Willie Coffey
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“They have transformed the war from the failed gung-ho attack that was launched in the early days by Putin to this war of attrition that involves inching forward day by day, with drone technology delivering most of the damage.”
“Those are incredible numbers—they are tragic losses that should never have occurred. The likelihood, however, is that Putin will keep on sacrificing his young men, no matter the cost in Russian lives, to achieve his goal of subjugating the nation of Ukraine.”
“President Zelenskyy has said no to giving up Ukrainian soil to the Russians to get peace. As one father in Mr Bowen’s article put it, “If a maniac comes to your home and says, ‘Give me your daughter and I won’t come back,’ do you really think that a man like this—who rapes and pillages—is simply going to stop?” I sincerely hope that Europ…”
“He writes: “Dystopian military vehicles straight out of Mad Max rumble past, encased in their own cages of steel and netting.” He notes that the roads are covered overhead with fishing nets that “go on for miles, suspended from wooden poles”, and that the nets snag the propellers of the Russian drones and protect people from direct blasts…”
“I thank Kenny Gibson for bringing this debate to the chamber, four years on from the start of the conflict. It is perhaps a sign that four years have passed with no resolution that we now have to search down the social media news columns to find stories about the Ukraine war.”
“This SNP Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has access to a warm, affordable home. Can the cabinet secretary explain how the 2026-27 Scottish budget invests significantly in homelessness prevention and measures to help people to remain in their homes?”
The complete record
Every one of 95 lines we hold for Willie Coffey, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 1 of 2.
“The power of the people is always greater than the people in power, and Scotland supports you. Myr ta svobodu Ukraini. Peace and freedom to Ukraine. 13:25”
“President Zelenskyy has said no to giving up Ukrainian soil to the Russians to get peace. As one father in Mr Bowen’s article put it, “If a maniac comes to your home and says, ‘Give me your daughter and I won’t come back,’ do you really think that a man like this—who rapes and pillages—is simply going to stop?” I sincerely hope that Europe continues to back Ukraine to the hilt—it must. The Russians are gambling that we will not and that their war of attrition succeeds. At the end of the day, this is a war that Russia can never win, like so many of its past conflicts. There can surely only be a few Russians, from the top down, who actively want to capture Ukraine, but there are 80 million Ukrainians from the bottom up who will fight to prevent that from happening.”
“Those are incredible numbers—they are tragic losses that should never have occurred. The likelihood, however, is that Putin will keep on sacrificing his young men, no matter the cost in Russian lives, to achieve his goal of subjugating the nation of Ukraine. It is also well known that Putin is recruiting and bringing in North Koreans, Cubans and Kenyans, as well as soldiers from Egypt and even India, many of whom have been hoodwinked and drafted in by Putin to the front. It is probably a sign of desperation, and some Governments are demanding that Putin stops recruiting their citizens with false promises of jobs and prosperity for their families. How will this awful conflict end? It appears to me from the most recent published negotiations that Ukraine is being asked to give up everything and Russia nothing.”
“They have transformed the war from the failed gung-ho attack that was launched in the early days by Putin to this war of attrition that involves inching forward day by day, with drone technology delivering most of the damage. Recently, our friend Elon Musk has effectively switched off Russian access, via third parties, to his Starlink satellite system, which was helping the Russians locate and accurately acquire targets on the ground. That is an advantage for Ukraine at the moment, but it is expected that Russian technology experts will soon find a workaround. Various different figures have been shared by members today. Estimates of losses on both sides are unreliable, but it is thought that more than 1 million Russians could have been killed or wounded, and that 500,000 Ukrainians have been killed or wounded or are missing.”
“He writes: “Dystopian military vehicles straight out of Mad Max rumble past, encased in their own cages of steel and netting.” He notes that the roads are covered overhead with fishing nets that “go on for miles, suspended from wooden poles”, and that the nets snag the propellers of the Russian drones and protect people from direct blasts that will kill them and destroy any vehicles— often civilian vehicles—that are targeted. He tells us that “Much of the netting has been donated by European fishermen.” Indeed, the Scottish Government has sent about “280 tonnes of salmon nets that were about to be recycled.” It is a small contribution from Scotland, but one that makes a huge difference. Drones seem to be one of the key weapons being deployed by both sides.”
