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MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENT Tuesday 12 January 2016 Session 4 © Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Information on the Scottish Parliament’s copyright policy can be found on the website - www.scottish.parliament.uk or by contacting Public Information on 0131 348 5000 Tuesday 12 January 2016 CONTENTS Col. TIME FOR REFLECTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 BUSINESS MOTION ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Motion moved—[Joe FitzPatrick]—and agreed to. TOPICAL QUESTION TIME ................................................................................................................................... 4 Bird Flu (Suspected Case in Fife) ................................................................................................................. 4 Roadside Emissions Testing (Local Authority Powers) ................................................................................ 5 Hawick Knitwear (Administration) ................................................................................................................. 7 FLOODING ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 Statement—[John Swinney]. The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy (John Swinney) ........................................................................................................................................ 10 EDUCATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 Motion moved—[Angela Constance]. Amendment moved—[Iain Gray]. Amendment moved—[Liam McArthur]. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning (Angela Constance) .................................... 24 Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab) .................................................................................................................... 29 Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD) ......................................................................................................... 33 Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con) ............................................................................................. 36 George Adam (Paisley) (SNP) ................................................................................................................... 38 John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) .......................................................................................... 40 Gordon MacDonald (Edinburgh Pentlands) (SNP) ..................................................................................... 42 Cara Hilton (Dunfermline) (Lab) ................................................................................................................. 44 Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP) .................................................................................... 47 Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP) ........................................................................ 49 Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab) ..................................................................................................... 51 Stuart McMillan (West Scotland) (SNP) ..................................................................................................... 54 Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)............................................................................................................ 55 Colin Beattie (Midlothian North and Musselburgh) (SNP) .......................................................................... 57 Liam McArthur ............................................................................................................................................ 60 Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) .................................................................................................... 62 Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab).......................................................................................................... 64 Angela Constance ...................................................................................................................................... 67 BUSINESS MOTION ........................................................................................................................................... 71 Motion moved—[Joe Fitzpatrick]—and agreed to. DECISION TIME ................................................................................................................................................ 72 SCOTTISH LOCAL SHOP REPORT ...................................................................................................................... 79 Motion debated—[Gordon MacDonald]. Gordon MacDonald (Edinburgh Pentlands) (SNP) ..................................................................................... 79 James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart) (SNP) ................................................................................................. 82 Margaret McCulloch (Central Scotland) (Lab) ............................................................................................ 83 George Adam (Paisley) (SNP) ................................................................................................................... 85 Cameron Buchanan (Lothian) (Con) .......................................................................................................... 86 David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP) .............................................................................................................. 88 Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Lab) ........................................................................................... 90 The Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism (Fergus Ewing) ............................................................... 91 1 12 JANUARY 2016 2 Scottish Parliament “in the heat of the day.” It was siesta time, but the elderly couple provided Tuesday 12 January 2016 water for tired feet, rest in the cool of the shade and a sumptuous feast. The narrative ends with news of a baby that would lead to the birth of a [The Presiding Officer opened the meeting at child refugee, whom we call Jesus. 14:00] That story, which is shared by the Abrahamic Time for Reflection faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, tells how home is not necessarily where we are born or The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick): Good brought up. Home is where we are received and afternoon. The first item of business is time for welcomed and where we get recognition and reflection and our leader is the Rev Dr Robert respect. May God give us Abraham’s grace, so Calvert of the Steeple Church in Dundee. that migrants will be proud to call Scotland home. The Rev Dr Robert Calvert (The Steeple Church, Dundee): Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to come here and wish members of the Scottish Parliament a happy new year—if it is not too late to do that. If we learned one thing last month, it is that just a moderate increase in storm activity creates complete havoc across our land. Storm Frank made Scotland’s towns and glens into disaster sites. The other big issue that our continent and country face is refugees and migrants. It is not a new issue and it is not likely to end. In this era of the highest human migration in history, people travel from lands that are wasted by war and climate change. Before we returned to Scotland in 2014, my wife and I lived in Rotterdam for 19 years. Our home was on an island in Europe’s largest port city, where we were situated between Manhattan-style apartment blocks and office buildings along the River Maas. In the Netherlands they built dykes and barriers to protect the land from rising sea levels. The Dutch are used to water problems and that is why they have some of the world’s best marine engineers. My simple point is that, even if we can control water flows, we cannot do the same with migrants. We cannot control travellers and make them a commodity. Some social commentators speak of migration “flows” and “highways”, but when we use that language we disrespect those who are most affected by this humanitarian crisis. They must not be treated like excess water or bad weather. Being likened to traffic subtly changes migrants from humans into commodities, and when that happens we are little better than traffickers, who see those people as less than human. We think in terms of us and them. We can turn a tap on and off but we cannot turn off the coming and going of people who seek a better life. There is a little story in the middle of the Old Testament book of Genesis about Abraham giving hospitality to strangers. Three men arrived without warning 3 12 JANUARY 2016 4 Business Motion Topical Question Time 14:04 14:05 The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick): The Bird Flu (Suspected Case in Fife) next item of business is consideration of motion S4M-15292, in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, on 1. Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, which sets out To ask the Scottish Government what restrictions a revision to the business programme for today. it is implementing in response to the suspected case of bird flu in Fife. (S4T-01269)