"For most of us, Christmas is the time for a well-earned break. The office gets locked up and emails are met with an out of office reply. 

"Those of us who are able to sign off, do so with an easy mind, knowing that we’re going to be able to get to where we’re going and enjoy ourselves during our stay. 

"I’d like to single out one particular group of people this Christmas – and that’s those people who are going to be working over the Christmas weekend. 

"First and foremost that’s the NHS staff, police and emergency services who give up time with their own families in order to make sure ours are safe. 

"But it’s also the assistant at the 24-hour petrol station, the pot washer in the hotel kitchen, and the delivery worker on night shift who are out there this weekend, earning a living, keeping the country ticking over. Doing their jobs so we can enjoy our break.

"Often the work they do goes unnoticed or is taken for granted. Perhaps it’s only at Christmas and New Year that the rest of us really see it. So it’s time for a very overdue thank you. For Christians like me and for people of all faiths and none, Christmas is a time of hope and new life. It’s a time of comfort and celebration, and of new beginnings and looking to the future. 

"I hope that for everyone in Scotland, this Christmas delivers that for you and your family."