“I thank Kenny Gibson for bringing this debate to the chamber, four years on from the start of the conflict. It is perhaps a sign that four years have passed with no resolution that we now have to search down the social media news columns to find stories about the Ukraine war. When we do so, however, we will find a current analysis of the situation by that fantastic journalist Jeremy Bowen. In an article, Mr Bowen starts off in Donetsk, on a cold night.”
“It includes a record £106 million for discretionary housing payments, which is an increase of £6 million, and a series of other measures that will improve the housing situation in Scotland and do what this Government is determined to pursue, which is exactly as Willie Coffey put it, that everyone should have the right to a warm and secure home. Seasonal Workers (Accommodation) 8.”
“This SNP Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has access to a warm, affordable home. Can the cabinet secretary explain how the 2026-27 Scottish budget invests significantly in homelessness prevention and measures to help people to remain in their homes? Will she join me in calling on colleagues across the chamber to vote for those measures in the budget process that will follow in the coming weeks? Màiri McAllan: I absolutely join Willie Coffey in that call to support the Scottish Government’s budget. There are very clear reasons to do so if members are concerned about the housing conditions of people in Scotland. The budget contains the largest allocation of capital funding for affordable homes that we have on record since 1989.”
“To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the redress scheme, as recommended in the 2024 Hughes report, to compensate people in Scotland who were harmed by sodium valproate. (S6O- 05496)Sodium Valproate Redress Scheme”
“To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government’s new national housing agency will support its work to deliver more affordable homes. (S6F-04631)”
“We have talked about the situation with regard to insolvency and the reserved nature of much of that, but there are also questions of international law, diligence, security, borrowing, civil procedure and taxation with regard to digital assets. I welcome the committee’s call for a programme of future reform, and I echo the calls for Scotland to remain aligned with developments across the UK and internationally. I confirm that Scottish Labour will support the general principles of the bill, but I urge the Scottish Government to act on the concerns that have been set out by the Law Society of Scotland, the committee and others, to ensure that the bill not only is workable on paper but is effective, fair and future proofed. 16:31”
“The answer in the bill that is in front of us today is, “Oh, you’ll be all right.” Evidence has been submitted to the committee about the authority for doing that. The committee’s report makes reference to it, and it is an important element for the Government to consider at stage 2. That problem sits at the heart of a number of areas in which there have been requests for guidance and understanding, so it is important that we know the view that the Government intends to take. Other areas must be considered, too. I seek the Government’s assurance that it will reach out, provide guidance and do the thinking, particularly about the wider questions that surround digital assets.”
“If we cast our minds back to medieval times, when people travelled by foot or horse, we know that there were nefarious individuals who stole from people and sought to profit by selling to others. The challenge was that it was very hard for the purchaser to know whether something was stolen and who was selling it. What developed was a legal fiction in which, if something was bought in public in a certain market during the hours of daylight, ownership would transfer. I reference that because of the challenge that we are talking about in relation to the bill: the need to have transparency in the passage of ownership and the need to have commerce that works. The medieval answer was that, if there was a certain market, there would be good ownership.”
“The committee acknowledges the Scottish Government’s stated intention and the bill’s narrow purpose, and it supports that approach to ensure legal recognition of digital assets in Scots law. 16:28 Martin Whitfield: I echo my thanks to all those who have been involved—including those who submitted evidence to the committee, those who support the committee and the Government and the bill’s drafters—in what is possibly one of the shortest bills that has made its way through the Parliament. No matter how short a bill is, it still needs the right level of scrutiny. It is important that, as we increasingly move into a digital age, scrutiny takes place. The debate allows me to contemporise the discussion about market overt. I am doing so for a practical reason.”
“The committee recommends that “the Scottish Government works with stakeholders to ensure Scottish interests are represented on the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce, as well as any other relevant expert group which may be established.” In addition, the committee “calls for the Scottish Government to establish a Scottish panel of experts to advise the courts, businesses and the legal sector on emerging digital technology issues in Scotland.” The committee acknowledges “that further legislation is inevitable, given the pace of change in the digital world.” The committee also believes that the “important issues of definition and application should not be left to subordinate legislation”, so it does not recommend the inclusion of additional regulation-making powers in the bill.”
