FMQs 11 June 2009

Apologies for the lateness of this post. Accessing the Sky recording wasn't possible until a short time ago.

Kick-off with Iain Gray was a question concerning repossessions of homes and he considered the Scottish government hadn't done enough in this area. England have a much better system. Yes of course they do Mr Gray and you are determined we shall do everything England does. Is there a week goes by when he doesn't mention England? I can't recall one, but of course his questions come from London so it's natural he would do a comparison isn't it.

Mr Salmond reiterated the progress of the new legislation plus the fact that the SNP government had built more social housing than the last administration and he welcomed Mr Gray's offer to assist with the legislation. Mr Gray offered to bring the labour party to the Parliament during the summer recess to vote on the new Bill, but I very much doubt such a situation would happen.

Annabel Goldie's point of the week was more and more court fines are unpaid. "Not as many as under the tories" was the retort. Ouch! It never ceases to surprise me why courts issue fines when they know full well they won't be paid in many cases.

It was Tavish Scott's question which raised most interest and that was to ask if the FM intended to intervene in the Setanta crisis which would affect SPL clubs. The FM stated there was nothing he could do, although he was extremely concerned, being a football supporter himself. He told the chamber he could not give public money to clubs and he couldn't see any role for the government. However, he said if Mr Scott had any ideas about how he could help he was willing to discuss them.

So, for football-loving readers, all is not quite lost where Setanta in concerned. The solution for Scottish football clubs now lies firmly in the hands of Tavish Scott.

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FMQs 3 June 2009

FMQs was a day early because Holyrood is closed for chamber business today as MSPs are to be out campaigning.   George Foulkes isn't happy but it seems this has become normal practice for the day of the European elections.

Both Ian Gray and Annabel Goldie questioned the First Minister on his refusal, at last week's FMQs, to reveal another person had absconded from the open estate.  All rather tedious really as Alex Salmond answered by reiterating what he said last week plus quoting the Chief Constable of Tayside and various other police agencies which agreed with his stance.

Tavish Scott asked if the First Minister would be present in the chamber next Wednesday for a serious debate or would be be attending Westminster to vote for a general election.  Alex Salmond retorted he would be at Westminster where the libdems supported the nationalist proposal.

One constituency question of importance was asked by Hugh Henry with regard to the 4 people who have been diagnosed with swine flu and are being treated in intensive care.  The FM assured Mr Henry that all health services are co-operating fully and 88 cases of the virus had now been identified in Scotland. Testing is now faster thereby allowing earlier treatment.

At close of play it was Angus McLeod's chance to be referee.  He was surprised Annabel Goldie had questioned on the same subject as Ian Gray but had since discover she had wished her question to be about the First Minister's expenses as an MP.  The Presiding Officer had insisted that would be out of order. Auch well, we all win some and lose some.

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Ian Gray Makes Formal Complaint against First Minister

Lord Steele and George Reid are to investigate a prison escape complaint made by Ian Gray.  The complaint has been referred by the First Minister to a panel comprising of the two former Presiding Officers.

Labour has accused Mr Salmond of an inexcusable failure to mention, in Holyrood exchanges last Thursday, that inmate John Brown, serving life for murder, had absconded the previous day from Castle Huntly open prison near Dundee.  The exchanges concerned an earlier absconding by a different Castle Huntly prisoner who handed himself into police after a week on the run.

In a letter to Mr Gray, Mr Salmond said: "I believe your complaint to be publicity-driven rather than procedural, and pursued without any solid basis whatsoever.  However, I set up the independent procedure for the purpose of referring complaints to the panel of former Presiding Officers.  On that basis I have made the reference that you requested to the panel."

What a waste of public money.  Labour are so devoid of policies that the only way they can substantiate their presence in the Scottish Parliament is by behaving in this immature manner. We know Alex Salmond had complete support from the police service for not making any public statement prior to their own, so what does Ian Gray expect to gain from this?  It certainly can't be votes.

 

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FMQs 14 May 2009

Apologies for the lateness of this post but the sunshine took priority today.

The knives were out today at FMQs and in more ways than one.  Ian Gray delivered his three questions in a more than usual pedestrian manner, accusing Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, of being the life and soul of parties in the US and Canada when he should have been attending a knife crime conference here in Scotland.  This subject is quite a few months old but it seems the labour party wished to usurp the tories who had previously let it be known knife crime would be their subject today.

Alex Salmond stated the relevant minister, Fergus Ewing, had attended the conference, knife crime had reduced and there were more police on the streets.  He also mentioned Mr Gray hadn't been present at the conference, which made anyone wonder why they were making such a fuss about the absence of Kenny MacAskill.  Did I feel Mr Gray was just a wee bit envious of Mr MacAskill's jaunt across the pond?

