the experience of Covid has taught all countries that those societies that have been called better were those that had already embedded economic and social rights and therefore had an increased economic and social resilience. Additionally, those societies that had already made efforts to reduce structural inequalities had feared better in responding to the pandemic or are fearing better in responding to the pandemic. Coming from that is the commitment of the Scottish Government to introducing a new human rights bill during this parliamentary session. It shows just how serious we are about our promise of ensuring fairness for all. The bill will incorporate into Scotland's law as far as possible with individual competence the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights alongside three further new UN human rights treaties that will strengthen protections for women, disabled people and ethnic minority people. It will include a right to a healthy environment, a right for older people to ensure equal access to their human rights so that they can live a life of dignity and independence and provision to ensure equal access for everyone to the rights contained in the bill. I want to thank the cabinet secretary and Christina McKelvie for their work in leading the bill so far. I particularly want to wish Christina McKelvie a speedy recovery and return to this chamber to continue leading it up with the cabinet secretary. I am very much personally excited about the prospect of another such transformational bill coming before this Parliament soon. I am very sorry, but I apologise. In 1946, two years before the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, Eleanor Roosevelt became chairperson of the UN Human Rights Commission and then went on to become the author of the UN Declaration. Isn't it remarkable back then, but singularly appropriate, that a woman was to lead one of the most important international declarations ever made? In her speech of 1948 in Paris, she had this to say, Basic human rights are simple and easily understood, freedom of speech and a free press, freedom of religion and worship, freedom of assembly and the right of petition, freedom from arbitrary arrest and punishment. The words are simple and clear, but regrettably they remain unfulfilled in many, perhaps most, corners of our world some 73 years later. Why, for example, is there still arbitrary imprisonment of the likes of Sansushi, Nazanine Zagari-Rackliff and Don Jean? Why are we still having to struggle to enshrine the most basic of rights? The answer, I think, lies in the words of Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor of both Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. It is a problem of profound indifference, he said back in 1999. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees, not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory and in denying their humanity we betray our own. As members may know, I am concerned about the indifference shown by some towards the hard won rights of women. Rights that have always merited some attention that do not compromise the rights of others but that are coming under increasing threat too often. I think that at times we are all guilty of this. We pursue the rights of those with whom we sympathise but in such a way that we deny or compromise equally important rights of others. This is not the path to universal human rights. Freedom gained by denying freedom to others is no freedom at all and the antithesis of human rights. One of the most remarkable men who well understood the tyranny of seeking to gain power to deny the rights of others was Nelson Mandela. His words at his trial in 1964 are as relevant today as they were then. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is not enough to celebrate human rights day. We need to stop our indifference to the suffering of others and we need to aspire to be remembered as Eleanor Roosevelt was remembered by Adlai Stevensson. She would rather like candles than curse the darkness. I now call Pam Gozel to be followed by Carol Mockant up to four minutes please Ms Gozel. Thank you Presiding Officer. I am honoured to stand here today to represent the Scottish Conservatives. I will start by saying that I fully support today's motion and welcome the Parliament's acknowledgement of human rights day. It is on this day that we must reflect on the progress that we have made when it comes to human rights and inequalities in our society. Let me be clear, Presiding Officer, we have vast room for improvement in our goal to become a world leader in human rights. We have heard from various MSPs, advocacy groups, charities and so on throughout this Parliament session about the impact that the pandemic has had on many people in Scotland and all of whom have been impacted by the pandemic in one way or another. Some stories have been hard to hear. Of course there are those who have been especially hard to hit by the pandemic. Young people, women, BME groups, low earners, people with disabilities and low in parents. Therefore, it must be a priority of this Parliament to ensure that we place the rights-based approach at the heart of our recovery from the pandemic. I am proud to serve just like my member spoke to Fulton MacGregor on the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee and to see the hard work that is conducted by all the organisations and individuals involved. Their dedication and commitment deserve nothing but our praise and thanks. Presiding Officer, the pandemic has further exposed structural inequalities that exist in Scotland and we now have the unique opportunity to learn from that. It goes without saying that I recognise the work