George Adam
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“The spirit of hope, optimism and belief has always been part of Scotland’s heart and Scotland’s story, which is why the motion feels so out of place in our chamber. Where Scotland sees hope, Reform sees grievance. Where Scotland sees opportunity, Reform sees division.”
“The tartan army have travelled in numbers, as they always do, and they have shown the world exactly what Scotland is all about. Scotland is good humoured, looks for friendship and shows respect to others and their culture—and is a wee bit gallus.”
“By the end, it reads like the ramblings of a very angry man sitting on his own in the corner of the pub, complaining about immigrants, about net zero, about equality, about young people and about Scotland—and eventually falling out with absolutely everyone else in the pub.”
“It is Nigel Farage—the same Nigel Farage who promised prosperity and delivered labour shortages, higher costs, barriers to trade and years of economic uncertainty— Malcolm Offord: Will the member take an intervention? George Adam:—and now he is back, demanding that Scotland trusts him again.”
“What Scotland needs is confidence in ourselves—confidence to build our communities and confidence in our ability to build a fair economy that works for everyone. We need confidence that our future is not bound up in the bitterness and division offered by Reform UK.”
“George Adam: His lordship’s argument is that it is slightly better than it is for somebody else next door. That is complete and utter nonsense. Presiding Officer, I used to be in the motor industry—if someone sold you a second-hand car that immediately burst into flames, you would not turn up and ask for a second one, would you?”
The complete record
Every one of 411 lines we hold for George Adam, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 9.
“I welcome the support of the Scottish Greens and the Liberal Democrats for the Scottish Government’s draft budget. Given that it appears that the Tories will vote against the budget and that Labour will abstain, can the cabinet secretary outline the consequences for the culture sector should multiyear funding not be supported? Angus Robertson: If the budget is not passed, multiyear funding will not happen. It is not a theoretical question, which is why, even at this stage, I appeal for those who say they support culture but will vote against the budget, or those members who say that they support culture but are going to abstain on the question, to reconsider. I think that the support for culture is reason enough to support the budget, which will bring transitional change for the culture sector.”
“I also hope that they will break with Wes Streeting’s increased cosiness with the private sector. I would like our reliance on the private sector to be reduced in Scotland, particularly— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Ms Mackay, you need to close. Gillian Mackay: —which is costing us huge amounts of money. We need to do more on workforce planning to ensure that we do not exacerbate an already— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Ms Mackay, you need to close. We have no time in hand. 16:51”
“It is the structure that is failing, not our hard-working clinicians, which is why I strongly believe that the reform of services is as important as workforce planning. Although I appreciate the strength of feeling behind the Labour motion, I worry that providing a 10-year workforce strategy before the summer recess might not balance the need for a workforce plan with the need for reform and consideration of the nuances of regional disparity. However, the sentiments relating to the urgent need for workforce planning and work to support staff are absolutely not lost on me. As I did yesterday, I encourage Labour members to speak to their colleagues at Westminster. Labour members could remove one of the biggest pressures on public services by fully funding the increase in national insurance contributions.”
“During the pandemic, we all made pledges and commitments to make the working lives of nurses and other clinical staff better. Some work has been done, but it has never been more critical to do so much more. Some of that involves ensuring that there are enough staff so that burn-out is not the reality, but it is also about ensuring that the conditions in hospitals support people’s needs. Multiple colleagues have raised the issue of waiting times. No one should have to wait the length of time that we have heard about today. However, I cannot imagine being a staff member in a health board listening to this debate, because every clinician I know wants to see people as quickly as possible.”
“Earlier in this parliamentary session, I visited Larbert high school to chat about the work that school nurses were doing across Falkirk to support young people. Not only were they helping young people to navigate exam stress and relationship issues but they were offering support for those having a period of poor mental health when a CAMHS referral was not appropriate or had not yet been provided. The nurses were trusted by the young people and, for some, were the preferred first line of contact with health services. However, in many areas, the number of school nurses is declining, even though they can support health and wellbeing in schools and provide support and guidance to staff and pupils alike. NHS staff have to be a priority.”
