Summary

  • The environment committee takes evidence on the environmental implications of Brexit from ministers

  • Urgent question from SNP MSP on Brexit transition agreement's impact on fishing industry

  • Labour MSP asks a topical question on water contamination at the Royal Hospital for Children

  • MSPs debate the Forestry and Land Management Bill at stage 3

  • Tory MSP leads a debate on Holodomor Remembrance Day

  1. That's all from Holyrood Live todaypublished at 19:25 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Tay Forest Park

    That's it from Holyrood Live this Tuesday 20 March 2018.

    MSPs unanimously voted to pass the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Bill, which will complete the full devolution of powers around forestry.

    The passage was not without extensive debate as opposition MSPs united to ensure Forestry Commission Scotland will not be made into a government department.

    Ministers must now bring forward plans to set up an executive agency or agencies to manage forest land, though the Scottish government has warned this may take some time as this option had not been previously considered.

    Opposition MSPs also united to remove the power for ministers to use compulsory purchasing powers for sustainable development purposes.

  2. Minister says for judiciary to designate Holodomor a genocide, but horror must never be forgottenpublished at 19:21 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    International Development and Europe Minister Alasdair AllanImage source, bbc
    Image caption,

    International Development and Europe Minister Alasdair Allan

    International Development and Europe Minister Alasdair Allan says he is no doubt this debate will increase awareness of this terrible event.

    Mr Allan welcomes the Urkainian ambassador and her team to the gallery.

    He says this "deplorable famine" could so easily have been avoided.

    Mr Allan says he understands the calls across the chamber to call Holodomor a genocide, but he says that is for judicial decision.

    He says this in no way lessens the government's horror at Holodomor.

  3. Labour MSP calls for Holodomor to be recognised as genocidepublished at 19:17 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Labour MSP Claire Baker

    Labour MSP Claire Baker says it is for politicians and historians to ensure messages of Holodomor are passed down the generations.

    Starvation is often a consequence of war but it can also be a man-made method of control, Ms Baker says.

    Since Holodomor was man-made, it should be recognised as a genocide she argues.

  4. Background: Eating horse skin 'saved our lives'published at 19:13 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    In the early 1930s, Nina Karpenko was a little girl living in a Ukrainian village when the Soviet Union's programme of enforced agricultural collectivisation brought famine and death to millions in the region.

    Now in her late 80s, Nina recalls the lengths her family had to go through to survive and says she considers herself lucky to be alive to tell the story.

    Original video produced by BBC Ukraine's Marta Shokalo and Albiy Shudrya.

  5. SNP MSP praises brave journalists for exposing Holdomorpublished at 19:08 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    SNP MSP Clare AdamsonImage source, bbc

    SNP MSP Clare Adamson says she first heard bout the Holodomor atrocity from her friend, formerly of this parish, Stefan Tymkewycz.

    Mr Tymkewycz is in the gallery for the debate this evening.

    Ms Adamson praise the bravery of journalists like the Manchester Guardian's Malcolm Muggeridge for shedding light on the horrific genocide.

  6. Postpublished at 19:03 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    Skip twitter post

    Allow Twitter content?

    This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    End of twitter post
  7. Background: Holodomor: Memories of Ukraine's silent massacrepublished at 19:02 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Tamer Hassan played Russian soldier Sergei in Bitter Watch, a film set against the backdrop of HolodomorImage source, Devil's Harvest Productions
    Image caption,

    Tamer Hassan played Russian soldier Sergei in Bitter Watch, a film set against the backdrop of Holodomor

    Over eighty years ago, millions of Ukrainians died in a famine that many label a genocide by the Soviet regime of Joseph Stalin.

    Ukrainians mark a Holodomor Remembrance Day every year on the fourth Saturday of November.

    Some historians, like Yale University's Timothy Snyder, who has done extensive research in Ukraine, place the number of dead at roughly 3.3 million. Others say the number was much higher.

    Whatever the actual figure, it is a trauma that has left a deep and lasting wound among this nation of 45 million.

    Entire villages were wiped out, and in some regions the death rate reached one-third. The Ukrainian countryside, home of the "black earth", some of the most fertile land in the world, was reduced to a silent wasteland.

    Read more here.

  8. Postpublished at 19:00 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    Skip twitter post

    Allow Twitter content?

    This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    End of twitter post
  9. 'We must not forget; we must remember them'published at 18:57 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Tory MSP Peter Chapman
    Image caption,

    Tory MSP Peter Chapman

    Tory MSP Peter Chapman admits until meeting the Ukraine Ambassador, he had never heard of Holodomor before.

    Now he knows, Mr Chapman says it is imperative to highlight to the world to brutality of the Stalin regime.

    Stalin systematically planned starvation and death in order to reclaim land, says the Tory MSP.

    The Soviet regime also forced people who tried to flee back to their home, knowing there was no food, he adds.

