Seòmar agus comataidhean

Let me make a little progress, Mr Mundell, because you are digging a large hole for yourself.

Well, why not? You can depress me again.

City status is an enigma. For example, London does not have city status but comprises two cities: the City of London and the City of Westminster. City status is a quirky thing, which, as other members have said, is conferred by the monarch after advice from the Government. It is, however, the monarch’s decision.

As other members have said, city status is usually conferred on a royal ceremonial occasion, such as the Queen’s platinum jubilee next year. The criteria are very loose—I will not rehearse them, as they have been mentioned by other members, but they do not include population or cathedrals.

As members can imagine, royal connections are handy, and Dumfries has those going back as far as 1186, when William the Lion of Scotland granted Dumfries royal burgh status. In 1395, Robert III, by charter, granted Dumfries the rights of a town. Next year, we might have another monarch granting rights.

I have referred to a Robert, so let us remember, as others have done, that Robert Burns spent his last years in Dumfries, from 1796 until his death five years later. His body is now interred in the Burns mausoleum.

I turn to Burns’s creative connections, particularly when he was at Ellisland farm, which he worked and which now has a complex and the Burns museum. I have been to and spoken at Burns nights there. Famously, Robert Burns wrote “Auld Lang Syne” in Dumfries. Although I do not know of a more internationally known song than “Auld Lang Syne”, I do not think that many people realise that it was written in Dumfries, and not in Alloway. “Ae Fond Kiss” was also part of the creativity that came from Burns’s years in Dumfries.

Burns wrote so much—130 songs and poems—during his short time in Dumfries before he died, and although he may not fit the traditional definition of a royal, he definitely was, and remains, Scottish royalty in my book. City status would enhance and remind international travellers of the powerful connection of Burns with Dumfries. It is not just Alloway and Burns’s cottage that are in the frame.

Finally, on a personal note, what have I got to do with Dumfries and Galloway? Well, I lived in Minnigaff, and I taught at the Douglas Ewart high school in Newton Stewart for more than a decade. Both of my sons were born in the Cresswell maternity hospital—since demolished, although that has nothing to do with my sons having been born there. Both my sons are Gallovidians by birth. I will always remember the breakneck 60-mile journey from Minnigaff to the Cresswell in a pretty rickety ambulance. My next-door neighbour, who was the local midwife, had to have a stop every so often to relieve herself of car sickness. Thank goodness her delivery skills were not required en route.

Later that night, small Angus—all 8 pounds 3 ounces of him—fell asleep and I left the ward. A first-time mum, I stood before a floor-to-ceiling window and looked out over Dumfries, the darkness lit up by the street lights, and wondered what I had let myself in for; 48 years later, with that son now a father himself, I am still wondering what I let myself in for. That is one of my fond memories of Dumfries. I remember that night very clearly and I remember thinking what a beautiful place it was. It might not be a royal connection, but it is my connection.

I thank Doonhamers Emma Harper and Colin Smyth for, at the very least and whether or the bid is successful, shining a bright light on Dumfries.

What with vaccinations, boosters and lateral flow tests, the role of test and protect has to an extent disappeared from sight. I welcome test and protect prioritising higher-risk settings such as hospitals and care homes, but will the First Minister remind us all of the importance of test and protect in general, and of keeping the app active?

You have pre-empted my preamble, Presiding Officer, which was to say that that was a very comprehensive answer.

I want to move on from funding, which is welcome, and give two examples from my constituency of Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale: Galashiels and Penicuik town centres. There are far too many large empty retail stores there—they have been empty for years—and it is difficult to trace the owners. Is current compulsory purchase legislation sufficient to permit a local authority to take ownership and redevelop, possibly for a mix of town-centre housing and smaller commercial outlets? That does not seem to be happening.

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has taken to support town centres. (S6O-00551)

I am delighted that the member is trolling the archives for my words of wisdom, but he will also recall that, at the time, I opposed the abolition of corroboration because not proven, corroboration, the size of jury and having a majority or a unanimous verdict are all interlinked, so it is a very complex issue.

Beyond reasonable doubt.

Will the member take an intervention?

My contribution is quite short, but it is important that I advise members of the activities and influence of Scottish HART in campaigning to increase the distribution of defibrillators. Scottish HART, which stands for Heart At Risk Testing, was founded in 1997 by Kenneth and Wilma Gunn, who have, for some time, been my Selkirk constituents. I know that it is not among the various organisations that are listed in the motion, but it is an important little organisation.

Tragically—just like in the story that Jenni Minto recalled—on 27 May 1991, the Gunns’ son Cameron collapsed and died during a five-a-side football match. Even more cruelly, it was the night before his 20th birthday. He suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, although nobody knew about that until after his death. Regrettably, other young people—often active sportsmen and women—have died in a similarly tragic fashion.

From 1997 onwards, Wilma Gunn and her husband Kenny have been fundraising; raising the organisation’s profile, even in Parliament; and campaigning not only for early testing of young athletes but for accessible defibrillators. Back then, not many people knew what a defibrillator was—I include myself in that. The profile was raised here, with debates and petitions in the early years of the Parliament, and in 2014 Wilma was deservedly awarded an MBE.

Today, we have defibrillators at many points—in trains, bus stations, airports and supermarkets, and in the Parliament and some workplaces—but Kenny and Wilma Gunn have not stopped campaigning, and they are keen for even more defibrillators to be distributed. The new ones are easy to use—you cannot hurt the patient by using them. In fact, it is better to use a defibrillator and have the patient die in front of you, as you cannot do any more harm than if you had done nothing.

I have practiced on defibrillators, in the Parliament and elsewhere, and if I can use them—because I am hopeless at it—anyone else certainly can. Those invaluable minutes on the defibrillator will mean life or death until the medics arrive. That is especially relevant in rural areas such as my constituency, where paramedics cannot simply arrive within eight minutes.

I wanted to take part in the debate to remind members of other less well-known people who have campaigned, through tragic circumstances, to try to bring defibrillators, which save so many lives, to the forefront. I congratulate Wilma and Kenny Gunn who, all these years later, are still campaigning for Scottish HART and for defibrillators.