“The committee calls on the Scottish Government to maintain a proactive approach, to engage with changes and to adopt approaches that ensure that benefits are maximised and risks are mitigated as technology changes.”
“The bill is very short but incredibly significant for Scotland in moving forward in the digital assets space. In this brief glimpse of that space, I have mentioned a couple of issues—of immutability and ownership and control—which were given considerable attention by all my committee colleagues. I hope that, in taking the bill through stages 2 and 3, the Government will be able to clarify those important matters and that the bill will be strengthened as a result. The Deputy Presiding Officer: We now move to winding-up speeches. 16:27 Lorna Slater: I would like to indicate my support for the Economy and Fair Work Committee’s stage 1 report, which notes the potential for digital technology to have wide-ranging impacts across society. There are economic benefits and opportunities, but there are also risks for Scotland.”
“Section 5 says: “A person has control of a digital asset” if he or she has the ability to transfer it, and that exclusive control rests with a person who has sole control of the asset. There was quite a bit of discussion around that, too, touching on what was meant by control—exclusive or not. An example was offered in which a person could have exclusive control of something but not actually own it—for example, in a work context; and in the opposite situation, a person could own a digital asset but did not have exclusive control of it, such as in the case of a shared private key. Again, the committee opted to draw the Government’s attention to those issues and recommend that they be addressed in the accompanying guidance to the bill.”
“Others preferred to describe the term in terms of the integrity of the records, whereby a degree of flexibility is enabled but, at the same time, the records are secure from unauthorised alteration. Members can see that we were grappling with some fairly complex and technical issues in the bill. In the time-honoured manner and in a masterstroke of wisdom, the committee recommended that the Government should monitor developments in this area, working with industry, academia and the like to develop the guidance on and interpretation of those important issues as they apply to digital assets. Section 3 of the bill defines ownership of a digital asset as having “exclusive control” of it.”
“Our committee was extremely forensic in scrutinising the bill, and so, too, were our witnesses, who tried their best to help us through some of the complexities that arose. Some members mentioned the concept of immutability, which means that a digital asset cannot be changed. That got quite a bit of attention, and there was some contrasting opinion from our learned professors. Some thought that absolute immutability was not helpful, and that in cases of potential fraud, there had to be an ability to correct a digital record from unauthorised or distorted changes. Others suggested that absolute immutability was, in fact, essential and that systems that permitted changes to be made should be excluded.”
“Digital assets are becoming an increasingly important and established part of global financial services. They are digitally recorded, traded and transferred by means of digital ledgers, which are usually called blockchain, and their increasing use and value is evident. We have a very strong fintech sector in Scotland, including specialist digital asset trading businesses that are worth around £2 billion to the economy at the moment and employ more than 11,000 people across 260-odd companies. The minister reminded us that it is estimated that the value to Scotland of the blockchain technology market will reach about £4.5 billion by 2030. Therefore, the need for the bill is pretty clear, and it also gives Scotland the ability to adapt to future emerging trends in the digital space—a point that was acknowledged early in the report.”
“It says: “a digital asset is a thing that … arises from an electronic system that makes it rivalrous”, which means that it cannot be used more than once. It goes on to say: “An electronic system makes a thing rivalrous if … the system maintains an immutable record of transactions in relation to the thing, and … that record is used to ensure that when, within the system, a person transacts in relation to the thing”, for example, by spending or transferring it, “the person loses the ability to transact in relation to the thing in that way again.” I love that definition. In other words, a digital asset is unique and, once a transaction is done, it is done. As I said, the implications of all of that are far reaching and will mean that Scotland's legal system can provide legal certainty when managing digital assets in the future.”
“I thought that I had seen the shortest bill in my time in Parliament when I saw the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill, but this one is even shorter—it is set out in only three pages and nine sections. However, its implications are far- reaching, and it is perhaps no surprise that the committee managed to write a 38-page report about it. That is a testament to the thoroughness of committee members’ consideration of all the related issues. For the first time, private law in Scotland will establish that digital assets are “objects of property” and can be treated as such and are capable of being owned. That is it, basically. I will probably not get the chance to do this again, so I can say that, for me, the opening section of the bill is a joy to behold. It was pretty daunting to read—at least for me.”