    The MSP notes that at its peak, 25,000 people per day died during Holodomor but the total death toll has never been known for sure.

    Mr Chapman labels Holodomor a genocide, adding "we must not forget; we must remember them."

  10. Background: Why did Holodomor happen?published at 18:56 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Stalin, Ukrainian women and remembrance artworkImage source, BBC/AP

    The "Holodomor" or "famine plague" as it is known in Ukraine, was part of Joseph Stalin's programme to crush the resistance of the peasantry to the collectivisation of farming.

    When in 1932 the grain harvest did not meet the Kremlin's targets, activists were sent to the villages where they confiscated not just grain and bread, but all the food they could find.

    The confiscations continued into 1933, and the results were devastating. No-one is sure how many people died, but historians say that in under a year at least three million and possibly up to 10 million starved to death.

    Just 16 countries have recognised Holodomor as an act of genocide, with most instead recognising it only as a tragedy.

  11. Here is the motionpublished at 18:54 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Tory MSP Peter Chapman's motion, which was originally lodged at the start of November, highlights Holodomor Remembrance Day which took place on 25 November 2017.

    Motion textImage source, Scottish parliament
  12. DPO welcomes Urkrainian ambassador to the UKpublished at 18:52 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Ambassador of the Ukraine to the UK Natalia GalibarenkoImage source, bbc
    Image caption,

    Ambassador of the Ukraine to the UK Natalia Galibarenko

    Deputy Presiding Officer Christine Grahame welcomes the Ambassador of the Ukraine to the UK Natalia Galibarenko.

  13. Turning to the debate on Holodomor Remembrance Day 2017published at 18:50 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    The Holodomor iconImage source, Alex Tora
    Image caption,

    The Holodomor icon

    Tory MSP will now lead a members' debate marking Holodomor Remembrance Day 2017.

  14. MSPs pass the Forestry Bill unanimouslypublished at 18:46 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018
    Breaking

    TreesImage source, Eric Niven

    MSPs unanimously pass the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Bill, external.

    This followed a number of amendments from across the chamber being passed at Stage 3.

  15. 'Scotland's woods and forests are of enormous importance to our people'published at 18:45 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing
    Image caption,

    Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing

    Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing says he has found today's parliamentary process "stimulating; hyper-stimulating at times."

    The role of the national forestry estate has been extended since its inception to cover conservation, tourism and renewable energy, Mr Ewing says.

    For staff working in forestry, it is a calling rather than a job, he says, adding that we want to preserve and protect these traditions for the next 100 years.

    He says future work must focus on increasing the use of Scottish timber and responding to the challenge of climate change.

    Mr Ewing pledges to continue engagement with trade unions with biannual meetings.

    "Scotland's woods and forests are of enormous importance to our people."

  16. Tory MSP says parliament has delivered new forestry structure for Scotlandpublished at 18:36 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Tory MSP Edward MountainImage source, bbc
    Image caption,

    Tory MSP Edward Mountain

    Tory MSP Edward Mountain says his party believes this Bill, as amended will work well for forestry.

    Mr Mountain welcomes improved planting tarets.

    He welcomes the new computer system and says "we are all praying that it works".

    The Tory MSP says, despite everyone not getting what they wanted, the parliament has delivered a new forestry structure for Scotland.

  17. 'Forestry's future is that of a growing sector'published at 18:33 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Labour MSP Claudia Beamish
    Image caption,

    Labour MSP Claudia Beamish

    Labour MSP Claudia Beamish says "forestry's future is that of a growing sector", but also of new challenges in terms of planting and sustainability.

    This parliament has made the right choices with the right structures for governance, she says.

    The MSP states there have been 100 years of success under current arrangements and it would not continue if it were under the influence of the "changeable whim" of ministers.

    Planting and subdividing land into smaller plots can empower local communities, Ms Beamish says.

    "I'm eager to support the Bill as amended," she concludes.

  18. Postpublished at 18:27 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    Skip twitter post

    Allow Twitter content?

    This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    End of twitter post
  19. Bill is example of 'parliament working at its best' says Lib Dem MSPpublished at 18:16 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles
    Image caption,

    Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles

    Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles says the amended Bill is an example of "parliament working at its best".

    He says the work really begins now to see the forestry sector grow.

  20. Green MSP cites very postive scrutiny of the Forestry Billpublished at 18:09 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2018

    Green MSP John FinnieImage source, bbc
    Image caption,

    Green MSP John Finnie

    Green MSP John Finnie says this has been very postive scrutiny of the Forestry Bill.

    Mr Finnie says he was happy to support Peter Chapman's amendments supporting the importance of cross-border cooperation on tree health.

    He says this is a dynamic sector facing challenges and sustainability is key.

    The Green MSP says forestry is an important sector that will require important scrutiny by this parliament.