Seòmar agus comataidhean

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported review of more than 1,000 CT scans, in light of concerns regarding the quality of assessments made by a consultant radiologist. (S6T-02241)

I welcome the immediate action that was taken. However, I seek further clarity on how the discrepancies were allowed to happen, which health boards have been affected and when the affected patients can expect to be notified.

That is very helpful. I am sure that the cabinet secretary recognises that such errors impact on public trust and confidence in the Scottish national radiology reporting service, which is relatively new, having launched in 2020, and the situation has arisen during a time when we seem to have regular scandals in the NHS. How will the Government ensure that lessons are learned and that similar errors do not occur in the future?

I thank Kenny Gibson for bringing this topic to the chamber.

I applaud the fine work of the Communication Workers Union—the CWU—on the matter, as it continues to boldly stand up for its members against the Post Office’s decisions, which are causing, as we have heard tonight, serious stress and concern for many families just before Christmas, while they are working hard to keep postal services moving. To add to Liam McArthur’s point, I note that they are busy throughout the year.

As we have heard, the decision to close the remaining 115 Crown post office branches across the UK was taken without prior consultation of trade unions, and the CWU informs us that it has not even been given sight of the strategic review document that led to the decision. That is unacceptable.

Furthermore, the decision was deliberately leaked, as we have heard, in order to get ahead of any press or official scrutiny. Post office workers were waking up and reading about the potential end of their jobs in a newspaper or watching it on television. I reiterate that that is simply unacceptable.

Ten of the Crown post offices are in Scotland, where the sector is already heavily depleted, which has left many communities without direct access to a post office. The branches, which are often the larger ones, are a lifeline for many people. However, more local post offices have been closed than most can put up with, and most sometimes struggle to find a place to do business or sort out personal affairs.

Crown post offices provide many services that are not easily accessible and available elsewhere. That is a valuable thing during a time when the high street is being cut to the bone. The decision to close branches is needless and exacerbates existing problems.

Why is it that we have spent the past decade or more stripping out post offices, thereby losing their utility and incredible community links? Has that made the country better off? Have we heard that the decisions to do that have led to greater modernisation and more stable employment? No, that is not what we have heard. It has led to an enormous amount of legal fees and to consultants raking it in, while ordinary working people suffer—as is often the case.

The current decision would decimate the post office network across the UK and will lead to 1,000 jobs being lost, including many in Scotland.

Every week, I, too, speak to constituents who are desperate for a service like the one that the post office used to provide. Not only was the post office an important utility for business and families, but it provided a community hub with staff who would take the time to offer genuine help.

I fear that we are approaching the days when post offices will be quite rare. I have no doubt that workers and the trade unions will be standing against the decision, and I will, of course, be supporting them and their rights. This is no way to treat the people who have shouldered the burden of pressure that has been placed on post office workers for many years. The review must be reconsidered, and I will support the CWU in its work alongside the workforce.

I again thank Kenny Gibson for bringing the matter to the chamber.

I thank my party colleague Paul Sweeney for bringing this important debate to the chamber and everyone at Marie Curie and its partners for producing their vital report.

Everyone deserves as pain-free and peaceful a death as possible, surrounded by those who love them, in a place that comforts them and where they can make choices. However, as with so many things across the course of our lives, the process of death is influenced by the poverty and inequality experienced by so many.

That poverty is the root of the injustice that permeates our society and that is sustained by so many from cradle to grave. I simply cannot accept that, which is what has driven me to speak in today’s debate and in others on the subject. We must do more to end the situation in which so many people have so little while a few have so much. With the inequalities surrounding death so prominent in our national debate, there has never been a better time for the report, or for this debate.

At every stage of a person’s life, including death, poverty is an anchor on their ability to live as others do. I have met constituents who spend much of their final years of life worrying about how they can afford to leave their families behind or even about whether they can afford the care required to sustain a moderate quality of life until the end. The truth is that some in our society are worried about avoiding paying tax on second homes that they want to pass on to their children while others are worried about whether they can afford even the cost of a funeral. That is not a just or fair society.

According to the report, 17 per cent of those who died in 2023 in my home area of East Ayrshire did so in poverty, with 23 per cent dying in fuel poverty. Figures vary across my South Scotland region, but are not drastically different, which means that almost one in five people are struggling to heat their home or to put food on their table. Those people are often aware that, sadly, they are soon to pass. Can members imagine the mental and physical strain that that sort of pressure puts on a person and on their family? I think that we can all agree that nothing could be worse.

We have heard today that simple things, such as needing to make adaptations to a house, can be a luxury for people who are unsure if they can even afford to feed their own family. That is simply unacceptable. I will be clear: I believe that we need not have an economy that works only for the rich; rather, we should have one that ensures that everyone in society has the means to live and die in dignity.

We live in one of the richest countries in the world, but, in 2024, many among us experience constant poverty. From the cradle to the grave, that is all that they have known or will ever know. We must all accept that truth, although it is as unacceptable today as it was many decades ago when the welfare state was transformed by serious Government intervention. I believe that we require a similar revolution in practice and in thinking to address the problems that I, and many others in the chamber, have highlighted today. I call on everyone to think of that and I call on the Scottish Government to respond to the points raised by my colleague Paul Sweeney and others. We must look to ensure that we eradicate poverty in this country, which, as I stated, is one of the richest in the world.

