Jamie McGrigor, Highlands & Islands MSP, praised BBC Alba in yesterday evening’s Member’s debate on the channel.

Jamie’s colleague Ted Brocklebank had his Member’s debate on the subject of BBC Alba.

Ted’s motion was: S3M-06991# Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): Congratulations to BBC Alba— That the Parliament congratulates the BBC Alba partnership on two years of what it considers to be its groundbreaking achievements in Gaelic broadcasting, including securing exclusive coverage of Scottish football, rugby and national cultural events; believes that BBC Alba has established itself as a cornerstone of public service broadcasting and an important source of commissioning revenue for the independent production sector, and would welcome steps for the widening of the distribution of BBC Alba by licensing its transmission on Freeview, the popular digital television platform, so as to allow full access to it for viewers throughout Scotland.

Supported by: Jamie Hepburn, Elizabeth Smith, Nanette Milne, Dr Alasdair Allan, Bill Aitken, Jamie McGrigor, Robin Harper, Murdo Fraser, Brian Adam, Bill Kidd, Pauline McNeill, Gil Paterson, Sandra White, Mary Scanlon, John Park, Ken Macintosh, Stuart McMillan, Dave Thompson, Linda Fabiani, Johann Lamont, Cathy Jamieson


Please see below Jamie’s speech.

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): I am delighted to speak in tonight's debate, and I congratulate my friend Ted Brocklebank on securing it. It is of particular importance and interest to many of my constituents in the Highlands and Islands, especially in Stornoway and the Western Isles, where I started my political career in 1996. I remember that I had a leaflet printed that said that the Conservatives had put £16 million into Gaelic. I wanted to emphasise that, so I got it translated into Gaelic. Unfortunately, the translator got the word for million wrong, and there was an article in the next Sunday Express that said that the Conservatives were putting £16 billion into Gaelic. I do not know what the TaxPayers Alliance would have thought of that—although it did me no harm.

The Scottish Conservatives have always been supportive of BBC Alba, and I pay tribute to all those who work for the channel and their achievements over the past two years. It really is an interesting channel. We agree with Bòrd na Gàidhlig that support for BBC Alba is essential for Gaelic's future and that its availability on Freeview is vital. The fact that BBC Alba is watched by many more people than there are Gaelic speakers is a strong demonstration of the quality of its programmes, but it remains a real concern that fewer than one in four television sets can receive it as it is currently available only on satellite and online platforms. That means that many of my constituents in the Highlands and Islands, many of whom are Gaelic speakers, are excluded from BBC Alba. That is surely unacceptable, and it must be addressed by the BBC trust.

All of us are impatient for a statement by the BBC trust, and we expect one before the end of the month. Given that we are going through the changeover from analogue to digital, now seems a good time for BBC Alba to be transmitted on Freeview. Many more viewers would be given access to BBC Alba who cannot get it on the ordinary analogue channels at the moment. When the BBC trust finally makes a decision—we hope that it will be positive—the channel can expect to gain an additional 150,000 to 180,000 viewers. The number of people who might lose their television radio, so to speak, is probably only about 3,000 or 4,000. That would be difficult for them, but they could always tune in somewhere else and it would be marvellous how many more viewers would be able to see BBC Alba.

In preparing for today's debate, I consulted my friend and constituent Brigadier John MacFarlane, who sings in the Taynuilt Gaelic choir. He rightly emphasised how beneficial BBC Alba had been in furthering youth interest in Gaelic culture, in the development of the language and in increasing people's vocabulary. He also praised the range and quality of the programmes on BBC Alba, describing "Eòrpa" as one of the best and most authoritative current affairs programmes available.

In a very short time, BBC Alba has established a formidable reputation and is rightly seen as one of the best ways of sustaining and promoting our Gaelic heritage, culture and language. We look to the BBC trust to take account of the consensus of people across Scotland and the political will of all parties in the Parliament by ensuring that more people can enjoy the channel by allowing it to be made available on Freeview.