“To ask the Scottish Government what more can be done to tackle the problem of abandoned and derelict shops and buildings in town centres. (S6O-05405)”
“Mainstreaming remains a central pillar of our inclusive approach, and I think that it still has collective cross-party support, but, to my understanding, fundamentally, it is about how that is resourced on the ground and how it is delivered. The approach that we have in Scotland differs from that in other parts of the UK. For example, in England, the legislation is largely confined to supporting only children with disabilities; in Scotland, we have a rights-based approach that takes a much broader view. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 provides that any child or young person with a support need can have that need considered and met. I go back to the points in my statement: it is about how children and young people and their families experience that, so resourcing and funding are key.”
“Will the cabinet secretary say a little bit more about how the Scottish Government promotes inclusion in the work that we do on additional support for learning in our schools? How does that compare with the approach that is being taken elsewhere in the UK? Jenny Gilruth: We have a very progressive and inclusive approach to education in Scotland, which is supported by a strong legislative framework. To ensure that that inclusive approach is made a reality in our schools, we must be flexible and adaptable, and we must listen to the education system. Part of today’s update has been about reflecting the need in the education system for the delivery of changed approaches in the future.”
“I think that there is a real opportunity to use affordable housing resources to regenerate our town centres, which are changing because of the way in which people have changed their shopping habits. That means that we really want to get people back into living in some of our town and city centres, and affordable housing can play an important role in achieving that.”
“It is vital that we press forward with work to support our town centres so that they can become more sustainable and thriving places for people to live, work and enjoy. Will the cabinet secretary say more about how the budget will support the regeneration of our town centres via affordable housing and other measures that can help to turn around the fortunes of our high streets? Shona Robison: Supporting the delivery of 36,000 affordable homes and our wider all-tenure ambition, we plan to invest up to £4.9 billion over the next four years, of which £4.1 billion will be public investment. We are working with partners, including the Scottish National Investment Bank, to leverage additional private investment.”
“Will the cabinet secretary say a little more about the importance of proportionality in the planning system for SME house builders and, in particular, how the Scottish Government is communicating that to stakeholders? Màiri McAllan: Proportionality is key, because we are talking about a question of viability. Viability requires regularity, and it requires SMEs to be able to enter the planning system with an expectation of what will be involved and the length of time that it might take. That is exactly what I have been calling for from chief planners. We will continue to work with SME house builders and chief planners to get the balance right between a well-functioning planning system and one that is both regular and predictable. Temporary Accommodation and Homelessness (Support for Local Authorities) 6.”
“To date, it has supported 50 businesses to reduce more than 14,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, while creating more than 100 jobs and unlocking around £37 million in contract value for participating firms. It is a real green dividend that is paying off locally. All those examples are working under the umbrella of community wealth building. They work because they are being driven by local people, ably supported by officials who care about and support their communities. The bill really is as short as I said at the beginning of my speech, but sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference. I urge all colleagues in Parliament to get behind the bill at stage 1 and give all of our communities across Scotland a chance to participate in that exciting work. 15:53”
“The committee heard from local people from the Ardrossan Community Development Trust, which was doing great work to regenerate the promenade, introducing things such as accessible deck chairs for the community and building inclusive play parks. Just down the road in my area in East Ayrshire, a number of projects are under way that fit in with the community wealth building approach, backed up with £3 million-worth of investment to help the work along. One such example is the net zero accelerator project, which supports local businesses to cut their energy costs and reduce emissions. The project has been recognised nationally and has received an award at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities excellence awards.”
“When that approach is in place, community groups see it working and more of them come forward to participate. I have been fortunate to have visited communities with colleagues from the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee and from the Economy and Fair Work Committee and seen for myself the work that is taking place. The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee visited Millport, in Great Cumbrae, to see the amazing work there to restore the old town hall. I visited it again on its open day just a few weeks ago. We also saw some local projects that were under way to establish a small gin distillery in the town and a new camping business. The convener of the Economy and Fair Work Committee mentioned Irvine.”