I welcome the chance to speak in the debate and contribute to this sobering discussion of what more can be done to protect and empower young people’s voices in Scotland.

Although for us the theme of this year’s 16 days of activism is to imagine a Scotland without gender-based violence, recent statistics remind us that violence against women and girls remains far too common. I attended a meeting last night, which others have mentioned, that was hosted by Tess White and Claire Baker and which brought to the Parliament the stark reality of the situation in Scotland. It touched on the unpleasant truth about life for many women and girls, particularly those who are the most vulnerable in our society.

For example, a clear majority of domestic abuse victims are women and the vast majority of perpetrators are men. We must not shy away from that reality. Women do not fear being attacked or abused by other women; they fear the actions of men. Therefore, as has been said, we must focus on the behaviour of men if we wish to put an end to that.

In 2023-24, more than 63,000 incidents of domestic abuse were recorded in Scotland, which is a 3 per cent increase on the previous year. Recorded incidents of rape and attempted rape increased by 10 per cent, with 95 per cent of victims being women. The reality for our young women is that, of all the sexual crimes reported in 2023-24, 37 per cent involved a victim under the age of 18.

Those are just a few of the damning insights into gender-based violence in Scotland, but it does not have to be like that. Gender violence is not innate. The truth is that it is learned and nurtured through stereotypes, misogyny, bias and ingrained inequalities.

I want to raise the issue of pornography and the normalisation of porn in the lives of young men. Last night, we heard from women who are researching this area, which is not often tackled, as it is an uncomfortable area and one that seems impossible to change. However, porn is not acceptable and is not normal, and we should be saying that to young men. Young men need to know that, and they need to be educated on the kindness that relationships can bring and not focus on the behaviours that are played out in those pornographic images. Society has a responsibility to challenge that industry and the behaviours that relate to it. We, as parliamentarians, must ensure that adequate and appropriate resources are provided to tackle that injustice.

I welcome much of what the minister said in her opening speech and the work of the Government, but I also think that members across the chamber have made some very powerful statements about what we can do. We all agree that the recent statistics reveal that more must be done to tackle violence against women and girls.

I thank Beatrice Wishart for bringing up the issue of Afghanistan. We all agree that what is happening to women and young girls in Afghanistan must be challenged. Scotland should never accept complacency. It must challenge all aspects of violence against women here in Scotland and, as Beatrice Wishart reminded us, right across the world.

As we have heard, a Scottish Labour report that was published last year found that a significant shift in social and cultural norms is required to prevent and address violence against women and girls. Tackling sexism and misogyny from a young age is critical to ending gender-based violence later down the line. Therefore, the Government must ensure that it funds initiatives and services that promote that necessary cultural change.

Women in politics have always worked in a cross-party manner and have been prepared to work with Governments to develop new strategies that should be followed by tangible outcomes. We need men in the chamber to do that, too, and I welcome the First Minister taking a lead on that today. I thank him for being here, and I thank all the men who are present in the chamber.

For the sake of young girls and young people, we must tackle the behaviours that we are discussing today, and I hope that we in Scotland can work in a cross-party manner to do so.

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent reports that many towns in Scotland are so-called legal aid deserts. (S6O-04069)

Over recent years, legal aid organisations have called for serious reform, citing a system that has been left in a state of neglect. Their calls have been frustrated by a Government that has failed to recognise the need for immediate action. In recognising the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, does the minister accept that a failure to deliver both short and longer-term reforms to the legal aid system poses significant risks to vulnerable groups in our society, particularly victims of domestic abuse?

Absolutely. I agree 100 per cent. The fault is square on that Thatcher Government. Poverty, deprivation and depopulation are still felt hard. It is incumbent on us to continue to remember the difficult choices that were made by those who felt that striking was their only option. Fortunately, unions and organisations such as the Coalfields Regeneration Trust continue to keep the issue front and centre.

Even when some Governments prefer to forget their responsibilities to their communities, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and others bring it to the fore. The report “State of the Coalfields 2024” lays bare the truth, stating that Ayrshire coalfield communities stand out as “particularly deprived” areas.

The coalfield communities did not create those problems. Rather, they fell victim to the social and economic problems that we see across the United Kingdom because of such a right-wing Government. Unemployment, lack of investment and accepted decline by the state are the scars that my communities will suffer for generations to come. There was no contingency planning, no support and no sympathy. Those are the realities that miners faced.

We cannot praise the fight’s endurance without reflecting on the impact and support of women—predominantly the wives, sisters and daughters of the miners. They continued to support the miners, alongside community groups and trade unions, and they allowed the fight to continue for as long as it did. For that, I cherish the stories that have been recounted from women on the picket lines and in the communities.

I believe in those communities not only because of our history of mining and our part in empowering the country but because that history built a resilient people and bold communities, with warmth, talent and tenacity. It is they who deserve the wealth generated from the labour of their parents, grandparents and wider communities.

I close by demanding of the Governments of today: keep that fight for justice alive.

My question is in a similar vein—it is about rural communities and the particular stigma there. We know that it can be more difficult to get specialist healthcare staff, so is work on-going in primary care in rural areas to make sure that our practitioners in those areas have the skills and competencies that they need?