Chamber and committees

On the role that the hubs play in that and other activities, how cost effective do you feel that they are? There has been some political discussion and debate about whether more hubs can be justified. I feel that they can be justified, but how does their cost-effectiveness and their frugalness or otherwise compare to some other diplomatic actors that perhaps found their entertaining and architectural traditions more on the Congress of Vienna?

Do you have a view about whether there should be more hubs in the future? You said that the model of co-location is helpful, but is it necessary?

My question is for David, so I will come in if he comes back.

You mentioned some of the ways in which the public sector could support the outcomes that you are looking for in dairy farming, whether through subsidy or through public contracts for food. We have touched on the issue of price, but I am interested in hearing your views on supermarkets, given that they exert—traditionally, anyway—a huge influence over the price of milk. Where do supermarkets fit into the picture, or do they not fit into it? How do we ensure that they start to take such questions more seriously?

I do not dispute what you have said about the importance of public contracts. I am simply curious to know whether, in the meantime, supermarkets should be doing something that they are not doing just now.

Given the continual—

I wanted to ask about the Northern Ireland protocol, but if that is off topic, I will not ask anything at all.

I have a question for Ms Snowden. You raised the issue of what could be done in Scotland to explain and publicise the issue of finding out about, and keeping up with, European legislation. Can you explain what—if anything—the UK, with its residual representation in the EU, is doing at this stage to keep track of legislation, and whether it does anything to publicise that?

I do not think that this question is tangential; it is closely relevant to what you have just said. You have had some recent correspondence with Lord Frost about the Northern Ireland protocol and the wider implications that that might have for Scotland. You have used quite strong language. Why have you said that you are “alarmed” by the state of the conversation between the UK and the European Union about that protocol?

It does not. It relates to the Northern Ireland protocol itself, so you can move on, convener.