Give the people what they want. Give the people what they want. Give the people what they want. Your weekly movement news roundup. Hello, today is the 22nd of July. And we are back with our favourite show. Give the people what they want. Brought to you by People's Syspats at Zoe and I. And Globe Trotter and Vijay from Globe Trotter is currently on a very interesting reporting mission. You'll see the article soon enough on all the usual places, including People's Dispatch. A lot of interesting aspects about trade, about resources in Latin America. So welcome back to the show everybody. And we always like to say on many of our shows, we often talk about the world burning in a more figurative sense. But this is actually one week or a couple of weeks actually where it's almost literal, forest fires, heat waves. Across the world really shows how badly global warming is affecting us.  And the fact that we're not able to sort of do much about it. And one of the epicenters of this is of course been Europe. And where Europe of course as we have covered in the past few shows, also the centre of a lot of political crisis. It looks like as the war, as the Ukraine war progresses, government after government falling in Europe. We have Mario Draghi, the Italian prime minister who's finally quit. Now Draghi came to power in 2021 as part of a very, very strange arrangement where all these erstwhile political force, there was a five star movement, which is often called populist. There was a democratic party, which is kind of called centre left. It's actually more centrist. There were all these far right parties as well. All of them combining together under the leadership of a technocrat and Mario Draghi is as technocrat as you can get in associated with the highest levels of big finance with all the packing institutions. And all of them coming together to sort of govern Italy at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic really had really, really hit that country very badly. And that was to stabilize the country, continue on that path of austerity policies of reforms, which we have argued before the world should no longer be used in that context, but reforms and the agenda of big money, so to speak, big financial institutions. So keeping all this in mind, Draghi was kind of the consensus candidate of the establishment to enter to govern Italy at this point of time. And he led a difficult government for the past few, for past year and a half or so. And now it turns out that the internal contradictions within that government have kind of really sought and exploded. The five-star movement refusing to support a key policy prescription, which again was all about austerity policies. And now we're going to have fresh elections in September. This is really not a good time for Italy because the far right is expected to do quite well at the polls. The so-called centrist forces increasingly looking bankrupt before the people because what Italy has seen over the past few years is a horrible crisis in terms of livelihoods, in terms of salaries. We have seen young students dying in workplace accidents because there's a mandatory internship, which the government for some reason refused to change. There was the question of the fact that Italy was one of the few OECD countries which did not see a wage increase and multiple strikes by trade unions across sectors to sort of push the point forward that the people are really suffering. Instead what Italy went for was more austerity, more militarization, very enthusiastically joining the war in Ukraine. So all this is sort of come back to haunt the powers that be in Italy and the powers that be in Europe. And now what will we see in the coming months? It's a very big question. Will the far right, which is Eurosceptic in general, come back with a renewed mandate? What does it mean for the people? Very difficult questions, very important questions. We'll be tracking all these as well. And Italy has become once again one of those countries where all these conflicts are kind of have come to the fore. So that's where we are with Italy right now. Well, it's interesting to see the Europe, which is not used to these high temperatures, which is not used to this political instability, which seems to be something of the global south being taken over by these sort of southern problems. But in other side of the world, over to the Caribbean, similar energy crisis. We've talked a lot about the energy crisis in Europe. But Puerto Rico, one of the remaining colonies in the world is facing massive electricity outages, cuts, increased prices. The issue of energy in Puerto Rico has been a central theme in the country, in the nation. It has consistently brought people to the streets. There were last year huge protests. And once again, people are on the streets protesting these energy cuts and saying that the private company, which is based in Canada and the US, Luma, that the contract be canceled with this company. Oftentimes people love to say that the public sector is unable to administer public services, is unable to administer a good deliverance of these services. And that's why the contracts have to be handed over to the private sector. And the case of Puerto Rico is a clear cut example of why this is extremely not true. And that oftentimes these companies really just take advantage to increase their profits and decrease the service of this public service that people. For example, Luma in Puerto Rico has consistently been increasing the rates this on July 1. First, the rates of the price of electricity went up by 17%. So we're talking a lot about inflation on a global scale, basic importance having electricity. This price was increased by 17%. However, at the same time, constant cuts, constant outages. Puerto Rico, I said that energy is extremely important issue. It has suffered horrible natural disasters in the past couple of years. Hurricane Maria, which happened in 2017, essentially decimated the power grid. People were left without electricity for months. And so this was an extremely important issue for the people. And instead of trying to rebuild the public sector, trying to strengthen Puerto Rico's electric power authority, the Junta, which is essentially a non-elected board of corporate advisors who are administering Puerto Rico's debt, which has essentially complete control over all of the economic systems. Decisions that happened on the island decided to hand the contract over to this private company. And so this ending the company with this ending the contract with Luma has become a central demand. People are on the streets in the thousands. And this demand of canceling the contract with this company is really related to this overarching demand of the demand of true independence and national independence movement, which has been so vibrant in Puerto Rico. And we've seen a number of moments where it has really come to the fore because of different political and economic developments on the island. So the scandal that broke out a couple of years back with the governor who had sent horrific text messages was in a telegram group chat and had been messaging other advisors, other politicians, making fun of the victims of Hurricane Maria. When this scandal broke, unprecedented protests happened across the island. And of course, these were in response to this specific scandal, but really related to the overall colonial nature of the relationship that Puerto Rico has the United States and that the fact that it cannot, the people of Puerto Rico are not able to make decisions about their economic futures, about their political futures, and instead they're ruled by this junta, which was installed by the promesa law under Barack Obama under his presidency means that, you know, this colonial nature is even further entrenched. And when these natural disasters happened like Hurricane Maria, which led to so many deaths, so many people without power, so the consequently, you know, ripple effect that that had on the people's access to medicine, people's access to food and so many other essential items was deeply affected. The administering of the pandemic in Puerto Rico was also, you know, mediated by this colonial relationship. And so it's back on the table that the issue of independence, the issue of sovereignty, it's so important to remember that, you know, the U.S. in addition to having imperialist efforts across the globe still has a formal economy. So we talked a lot about neocolonialism, but the United States still has formal colonies. And so in this struggle against, you know, a very corrupt electricity company which has just been, you know, digging out the pockets of the Puerto Rican people, stealing their money essentially for a service that they're unable to deliver. The central, this really roots back to sovereignty, to independence and this the struggle for national liberation. Right, Zoe, you mentioned very important words, sovereignty, independence and the struggle for national liberation. And you also mentioned the kind of dual private companies are taking. It's important this context to talk about Ghana, Ghana's struggle for liberation. Dr. Karmila Krum, of course, inspiration to people across the world. But let's take a look at what's happening now. For instance, in Ghana, the numbers say that between 1990 and 2002, I believe, only about 1.3% or 1.7% of the revenue from gold made its way back to the Ghanaian government. Ghana is a major exporter of gold, but just imagine that. 1.7% of