Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Official Report 971KB pdf

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Junior Minister

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-09508, in the name of Humza Yousaf, on the appointment of a junior Scottish minister. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak button.

17:01  

Before I move the motion in my name that Fiona Hyslop be appointed as a junior Scottish minister, I pay tribute to the outgoing minister, Kevin Stewart. He has been a key member of the Government for more than seven years and served in a number of different portfolios. I pay tribute to his bravery in being so up front about his mental health. As a former Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care himself, Kevin knows full well how often we try to encourage each other to reach out to those around us when we are not okay. Telling people to do that and doing it are two different things. Let us be frank: as politicians, we are not always good at practising the advice that we give to others.

Kevin will be missed from the Government. However, I have no doubt that we will see him back in ministerial office soon and I know that he will be given a very warm welcome by colleagues on the back benches. For now, I offer him my sincere thanks for his services to the Government and am sure that the whole chamber sends our best wishes to him. [Applause.]

I turn now to today’s appointment. Fiona Hyslop needs little introduction. As she is one of the longest-serving ministers in the history of the Scottish Parliament, the wealth of experience that she brings is almost without parallel. In the education portfolio, Fiona abolished tuition fees, for which a whole generation of students is undoubtedly enormously thankful. In external affairs, she represented the Scottish Government overseas and built strong and lasting relationships that serve us well to this day. In economy, she worked tirelessly to support jobs and businesses during the pandemic. Of course, she is also revered—I do not think that that is too strong a word—in the culture sector for the support that she has given over the years.

Having served as Fiona’s junior minister at one point and having observed her over a number of years around the Cabinet table, I can say that there are few ministers who will so doggedly and tenaciously fight for the interests of their portfolio. I expect her to continue to do so.

The transport brief is one of the most demanding in the Government. Having done the job myself, I know that it is wonderfully rewarding supporting the thousands of people who work every day to keep Scotland moving. However, let us also be honest that being the transport minister in any Government means that you can get little credit when things go well and might find that, at the moment that anything goes wrong, the whole country knows who you are. Fiona has the experience, expertise and, most importantly, ability to be an excellent transport minister.

With Fiona’s appointment comes the opportunity to make some minor changes in my Government. I am strengthening Màiri McAllan’s remit and freeing her to take a direct, day-to-day role in transport and, in effect, explicitly bringing the transport brief into the Cabinet. I am also using the opportunity to bring some extra support to the rural portfolio by expanding Gillian Martin’s role and ensuring that Richard Lochhead’s title reflects his responsibility supporting businesses across Scotland. That will ensure that the Government’s significant policy plans can be pursued with vigour.

I ask Parliament to approve Fiona Hyslop’s appointment.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that Fiona Hyslop be appointed as a junior Scottish Minister.

17:05  

We are finally about to fill the job in the Government that no one apparently wanted. Humza Yousaf has managed to conjure up a ferry-like delay in replacing Kevin Stewart, who was the latest in a long line of Scottish National Party figures to decide, for whatever reason, that it was not for them. Of course, I wish Mr Stewart all the best, and I have told him that now

Transport is seen as the poisoned chalice of Government, but only because everything goes wrong under the SNP, so let us hope that someone of Fiona Hyslop’s clout can get it right. I was going to say that I thought that it should be a Cabinet position, but I am pleased to see that Màiri McAllan is getting transport in her brief.

I am delighted that Fiona Hyslop has got the job, because it needs someone of her experience with a proud record of delivery—for instance, the last time that she was in the Government, she announced another delay to ferries 801 and 802, telling Parliament in August 2020 that the Glen Sannox would be delivered between April 2022 and June 2022, with 802 planned for December 2022 to February 2023. She was quite adamant, Presiding Officer.

We know that the SNP is in hock to the Greens, but this new ministerial recycling scheme is evidence that it is in it all the way. It is a kind of governmental deposit return scheme, except that we do not get the 20p back when we have finished with the minister.

I know that—[Interruption.] I honestly know that Fiona Hyslop and I can work well together. We have become firm friends on the Economy and Fair Work Committee. She has invited me along to see the cycle park in her constituency, and I look forward to cycling around the course with her. It is important that we work together. Boats, trains, planes—[Interruption.]

Mr Simpson, please continue. I ask that we resist any temptation to call out while Mr Simpson is speaking.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Boats, trains, planes, automobiles and the A9 all matter—without a properly functioning transport system, the country does not work, so I wish Fiona Hyslop all the very best.

17:07  

At the outset, I extend to Kevin Stewart at a personal level my wish for him to regain his health, and I extend my admiration for the honesty that he has presented. Although it was but a short period of time that he was in office, he showed heart if challenged about solving some of the problems.

That brings us to the nomination of Fiona Hyslop. There are few people who could come with as much knowledge and wisdom, and perhaps even the T-shirt for Government experience, having formerly been Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning between 2007 and 2009, when certain challenges in the education field led the then First Minister to reappoint her as junior Minister for Culture and External Affairs. We have heard of the influence that she had during that period all the way through to 2021, when she decided, after 14 years, that she wanted to step down from Government. How short that time was before she was called back.

I also take the opportunity to point out to the current First Minister, as he repots his green portfolio and rearranges the deck chairs, that there was perhaps a missed opportunity to claim his deposit back from Lorna Slater’s portfolio and try to put the fire out in the DRS scheme by redeploying someone new to it.

I welcome the appointment of the new minister. Transport is an incredibly challenging brief, and it is good that it is now represented at Cabinet level. I wish Fiona Hyslop all the very best. I hope that the rising tide brings good fortune, but as tides turn, it may take others to put right the mess that has been led to.

17:09  

On behalf of the Scottish Greens, I welcome Fiona Hyslop to her post. She has been personally supportive of me as a new MSP, and she has been a constant contributor in this parliamentary session from the back bench and in committee. As we have heard from other members, she comes with the clout that we need for the transport portfolio.

We wish Fiona Hyslop every success in what we all know is a demanding ministerial brief at any given time. However, as she was the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture during the pandemic, she is no stranger to challenging circumstances. We look forward to working with her on the scrapping of peak rail fares this October, engaging on the outcomes of the fair fares review and building on the success of under-22s free bus travel, as well as working on the decarbonisation of transport across Scotland.

I thank Kevin Stewart for his collaborative approach to the Bute house agreement in his various roles over the past couple of years. I echo the comments of the First Minister on Kevin Stewart’s bravery. I very much enjoyed working with him when he was the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care. On behalf of the party, I wish him well, and I look forward to him being back in Parliament soon.

The question is, that motion S6M-09508, in the name of Humza Yousaf, on the appointment of a junior Scottish minister, be agreed to.

Motion agreed to,

That the Parliament agrees that Fiona Hyslop be appointed as a junior Scottish Minister.