that is conducted by the First Minister's advisory group on human rights leadership and the recommendation of the national task force for human rights leadership. I therefore support the Scottish Government's commitment to introducing a human rights bill based on those recommendations, and I eagerly await further details. However, we must not forget that those children who have been needlessly affected by the pandemic continue to be affected even today. I speak for everyone across the chamber when I say that children's rights are of the utmost importance. Distressing evidence suggests that, during the pandemic, there has been a raise in child abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic abuse, educational inequalities and digital exclusions. The evidence reminds us of the importance of the incorporation into the domestic law of the UNCRC to the maximum extent possible, which would maximise children's rights across Scotland. The Scottish Conservatives support the UNCRC bill at all stages and work constructively to amend and improve the bill throughout the passage through Parliament. Since the member mentioned today that the Parliament voted to pass the bill, it was his party that ignored the advice that it was exceeding its legislative competencies. It was his party that is responsible for delaying the incorporation of children's rights into domestic law. It was his party that is delaying the passing of the legislation, as we have yet to hear when the bill will return to the Parliament. The longer we await a revised bill, the longer those rights are unprotected by domestic law. I therefore call on the Scottish Government to act with urgency to bring the bill back to Parliament along with my colleagues on those benches. I await further news and when this will be. In conclusion, I fully support the motion under discussion. I welcome the Scottish Government and the cross-party commitments to advancing human rights in Scotland. We all have a responsibility here, and we must continue to work together across the chamber to advance human rights in Scotland. I now call Cara Mocken to be followed by Stephanie Callaghan up to four minutes. I welcome the commitment to incorporate into law the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is a measurable and moral step that we must take together as a country. I thank Fulton MacGregor for bringing this full debate to the chamber. No-one will be surprised to hear me say that we can always do a lot more. I would like to focus on some tangible rights that we should be pursuing here at home, but I must reflect on a broader concern. I would love to see human rights becoming a universal standard in which we can build a better world, but in reality that is far from the case. We only need to cast our memories back to the fortnight ago when 27 people drowned in the English Channel trying to reach our shores. A news story far too many people have already forgotten about pushed aside by a daily churn of the 24-hour news cycle. What has happened to their rights? Did they disappear when they left home for a better life? It is truly a shameful situation and we must keep their story in the spotlight. Their fate does not surprise me, however, when we have a Tory Government at Westminster that thinks that it is funny to ignore their own rules and laugh at Covid restrictions while people die. You can only imagine their lack of concern for people beyond our borders and their story must remain in the spotlight. However, as I return here to Matys at home, I do not need to tell my fellow MSPs that we have children sitting in school too hungry to concentrate and parents not eating meals so that their children can be fed. In 2019, 31 per cent of single-parent households in Scotland, with one or more child reported being food insecure, and one in 10 people living in the UK are malnourished or at risk of being malnourished. Labour-led councils in North Lanarkshire and North Ayrshire have taken positive steps toward addressing hunger during school holidays with the club 365 and summer voucher schemes, steps that are very welcome, I am sure, across the chamber. However, the Scottish Government has to do more and be more radical in ensuring that they are being rolled out right across Scotland. However, the fact that we need these schemes also confirms the desperate need for a right to food, a right that is not currently enshrined in Scottish law. Fortunately, thanks to my colleague Rhoda Grant and previously Elaine Smith, we will soon have the opportunity to secure that right here at home. I ask everyone in the chamber, particularly the backbenchers in the Government, to support that at the first opportunity that comes to them. Linked to that as part of a wider concern about health, the UNCRC states that children should have the right to leisure, play and culture, the state that Governments must play an active role in ensuring that. How are we doing in Scotland? A report commissioned by the Observatory for Sport in Scotland highlighted that there is evidence of decreasing participation rates in sports outside school lessons and a high level of drop-out by girls reaching their teenage years. We also know that between 2014 and 2018, the average charges per hour for ffifoside football, bybwnton squash, table tennis, golf and swimming for kids all increased. Furthermore, participation in physical activity and sport is considerably lower for those living in the most deprived areas compared to those in the least deprived areas. That is a division that will last past childhood and is one that accounts in part for increased mortality throughout people's lives. I am asking the Scottish Government, they must do more if they want