“That works by allowing patients to put kidney values into the app, which the consultant then reviews and takes action on if necessary. The freedom for those patients in managing their own conditions is immense—there are fewer trips to the hospital, which means less time out of work, school or daily life. For consultants, it means that there is less of a need for constant out-patient review appointments for people who are otherwise managing a condition well, which frees up urgent appointments for those with concerning symptoms or concerns. That is only one example of where an app would be revolutionary. I will touch briefly on mental health for children and young people and on another way in which I hope that the Government may look into supporting good mental health.”
“I would be happy to sit down with Gillian Mackay and with the chief pharmaceutical officer to look at what more we can do, because I recognise that we can improve in that area. Gillian Mackay: I thank the cabinet secretary for that, and I look forward to meeting him to discuss that point. I also welcome the development of an app for the NHS. We could save so much time in out- patient clinics by ensuring that an app can add in remote monitoring of patients. I had the pleasure of meeting Kidney Research UK, which has lauded the use of the NHS app in other parts of the UK in enabling remote monitoring of those with kidney conditions, so that people are asked to come to hospital only if there is something of concern.”
“I would be grateful if the cabinet secretary or others looked into whether they are willing to ensure that pharmacists have enough information to be able to prescribe with confidence and provide that further avenue for quick and effective treatment. Alex Cole-Hamilton: Will the member give way? Neil Gray: Will the member give way? Gillian Mackay: I will take the intervention from the cabinet secretary. Neil Gray: I recognise the situation to which Gillian Mackay referred. We are seeking to provide more information, and the emergency care summary that was provided through the Covid period was standardised and formalised from October 2023, but there is more work for us to do.”
“I was grateful—as I am sure that other members were—earlier in the month to have time to speak to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society about how it would like pharmacy first to progress. Having all new pharmacists who graduate being prescribers is fantastic, but there is currently too much risk for pharmacists to be able to fully realise the ambitions of pharmacy first. I had first-hand experience of that a few weeks ago. Because of horrendous travel sickness and being unable to take normal travel sickness tablets, I needed anti- nausea medicine. However, because the pharmacist could not see my notes, and in particular my maternity notes, they did not feel that they could recommend anything, let alone prescribe it. That meant that I had to take up a 15- minute appointment with my GP.”
“For example, wait times for treatment in secondary care are far too long, and some people could be helped to stay well for longer before invasive treatment is needed if they were managed properly in the community. However, that would involve more money going to primary care, both to increase the overall GP head count and to enable the diversification of the multidisciplinary team. Utilising technology has to be part of the offer in primary care. It is also well beyond the time when we should be seeing electronic prescribing being used across the NHS. Having GPs signing prescriptions for hours is not a good use of their time, and I assume—I am sure that Dr Gulhane will correct me if I am wrong—that GPs do not enjoy the task either. We could also take some of the burden off GPs by using the pharmacy first service to its fullest extent.”
“However, we need multiple workforce plans that address variety and gaps not only across specialties and across some hospitals in the same health boards but across the country. We need a GP workforce plan in the Highlands that is different from what we need in the central belt. If some hospitals are struggling in particular specialties, we need to investigate why. We cannot pretend that we have solved all the issues of poor culture in different bits of the NHS, and we cannot take our eye off that. One of the most important things that we can do to help NHS workers is give them the tools to be able to work more efficiently and to deliver care in the most accessible place.”
“George Adam: —want to hear more; they want to see what we have to do— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Thank you. George Adam: —and the Scottish Government has that— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Thank you very much. We move to closing speeches. I advise members that there are about 10 or 20 seconds in hand time-wise, which is obviously not very much. 16:45 Gillian Mackay: Many colleagues on all sides of the chamber have made robust contributions to the debate, and the discussion has made it clear that, while there is widespread recognition of the dedication and resilience of those in our health and social care workforce, there is also deep concern about the challenges that they continue to face. Many Labour members have mentioned a lack of workforce planning, and that is a fair challenge to Government.”