the total revenue from gold makes its way back to the government which means 98.3% is in the hands of private entities, often multinationals. And that, you know, just this number alone should kind of tell you what many countries in the global south today face in terms of how the economies are structured. And of course, just as these kind of multinationals and private corporations play a huge role in this extraction of wealth, so does the International Monetary Fund, which is always there to provide assistance. So they claim, but which basically provides a kind of, the kind of aid that keeps you chained forever. And this is, for instance, very important when you're talking about Ghana because Ghana is now in talks to probably have its 17th agreement with the International Monetary Fund. And we have a long story by a colleague Tarapriya Singh on people's dispatch on this story. And it talks about why the socialist movement of Ghana, the trade unions in the country are very, very fiercely opposed to the steel. Now, a couple of things we need to remember. First of all, the fact that Ghana is going through an extremely difficult economic situation right now. Inflation, I think, is at its highest since 2004, if I'm not mistaken. I think it's 29.8% in June. The price of food is up by around nearly 31%. For many other essentials like vegetable oil, wheat flour, it's much, much higher. The country currency has lost a lot of its value, which basically also means that due to all these reasons, the salaries that workers are getting is completely inadequate. And whatever increases the government has really promised them also don't really make sense because the government promises workers increases. In this case, it was promised on the basis that inflation would be much lesser. And now that inflation is so many times more, the increase that the government has promised workers does not really mean any improvement in the quality of living. So basically, workers in principle, in paper, they get a slightly higher salary maybe, but it does not really improve their standard of living in any sense. And this is really infuriated left and trade unions across Ghana who have been saying that you cannot, this is not really how you can negotiate and what treat the people who basically run your economy. Now it's in the context of all this that Ghana is also negotiating with the IMF. It has a lot of structural issues with its economy, including a balance of payment crisis, huge amounts of debt. But again, the question people are asking right now is that all these previous agreements with the IMF have brought to Ghana his further austerity policies. For instance, the general secretary of the Socialist Movement of Ghana has pointed out that during common agronomist time of the 400 factories that were built, I believe about 300 were privatized because of most of these agreements. We have agreements which led to caps in increasing salaries, which have agreements which led to reduction in public spending. So due to all these reasons, the real question before the people of Ghana, before the government of Ghana, is your 17th agreement really going to make a difference? And the trade unions have made it very clear. They say that alright, you're going to sign your 17th agreement, but be prepared because there's going to be an 18th and a 19th and a 20th agreement because all the IMF brings is an unending chain of debt, is an unending cycle of being in debt and because of that being forced to implement more policies which affect the people in really, really bad ways. And of course, the solution to this is sort of restructure the country's economy. We've talked about this in the context of Sri Lanka, another country which is facing a very similar crisis where the left says that you need to completely rework your economy if you actually want a solution to this crisis. But as we know, the ruling elites, the ruling establishment in many of these countries which is convinced or firmly believe have been convinced that the IMF is the only real way to sort of solve the crisis. And it's quite unfortunate because country after country keeps doing this and we keep going into the cycle of misery caused by these kind of policies because these IMF policies are not implemented by, the IMF policies are not designed by political leaders per se because by the anonymous bureaucrats, people often don't realize what kind of an impact the IMF has on their day to day lives. So very important story to keep track of justice in Sri Lanka, justice in Argentina, justice in Pakistan, justice in Tunisia, we'll come to that later. What the IMF does, what the IMF is doing to all of us, very important to remember. Well, from economic crisis to economic crisis, it seems that's really the talk of the times. Going back to the Caribbean, over to Panama, we've been following this story for a couple of weeks. It's an incredibly important story. And yes, Panama is a small country in Central America, formerly part of Colombia, but was broken off as part of imperialist efforts to kind of isolate and break the unity of Colombia. And people have been on the streets now for three weeks in Panama, demanding, as in many other countries, as in Ghana, as in Puerto Rico, that the government makes structural changes to address this cost of living crisis, which, as you mentioned, is not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is not only because of the war in Ukraine, but really is linked to the structure of the economy.  Many companies have their headquarters there, yet so little of this money goes to the people. As we've said, they've been on the streets the past three weeks demanding price-freezing, reduction of prices specifically in goods that affect everyday life. So this is fuel, this is food, this is medicine, all of the products of, as they say in Spanish, the basic basket of daily consumption goods. And after three weeks of road blockades, of militant protests, of militant mobilizations, yesterday, finally in the evening, the government agreed to sit down with all of the forces that have been on the streets, that have been organizing, that have been mobilizing, and it's so interesting and it's so important to raise awareness to this because in May, when this list of demands was created, I was speaking to a trade unionist from the National Front for the Defense of Economic, Social and Political Rights, Ronaldo Ortiz, and he told me in June, we presented these demands the government and the government laughed in our faces. They said, we're not going to compromise on any single one of these demands. And these are basic demands about having access to medicine, having access to food, making sure that these prices don't go even further through the roof. And the government said, no, we will not contemplate making any concessions. And yesterday, the government was forced to sit down with all of these different organizations that have been on the streets, that have been making these demands, that have been telling them, you have to address this. And the government is starting to make some considerations. Of course, this is going to be a long process of negotiation. These organizations have said, we're not going to leave the streets just because we're in the negotiation. We're going to continue mobilizing, continue putting on pressure because they know this is where their power is. They have been able to effectively paralyze the construction work sector. One of the largest unions is the National Construction Workers Union. They have been paralyzing this entire industry, which as I mentioned is a huge part of the economy in Panama. And so it's such a great example of workers' power, of the unity of the working class in making the government take these demands seriously. This is a conservative government, a right-wing government that has always favored neoliberal policies, always favored transnational corporations, transnational capital over the people and over their well-being. But this government is going to have to make concessions. It already made a concession on reducing the price of fuel. The movement said this wasn't enough, there was a mandate more. And so this is going to continue. They're going to continually be engaged in these negotiations. And it's such an important lesson for movements and people across the world of how this has to happen. There has to be pressure on the streets. There's been unity amongst the construction workers with indigenous communities, with peasant communities. There was a very important agreement achieved between the peasant agricultural producers and the unions to create humanitarian corridors so they could both sell their goods and the people could have access to the food that they need so that this dialogue can continue. They can continue putting pressure on the government. And there's this mutual kind of support between these sectors. So such an important story. That's why we've been continuing to cover it at People's Dispatch in dialogue with people who are at the negotiation table on the streets mobilizing. And there we have it. Right, like you said Panama is a very small country of course, but the kind of sentiments, the kind of power that animates the people, the drives the people who are on the streets is something that's common across the world. And I think it's just why it's very important to keep talking about it, because these are the kind of protests that are necessary to sort of push back against what we, the other kind of