Speeches by Jardine.

“Moving on to disability, how can EDI practice best support disabled people’s recruitment, retention and progression at work?”

“Zoe, was there anything you wanted to add?”

“I was going to come on to flexibility. There was a cultural shift towards flexible working during and after covid, which a lot of us presumed would benefit disabled people in the labour market. From what you are saying, that has not emerged in the way that we expected. Peter, why has that not yet had a substantial impa…”

“Could we circle back to something I was going to ask before? To what extent can employers’ accreditation schemes such as Disability Confident help change employers’ attitudes towards recruiting and encourage them to think more about flexible working?”

“Can I just say how informative this has been? I have learned that I am an older worker who has had a labyrinth or squiggly career.”

“There have been a lot of back-to-work mandates from offices since covid and lockdown. What impact might that be having on disabled workers? Is it having a greater impact on them than on the rest of the workforce?”

“A constituent recently contacted me to say that she is concerned that her son, who is a member of the armed forces, is finding it impossible to get a driving test. The well-documented concerns about delays are compounded by the fact that he is posted abroad, his timing is difficult to anticipate, and military personnel…”

“As the Minister knows, the video games industry is huge in Scotland. In fact, it is huge worldwide—it is now bigger than the film and television industries put together. The Scottish industry is worth £188 million, but we have reached a point where we have identified a lack of business acumen among growing companies. W…”

“Does the Minister share my disappointment that my constituency of Edinburgh West was the only one in Edinburgh that was not considered for a Pride in Place programme, including areas like Drylaw and Stenhouse which have particular problems that could have been helped by this programme?”

“Ola, would you like to add anything to that?”

“Have you complied with any of them?”

“I will not say another word; I might get into trouble. I will leave it there.”

“When we did the inquiry into misogyny in music, we heard that non-disclosure agreements are used to silence victims of harassment and abuse. Have you heard of them being used in the comedy sector?”

“Rachael, is there anything more that you think we should take away?”

“We will get through this as quickly as we can. I may not ask questions in the right order, but we have talked about the steps you could take. To sum everything up, is there a specific thing above all else that you think would be important for us to take away, since we might get stopped any second?”

“I have been overwhelmed by the number of constituents who have written to me over the past two weeks about the situation in the Gulf. They are of course concerned about their energy bills and the cost of living, but overwhelmingly they are outraged at the actions of all the actors in this conflict—Iran, Israel and the …”

“9. Whether she plans to increase the level of funding available to agricultural industries.”

“Edinburgh West may not seem like the most rural constituency, but we have several critical agricultural businesses in the seat, including the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston and a number of businesses that are diversifying into agritourism. There is funding available, but it is often unclear how to get it or how to …”

“Order. I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called in the debate. Unfortunately, if they were not here at the start, I am not sure that I will be able to get them in.”

“I will have to call the first Front Bencher at 3.28 pm.”