to claim that they are taking an active part in children's right to leisure, play and culture. To conclude, it is positive that the Scottish Government appears keen to adopt the use of the UNCRC into Scottish law, but it is equally concerning that hunger is on the rise and the cost of sport in Scotland is unaffordable in getting worse. If we can recognise the importance of securing formal rights that will push us forward as a country and give the next generation a platform from which they can flourish, then we can begin to change that trajectory. The UNCRC is a welcome start, but, as I often say in this chamber, we have plenty more to do. I thank Fulton MacGregor for bringing that to the chamber. Tomorrow, as has been said already, we celebrate human rights in commemoration of the day when the UN General Assembly adopted the universal declaration of human rights in 1948. That declaration forms the backbone of the human rights architecture of our societies, where each of us, without discrimination, has the right to live and thrive in peace and safety. Since its adoption, laws and policies embracing human rights have made us freer. Children can assert their needs, women can make their own choices, persons with disabilities can live more independently. We now all enjoy safeguards against her name abuse, but those privileges are not to be taken for granted. Worse, they are under threats. Human rights are far more than legal concepts. They are the very essence of humanity. Denynt them and you deny one's humanity. They are inalible. And yet, as I know, too often people try to divide us. We are told that those in the margins of society are like aliens from another planet. Too often we hear the word them instead of us. Those narratives propped up by the right wing media and reinforced by the policies of some so-called democracies, including Westminster, must be challenged. Human rights must be at the centre of economic policy, housing, healthcare and education. By doing that, we can create a human rights-based economy that supports better, fairer and more sustainable societies for present and future generations. In order to embed a culture of human rights, putting those most marginalised at the centre of policies, we must incorporate rights into law. In Scotland, we will incorporate four international human rights treaties into law through the new human rights bill, making those rights enforceable in real. As we recover from the pandemic, we have the chance to reset. Yet, at this most pivotal juncture, as Scotland looks to close the gaps in rights provision, the UK Government is moving in the opposite direction, showing time and again a willingness to abandon human rights. Earlier this year, the Scottish Government unanimously backed the enshrining of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child into Scots law, ensuring accountability when things go wrong, but that was challenged by the UK Government. Last night, the Nationality and Borders Bill passed its third reading in the UK Parliament, and the bill judges a person's right to claim asylum according to how they arrived in the UK. Not need or the level of danger. It proposes that millions of dual nationals could be stripped of their citizenship by the Home Office without warning, creating a second tier category of citizenship in the UK, and discrimination is at the heart of such proposals. Coupled with the police crime and sentencing bill, which will seriously restrict the right to peaceful process, the UK Government is heading in a dangerous direction, and we must push back. In Scotland, we have an entirely different vision, one where we treat all those who find themselves loving among us with dignity and respect. As we remember the events of Kenya Street 2, where ordinary people stood up for their neighbours detained by the Home Office raid, it was a heartening show of solidarity, and local communities must unite against cruel and divisive immigration policy. The way in which we treat those in the margins determines how we progress as a society as a whole. Our actions reflect who we are and who we want to become. That is why I campaign for an independent Scotland, grounded in civic nationalism, a Scotland that embraces and opens an outward society, that is empowered to tackle the root causes of inequality and injustice, and that incorporates a human rights approach to governance that leads no one behind. Like others, I begin by thanking Fulton MacGregor for bringing forward his motion and this debate today. Tomorrow is human rights day, which also marks the end of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. I would like to take this opportunity to thank colleagues from across the chamber for their contributions in recent debates about women's rights during these 16 days. This year's human rights day theme relates to equality and article 1 of the universal declaration of human rights. