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Meeting of the Parliament MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENT Wednesday 28 January 2009 Session 3 £5.00 Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body 2009. 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 RR Donnelley. CONTENTS Wednesday 28 January 2009 Debates Col. TIME FOR REFLECTION .................................................................................................................................. 14401 BUDGET (SCOTLAND) (NO 2) BILL: STAGE 3 ................................................................................................. 14403 Motion moved—[John Swinney]. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney) ........................................ 14403 Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab) ................................................................................................................ 14408 Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con) ............................................................................................. 14412 Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD) ...................................................................... 14415 Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee West) (SNP) ..................................................................................................... 14417 James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab) ................................................................................................ 14419 Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP) .................................................................................................. 14421 Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab)........................................................................................................... 14424 David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con) ....................................................................................... 14425 Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD) .................................................................................................................. 14427 Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP) .......................................................................................................... 14430 Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab) .......................................................................................... 14432 Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green) ........................................................................................................... 14433 Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind) .......................................................................................................... 14435 Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab) ............................................................................................................. 14437 Keith Brown (Ochil) (SNP) ....................................................................................................................... 14440 Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) ...................................................................................................... 14442 Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD) ...................................................................... 14444 Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con) ................................................................................................................. 14446 David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab) ................................................................................... 14448 John Swinney .......................................................................................................................................... 14452 BUSINESS MOTIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 14455 Motions moved—[Bruce Crawford]—and agreed to. PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU MOTIONS .............................................................................................................. 14457 Motions moved—[Bruce Crawford]. DECISION TIME ............................................................................................................................................. 14458 KNIGHTSWOOD YOUTH THEATRE ................................................................................................................... 14463 Motion debated—[Bill Kidd]. Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP) ....................................................................................................................... 14463 Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab) .................................................................................................... 14465 Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con) ..................................................................................................................... 14466 Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP) ............................................................................................................... 14467 The Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture (Linda Fabiani) .................................................... 14468 14401 28 JANUARY 2009 14402 And in this week, and in this year, we remember Scottish Parliament Robert Burns, who captures in words our love of nature, our spirit of romance and adventure and Wednesday 28 January 2009 patriotism, our disdain for sham in church and nation— [THE PRESIDING OFFICER opened the meeting at 14:30] ―an honest man‘s the noblest work of God‖— and expresses the universal vision of what we Time for Reflection hope for, and God intends, for ourselves and for everyone. The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson): ―For a‘ that, and a‘ that, Good afternoon. As always on a Wednesday It‘s comin yet for a‘ that, afternoon, the first item of business is time for That Man to Man the warld o‘er, reflection. I am delighted that our time for Shall brothers be for a‘ that.‖ reflection leader today is the Right Rev David The glory of God is a human being fully alive. Lunan, the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Let us pray. Right Rev David Lunan (Moderator of the God bless Scotland, Guard her children, General Assembly of the Church of Scotland): Guide her leaders, St John, after a lifetime of reflection, tried to And grant us peace. explain for a wider audience, using the language of Greek philosophy, the universal significance of Amen. the Christ event—God coming to earth, God becoming human. It is all about becoming human. He wrote: ―In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.‖ St Irenaeus later wrote: ―The glory of God is a human being fully alive.‖ And it is words, more than anything else, that shape our lives and define our humanity. You and I use words a lot. They are our stock-in-trade. We need them to describe, explain, persuade and inspire. Words are powerful, for good or ill, and words are precious. It would be an interesting lunch conversation to recall the words, the verses, the songs and the proverbs that we learned long ago from our parents and teachers but which still influence our thinking. Scotland is rich in such sayings: ―What‘s for you will no go by you‖; ―We‘re all Jock Tamson‘s bairns‖; ―He‘s got a good conceit of himself‖; ―Keep a calm souch‖; ―It‘ll all be the same in a hundred years.‖ There is also, ―Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.‖ [Laughter.] I wrote this three weeks ago. Those are not just couthy old saws; they are words that have shaped our psyche. They have a wisdom worth returning to, coming home to, worth telling our children about—―I don‘t care who writes their laws, but let me write their ballads.‖ 14403 28 JANUARY 2009 14404 Budget (Scotland) (No 2) Bill: investment that we want to bring forward and that the Opposition has demanded. That would have a Stage 3 crippling impact on jobs and services in all our constituencies. The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson): The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M- Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and 3299, in the name of John Swinney, on the Budget Kincardine) (LD): Will the cabinet secretary give (Scotland) (No 2) Bill. I remind members that the way? Presiding Officers no longer give a one-minute John Swinney: Perhaps Mr Rumbles will warning before the end of a speech. The debate is explain how he would solve the problem. oversubscribed, so members must be careful to ensure that they do not exceed the time allocated Mike Rumbles: Will the Cabinet Secretary for to them. Finance and Sustainable Growth confirm that, if we do not agree to the budget bill this afternoon, he has ample time to bring back to Parliament 14:34 another budget that we can vote on and which can The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and be implemented in the new financial year? Sustainable Growth (John Swinney): I hope that John Swinney: If Mr Rumbles is in any way in the moderator was speaking to all members of the touch with the local authority that he represents, Parliament when he said, ―Look after the pennies he will know that it intends to set its council tax on and the pounds will look after themselves.‖ 12 February to allow for its efficient collection. It
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