Meeting of the Parliament
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MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENT Wednesday 27 June 2007 Session 3 £5.00 SCP00000030 _ 0001 © Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body 2007. 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 1 BQ 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. SCP00000030_0002 CONTENTS Wednesday 27 June 2007 Debates Col. TIME FOR REFLECTION .................................................................................................................................... 1123 POINT OF ORDER ............................................................................................................................................ 1125 BUSINESS MOTION .......................................................................................................................................... 1126 Motion moved-[Bruce Crawford]-and agreed to. TRANSPORT ...................................................................................................................................................1127 Statement-[Stewart Stevenson]. The Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change (Stewart Stevenson) .............................. 1127 TRANSPORT ...................................................................................................................................................113 7 Motion moved-[John Swinney]. Amendment moved-[Ms Wendy Alexander]. Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab) .............................................................................................. 1137 Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con) ............................................................................................... 1140 Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD) ..................................................................................................................... 1142 Gil Paterson (West of Scotland) (SNP) ..................................................................................................... 1145 Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab) .................................................................................................. 114 7 Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green) ............................................................................................................. 1149 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) .............................................................................................. 1151 David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con) ......................................................................................... 1153 Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab) .............................................................................. 1156 Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD) ..................................................................................................... 1158 Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) .......................................................................................... 1160 Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab) ............................................................................................................. 1163 Tricia Marwick (Central Fife) (SNP) ........................................................................................................... 1165 Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab) ................................................................................................. 1166 Alison Mcinnes (North East Scotland) (LD) ............................................................................................... 1168 Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con) ............................................................................................ 1171 Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab) ......................................................................................... 1173 The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney) .......................................... 1175 BUSINESS MOTION .......................................................................................................................................... 1179 Motion moved-[Bruce Crawford]-and agreed to. SCOTTISH PARLIAMENTARY CORPORATE BODY MOTION .................................................................................. 1180 Motion moved-[Tom McCabe]. PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU MOTIONS ................................................................................................................ 1181 Motions moved-[Bruce Crawford]. POINTS OF ORDER .......................................................................................................................................... 1183 DECISION TIME ...............................................................................................................................................1185 POINTS OF ORDER .......................................................................................................................................... 1192 TARTAN DAY CELEBRATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 1195 Motion debated-[Andrew Welsh]. Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP) ................................................................................................................... 1195 David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con) ......................................................................................... 1197 Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP) ................................................................................................................ 1198 John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD) ................................................................. 1199 Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab) .............................................................................................. 1200 The Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture (Linda Fabiani) ...................................................... 1202 SCP00000030 _ 0003 SCP00000030 _ 0004 1123 27 JUNE 2007 1124 The rules of this speaking spot and my limited Scottish Parliament knowledge prevent me from reflecting on a solution to the issue. All that I do know is that, Wednesday 27 June 2007 living in a tied house in a hot spot of the property market, I am in a better position than some to [THE PRESIDING OFFICER opened the meeting at remind my neighbours and friends that, even if 14:30] they do not live in the same streets, the poor are still with them. Such awareness of our common humanity will enrich their lives in ways that no Time for Reflection amount of capital appreciation could. [Applause.] The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson): Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, and our leader today is the Rev George Whyte of Colinton parish church in Edinburgh. The Rev George Whyte (Colinton Parish Church): Jesus said: "The poor you will always have with you", but he did not know about my parish on the south side of Edinburgh. Not only have we managed to exclude the poor by having no social housing, the booming property market is now stripping out people on other income levels, too. If there is such a thing as a sink estate, I am the minister of a swim suburb. The parish of Colinton, perhaps like some others, is becoming a monoculture of double income professional couples, most of whom work in the financial sector. They are not bad people far from it-but as Evelyn Waugh once said, it is neither the quality nor the quantity but the variety that is the problem in a place where only a narrow stratum of the community can afford to live. With a family house starting at more than £250,000, we will simply not have the teachers, the police officers, the nurses, the social workers, the shop assistants, the office staff, the bank clerks and the stay-at-home parents who have in the past provided the range of talents and availability that makes a community work. The super-busy, target driven, not-home-till-seven people who can buy into my parish do not have the time to lead our youth organisations or, indeed, to get to know their neighbours. The social divisions that rightly concern this Parliament have an effect on those who might be considered to be on the right side of the divide. It is true that, when the so-called successful in our suburban communities live only with people who are just like them, there is an isolation from the pressing, basic needs of those who are less fortunate. When the dinner party chat is so focused on equity release, there is little stomach for discussing how life is for those who cannot join the property ladder or those who must commute ever-longer distances to service the city's life, never mind those who struggle for survival in the developing world. SCP00000030 _ 0005 1125 27 JUNE 2007 1126 Point of Order Business Motion 14:33 14:35 Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): On a point of The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson): The order, Presiding Officer. I want to raise a point of next item of business is consideration of business order that is germane both to the ministerial motion S3M-247, in the name of Bruce Crawford, statement and to the motion on transport that we on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out will debate this afternoon. a revision to the business programme.