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The principles of equality and non-discrimination are at the heart of human rights, but we know only too well that here in Scotland and around the world people are not all born equal. A baby born in Somalia faces an infant mortality rate nearly 25 times higher than that of a baby born here in the United Kingdom. Women are more likely to bear the brunt of global health crises in every aspects of their lives, from employment to access to healthcare. People fleeing war and famine are drowning in the English Channel, as we have already heard, because of inhumane and uncompassionate approaches to foreign policy. Black people in Scotland are more likely to face discrimination in the workplace and in access to housing. Trans people face exclusion from and barriers to accessing vital, life-saving health services. Inequality is everywhere we look, but none of that is inevitable. The structural inequalities that exist are a product of political and economic choices and we can make different choices. Having equalities and human rights at the centre of what we do can help us to identify the better choices that we can and must make. The experiences of individuals and communities around the globe never mind the history of the last century and show us the importance of the centrality of human rights in all that we do. We know that we want to see a Scotland where people understand their rights and those of their neighbours, where they feel valued and included, where they are empowered to claim their own rights and to stand in solidarity, compassion and justice to help others to achieve theirs too. We want Scotland to play a role in ensuring that this vision does not stop at our borders. We must play our role to fight for equality around the world. During the coming year, we will see the beginning of the consultation on how we embed those principles in the important work that we will be doing. The human rights bill that we want to bring will, as far as possible, with the now-devolved competence, incorporate key human rights treaties into Scots law. We have already heard about many of them this afternoon, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I mention them by name because they are important and this will be a world-breaking legislation when we deliver it. Beyond those international treaties, we must also ensure that we follow international best practice and including a right to a healthy environment, as Fulton Greger mentioned. Equal access for all, especially those older and LGBTQI-plus people, to the rights that must be contained in the bill. Because putting human rights into law is only the start of the work that we must do, we then need decisive, bold action to design and implement the policies, services and institutions that will make those rights a reality, not only for us in Scotland but further afield, too. Our vision and our imperative for action is a Scotland that is fairer, more inclusive, more progressive and more equal, and a Scotland that can play its part in making the world fairer, more inclusive, more progressive and more equal. That is our work. I would like to thank Fulton Greger for securing this important debate to acknowledge human rights day, which will be marked around the world tomorrow. I would also like to draw members' attention to my declaration of interest as a trustee of the Freedom Declared Foundation, a charity that exists to support the right of everyone to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief. I draw members' attention to my membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Given the history and origins of my church and its earliest adherents, members will understand that freedom to live in peace, according to one's beliefs and conscience, devoid of offence toward others, is a matter of deeply felt importance to me. The First President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith, declared the human right to exercise that free independence of mind, which heaven has so graciously bestowed upon the human family, is one of its choice gifts. There are 30 articles in the UN Declaration of Human Rights. All of them are worthy of reflection and consideration, but due to time constraints today, my focus will fall on article 18, which reads, Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom either alone or in community with others and in public or private to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. I want to talk about an important aspect of freedom of religion or belief, and that is the way that the Scottish Government has treated public religious worship during the pandemic. Since my election to this place, I have asked ministers many questions about places of worship, about the differentiated set of restrictions that still apply to places of worship compared with other indoor settings, specifically in relation to the wearing of face coverings. I cannot see any evidence to justify those differences, and answers, I am afraid, there have come none. There was also widespread alarm at the Scottish Government's order to close places of worship and what that implied about how ministers perceived the human right of freedom of religion or belief. The Court of Sessions subsequently ruled against the Scottish Government's ban on public worship. Lord Bred said in his ruling quote, It is not clear that the respondents have fully appreciated the importance of article 9, that is the article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. They have admittedly paid lip service to article 9 by referring to it, but there is no evidence that they have accorded it the importance which such a fundamental right deserves. So I asked the minister what lessons have been learned by the Scottish Government from this, what steps have been taken or being taken to increase the levels of appreciable religious literacy among ministers and their officials. In the western world, the growth of aggressive secularism is in my view an undisguised attempt to marginalise religion in the public sphere. Only last week we heard about the memo sent by the EU to member states asking them to stop using the word Christmas in the name of inclusivity. This is an absurd statement. Removing the word Christmas excludes Christians who want to talk openly about their faith. We should not regulate what members of the public can and cannot say and we must allow the expression of faith in the public sphere to flourish. I agree with Bishop John Keenan when he