MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENT Tuesday 27 January 2015 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 27 January 2015 CONTENTS Col. TIME FOR REFLECTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 TOPICAL QUESTION TIME ................................................................................................................................... 3 Women Prisoners (Interim Arrangements) ................................................................................................... 3 Average Speed Cameras (A9) ..................................................................................................................... 6 SMITH COMMISSION ........................................................................................................................................... 9 Statement—[John Swinney]. The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy (John Swinney) .......................................................................................................................................... 9 AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS LEGISLATION REVIEW GROUP REPORT .................................................................... 23 Statement—[Richard Lochhead]. The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment (Richard Lochhead) .............................. 23 PARTNERSHIP ACTION FOR CONTINUING EMPLOYMENT ..................................................................................... 35 Motion moved—[Fergus Ewing]. Amendment moved—[Lewis Macdonald]. The Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism (Fergus Ewing) ............................................................... 35 Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Lab) ........................................................................................... 40 Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) .............................................................................................. 45 Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP) .............................................................................................. 47 Margaret McCulloch (Central Scotland) (Lab) ............................................................................................ 50 Chic Brodie (South Scotland) (SNP) .......................................................................................................... 52 Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD) ......................................................................................................... 53 Adam Ingram (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (SNP) ....................................................................... 56 Drew Smith (Glasgow) (Lab) ...................................................................................................................... 58 Dennis Robertson (Aberdeenshire West) (SNP) ........................................................................................ 61 Christian Allard (North East Scotland) (SNP) ............................................................................................. 62 Paul Martin (Glasgow Provan) (Lab) .......................................................................................................... 65 Linda Fabiani (East Kilbride) (SNP)............................................................................................................ 67 Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con) ............................................................................................. 69 Siobhan McMahon (Central Scotland) (Lab) .............................................................................................. 71 Fergus Ewing .............................................................................................................................................. 74 BUSINESS MOTION ........................................................................................................................................... 78 Motion moved—[Joe FitzPatrick]—and agreed to. DECISION TIME ................................................................................................................................................ 79 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY 2015 ................................................................................................................... 82 Motion debated—[Stewart Maxwell]. Stewart Maxwell (West Scotland) (SNP) .................................................................................................... 82 Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab) ............................................................................................................... 85 Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP) ........................................................................................... 86 Jackson Carlaw (West Scotland) (Con) ..................................................................................................... 88 Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP) ............................................................................................................ 90 Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD) ......................................................................................................... 92 Anne McTaggart (Glasgow) (Lab) .............................................................................................................. 94 Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con) ................................................................................................ 95 Colin Keir (Edinburgh Western) (SNP) ....................................................................................................... 97 The Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages (Dr Alasdair Allan) ................................... 98 1 27 JANUARY 2015 2 remember something that happened so long ago?” Scottish Parliament I tell them this. Six million Jewish men, women and children were once murdered. Each one of Tuesday 27 January 2015 them deserves to be remembered. We must also remember the stories of those who survived. I [The Presiding Officer opened the meeting at want survivors like Zigi to know that their stories 14:00] will live on because I will retell them as an ambassador for the trust. Time for Reflection The Holocaust also holds particular relevance here in Scotland. The Nazis targeted the Jews of The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick): Good Europe for complete destruction. They persecuted afternoon. The first item of business is time for other groups, such as homosexuals, people with reflection. Our time for reflection leaders today are disabilities and Roma Gypsies. We know that Lucy Paterson and Kieran Smyth, pupils of St sectarianism is well documented here in Scotland. Andrew’s RC secondary school in Glasgow. There is on-going tension in our communities. The Lucy Paterson (St Andrew’s RC Secondary trust’s ambassadors around Scotland have seen School, Glasgow): Presiding Officer, ladies and first hand what happened when persecution was gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity to deliver allowed to reach its most extreme form under the today’s time for reflection. Nazi regime. Together we can work to highlight to people here in our communities why we must I am Lucy Paterson and this is Kieran Smyth. never again let such a disgraceful crime happen. We attend St Andrew’s RC secondary school in Glasgow. I will tell people what I saw and learned at Auschwitz. I want my children and my Last October, Kieran and I joined hundreds of grandchildren to know why we must never allow other students from Scotland to visit the Nazi the past to repeat itself. concentration and death camp Auschwitz- Birkenau as part of the Holocaust Educational Thank you for your time. Trust’s lessons from Auschwitz project. I will never forget seeing the belongings of children and babies on display. The clothes and shoes were tiny. There was a broken doll in a cabinet that had been taken from its owner before she was murdered. The doll in the cabinet that had been taken from its owner represented the broken lives of babies and children who had been torn from their parents. It is hard to believe that anybody could harm a tiny child in that way. These children did not know what was going on. Their innocence and vulnerability made it hard to look at the cabinet. I wonder to this day what the children murdered at Auschwitz could have grown up to do and become had they lived. Kieran Smyth (St Andrew’s RC Secondary School, Glasgow): The theme for Holocaust memorial day 2015 is “keep the memory alive”— something we must all strive to do. Lucy and I heard the testimony of Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipper as part of the project. Zigi told us that at Auschwitz he was stripped of his belongings. His clothes were taken, his head was shaved and valuables such as family photos were taken away from him. It is hard to imagine that Zigi and so many others who went through this tragedy were stripped of their identity. When I tell people about my experience of the project and ask them to remember the victims, I am sometimes asked, “Why? Why should we 3 27 JANUARY 2015 4 Topical Question Time secure environment for those with a mental health condition is a matter for the national health service. For example, there is the provision at the state hospital and in our