Chamber and committees

I am just offering you the advice that, if you visit those communities, you should not use that word.

I will keep it brief, in that case, as many of the issues have already been touched on by others. Does anyone want to give a couple of examples of actions? We have heard today that actions are more important than outcomes. When we think about future food production systems, how do we get from here to there? Can anyone give a couple of examples of quick wins that would get us to where we want to be environmentally?

I was not trying to catch your eye—I was trying to catch the convener’s eye. Please finish your point.

I realise that none of us want to live in a country that is all intensively farmed—we realise the benefit of wild places. I do not want to get hung up on words, but have you considered just how badly the word “rewilding” goes down in marginal communities—that is, marginally viable, fragile rural communities?

Can you tell me what it involves and how you will do that in the next few years?

Not everyone watching will be familiar with how the Nordic Council of Ministers, or the Nordic Council, works. Will you say a little bit about how the Nordic Council of Ministers is embedded in the political cultures of the countries concerned? Many of us look with envy at the diplomatic reach of a country such as Iceland. How do the individual countries relate to the Nordic Council of Ministers? How do your pronouncements as an organisation relate to policy in the different states?

I will resist the temptation to ask whether Scotland can become a member in the future. You said that the vision for 2030 is that the Nordic region will become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world. That is a huge ambition.

I am not suggesting that it is your job to decide what the law should be; I was just curious about whether you thought that it should be a criminal offence to run an event or whether you felt that there should be a law to achieve the ends that you have spoken about.

When we talked about the decline of the activity, you mentioned that race meetings take place only if a bookmaker turns up. If that decline is going on, are we at the point at which bookmakers do not turn up or are unlikely or less likely to turn up? How interested is the gambling industry in the activity?

You recommended that no new greyhound tracks should be permitted in Scotland. Will you clarify who they should not be permitted by—an independent agency or local authorities, for example—or whether that should be done through criminal law? What do you mean when you say that they should not be permitted?