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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 18 March 2025
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Displaying 2045 contributions

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COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Long Covid Inquiry

Meeting date: 23 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

Do we need—[Interruption.] Claire Taylor has indicated that she wants to intervene. She might have the answer before I come back to you, Dr Shackles.

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Long Covid Inquiry

Meeting date: 23 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

Can I interrupt you for a second, Claire? I am very short of time.

I go back to my question for Dr Shackles. Do we need somebody else who is not on the front line day to day to come in, look at what you are dealing with and think about how to manage it better?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Long Covid Inquiry

Meeting date: 23 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

What work has been undertaken to ensure that international good practice and learning is integrated into long Covid services in Scotland? Professor Donaldson.

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Long Covid Inquiry

Meeting date: 23 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

I understand that Dr Amy Small wanted to respond to Brian Whittle. Do you want to do that before I come on to my questions?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Long Covid Inquiry

Meeting date: 23 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

The purpose is to find solutions to what is clearly a problem. How do we sort the problem? The problem is that people have long Covid. It has been diagnosed and given that name by patients. Would it help if the medical profession said that it was going to rename the condition and start again? We are also hearing that some medical practitioners do not recognise long Covid. I do not understand why there is so much disinformation.

The system is fragmented and not working. Does someone else need to come in and say, “This is a national problem. These guys are trying to deal with everything else that is happening on the front line,” and ask how we can help to solve that problem?

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Future Agriculture Policy

Meeting date: 22 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

Thank you.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Future Agriculture Policy

Meeting date: 22 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

Good morning. Well done to the clerks for bringing such a diverse range of voices to the table today—this should be interesting.

I will turn first to Ian Muirhead. I will not ask you to answer right away, Ian—I am just going to put this in your head, because I want to go to one or two other witnesses as well. I hope that the conversation will just spark from there. Given your membership, you are probably one of the key barometers of the profitability and, possibly, the mental health of the farming community right now, given that you trade with them daily. That buying and selling of product is vital with regard to the resilience of the industry. Bear that thought in mind at the moment.

Ross Paton said that the organic sector should become more mainstream. I can remember the days when loads of guys went into organic production because it was easy to do. They got a five-year payment and they dropped out immediately after the organic process was finished because they could not find a market for it. Therefore, should we be producing organic produce without a premium or should there still be a premium and, if so, will people pay it? Hold that thought and we will come back to it, if that is okay.

Douglas Bell said that the tenant farming community accounts for 6,000 tenants covering 20 per cent of the land. They are not taking up the opportunities that are available, and yet you are sitting beside Chloe McCulloch, who is there to provide that support. There is a £600 million pot of money every year that everybody wants a piece of, and I am just trying to work out how it will be divvied up, starting with the agricultural community as it stands.

I ask Ian Muirhead to kick off.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Future Agriculture Policy

Meeting date: 22 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

I have a brief question for Susan Robertson. Do you know the difference in rates between what the current agricultural wages order delivers and the real living wage?

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Future Agriculture Policy

Meeting date: 22 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

What does profitability look like in the farming community right now? Mental health is directly linked to profitability.

09:45  

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Future Agriculture Policy

Meeting date: 22 February 2023

Jim Fairlie

Just a wee second, convener. I specifically asked the questions that I asked in the way that I asked them so that I could get a baseline with regard to the people who will be affected by all of this. That is why I went to Douglas Bell and Chloe McCulloch. If we are talking about basic payments and income support, a lot of these guys will be getting those payments, but the system is not working. Can we go back to that first, before we take a wider view?