recently said that while freedom of religion and their belief is enshrined in law in the UK, it is not always respected by society. Last week, a group of young British Jews were celebrating Hanukkah on Oxford Street in London. During those celebrations, a group of young men started spitting at them and making Nazi salutes, an appalling anti-Semitic attack. Earlier this year, vandals damaged the lords cave at the Carfin Grotto in Motherwall. I listened with interest to the speech by the new member of Parliament for Adrian Shots and Nan Khwazar in the House of Commons last month. It was a deeply personal speech about Islamophobia and she listed many shocking incidents, including petrol bombing of her mosque. We do not need to agree with someone to respect them for who they are and what they believe. It is a fundamental human right—respect. The United Kingdom is rightly seen as a global leader in promoting and defending freedom of religion and belief. We must be alert to see that freedom of religion or belief is not only protected in law but respected, appreciated and embraced as fundamental to our values as a people. It is a privilege to follow Stephen Kerr, who has, I know for many years, talked about the protection of religion and non-religion. It raises the interesting question that we hear so much about the talk of human rights, the intention of human rights, but we need to look at the results and how we are empowering those people to enforce their human rights. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to today's debate. I fear that we are living at a time where there is an erosion of human rights, where instead we need to strengthen and advance them. The way we do this is by reducing the inequalities and pursuing equality, as this year's theme reminds us. At the heart, we have heard, of course, about the universal declaration of human rights. The moment when people with any disability—our carers, our young, our old—every individual feels that they have the ability and are supported to contribute to their full ability. Because of that, human rights must be at the heart of our fight against inequality. The motion talks of the Scottish Government's commitment to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children into Scottish law to the maximum extent possible as soon as is practicable. Where is this commitment in action? It is just in words at the moment. Let us focus on what we can do here to implement the UNCRC in Scotland in real ways. Most importantly, the focus being on the lives of children that this impacts on having their rights incorporated into Scottish law and protected. I mention this because there is a need to respond to the Supreme Court ruling. Why has this not been done? It is turning into a debate about an anger at another place. Rather than one about how we can best protect our children here, pursue a better and more equal future for them. I think that this Chamber can agree that on this issue of human rights, it is not a constitutional battleground. It is what we can give our young people here in Scotland. It is of the utmost importance. The Scottish Government follows through on the commitment because it is our young people who are of the utmost importance. This should still be a priority, not a tick box exercise because of something that was completed and lost in the Supreme Court. Finally, we are reminded today that having human rights rests at the centre of our policy and the action is the best way for us to fight inequality. It is important that we remember that this is of a particular significance when we look at our children and young people of this generation, the Covid generation, those who are at greater risk of being left out with extreme disparity, poverty and inequality. That is why the UNCRC is so important for building a better and more equal Scotland for the future. What is the Scottish Government doing to ensure on tomorrow's human rights day? Our children's rights are championed and protected. Surely it can't be, as Michelle Thompson says, just profound indifference. I hope that I can hear an announcement of when this Bill will return to this place where I ffervently believe it will have cross-party support to become law for the children to start their empowerment, to not only demand and hear talk about their rights, but to have a vehicle to enforce it. I now call on Cabinet Secretary Shona Robison to respond to the debate up to seven minutes. I begin by thanking my colleague Fulton MacGregor for bringing the debate to the chamber today. I am delighted to conclude what has been a mainly constructive debate and some very good contributions across the chamber. When it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set out the fundamental human rights that form a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. As we have heard today, it also proclaimed a principle that is central to the purpose and practice of the Scottish Parliament, the universal truth that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The human rights day is therefore a reminder of our duty to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. As Michelle Thomson said, the need to end the indifference to the plight of others is crucially important. Carol Malkin reminded us of the plight of asylum seekers and refugees and the recent tragedies that we have all witnessed. Stephanie Callaghan was right to highlight concerns about the UK nationality and borders bill. Ensuring that internationally recognised human rights are given practical everyday effect is a core function of the Scottish Government. As we have heard from members today, the Covid-19 crisis has brought that duty into sharp focus and Pam Gosol