“The chief executive officer of Scottish Care has described it as “the straw that breaks the camel’s back.” Labour’s choices at Westminster will rip resources out of front-line services in Scotland, yet Labour members have the audacity to come here and tell us that it is the party of the NHS. The Tories are calling for the resignation of Neil Gray, but let us be honest—that is nothing more than political grandstanding from a party that has utterly failed on health policy. Neil Gray has been working tirelessly to improve our NHS and social care— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Mr Adam, you will need to conclude. George Adam: —and investing billions in support. In closing— The Deputy Presiding Officer: No. George Adam: —the people of Scotland— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Please just conclude.”
“That is not an accident; it is a deliberate choice by the Tories, and it is having a devastating effect on Scotland’s social care sector. Unlike the Conservatives, we recognise the importance of international recruitment, but we also recognise the need to support our home- grown workforce. That is why, in this budget, the Scottish Government is delivering minimum pay for adult social care workers in the third, private and independent sectors, with a 5 per cent increase on top of a 10.1 per cent uplift in 2024- 25. That is real action to make social care a more attractive and sustainable career. Speaking of funding, let us not forget the Labour UK Government’s catastrophic national insurance hike, which is a tax raid on Scotland’s public services that will cost our social care sector more than £84 million.”
“The Scottish Government has also increased nursing student numbers every year for the past decade. The Scottish Government is taking a comprehensive approach to ensure that workforce shortages are addressed in the short term and the long term. Labour’s motion is not just misleading; it is complete hypocrisy, but let us take a look at the Tory amendment, which is even worse. The party that gave us breakfast—breakfast? I mean Brexit. They don’t give you nothing, Presiding Officer— you get nothing from the Tories. The party that gave us Brexit and slashed migration routes for health and care workers now wants to talk about workforce shortages. The Home Office immigration policies have been catastrophic, with an 83 per cent drop in visa applications from health and care workers last year alone.”
“Crucially, Scotland remains the only part of the UK to have successfully averted NHS strikes. Unlike in Labour-run Wales, where junior doctors were forced on to the picket lines, here in Scotland, we delivered a record pay deal to make our junior doctors the best paid in the UK. That stability has protected patients from the chaos that we have seen down south, where more than 1.5 million appointments have been cancelled because of the strike action in NHS England. Labour wants to lecture us about workforce planning, but we already have a national health and social care workforce strategy. Just last November, we announced an additional 153 training posts for junior doctors, which brings the total number of extra training places since 2014 to 880.”
“to Westminster”, and that “The NHS is in crisis and all decisions that are taken in Westminster don’t just affect England—but Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.” He also mentioned that the NHS suffered over the 14-year period when the Tories were in government. However, when Labour got into government, the approach seemed to change, as many things have changed. The SNP Government has been funding our NHS, with funding more than doubling. The Government is investing more than £21 billion in health and social care in 2025-26, which will ensure that Scotland’s health service remains the best resourced in the UK. Staffing levels are at a record high, with more than 31,300 additional doctors, nurses and other professionals since 2006, which is a 24.6 per cent increase.”
“Conservative members are here for their soundbite and for a wee bit of argy-bargy, and then they go—they do not care about the rest of the debate. We need to use this opportunity to set out the true state of Scotland’s NHS and social care workforce. Quite frankly, Labour’s motion is a masterclass in political amnesia. Labour claims to support our NHS, yet it fails to acknowledge its complicity in austerity. Labour’s Westminster front bench has already signalled its intent to stick with Tory spending plans, which will starve our public services of much-needed funding. Now, here in Scotland, Labour members stand before us pretending that they have all the answers. Before the Labour Party was in government, Wes Streeting said that “All roads lead ...”
“Stacey’s dad was not feeling great over Christmas and ended up in the Royal Alexandra hospital with flu, along with a stack of other individuals of a similar age. There was an issue with the numbers—they were challenging—but staff managed to deal with him and everyone else who was on the ward. When we have such debates, we sometimes need to balance things up and say that those who are working in health are delivering for our constituents. One circle that I find difficult to square is that, although we heard from the Conservative Party about how important the debate is, and Douglas Ross went as far as saying that it should have been in Government time, during two members’ speeches in the open debate—Pauline McNeill’s and Emma Harper’s— there was nobody on the Conservative front bench. For me, that sums up the Conservative Party.”