“I remember well huge community planning partnership meetings, packed with officials, stakeholders and councillors, and the poor community groups sitting by the side, waiting patiently for their turn to speak, hoping that some progress would be made for them. That approach did not work, in my view. It was too big and overarching, and it was not really localised. It was all driven from the top down—an approach that has been mentioned a few times this afternoon. In contrast, what I see happening now works. In North Ayrshire and East Ayrshire, I have seen small local groups coming forward, and dedicated and talented officials who, instead of driving the process from the top down, work with local people to help them to progress their vision. That is absolutely the key to success.”
“Some members of the committee asked why we need a bill to put something in place that some authorities are already implementing, and when great work is taking place not just in the pilot areas but in other areas. The short answer, though, is that it is to ensure that all councils do it, because we know that some do not. It also allows us to have a consistent approach to embedding the principles of community wealth building throughout Scotland. Having been lucky enough—if that is the right phrase—to have lived through the past attempts at community wealth building in my council many years ago, the work that I see taking place now seems to be the right approach.”
“First, I thank Richard Leonard for mentioning the Fenwick Weavers Society, which, in 1761, established the world’s first co-op. The rest of his speech made me wonder whether I had wandered into the wrong debate, but I enjoyed it, nevertheless. The Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill must be one of the shortest bills that I have seen during my time in Parliament—all in, the main content of the bill is only seven pages long, so it was a bit of a surprise that our Economy and Fair Work Committee managed to write 53 pages about it. The aim of the bill is fairly straightforward: it requires all of our councils and relevant public bodies to prepare and publish a community wealth building action plan and to implement it. It is simple enough.”
“Perhaps, in this day and age, we also need a wee bit more help from artificial intelligence, with the analytics and data analysis that are making great strides in medical science elsewhere. I know that the universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow are deploying AI techniques in their research, and I wish them good luck with that work. I wish all who are engaged in the research the very best of luck, and I ask the Scottish Government to help as best we can to support the research that might help us to begin to win the battle against pancreatic cancer. Lastly, I thank my colleague Clare Adamson for again bringing the issue to the attention of the Scottish people, through their Parliament. 13:23”
“Those are just a few examples of the fantastic work that is going on, which I hope will make a real difference to survival rates from the cancer. We hear that family inheritance also plays a part. One in 10 cases are connected with inheritance. Even more work is being done on that, through the family history checker. I wish that some of that work had been funded 40 years ago. I turn to some asks of the Government— basically, that it offers more support for diagnostic capacity across Scotland. If we are alerting the public to issues and conditions that may be a cause for concern, we need to provide people with easy, localised access to get the help that they might need. We need a centralised service to co- ordinate the family inheritance effort and to identify high-risk individuals across multiple cancer types.”
“Interestingly, around one in five people over the age of 60—as I am— will already have a pancreatic cyst, but only a small percentage of those will develop into pancreatic cancer. I will take a brief look at some of the research that is going on. At the University of Glasgow, there is work being done to identify the features of higher-risk cysts in order to help doctors make the important treatment decisions. At the University of Liverpool, a test has been developed to identify type 3c diabetes, which may be an early indicator and an early warning sign. As Clare Adamson mentioned, Imperial College London is developing a breath test—a world first—that GPs could perform directly, after which they could make further referrals if need be. At the University of Essex, a new blood test is being developed that can help with early detection.”
“Among the stats and information that it provided, one thing stood out for me—that 80 per cent of people with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed too late. Some members have mentioned that. I hope that that frightening statistic will alert the public to take seriously some of the vague symptoms that can appear. Early detection and diagnosis hold the key to more treatment options and lead to better survival rates. Clare Adamson and other members have described those vague symptoms, and we need to repeat them—it is always worth doing that. Unexplained weight loss, indigestion, stomach and back pain, new-onset diabetes and even yellowing of the skin have already been mentioned by members, but we have to get that message through to the public. Folk should visit their GP to begin the process of being checked out if they experience those symptoms.”