stories we talk about, which are the cruelties and the tragedies and the horrors of capitalism and those who rule us. And that's really what we try to do it, give the people what they want, bring you both these aspects, both these sides of the coin, so to speak, because they're inseparable. And of course, going from Panama to another country, which is in the midst of a lot of social chaos, social crisis, and that's Tunisia, where what we saw was, what we have been seeing over the past year is a very curious move by the president, Kaisai, who pretty much decided for a variety of reasons that he would be, that he was some kind of historic figure maybe who would reverse all that was put in place after the Arab Spring protests of 2011. So he dismissed the government, he basically suspended parliament. He took more powers to himself over the months. And then he declared that he's going to frame a new constitution. And then people are going to vote on it in a referendum and so on and so forth. And he's going to inaugurate a new era for Tunisia. Now, this has been a very unique constitution drafting process. There's actually been very little consultation. The process has been completely, very little transparency. We've got a great interview with Father Lalireza, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Meshkaal, the media platform, who talks about many of these issues. And curiously, the head of the drafting committee for the constitution itself came out against the draft saying that this was not the draft given that we gave to the president because the new final draft which is being submitted for referendum seems to really concentrate a lot of power in the hands of the president. So that's a surprise. We are proposing a constitution where the power of parliament has been diluted considerably. There are going to be two houses which itself is a sign of that. Some of the fundamental rights are kept, of course. All those are technically still protected. But what happens is that many of the key institutions which are supposed to enforce these rights, in whose absence these rights won't really mean much. They have been weakened. For instance, you have the fact that the judiciary, it set their restrictions on members of the judiciary protesting or members of the government protesting. So KSI has basically come out with a constitution which in some senses is the antithesis of what happened after the Arab Spring. And now let's be very clear about it. The post Arab Spring situation in Tunisia was not ideal. There was a lot of political chaos. They were in a government. It was very difficult to form governments. There was an insane amount of corruption. All that is very much true. There's no doubt about it. And a lot of people are genuinely unhappy with that. But even these people are really asking the question that is the answer to all this centralizing power in the hands of just one person. Is the answer to all this dismantling to a large extent all those institutions and checks and balances which were introduced after 2011 because we do know that Tunisia was under the dictatorial rule of Zain al-Abdil bin Ali for the longest time and what the Arab Spring achieved was actually overthrowing him. So now the question is before the people of Tunisia on the 25th of July. That's just about three days from now and it's going to be very important. Interestingly, even how significant the referendum is going to be itself is a question because there are clauses which indicate that the constitution will be adopted nonetheless. So this is an extremely curious process of constitution building where the president has pretty much been the judge, jury and executioner all in one. So remains to be seen what happens. Interesting thing of course is that they've been protests all these months by the left by trade unions against many of these centralizations of power. It is expected that much of this will continue as well regardless of what happens on the 25th. And of course we know that Tunisia going through an economic crisis also engaging with the IMF which has kind of become the theme of this show. But yeah, so remains to be seen what will happen on the 25th but definitely a very important country and a very important moment for that country in its history. Well, this last story is sort of a mix of some of the stories that we've seen before and it's an interesting one. There seems to be a lot of revelations coming out of Spain that directly impact and directly affect kind of the Latin American progressive politics. So just yesterday, El País, the Spanish newspaper came out with an investigation that box the far right political party in Spain. It had released, it's through its foundation, the Samuel. It had released a scathing 30 minute documentary. One of those that creates the web and connects all the things and says that the communists here related to the communists there and everyone's plotting and everyone's doing this to overthrow everyone else. But this was specifically talking about the Forte de Sao Paulo which is a group of, from social democratic to communist parties across Latin America. It has very wide ideological leanings, as I said, it includes communist parties but also includes a lot of social democratic or liberal parties. And essentially this box documentary is unmasking the Forte de Sao Paulo and it essentially again tries to create all of these links which they are a group of parties so they do have relationships but essentially it focuses on the character of Lula da Silva who is the pre-candidate for the Workers' Party and many leftist alliances in Brazil for these upcoming elections and it says that he has all these questionable links and that he is, while he's heralded as this great leader he's really the architect of the worst corruption in history. Interestingly enough the leaders of Vox have had very close relationships with Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of Jair Bolsonaro, many members of this political faction in Brazil. The Santiago Avascal who's from Vox Party he went to a big foundation meeting held by the Bolsonaro's. Those are very clear links and they have very clear political motivations. However, what El País revealed is that Vox used public money to create this documentary. It used money from the Spanish government to create this documentary which is essentially an extremely wild... we talk a lot about conspiracies theories but it's one of these movies that really it pulls together all these narratives, you know, cut speeches from different leaders and says these are the real demons, these are the real devils and they say that one of the intentions behind this documentary was to make the Spanish people vote against socialist government it was also against the government of Pedro Sánchez, of the Socialist Party and of Podemos and so it's a very big effort using state money to say that all of these leftists, all of these progressives are horrible, they're corrupt, they're terrible and it's just interesting because these are the same people who call for the dismantling of the state saying the communists, the socialists, they're just stealing money from the state and doing what they will with it, they're corrupt. However, this documentary receiving direct money from the state is doing exactly that, so it's an interesting development it's interesting to see how the right wing is so coordinated, is so linked, has these direct relationships, is trying to subvert the will of the people trying to instill fear by creating these great conspiracies saying that all of these people are corrupt, that they're working together and look what they're doing to our people and it's, well, unfortunate is a light word for this but I think it's so interesting and it's so necessary for us to pay attention to these things because as we saw with the story of Pablo Iglesias that this whole lie was invented in order to say that he had received 200,000 euros from Nicolás Maduro, which was spread by the media, confirmed by the courts, was essentially made up. You know, a lot of times we take this without a grain of salt, we take it for what it is and we say, okay, yeah, these people are horrible, what are they doing? And so it's so important that when these things come out to follow them, to investigate, to look deeper, to see the links that are there, it's also interesting to see that one of the first news agencies that published an article about this documentary is the same news agency that was publishing the lies about Pablo Iglesias. So who knows if there's coordination there? Who's to say? Right, Zoe. So it does look like as when people do achieve awareness, when people do struggle towards awareness and change those trying to hold society back, definitely seeing a conspiracy, no surprise about that. And that's pretty much been the trajectory of all of human history. So in some senses, not a surprise at all, although always important to mark each of these instances very closely in record, very closely in our histories so that we and everyone around us are more aware of it. And like I said, this is what we try to do on this show, this is what we try to do with people's dispatch and globetrotter and we hope to see you all next week. For more such stories, more such stories of both, of stories unfortunately of repression and cruelty, we can't avoid them, but also stories of hope and resistance which basically are what drive all of us. So thank you so much from Zoe and myself and see you next week.