“When I come to a debate on a topic such as this, I have an idea of how it will go and have initial thoughts on what I will say. However, if I speak near the end of the debate, I tend to change things, as the debate will have moved on. One thing that has never changed, though, is my appreciation of the work that those in the health and social care sectors do. They do a fantastic job and are very much appreciated by me and my constituents, even though, as everyone acknowledges, they work in very challenging circumstances and environments. There is always negative talk. I have had complex constituency cases in which we have had to work through the NHS and deal with some of the issues. However, I will give the example of my wife’s 86-year-old dad.”
“We have a future to fight for, and I know that the people of Scotland will not rest until our voice is once again heard, and our choices respected, in Europe. [Interruption.] The Deputy Presiding Officer: I remind members again that, if they have something to say, they may want to make an intervention, rather than chunter from a sedentary position. 17:47”
“Scotland has a choice. We do not have to accept this decline. We do not have to stand by and watch our economy shrink and our opportunities diminish as our country is held back. Scotland’s future lies in Europe, with co-operation, partnership and a shared vision for prosperity. That is why I whole-heartedly support my friend Clare Adamson’s motion. Scotland belongs in the EU. Rejoining will restore our place in the world’s largest single market; it will rebuild the economic, cultural and social ties that Brexit has so recklessly severed; and it will open doors for our businesses, students and workers. Scotland did not vote for Brexit, and Scotland must not be forced to live with the damaging consequences of Brexit for ever. The case for independence and a return to the EU has never been stronger.”
“Let us not forget the impact on our communities. Brexit has put up barriers to people coming to live and work here in Scotland, an example of which was brought up by my friend and colleague Karen Adam. With our NHS, which is a key sector, as well as the care sectors among the hardest hit, Westminster’s hostile immigration policies have left businesses in Paisley, in Glasgow, in Motherwell and Wishaw and right across Scotland unable to recruit the skilled workers they need. Our young people—our future—have had their rights ripped away. They are no longer able to live, study or work freely across 27 European nations. We see the damage and we feel the impact, yet the UK Government buries its head in the sand and refuses to admit the harm that it has caused. That cannot go on, and we need to move Scotland forward. There is hope.”
“That is important for this debate, because I would much rather be negotiating from a strong position with our EU friends than just sitting here as a small island in northern Europe, shouting from the sidelines. Even if we take away the “Little Britain” ideals, what was the cost of this Brexit folly? The economic impact is staggering, with the loss of £2.3 billion every year in public revenues—money that could have been used to fund our national health service, our schools and our other vital public services. Instead, that has vanished into thin air. Trade has been absolutely devastated. The UK’s overall trade intensity is down by 15 per cent in the long term, and Scottish exporters, businesses and job creators are struggling to navigate the red tape and barriers that have been imposed by Brexit.”
“That is five years of damage, lost opportunities and economic harm—harm that was entirely avoidable, had it not been for some Tories with an anti-Europe ethos. I make it crystal clear that the people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, and every single local authority area in Scotland backed remain, yet here we are, paying the price for a Brexit that we never wanted and suffering the consequences of decisions that were made by Westminster Governments that we did not elect. That is not democracy—that is not respecting the will of the Scottish people. Things have got even worse since the recent American election. We now have return of the Trump, who is in effect saying that he is going to put all kinds of embargoes on everyone.”
“I take the opportunity to thank my friend and colleague Clare Adamson for bringing this important debate to the chamber, because the issue is as important as it was five years ago, no matter what we have heard from Tim Eagle. We could probably put into ChatGPT, or any artificial intelligence system around the world, “Say negative things about the Scottish Government and do a traditional Tim Eagle-type speech,” and what he said is exactly what we would have got. It was complete and utter nonsense from someone who does not believe in supporting people in constituencies such as mine who are suffering because of Brexit. It has been five years—five long years—since Scotland was dragged out of the EU against our will.”