Ms Goldie's subject was also knife crime and asked what further action Mr Salmond intended to undertake.  His response was much the same as given to Mr Gray although he asked Ms Goldie to celebrate the increase of police on the streets.

Tavish Scott's question related to redundancies announced by BT and how they would affect the many BT jobs in Scotland. He asked Alex Salmond to intervene to ensure as many Scottish jobs would be saved. Mr Salmond detailed a number of occasions when ministers had helped in such situations but also said intervention wasn't always successful and shouldn't be thought as a solution.

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FMQs 7 May 2009

A windy Thursday in Edinburgh I believe and another FMQs in the Scottish Parliament.  The First Minister opened his answers with asking everyone to appreciate the benefit the Scottish parliament has been to Scotland over the past 10 years although he of course qualified it by saying further powers were required.

Ian Gray gave a spirited performance listing the SNP government's 'broken promises' but if he expected to land a hit on the First Minister, he was disappointed.  Alex Salmond had his own written list of successes in the past two years and it was like a game of ping-pong watching the old sound bites whisking back and forth.

Annabel Goldie (rather smart hairdo Annabel) tried hard to achieve an answer to her question which was where was the First Minister intending to make the cuts in the light of the £500m deficit imposed on Scotland from the Westminster budget.  The First Minister mentioned an all party committee had been organised but he did not give a detailed response to her question. A very difficult question this was for Alex Salmond and one which I think he has certainly discussed with John Swinney and others, although I'm sure they will not make their opinions public until it is absolutely necessary.

Tavish Scott broached the subject of al-Megrahi and the Libyan authorities request for his transfer stating he wished that al-Megrahi should serve his sentence in Scotland. As with all legal matters it was a balancing act of information, but not much of it, from the First Minister. He reiterated what he said in 2007 that it would have been "greatly preferred if the judicial processes of Scotland were allowed to take their course."  He repeated that the decision which is made by the justice secretary will not be made on economic grounds or political grounds but judicial grounds alone.

A couple of backbencher questions completed the BBC TV recording session. I really must listen to it on radio and because removing the cameras from the Chamber when there is still a third of FMQs to be heard, is becoming more and more frequent.  Why can't we just see the whole 30 minutes?  I can't see any problem.

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FMQs, Scottish Parliament

It's a dreich day here, a kind of wish-I-could-stay-in-my-bed day.  When the Leader of the Labour parliamentary group in the Scottish Parliament rose to his feet at 12 noon, I'm sure he was thinking exactly the same.  With his monotone voice and clasping hands I always feel he's in the wrong job and should have sought employment with the church.

I'm informed Mr Gray practises his weekly FMQ questions until he is word perfect, so, with great skill he glued his eyes to his prompt sheet and blethered on about training places and apprenticeships, accusing the SNP of doing away with apprenticeships. Then he stated that England had 7.5 million (yes million) government funded training places and the SNP needed to up their game.

By this time Mr Salmond was well into his stride continually mentioning the blunder the Rt. Hon James Purnell had made recently in Westminster regarding the use of EU funding for training and apprenticeships.  We have 60,000 places in Scotland and that is a higher percentage than England offers per head.  Kindly, Mr Salmond suggested Mr Gray check his figures.

Next it was the turn of the Lady Annabel, resplendent in navy and a flattering shade of deep cerise.  Holyrood must be employing a makeup artist these days as Annabel's rouge, (blusher that is to younger readers), complimented her blouse to perfection.  Annabel wanted to know if oor Alex intended to let the Lockerbie bomber go home.  Alex responsed, in voce seria, he could not directly reply to her as the matter would come before him in the future.  He did agree there had been meetings (with both the Scottish and Westminster governments) requested by the Libyan government but they were purely factual concerning Scottish Law.

Now it was the turn of Lavish Tavish, looking stunning (or stunned - you choose) in his hand-made suit and satsuma tie.  I'm convinced he was on tip toe as he pulled himself to his full height and (obliquely) called the FM a liar.  He rambled on about Alex saying the issue of funding for the Interfaith Council had not been resolved prior to last week's FMQs.  Alex insisted it had been resolved on 20 December when Fergus Ewing had spoken with the head of the IC and assured him funding would be provided.  Tavish couldn't give up, he wanted letters, emails, evidence, yes evidence.  Alex patiently tried to explain that, when a government Minister agrees something either verbally or in writing, that should be enough.  Not for Lavish Tavish - oh no.

The questions followed the usual pattern for another ten minutes then it was back to BBC Brian and that SNP loving journalist Alan Cochrane to analyse the event.  

I shall bore you no further.

Update:  It appears the Presiding Officer has asked the standards committee to look into the matter because of the number of MSPs who have signed some piece of paper.  Well it will keep the standards committee occupied for a while.

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