Hi there and welcome. I'm the Technician Projects. Today's tutorial is going to show you how to export out of Adobe Premiere Pro. Once you have Adobe Premiere Pro loaded and you have a file in your Timeline window and you're ready to export. You want to go to File, Export Media or Command M. This box will then appear the Export Settings box. I'm just going to change the format setting to H264 for the highest output source. You can leave all the other settings as they are. I'm going to click Export. This will take a while to export. If you enjoyed the video today, please leave a like rating and subscribe for more. Thank you for watching and see you next time.


What's up everybody, Jason here for jaspyscaserace.com. We just sold out a brand new release today, guys. 2023 Panini Mosaic Choice Football. This is a five box break picker team number two. And again guys, we're giving away the Colts. The Colts would have been a $180 value, guys. But if you buy two teams, you get an entry to get a win of the Colts. Buy four teams, two entries, six teams, three entries. There you go, guys. So again, let's alphabetize the names and let's see how many people got multiple teams. So A-A-Ron, and then Copperman got six. So one and three. Eder would just one. Eric would just one. And then Frank would six. So that's three there. Jeremy poor two. John two. Madel with three. So that's one. Galucci with two. That's one. And then Omar would just one. Ron with two. And Ryan with two. And then Wyatt just has my Eagles. So I guess a better odds for you guys, actually, guys. All right, so one and 13 shot, guys. All right, roll it. It is a three and a five, eight times. Good luck. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. Eight times, eight, eight. Jeremy poor. Congratulations, buddy. Boom. There you go, buddy. Now again, I can't pronounce the sheets here. I got to go get the sheets after, but there's everybody and their teams there. So let's switch scenes. And again, guys, I have three stacks here. One, two for the left, three, four for the middle, five, six for the right side. And let's see what we get. One, two, three, four, five, six. We're going to do the right side stack. Let's get some peacocks and a net pillow, guys. I want a nebula and a peacock right here. It doesn't look like one, but let's see what we got. Parsons, a little sleigh, and Dante Colpepper for the Vikings. Nice. Vikings, go to Eric on the board, buddy. Kaderis Tony for the Chiefs, that's out of 80. Gino Smith out of 80. And a Chad Rylan out of 80. Then we have a Nolan Smith for my Eagles. And Derek Hall for the Seahawks. No problem, man. Hey, you grabbed the team. And you grabbed the right one that had a hit. Remember, I think the Vikings would have Jordan Addison in here, so he's a big rookie to get to. And after this, too, guys, before I start the filler for the five-star, I'll post up more mosaic choices. Next box. Where's the peacocks at and the nebulas? Come on. Will Anderson Jr. NFL debut for Frank? How about a Jake Plummer? Nice, out of 25. Arizona Cardinals, going to Ryan. Six out of 25. We have Tajah Spears out of 80. Dalton Kincaid, NFL debut out of 80. Travis Etienne out of 80. But Dave Peter. Skoranski for the Titans. And nice, Devon HM. We got like a whole red. I don't think I've ever seen the red pair off. I'm Jamar Gibbs. This one's going to have double the autos, actually. Beautiful, Jamar Gibbs for the Detroit Lions, Ryan H. Nice, 11 out of 25. And I guess we'll stick with the running back theme. How about another one out of 25, Austin Eckler? 11 out of 25. Chargers for Michael Gallucci. Jalen Carter for my Eagles. And a Lamar Jackson, I guess it's because of National Pride. That's what I look like, right? Out of 80. With Daniel Tomlinson. You have Chad Rylan. And Paris Johnson Jr. And of course, Jalen Carter. Potential favorite? Already for defensive rigging the year early in the season. I mean, this has been a wrecking ball.  For the Broncos, Riley Moss, 8 out of 8. Nice black gold. Yeah, I think that's kind of ironic. They'd rather just give extra autos than this. Denver Broncos, Adam Cuperman. Then we have a Charlie Jones for the Bengals out of 80. How about a Joe Burr for the Bengals out of 80, National Pride? We got a Michael Strayhan out of 80. But they ate it on call. It might be the start of this weekend, guys. Jimmy Gravel is still not past concussion protocol. And Fahoko Jr. All right, let's take a look at redemption. Dalton Kincaid, Tyler Scott, redemption. And a Christian Gonzales nice out of my Oregon Ducks.  Patriot's going to run. Then we got a Dorian Thompson Robinson, a little DTR there for the Cleveland Browns out of John. Isaiah Pacheco out of 80. Tim Tebow out of 80. Another eight in O'Connell for the Raiders. And nice price young. All right, guys, here we go. Let's show the redemption off. Here we go. Showtime signatures, Choice Fusion Green and Black. So that should make it out of 25. Car number seven, Jackson Smith and the Jaguar. Nice. So that's going to go to the Seahawks going to Frank. And just a double check. I think that's out of, I think that's like the Bijon that we had earlier. So we had Showtime signatures. And we had the Fusion Green and Black, which is out of 25. And car number seven, yeah, Jackson Smith and the Jaguar. Here you go. Like he can start turning up soon. I mean, obviously, isn't he like the third receiver kind of? Maybe, I don't know, because Lockett and D-Care are always the top two, right? All right, there you go, guys. So again, obviously a lot to top load there. But of course, Cole Pepper autograph. Riley Moss out of eight, Echler. Jamar gives out a 25. Jake Plummer out of 25. Christian Gonzalez spending the Jaguar with Bryce young there. Still no peacocks or potential nebulas. Still hiding 10 more boxes there. I'm going to post up three and four right now. So if you guys want to run them back tonight, definitely grab your teams now, guys, jaskiescasefrakes.com, guys. Thank you.