“What I saw today were young people who were willing to engage with the political process to make that difference, so we need to be careful when we highlight individuals and say, “Young people are the problem—they’re creating all the violence; there’s an issue there.” I acknowledge that our teachers need to work in a safe environment and that they work in a challenging one; I know that we must have a safe environment for our young people. All that we have to do is ensure that everyone sits down in sobriety and has that conversation so that we can make the difference and change things. That, for me, is the whole point of the debate, not the yah- boo politics from some. 15:38”
“The MSYPs mentioned, in particular, the pressure that is created by social media and the occasions on which they feel that they are being pushed. Some of them might be triggered when they are in class or in school by something that has been said on social media. However, the big thing for them was the societal issues. Behaviour changes are made because of societal issues, and they said that they were willing to work with every one of us to try to make that difference in our society.”
“One of the questions that I asked the MSYPs was about the pressure on them in relation to social media, and that was when they lit up about the whole debate. I understand why we talk about banning mobile phones in schools when they become a distraction and a problem there, but the Scottish Government has done its bit to empower headteachers with the power to take away phones. There is a balance to be struck. One of the young women who was at the committee today mentioned that she has a health condition and that it could become a bit of a problem if she did not have access to her phone. We need to be more flexible and discuss the issue with a wee bit of maturity and not just stick to our political lines and shout at each other from various parts of the chamber.”
“Because of the relationship that I had with the school, I was asked to go to the modern studies class and talk to the pupils about something. In fact, they helped me with a speech that I made in the Parliament the next day. Apparently, one of them bragged that I used one of their lines. The MSYPs who were at the Education, Children and Young People Committee today talked about how we and education authorities engage with them. They were almost offended when Miles Briggs brought up the issue of violence in schools, because they felt that young people were getting the blame for the whole scenario. That is one of the things that we must be careful of in a debate such as this. The MSYPs want us to engage with them—they want to talk about the education environment and how we can work together to make it better for them.”
“In such debates, I normally look at the Opposition party’s motion to try to find something to talk about, because the motions are normally pretty tight and on a specific issue. Today’s motion is about everything. I am not moaning about that, but it gives me the opportunity to talk about anything that I want to talk about in the education environment. I accept that it is challenging for teachers, pupils and others in the school environment. To a certain degree, it has always been thus. I remember it being like that when I was younger, and that was not yesterday. On the whole, that is not what I experience when I go out to schools in my constituency of Paisley. For example, I recently visited a school to see an anti-alcohol play that was being done for first years—don’t use alcohol, kids.”
“WASPI women are not going away—we can see that from their presence in the public gallery today. Their campaign and their resilience should inspire us all. They have faced down Tory indifference; now they are facing down Labour duplicity. They will not be silenced, and neither will we. I urge this Parliament to unite once more and demand justice for these women. Together, let us hold Westminster accountable and deliver the dignity and fairness that our WASPI women so rightly deserve. 16:14”
“When Keir Starmer campaigned in 2019, he called out this “historic injustice”. Where is that conviction now? I say to Labour members: do not let the WASPI women become a footnote in your history of betrayal of them. This Parliament has spoken before on the issue, demonstrating unity and urgency in calling for justice. Let us do the same again today and send a clear message to the UK Government that the Government in Scotland stands with these women—the heroes of our families and our communities—while they are being cast aside by the UK Government. We should remember that trust is the cornerstone of any democracy. People pay into the system with the promise of security later in life. When that trust is broken, it is our duty—our moral duty—to rebuild it.”
“However, it is not just about pounds, shillings and pence; it is also about dignity and fairness. That is why I asked Paul O’Kane how much a Labour apology is worth on the open market. The women do not want a sanctimonious apology, they want the money. They want the Labour Party in the UK Government to show them the money. We should make no mistake about it—this is a Westminster problem. The PHSO is clear that at the heart of the maladministration lies the UK Government’s failure to communicate changes effectively. It was an error that the UK Government must fix, yet instead of action we have seen delay, and instead of leadership we have seen indifference. I address my Labour colleagues directly and say this: do the right thing—stand with us and do not prop up a pledge-breaking Prime Minister.”