“I thank my colleague Clare Adamson for again raising awareness of pancreatic cancer. I have tried to participate in the debate on the subject each year in which I have been a member of the Parliament and in memory of my mother, who died from the disease in 1985—some 40 years ago—at the age of only 52. Although it remains one of the most stubborn cancers, progress is being made, with the emphasis on early detection of the vague symptoms that it presents. This will be the last time that I make such a contribution, but I will look in next year to hear the debate and to continue my support for the work that is being done to battle the cancer. I am grateful to Pancreatic Cancer UK for its briefing.”
“The same applies to the hike in national insurance contributions—I am sure that all members, when they make visits across Scotland, are being told how damaging that is to businesses and organisations, because it permanently uplifts labour costs. All that comes atop the incredible economic self- harm of Brexit and the inflationary pressures that have led to construction costs being some 40 per cent higher this year than they were five years ago. I am afraid that that is, as has been set out, just another in the suite of reasons why it will always be to Scotland’s detriment to be governed by remote politicians in London. The Deputy Presiding Officer: That concludes portfolio questions. There will be a brief pause to allow the front bench members to change over. Draft Climate Change Plan”
“Mr Griffin must surely recognise that one of the biggest barriers to delivering Scotland’s housing fund is the dire economic mismanagement by his Labour colleagues at Westminster, which is about to be laid bare in the next few weeks. Will the cabinet secretary advise how damaging United Kingdom Government policies, such as increases to employer national insurance and limits to legitimate immigration, are directly impacting on our housing and construction sectors? Màiri McAllan: UK policies are indeed hindering progress. Immigration is absolutely vital to sustain multiple sectors of the Scottish economy, including construction, and the UK Government’s approach has completely failed to recognise Scotland’s needs.”
“To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to deal with and improve land use issues, in particular dereliction and abandonment, in the urban setting. (S6O-05093)”
“To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider making improvements to the Glasgow to Kilmarnock Sunday evening rail service. (S6O-05082)”
“We met Alexander Dennis’s senior management team at our Economy and Fair Work Committee not so long ago, and I was hugely impressed with their commitment to find a solution to save the business and jobs in Scotland. Does the Deputy First Minister share that view, and is she confident that, going forward, Alexander Dennis is in safe hands with good management and fantastic staff? Kate Forbes: I have been hugely inspired by the management team’s level of commitment and the workforce representation. Having worked on a number of cases in which redundancies are being threatened or there is the prospect of closure, I know that much of it hangs on whether a company and its management and unions are willing to co- operate collaboratively. In this case, it has been very impressive to see them do that.”
“As I outlined in the chamber previously, following the collapse of Greensill Capital as GFG’s main investor, we have put in place well- developed continuity planning in respect of eventualities that might arise for either of those businesses. Given the importance of the businesses locally, and because of our financial interests, I meet regularly with my officials to review those contingency plans.”
“The Scottish Government has previously provided much-needed financial assistance to prevent the closure of the site at Dalzell. Can the minister say any more about how we are working to ensure that both the workforce and the financial interests of the Scottish Government are being protected? Ivan McKee: As I have indicated, in 2017, Liberty Steel Dalzell received public sector support in the form of the £7 million loan from Scottish Enterprise, which was vital to ensuring that the business had a future. We engage regularly with GFG Alliance at group level and at management level in relation to Lochaber and, alongside Scottish Enterprise, in relation to Dalzell to understand the on-going performance of those businesses, the challenges that they face and the steps that are being taken to deal with them.”
“That will, of course, apply across East Ayrshire, which is currently benefiting from almost £13 million of investment that is being made available this year, with further details to follow.”
“How will the Scottish Government prioritise the delivery of multiyear funding for the affordable housing supply programme? What positive impact is that programme expected to have in East Ayrshire and across Scotland? Màiri McAllan: The Government’s core priorities will sit at the heart of the spending review process, and they will guide where and to what extent funding is allocated. We have recognised today that affordable housing is central to delivering against our priorities as a Government, in particular the leading priority of eradicating child poverty, as well as growing our economy and tackling net zero. We have responded to the asks of the housing sector for multiyear funding, which I hope will give the certainty and confidence that are required for investment.”
“To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any progress with the provisions in the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024, including how they may affect farming and food production in Ayrshire. (S6O-04806)”