Seòmar agus comataidhean

Dr Marks, in relation to FIFO, you talked about people flying in and doing some legal business. I imagine that most that work would be commercial and contract related.

So, you are really talking about appearances before EU courts.

Yes—I think that we can all agree on that.

Dr Anderson, do you want to say anything?

I have one last question, which is about other jurisdictions outside the European Union that have shown a path to making the situation even better than it is currently assessed as being.

From a commercial point of view—I am not sure whether this is true for the legal profession; that is why I am asking—one good example is Switzerland, which is outside the European Union but has a long-term relationship of almost constant negotiating and nudging in order to try to smooth things out. Can we learn something from Switzerland, or is there another jurisdiction that we can see as a bit of a trailblazer in that regard?

Therefore, with regard to opportunities for legal services, in the context of us dealing with commercial transactions and contract-related issues, things are pretty much as they were.

I am interested in the relative quantum of that happening here and our advocates appearing in an EU setting. I understand what you are saying about the EU courts, but I am talking about the national setting.

But not much.

That was because of people preferring to have someone in situ who understood the nuances of the legal system and its procedures.

Good morning.

I am here because James Bundy works in my office. I have known him and his family for a long number of years. Everyone will be aware of the circumstances that have brought the petition into being.

I just want to say that I completely agree with everything that Alexander Stewart has said. He has made a very reasonable request that the BE FAST approach be trialled somewhere.

I am at a loss, frankly, to understand why the Scottish Government and the minister are not prepared to consider carrying out research, or even to give consideration to the existing body of research in support of the adoption of BE FAST.

It has been put to colleagues and the Bundy family that, were BE FAST to be adopted, there would be an influx of people arriving at accident and emergency believing that they were perhaps having a stroke. The reality is that, if that were to happen and we were able to save lives—in this case, it is very close to home for James Bundy and his family—because the medical staff were aware of the BE FAST approach and the clinicians’ prioritisation was governed by a fuller appreciation of the symptoms so that a faster diagnosis could be made, perhaps a life could be saved. Therefore, I find it almost unreasonable that the minister is not prepared to consider even the existing body of research in her considerations and that the Government is not prepared to undertake or commission some research of its own. The cost of all those requests is minimal, but the value of a life is infinite.