gave some powerful examples of that. We are determined that human rights should be at the forefront of our on-going work. In the coming year, we will begin consulting on a strategy to embed equality, inclusion and human rights across the whole of the public sector. That will be critical in helping Scotland to recover from the impact of Covid and to build back better in a way that delivers for every member of society, including those who have been worst affected and have suffered the greatest disadvantage and, of course, Fulton MacGregor outlined the disproportionate negative impact of the pandemic on women, as did Maggie Chapman. As members have also mentioned, we are now developing a new human rights bill for Scotland, as part of implementing the bold and ambitious recommendations presented in March by the national task force for human rights leadership. This new bill will enhance economic, social and cultural rights and rights for women, disabled people, minority ethnic people and older people and LGBTI people. Recognising the bill as an opportunity for all of Scotland to lead on human rights, we have established internal and external governance and engagement forums as part of the bill's progression. That includes an executive board comprised of senior decision makers from across the public sector, an advisory board comprised of key stakeholder groups with expertise in the rights that will be included in the bill. We are also continuing to give priority to ensuring that people with lived experience of facing barriers to accessing their rights have a voice at the heart of the bill and will be heard and, of course, importantly inform its development and delivery. The Scottish Government has committed to consulting on the human rights bill in the coming year and will ensure that the consultation is developed with the assistance of stakeholders to listen and learn from their feedback to make the consultation as accessible as we can. Carol Mocken referred to food and, of course, the Scottish Government's view is that a right to food is best considered and taken forward in the context of this new human rights bill rather than a separate bill, which I think would risk creating a fragmented approach to the incorporation of human rights. We are also, as many members have mentioned, the UNCRC bill, and we remain committed to the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to the Maximum Extent Possible. Incorporating the UNCRC into Scottish law will deliver a revolution in children's rights in Scotland, as described by Fulton MacGregor. We are therefore urgently but also carefully considering the most effective way forward for this important legislation following the UK Supreme Court judgment. The Deputy First Minister will come back to Parliament with our proposals as soon as practical. It is not the case that the UNCRC is going to become incorporated in any other legislation, is it? As I said, those are complex legal issues that many of us have been involved in looking at. What is important is that those have been considered carefully and that it is brought back to Parliament as soon as possible. I am sure that the member and others will be informed as soon as possible around the timetable for that. I would gently point out to Pam Gosall that we would not be in this position had the UK Government not gone to the Supreme Court in the first place, but that is a mainly consensual debate and I want to keep it that way. 2021 also marked the 70th anniversary of the UK's ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was incorporated into UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998. It is no exaggeration to say that the Human Rights Act, in combination with the Scotland Act, has transformed human rights in Scotland and is a central pillar of Scotland's constitutional settlement, albeit there is further work to be done. I therefore urge the UK Government, which is considering its response to the independent human rights act review, to step back from any attempt to undermine or erode existing human rights protections. The Scottish Government will robustly oppose any attack on the human rights act. I invite members to reaffirm the long-standing view of this Parliament that there must be no changes to the human rights act without our explicit consent. I am sure that something Stephen Kerr will agree with. Thanks to the cabinet secretary for giving away. Given the fact that she is running out short on time, I wonder whether she might reflect on the questions that I asked about freedom of religion and her belief in relation to the court of session judgment and also on the general appreciation of this freedom by ministers going forward and how that will be enhanced. I did hear what Stephen Kerr said. Difficult decisions were made all during the crisis and are still being made during the pandemic. Those decisions are not made in a way to single out a particular community or do things that are deliberately difficult. The public inquiry will be an important forum to look at any lessons learned across the board. I am sure that that can be an aspect that Stephen Kerr might wish to pursue through that route, because we should learn lessons going forward—important lessons. On marking human rights day, it is important that we look at rights across the board. So much is achieved for human rights around the world by brave individuals who are prepared to stand up for the principles that are set out in the universal declaration of human rights. For our part, the Scottish Government will continue to do everything that it can to uphold those values to make rights real for people in Scotland and to stand up for human rights wherever they are under threat.