The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 15746 in the name of Miles Briggs on Parkinson's in Scotland. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put. We can ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press the request to speak buttons now. I call on Miles Briggs to open the debate. Mr Briggs. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would like to start by thanking colleagues from across the chamber for supporting my motion, which has allowed me to bring forward the debate this evening. I want to begin by paying tribute to the excellent work of Parkinson's UK in Scotland and commend their efforts for all those who work and volunteer and fundraise for the charity, including so many in my own Lothian region. All of us will have a family member, friend or colleague who will know someone in our community who has Parkinson's, a condition that can be so utterly devastating for so many individuals and their loved ones. Many of us will also remember with great fondness our former colleague Margaret MacDonald. For those of us who are lucky enough to know her, saw her at first hand how she did not allow her Parkinson's to define her. Margaret is still very much missed, I know by her very close friends such as yourself, Deputy Presiding Officer. Parkinson's is the second most common degenerative disease after Alzheimer's. Around 30 people in Scotland are currently diagnosed every week. While most associated with old age, one in seven people with Parkinson's is under 65, another reason why I campaigned for and welcomed the extension of free personal care for the under-65s in Scotland. More and more of us can expect to have direct or close experience of Parkinson's since the number of people with it is expected to increase by 40 per cent within the next two decades. All of us will want to ensure that the best possible health and support services are available for people with Parkinson's and those who help to care for and look after them. Anyone reading Parkinson's UK People Parkinson's Scotland report, which is detailed and comprehensive, will share my concerns that Scotland is not currently providing the level and quality of services and support every person with Parkinson's deserves, 20 per cent of whom have extremely high levels of care need. Parkinson's UK has talked about a Scotland-wide under-provision of services for people living with Parkinson's. It is therefore alarming that around one in every ten consultant posts in neurology and medicine for older people are currently unfilled with particular pressures in some areas, meaning that a number of health board vacancies are even worse. In terms of waiting times for a new outpatient appointment ahead of diagnosis, the vast majority of NHS boards are regularly unable to meet the 12-week target. In July last year, it took over 42 weeks for 95 per cent of people to see a neurologist in NHS Grampian and almost 33 weeks in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Most people living with Parkinson's will say that the most important person helping them to live with their condition is their Parkinson's nurse, yet when Scotland should have at least 40 full-time Parkinson's nurses we have under 30. Only one health board, Western Isles, has adequate specialist Parkinson's nurse provision, and in four mainland health boards, including my own here in NHS Lothian, there is half the number of nurses there should be. That means that local Parkinson's nurses are often dealing with many more patients than the recommended maximum caseload. Like I said, in my own region and in my own NHS board, for example, three nurses today are responsible for helping almost 1,800 patients when Parkinson's UK recommends a maximum caseload of 300 for each full-time nurse in anurban area. In Orkney and Shetland, there are currently no Parkinson's nurses at all. That is letting down both people with Parkinson's and our NHS staff and often adding to the pressures of local GP surgeries. Ensuring that we have an adequate number of nurses and neurologists and Parkinson's nurses in all parts of Scotland must be a priority for the Government. I am continuing to call for a review of all specialist nurse provision in Scotland so that we can ensure that we can plan for the future need and put in place the number of specialist nurses that we need today, and I hope that SNP ministers will look at that call again. Elsewhere, the report makes key recommendations across a range of areas, including good practice in multidisciplinary teams, health teams, mental health teams, self-management, enabling technology innovation and anti-seripatory care planning. I want to talk briefly about access to advanced treatments for Parkinson's. Sadly, for few people, the standard Parkinson's medication does not work effectively, and they can have very severe symptoms, including painful cramps and potentially being unable to move or having uncontrollable movement. Those patients need access to advanced treatments that can include deep brain stimulation surgery or advanced medications delivered by injection or pumps. People in this position are concerned that the new national deep brain stimulation centre in Glasgow has incredibly long waiting times. Over a year, currently, for assessment and surgery, it is clear that more theatre staff capacity is needed to further develop this vital treatment. In addition, not all NHS boards are providing access to apemorphine injections or pumps, and there are huge variations around prescribing in this area as well. We also need to see more specialist support being provided that is required in initiating and monitoring people on apemorphine. Although duodopa, a treatment that delivers an infusion of medication in the intestine, has been approved by the Scottish Medicines Consortium, only three people today have been able to undertake this treatment in Scotland since 2016. We need to understand better why more patients who have a very low quality of life are not offered the treatment. The treatment can and can have a transformation effect on patients' lives. As my constituent here in Edinburgh told me, David Taylor, a former Falklands veteran has testified, I would be interested to hear in the minister's comments as he is closing this debate about what plans the Scottish Government has to advance those Parkinson's treatments. To conclude, I again would like to commend Parkinson's UK and the 13 clear positive recommendations that it has produced in what is a very useful and important report. People living with Parkinson's across Scotland are looking to ministers and this Parliament to set out how they can take forward improvements so that everyone who is diagnosed with Parkinson's in Scotland can be confident that they will have access to the very best possible healthcare and support. I congratulate Miles Briggs on securing this debate, providing an opportunity to discuss its valuable and comprehensive report into Parkinson's in Scotland just a few weeks on from World Parkinson's Day on 11 April. Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative condition after Alzheimer's, and its complex and progressive nature can have profound effects with symptoms and impacts affecting every individual differently. Parkinson's UK has, for many years, given voice to sufferers, supported them in all aspects of life. From the weekly meetings of its Ayrshire branch and LLRN group in my constituency, their monthly mass size sessions, Zumba and Pilates classes to their working-age Parkinson's group, many people with Parkinson's in Cymru benefited directly from their work over the past 50 years. Parkinson's UK's collective experience of working directly with people in Scotland means that they are well placed to feedback to policy makers about how we can better support those affected. The report, People, Parkinson's Scotland, What Do We Know About Services and Support for People with Parkinson's in Scotland, was published in February backed by leading neurologists. A key report recommendation highlighted in Miles Briggs' motion is to ensure that everyone with Parkinson's is regular and easy contact with a specialist Parkinson's nurse at every stage of their condition wherever they live in Scotland. People with Parkinson's frequently say that their nurse specialist is the person who makes the single biggest difference in managing life of the disease. The value of their work cannot be underestimated. The report highlights that, across Scotland, there should be at least 40 Parkinson's nurses. Instead, we have less than 30. Indeed, Ayrshire has the equivalent of two nurses, whereas it should have 3.3 to adequately serve the estimated 1,000 people living with Parkinson's in Ayrshire. I have engaged with NHS Ayrshire Nanna and the Scottish Government over several months and I am pleased that the health board is redesigning their Parkinson's service into multi-disciplinary teams. Those will provide assessment and support to people living with Parkinson's, freeing up specialist nurses to see newly diagnosed