“From the moment when the ombudsman’s final report landed, we demanded that the UK Government act swiftly. We made it clear that the women deserve compensation and that it needs to be an amount that acknowledges not just the maladministration but the financial and emotional toll that the injustice has wrought. In Scotland alone, 300,000 women were affected by the scandal. Women who were on the cusp of retirement were blindsided with the news that their pension age had been raised from 60 to 66. The news was delivered far too late to enable them to prepare financially. The reality of that betrayal is that almost 40,000 WASPI women die every year while waiting for justice. Many of the WASPI women are struggling—half of them report difficulties in paying essential bills, and a quarter cannot afford food.”
“Now, under the new Labour Government, led by a Prime Minister who once condemned what has happened as a “historic injustice”, we hear excuses, empty rhetoric and a refusal to deliver the compensation that the women deserve. This is betrayal, pure and simple, and it knows no party lines—neither red nor blue. Once again, I will tell members why the fight means so much to me personally. In Paisley, when I was growing up, I was surrounded by strong and resilient women—women like my mother and like Stacey. Those role models shaped my values and my determination to fight for justice, so how could I look them in the eye and stay silent on such a blatant and cruel injustice from the UK Government? Our SNP Government has stood firmly with the WASPI women from the very beginning.”
“When Jessica was born, I vowed— as any man does when his daughter is born—to be a better man. But the WASPI women are the mothers of all our families and our communities. They are the wives, aunts and grandmothers— they are the role models for their families. They have spent their lives contributing to our society and paying into a system that they believed they could trust; yet that trust has been betrayed. The ombudsman’s report, which was published last year, condemned the Department for Work and Pensions for its “maladministration” of the state pension age changes. The UK Government’s response was a shrug and a broken promise.”
“Many of those WASPI women are here today, and quite a few of them are from the great town of Paisley, which is well known for its strong female role models—so much so that that was the basis of my very first speech in Parliament, in 2011. Growing up, it was my mum who taught me what was right and wrong and who gave me the power to dream and to hope for a better future. My gran, Marion Adam, worked in Ferguslie mill all her life and, being a mill lassie, was never shy about putting her point across and having a debate or an argument. She was the woman who taught me to never start a fight but to “Make sure you finish it, son.” There is my wife Stacey, who breezes through life with a smile on her face despite living with four chronic health conditions, never giving up and always strong.”
“Presiding Officer, it was just last week that I spoke in my friend and colleague Kenny Gibson’s members’ business debate on the issue. I opened my speech by saying that I am “sick of this”. I remain sick of having to listen to the Westminster Government after the Westminster Government made excuses about why it cannot support the WASPI women. I end up almost in a rage and will have to watch that I remain within my written text and do not tell you, Presiding Officer, what I really think about the UK Government and its duplicity on this issue. It is with deep conviction and a heavy heart that I speak about women who were born in the 1950s—our WASPI campaigners—who have been so shamefully let down by successive Westminster Governments.”
“[Interruption.] He asks about the value of apologies. What is the value of apologies that this Scottish Government has given to many women across Scotland, on many other issues, who have not been fully compensated? [Interruption.] He needs to reflect on that as I progress. The Presiding Officer: Let us hear Mr O’Kane. Paul O’Kane: Thank you very much,”
“On the point about the Labour apology, will Mr O’Kane tell me how much, in cash terms, in the open market, a Labour apology is worth to those WASPI women who still have to pay their electricity bills and their pension contributions? How much is it actually worth to them? [Applause.] The Presiding Officer: Mr O’Kane, before you respond, I gently remind our visitors, who are very welcome to their Parliament, that applause or any other contributions from the public gallery are not permitted. Paul O’Kane: I am coming on to that point about that disappointment and what else I feel could be done. An apology is important, and I have outlined why. I gently say to Mr Adam that, very often, his Government comes to this chamber and makes apologies on a range of issues and does not follow up with compensation.”
