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MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENT Wednesday 14 September 2005 Session 2 £5.00 Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body 2005. Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to the Licensing Division, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ Fax 01603 723000, which is administering the copyright on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. Produced and published in Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by Astron. CONTENTS Wednesday 14 September 2005 Debates Col. TIME FOR REFLECTION .................................................................................................................................. 19015 FERRY SERVICES (CLYDE AND HEBRIDES) ..................................................................................................... 19017 Motion moved—[Tavish Scott]. Amendment moved—[Fergus Ewing]. Amendment moved—[Mr David Davidson]. Amendment moved—[Tommy Sheridan]. The Minister for Transport and Telecommunications (Tavish Scott) ....................................................... 19017 Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP) ................................................................... 19023 Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con) ..................................................................................... 19027 Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP) ......................................................................................................... 19030 Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab) .......................................................................... 19032 George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD) ........................................................................................................ 19034 Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP) ...................................................................................................... 19036 Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con) ...................................................................................................... 19038 Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) ................................................................................. 19039 Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green) .............................................................................................................. 19042 Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab) .............................................................................. 19044 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) ............................................................................................ 19046 Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab) ....................................................................................... 19048 Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con) .......................................................................................... 19050 Tommy Sheridan ..................................................................................................................................... 19052 Mr Alasdair Morrison (Western Isles) (Lab) ............................................................................................. 19054 Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con) ................................................................................. 19057 Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) ............................................................................................. 19060 Tavish Scott ............................................................................................................................................. 19063 BUDGET PROCESS (WRITTEN AGREEMENTS) ................................................................................................. 19067 Motions moved—[Des McNulty]. BUSINESS MOTION ........................................................................................................................................ 19068 Motion moved—[Ms Margaret Curran]—and agreed to. PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU MOTIONS .............................................................................................................. 19070 Motions moved—[Ms Margaret Curran]. DECISION TIME ............................................................................................................................................. 19072 FUTURE OF CROFTING .................................................................................................................................. 19082 Motion debated—[John Farquhar Munro]. John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD) ............................................................... 19082 Mr Alasdair Morrison (Western Isles) (Lab) ............................................................................................. 19084 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) ............................................................................................ 19086 Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con) ................................................................................. 19087 Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green) ....................................................................................... 19089 Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD) ............................................................. 19091 Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) ................................................................................. 19092 Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) ............................................................................................. 19093 Mr Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) ................................................................................ 19095 The Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Rhona Brankin) ................................... 19096 19015 14 SEPTEMBER 2005 19016 can we apologise when we get it wrong? Are we Scottish Parliament destined forever to hate, or do we have the courage to forgive? Wednesday 14 September 2005 A tone of anger has entered public debate since [THE PRESIDING OFFICER opened the meeting at 9/11 and 7/7 that frankly terrifies me, as if there 14:30] really were a clash of civilisations instead of what there is—a clash within each group between moderates and extremists, those who care for freedom and those who care only for victory at Time for Reflection whatever cost. Long ago, Moses set us a challenge, which still resonates: The Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid): Good afternoon. The first item of business, as every “Behold I set before you life and death, the blessing and Wednesday, is time for reflection. Our time for the curse, therefore choose life so that you and your children may live.” reflection leader today is Sir Jonathan Sacks, the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Let us choose life and choose it together. Let us the Commonwealth. focus on the future and forgive the past. Sir Jonathan Sacks (Chief Rabbi of the May you have a blessed new year, and may United Hebrew Congregations of the God be with you in all you do. Commonwealth): We in the Jewish community are fast approaching the holy of holies of the Jewish year: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the new year and the day of atonement. These are days in which we engage in honest self- examination. We ask ourselves not what did we do right, but what did we do wrong. We use two ideas that between them have the power to change the world. The first is apology; the second is forgiveness. They are the only ideas that have the strength to break the grip of the past. Apology and forgiveness tell us that we can mend fractured relationships. We can acknowledge our errors and begin again. We cannot rewrite the past, but we can write a different future. Homo sapiens is the only form of life known to us that can say, “I did wrong. I am sorry. Let us work together to make it different next time.” Human beings are the only species that can forgive. That matters now more than I can say. Today, for the first time in my lifetime, we stand at a crossroads in history—not the history of Scotland alone, or Britain, or even Europe, but of the world. Let me be precise. What we face is not, as some have said, a clash of civilisations. What we face is a clash within civilisations: within Christianity, Judaism and Islam and within the great secular humanist tradition so proudly associated with this city—the tradition of Adam Smith, Adam Fergusson and David Hume. The question splitting us apart is how we deal with change—unprecedented, anxiety-creating change. Do we deal with it with confidence or with fear, with reason or with inflammatory emotion? Do we seek to impose our views by terror and rage, or do we use the great institutions of what Adam Fergusson called civil society—the willingness to make space for the people not like us? Are we convinced that we are always right, or 19017 14 SEPTEMBER 2005 19018 Ferry Services tendering. We have carefully considered all those proposals and comments and we have raised, (Clyde and Hebrides) debated and analysed each option with the European Commission. We have also taken legal The Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid): The opinion, both internal and external, on the options. next item of business is a debate on motion S2M- On Monday, I wrote to the Local Government and 3253, in the name of Tavish Scott, on Clyde and Transport Committee enclosing a detailed paper Hebrides lifeline ferry services. setting out the reconsideration
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