patients at an advanced stage and those with particularly complex needs. However, I still support calls to increase specialist nurse provision. I am therefore pleased when Minister for Public Health, Joe FitzPatrick, confirmed that the Scottish Government is working with partners and stakeholders to develop nursing roles to meet Scotland's future needs under the Transforming Roles programme. As part of that, a working group will consider the clinical nurse specialist role to ensure that it is nationally consistent, sustainable and progressive. I hope that that working group will ultimately help to bolster the number of specialist nurses in Ayrshire and across Scotland. In Ayrshire, there is currently one consultant geriatrician with an interest in Parkinson's, and members of the Ayrshire working age Parkinson's group do not get consultant appointments as often as they feel are necessary. NHS Ayrshire Nanna has tried to recruit a second consultant numerous times, with no success, giving rise to concerns about how high-quality support for Parkinson's disease sufferers in Ayrshire can be sustained without increased specialist staffing, especially given that patient numbers are expected to increase by 40 per cent in 20 years. Ayrshire's recruitment difficulties are not unique, with one in every 10 consultant posts on neurology and medicine for older people in Scotland currently unfilled. One detriment of effect is that waiting times for first appointments are growing, leaving people with suspected Parkinson's facing longer periods without a diagnosis to explain worrying symptoms or a treatment plan. Scotland can and must do better for the thousands of people with Parkinson's by making necessary preparations now to ensure that health boards can recruit their neurological consultants that they need. The Scottish Government has already committed to supporting a review of consultant neurologists and neurophysiologists' roles to make posts more attractive. That should bring more people into neurology and help retain them. I am pleased that the Scottish Government is now considering responses to its consultation on the draft national action plan on neurological conditions and look forward to publication later this year. I am confident that it will respond positively to concerns and recommendations of Patents in UK and others who provide expertise and experience through the consultation process. I conclude by echoing Miles Briggs sentiments towards the hard-working staff and dedicated team of volunteers who make Patents in UK's life-changing reality. The guidance and support that they provide is sitting to none and has immeasurably improved the lives of people with this complex and often devastating condition. I thank my colleague Miles Briggs for securing time in the chamber for the debate. As we have heard, Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological condition that predominantly, although not exclusively, manifests itself in the older generation. Given that, as we are all aware, our population is growing older, it is reasonable to assume that the instances of conditions like Parkinson's will also grow. If we look at the progress and treatments of conditions, for example, like cancer over the past couple of decades, we can see that there is a remarkable capability of science in finding solutions. However, when we compare treatments and medications over the same period for neurological conditions, we see a very different picture. It is obvious that there has not been the same priority with drug development and treatment. Most members will know that my personal interest in the neurological conditions sits with motor neuron disease, first brought to my attention by Gordon Aitman, then shortly followed by Doddie Weir. Two remarkable men raising awareness fighting for better treatments for those who will follow all the while battling it against this cruel and degenerative condition. I can tell you that it is hard to hear Doddie say in a quote that it will come too late for me, but I want to make sure that others have a better chance than me. When you stop to think what he is actually saying, that this disease will take him and in knowing that, he is prepared to use his time so effectively to campaign for those who will follow him, he is already confounded medical wisdom by not just being here but still on his feet, still speaking with such a passion and with such humour or so, he seems to think. Until then, I was pretty unaware of those conditions. Remarkable is that Gordon and Doddie Weir should not be left to them and others like them to bring those conditions into the public consciousness. Like Parkinson's, MND makes the sufferers unsteady and can affect their speech. I remember hearing Gordon Aitman speaking about how so many people just assumed that he drank too much alcohol and assumption born out of ignorance. We need to be more aware and in doing so recognise the need to advance medical science and the understanding and treatment of neurological conditions. Organisations such as Parkinson's UK, MND Scotland and the My Name is Doddie Foundation have a huge role to play in that fight and we thank them for the continued work that they do. Surely, though, it is time for Governments to step up to the plate and take a swing along with those organisations. If we are to rid ourselves or, at the very least, help to contain those hugely debilitating conditions in short shift, it will take a collective effort from all of us, because this challenge is not accepted. As I said right at the start in my speech, with the ageing demographic that we have in this country, the issues can only grow. In conclusion, I would like to ask the minister if, in his summing up, there will be a commitment from the Scottish Government to work with the third-sector organisations that currently lead the charge and for the Scottish Government to play a significant role and then detail what that commitment will look like. Thank you very much. I call Jackie Baillie, who will be followed by Liam McArthur and Ms Baillie, please. Presiding Officer, I, too, would like to thank Miles Briggs for bringing this important debate to the chamber. I would also like to welcome the staff from Parkinson's UK and those living with Parkinson's and their friends and family who are either here this evening or listening to the debate on TV. It is down to the constant support of Parkinson's UK and the dedicated activism of volunteers that means that each and every day we are closer to finding a cure for this debilitating disease. As Miles's motion rightly points out, there are over 12,000 people in Scotland right now who are living with Parkinson's. That is around 1 in every 375 adults. Findings from Parkinson's UK showed that around 30 people each week are diagnosed with the disease. That means that the lives of not just 30 people but 30 families, friends and communities are changed forever, every single week. Each diagnosis affects each patient and their support network differently. Parkinson's UK, as well as hundreds of local Parkinson's support groups, provide invaluable support for sufferers. However, with diagnoses predicted to increase by around 40 per cent in the next 20 years, the Scottish Government and our health boards really need to step up to the plane. There are currently a number of Scottish health boards with half the number of Parkinson's specialist nurses that are needed. It is deeply concerning that around 10 per cent of neurologists and older people's consultant posts in Scotland are currently vacant. In Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which covers my constituency, there are the equivalent of seven full-time Parkinson's nurses for over 2,000 Parkinson's patients that the health board covers. Those nurses are spectacular. They do a tremendous job, but they are really not enough of them. I fully support the findings of the Parkinson's UK report and echo their calls for the Scottish Government not just to meet with the organisation but to discuss the implementation of the 13 recommendations. I recognise that there is great complexity with this disease. There are over 40 known symptoms, but that is not an excuse for inaction. Rather, it underlines why we need to take action now. It is down to each and every one of us in this chamber to provide the support to do so. However, I would like to spend the rest of my time, as others have done, talking about the fantastic work carried out by the Helensborough Parkinson's support group. There are currently over 150 people in my constituency living with the disease, and the group provides a constant source of help and support to them. During Parkinson's awareness week, they took to the streets and collected an incredible £1,100 for research. The group undertakes exactly what both those who are living with Parkinson's disease and their families need to make day-to-day life more manageable. They run weekly tai chi lessons. I am tempted to join in, but they do that because they understand that movement and balance exercises help with