“It has been good to hear during today’s debate that the SNP and some other colleagues in the chamber will continue to stand with the WASPI women in their fight for justice. Westminster might have let them down, but let us hope that the people of Scotland do not. 18:49”
“The Tories have dismissed the WASPI women’s concerns with cold indifference, while Labour, for all its rhetoric, has failed to offer any credible plan to right that incredible wrong. Whether someone wears a red rosette or a blue rosette, the message from Westminster for those women is the same: “We do not care”. The WASPI women are people we know—they are in our communities, and many of them will be members of our family. They are not asking for charity; they are asking for what they are owed. Let us be clear that this is not just about the money, although that is critical; it is about recognition, justice and treating people with the respect that they deserve after decades of hard work. It is often said that a society should be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. By that measure, Westminster has failed miserably.”
“Decisions are made without regard for the human impact, and there is an unwillingness to admit when mistakes have been made and a complete lack of empathy for those affected. The pension changes that were introduced by the Pensions Act 1995 and the Pensions Act 2011 were not only poorly communicated but catastrophically handled. Women who were just years away from retirement suddenly found that they had to work longer, sometimes for as long as six years, with no time to plan for financial or emotional consequences. Many of those women now find themselves in financial hardship through no fault of their own. What has Westminster done to address the issue? The answer is simple—nothing.”
“The women now known as WASPI women—those who were born in the 1950s—have been cruelly let down by changes to the state pension age. I make myself clear, as many of my colleagues have done: I stand firmly with the WASPI women in their on-going fight for justice. Those women did everything that we asked of them—they raised families, built communities and contributed to our economies—only to have their retirement plans ripped from under them with little notice and no meaningful consultation. To make matters worse, the same women were promised support from every Labour candidate in Scotland during last year’s general election, only to be let down once again. The UK Government, whether led by the Tories or Labour, has consistently failed those women. In fact, this issue proves everything that is wrong with Westminster politics.”
“I thank my friend and colleague Kenny Gibson for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I thank the WASPI women who have come along today and those who continue to campaign in our communities. With such long debates, it can often be difficult near the end to find something to say, but I will say that I am absolutely sick of this. I am sick of how WASPI women have been treated by the UK Government, and I am sick of lives being ruined by each and every Westminster Government— Westminster promises are made and then cruelly forgotten. Today’s debate is on an issue that cuts to the very heart of fairness, justice and respect for those who have worked hard all their lives, only for the promises that were made to them to be casually discarded by successive UK Governments.”
“Those are Paisley’s values, and the agreement between the two institutions embodies that. Let us here, today, take those values as they are and ensure that the great town of Paisley continues to be the remarkable place that it is. [Applause.] The Deputy Presiding Officer: Thank you, Mr Adam. We move to the open debate. 17:10”
“As Paisley’s MSP, I see at first hand the importance of investing in such partnerships; they show what we can achieve when we trust in our community and its potential. For Paisley, it is more than a collaboration—it is a celebration of who we are and what we can accomplish together. Today, I ask members in the chamber to join me in applauding the partnership, not just for what it represents now but for what it will bring in the years to come. It is partnerships such as this one that will ensure the success of our town, our people and our institutions. Together, we are building a more positive Paisley and investing in our young people’s future. UWS and St Mirren are demonstrating what I believe to be the key parts of being a Paisley buddie: a belief in community, ambition, resilience and pride.”
“As part of the partnership programme that I mentioned earlier—fleetingly—UWS is expanding its reach by bringing journalism students into the fold to enhance St Mirren’s media activities. The collaboration is ensuring that every corner of the club, from the men’s and women’s first teams to the youth academy, benefits from the skills and dedication of Paisley’s future professionals. The partnership is also a reminder of the role that St Mirren and UWS play in our town. They bring people together, create opportunities and elevate Paisley on the map. Whether it is the roar of the crowd at the SMISA stadium or the hum of activity at the UWS campus, those institutions feed our collective pride and ambition.”
“Thanks to UWS’s cutting-edge research, the club’s youth academy players are benefiting from innovative approaches that go beyond football. Mental resilience, psychological strength and character development are now at the heart of the St Mirren training programme, which is creating not just great players, but great people, too. The partnership is also testament to the role that our institutions play in the life of our town. As I said, St Mirren and UWS are not just organisations—they are symbols of Paisley’s identity. They bring people together, create opportunities and showcase the town on a national and international stage. The collaboration underscores what we can achieve when we work together and invest in our young people, and when we believe in the power of community.”