many of the most common Parkinson's side effects. Tai chi is also beneficial to mental health and wellbeing, which is, understandably, another aspect of an individual's health that can be affected by a Parkinson's diagnosis. The group also runs a number of trips out in social events that allow people to get together, socialise and share their experiences. I understand that strong drink might indeed be taken. However, when I spoke to the group to ask them if there was anything in particular, they wanted me to raise in this debate and their message was clear. They said that we need more research projects in Scotland, we need shorter waiting times for neurology appointments and we need more Parkinson's nurses and multidisciplinary teams for Parkinson's care. That is not me as a politician making a political point. That is a group of people united by a goal to find a cure for Parkinson's and to make their lives living with it more bearable. I urge the health minister and the Scottish Government to listen, to listen to those who understand the impact of a Parkinson's diagnosis the most and the time to act is now. I warmly congratulate Miles Briggs on his motion and on the debate. I thank Parkinson's UK and Scotland for an excellent briefing and for the work that they do year-round in raising awareness about Parkinson's and highlighting the steps that need to be taken to provide the services that we are going to need now and into the future. I echo Jackie Baillie's encouragement on the minister to meet with Parkinson's UK to discuss the report but, importantly, the implementation of its key recommendations. I took part in a similar debate last week on MS Awareness week and there are obvious similarities between the two neurological conditions. Both are complex. Both are very specific to each individual but can be devastating across the board in terms of their effects. There are similar numbers impacted by both conditions but the projections of a 20 per cent increase over the next decade and a 40 per cent increase over the next 20 years in Parkinson is a truly alarming prospect. It underscores the importance of taking steps now to ensure that we have the services in place to meet that growing demand. Specialist services absolutely cannot simply rely on a generic model that is important, although that support will be. The workforce planning will be absolutely essential, as we are already seeing, as others have observed, lengthy waits for neurological appointments across the country and a lack of full-time Parkinson's nurses to meet the current demand. I was struck from the briefing by the scale of the mental health dimension to the debate. The figures are staggering. 50 per cent of those with Parkinson's experience anxiety, 40 per cent suffer depression and a third also have dementia. Of course, that cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach Scotland-wide. We need to have flexible models of care. Parkinson's UK and Scotland are absolutely right when they say that services need to be matched to the needs of people locally and the local dimension. However, the way in which the services are delivered may differ across the country. There can be no question that the quality and accessibility of that service needs to remain absolutely consistent at present. Orkney has no resident consultant. We are reliant on NHS Grampian, which is already under serious pressure to meet the demand of those in the Grampian region. There is perhaps no great surprise, but there is also no specialist nurse in Orkney, unlike the specialist nurse for MS. We are reliant on a nurse based in Aberdeen who does what she can and provides excellent support, but on-going support at such a distance presents challenges. By way of example, I was made aware recently of an elderly constituent who became extremely unwell because of his Parkinson's medication. His GP was unable to sort out the problem, given its specialist nature, and his situation got progressively worse over a number of weeks. Not until the Parkinson's nurse was able to make the trip up from Aberdeen could a proper assessment be made, a change in treatment recommended and a reduction in the severity of my constituent symptoms be achieved. That is simply not good enough. I am grateful to Parkinson's UK for the efforts that they have been engaged in through the local Parkinson's community in Orkney, where a recent meeting in Kirkwall was extremely well attended, where there was a real appetite for establishing drop-in events, as well as tailored exercise classes for those with Parkinson's, matching what we have heard exists in other parts of the country. There is a strong demand, too, for a locally-based Parkinson's nurse to work in collaborations with other health professionals and AHPs. That was the subject of discussions that I understand last week between Parkinson's UK and the medical and nursing directors at NHS Orkney. I am told that those discussions were positive and a shared business plan is being developed with a view to working out how to proceed thereafter. I look forward to supporting those efforts. In the meantime, thank Miles Briggs again for bringing this debate and thank Parkinson's UK in Scotland for the support that they continue to provide by those who were affected by Parkinson's. Can I refer members to my register of interests? At the time that I was elected to Parliament in May 2016, I had the privilege of being employed by Parkinson's UK at a post that I relinquished following the election. I also add my thanks to Miles Briggs for tabling his motion, providing members with the opportunity to highlight the health and care challenges faced by the more than 12,000 of our constituents who battle Parkinson's in Scotland every day. As we heard, that number is set to rise by a fifth within the next decade and by 40 per cent within two decades. Many of the growing number of our constituents living with Parkinson's will have some or all of its debilitating symptoms—maybe a tremor, muscle stiffness or slow movement—but many may not, or they may have some or all of those symptoms to varying degrees or even at different times. How Parkinson's affects someone differs from person to person, often from day to day, even from hour to hour. That is why the care provided to someone with Parkinson's needs to be personal, needs to be specialist and needs to be tailored to the individual. However, we know from far too many of our constituents that despite the often heroic efforts of our health and social care workers, the care received by many living with Parkinson's does not always meet their individual needs. The financial cuts facing our health and social care partnerships, the shortage of doctors and specialist nurses, the rise in waiting times, are all laid bare by Parkinson's UK and their report People Parkinson's Scotland. We can seek examples of that in our constituencies. For a number of years, our recruitment crisis in NHS Ayrshire and Arran has left the region with just one specialist consultant geriatrician with an interest in Parkinson's instead of three working with just two Parkinson's nurses. As a result, some patients with Parkinson's have reported waiting more than a year for an appointment with their consultant, depriving them of the vital specialist care that they need. There is good work taking place in NHS Ayrshire and Arran to try to mitigate those problems and improve services for people with Parkinson's, in particular the development of multidisciplinary teams is an important step towards delivering more integrated person-centred care, but even the most effective service redesign is not a substitute for adequate resources. Parkinson's is a complex condition that requires specialist care. The expertise of consultants in Parkinson's nurses is essential, but too often it is just not available as quickly or as easily as it needs to be. In large parts of the south of Scotland region, there are also serious challenges relating to rurality and isolation. Around 12 per cent of people with Parkinson's live in remote or very remote communities, which can create an additional barrier to accessing the specialist care that is needed. I know in Dumfries and Galloway the fantastic work the small team of two Parkinson's nurses do to ensure as best they can that care is available across the region to those who live in rural and remote areas, despite the challenges that pose. Support, of course, is not just provided by our health and social care service. I mentioned earlier that I had the privilege of working for Parkinson's UK. I doubt that I've ever come across a more caring, compassionate professional group than the small team at Parkinson's UK in Scotland. They really do punch above their weight supporting people with Parkinson's often in truly innovative ways, I have to say, such as the recent campaign to raise awareness of Parkinson's, where buildings were lit up blue, including the artist town of Curcubrie, where Parkinson's UK fundraiser, Jan Matheson, and the local community lit up the whole town with examples of Billy Conley's artwork, giving it a new meaning to the big end turning the air blue. There's also a small army of volunteers to support the work of the charity, and I can tell members when you work with those volunteers, often living with Parkinson's themselves or caring for a loved one who is, and you realise they've given up their time to help others through, for example, running a local support group. I can tell you that is a truly humbling experience. I'm delighted to see that the number of support groups continues to grow, including the launch next month of a young person, Parkinson's café in Dumfries, to complement the excellent support group already in the town. I want to say a heartfelt thank you to Parkinson's UK in Scotland and the hundreds of volunteers for their dedication and support in my constituents and all those across Scotland who live with Parkinson's. I urge the Government to show that same commitment and to implement the recommendations of people Parkinson's Scotland and to help to ensure, in the wise words of Parkinson's UK, that we can bring forward the day when no one fears living with Parkinson's. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to be able to respond on behalf of the Government and add my congratulations to Miles Briggs on securing the debate. The Scottish Government wants people with Parkinson's to be active citizens to participate in and contribute to our society and to maintain their dignity and human rights. I therefore join with other members in paying tribute to the support that Parkinson's UK Scotland and others offer to help people with Parkinson's to live as well as possible for it as long as possible. I thank members from across the chamber for their considered contributions. I want to maybe talk about a couple that I'm not covering later in my speech. Lynn MacArthur's comments in relation to matters in his constituency, I had the privilege of attending Orkney for Orkney's annual NHS review, and I had the privilege of meeting with one of the patients who used the specialist MS nurse, and it was really interesting just to hear just how important that is, so I totally understand the desire for that to be available to people with Parkinson's in the Northern Isles, too. As is often the case, Mr MacArthur gave answers to many of the points in the work that is on-going, and there is fantastic work on going in terms of looking at how those issues can be addressed in the future in that area. There is definitely some particularly good teamwork going on up there to try to make sure that people with Parkinson's and other neurological conditions get the best possible support in Orkney. Jackie Baillie, I was particularly interested to hear the examples from her constituency. I won't rehearse them because she rehearsed them perfectly, but it gives me the opportunity to talk about another example of that, which is more holistic and sometimes not directly clinical support that people really need. I'm actually going to read out a tweet from SportScotland, who talked about last Thursday's debate and it's a hangover, but it shows how sport, physical activity and health can all come together. SportScotland was tweeting about a boxing club in Glasgow, Rocksteady, where they are fighting back against Parkinson's with a revolutionary exercise programme that says that they have dramatic results. That's really important because it's not just all about clinical, it's a wider support that we require. Going back to the points that members have made about Parkinson's UK Scotland and how they really pull that together from so many organisations and for so many people. As we've heard through the debate, Jackie Baillie and others' Parkinson's is a complex and progressive condition that currently affects over 12,000 people in Scotland. We've also heard that how over the next 20 years the prevalence is forecast to increase rapidly. We recognise that demand for support is growing faster than our traditional services were designed for, so change is therefore essential. The principles of the integration of health and care support are central to that, with a greater emphasis on joined-up services for people that need to access them and a focus on anticipatory and preventative care. The integration of health and social care support is therefore one of the most significant reforms for public service in Scotland. It's about ensuring that services are suitable and sustainable for the future, enabling those who use services to get the right support for them. I think that a number of members today made the point about how that has to be a personalised support for whatever their needs are and at any point in their care journey. Brian Whittle asked us to take a swing against neurological conditions as Government, and we have made it a priority within our programme for government to improve access to care and support for people with neurological conditions to enable them to live well on their own terms. Over the past 18 months, we have worked hard in collaboration with the neurological community to develop Scotland's first national action plan on neurological conditions. As Kenneth Gibson said, in his contribution, we are currently reviewing the responses to our consultation on the action plan and intend to publish that in final form later this year. The draft plan sets out some 17 commitments across integrated care and support services, and those were informed by what people told us about their lives, life experiences and their priorities. Those very much echo the findings of Parkinson UK's report, reassuring us that we are focusing on the right areas to make the difference that people want and that Scotland needs. A five-year plan aims to build a sustainable neurological workforce, improve the co-ordination of services and support and realise equitable and timely access to ensure that people experience high standards of person-centred care at the right time. I will touch on some of those in turn. Workforce planning, which has been raised by a number of members, Kenneth Gibson, has written to me on numerous occasions about this important matter, and it is one of the key areas that focuses on the action plan. We expect people with neurological conditions such as Parkinson's to have access to a range of care and support professionals to ensure appropriate management of their conditions. That includes specialist nurses, as was mentioned by Miles Briggs, Kenneth Gibson and Jackie Baillie. I think that just about everyone who contributed mentioned the fantastic work of the specialist nurses and how important they are. Since 2015, we have invested £2.4 million to enhance specialist nursing services and will be exploring delivery and workforce models to learn from what is working well. Our aim is to innovate and enhance existing services, ensuring that people can access the specialist services that they need. We will build on the progress that we have achieved to date over the past decade and the number of consultants with a neurology speciality has increased by over 50 per cent, but we need to continue that work and to make sure that we have the correct support. We have also introduced the real living wage for adult social care support workers. In addition, free personal care is now available to everyone assessed as requiring it no matter what their age is. I am looking at the time, so I will move a bit forward. As the motion rightly acknowledges, family and friends play an important role in supporting those with Parkinson's without the dedication of unpaid carers, the system would struggle to cope. That is one of the reasons why we introduced the carers act, which came into effect last April. The act puts in place a system of carers rights designed to listen to carers, improve consistency of support and prevent problems. It helps to sustain caring relationships and protect carers' health and wellbeing. The commitments in the national action plan, and I apologise that I have not managed to cover them all, should embed the carers act. The aim is for us to reduce the waiting times that people are having to experience. Part of that is the waiting times improvement plan, where we have announced an additional £70 million investment recently to target long waits with neurology being one of the specialities that has benefited. Just to summarise, because I see that I am well over time, Presiding Officer, this has been a really important debate. There is a lot of really good work going on, and I can assure members across the chamber that we work regularly with Parkinson's UK Scotland as one of the key partners that we consult when we are making decisions around not just Parkinson's but neurological conditions in general. As Brian Whittle indicated, there is a lot of that. Although those conditions might be very different, there are a lot of similarities in the requirements and support that we need to give. I thank Miles Briggs for bringing the debate to the chamber and everyone for their contributions.


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