Former Conservative MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
I welcome any progress being made on seizing the illegal profits of drug dealers in Scotland, not least in Stranraer in my constituency. However, I am sure that the Secretary of State will agree that it is equally important for the Government to minimise the risk of these dangerous criminals striking again. Is he proud of the fact that these prisoners will be entitled to automatic early...
Ten years ago, the then Leader of the Opposition, now the Prime Minister, said that the aim of his pensions policy was to remove the stigma of means-testing for ever. Would the Secretary of State like to give the House a report on progress towards that aim in Scotland?
The stigma.
The Secretary of State's phoney bluster will do nothing to hide the fact that the Government have clearly failed on this issue. The simple fact is that 50 per cent. more pensioners are subject to means-testing in Scotland and must go cap in hand to the Chancellor for the stigma to which the Prime Minister referred 10 years ago. Is not a restoration of the earnings link and a substantial cut...
The Secretary of State implores us to look at the detail, but that shows Scotland's relegation to 36th in the world league for competitiveness. Is he proud of that record in government?
The simple fact is that Scotland's economy is not attracting or retaining the very best. The figures are indisputable, with gross domestic product growth consistently lagging behind the rest of the UK, at some 7 per cent. since 1995, business start-ups at only three quarters of the UK level, and manufacturing export levels continuing their seeming decline. What more will the Government do to...
Clearly, the Minister knows that it is important to get the energy mix right. So, too, does the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning in the Scottish Parliament, who said: "does it make sense, at the very time when climate change and the reduction of greenhouse gases have shot up the political agenda, to be planning the elimination of nuclear power?" Does the Minister agree...
Given the Minister's family interest in the issue, has she asked her colleagues for their views on why the fishing fleets of Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands are successful and are expanding while the Scots fleet has been decimated?
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) Scottish people aged 16 to 24, (b) Scottish people aged 25 or over and (c) Scottish people have entered a period of employment through the New Deal for longer than 13 weeks in each of the last four years; and what each figure is as a percentage of all individuals leaving the New Deal.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hours of scrutiny were given to each Bill relating exclusively to Scotland between 1997 and 1999, broken down by (a) Scottish Grand Committee, (b) House and (c) House of Lords.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what the latest date would be by which the orders implementing the Boundary Commission for Scotland's report on Parliamentary Boundaries in Scotland would have to take effect in order for an election in May 2005 to be contested on the new parliamentary constituencies; (2) what advice he has received from local authorities in Scotland about the...
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the percentage of (a) females and (b) males was among (i) initial applicants and (ii) successful candidates in each of the promotion and recruitment exercises for posts in the senior civil service and in Band C (formerly Grade 7) in the Scotland Office and the Scottish Office since 1 January 1994.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of successful applicants for the pension credit have elected to receive payments to Post Office Card Accounts to date.
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made of the number of independent newsagents that have closed during the last 12 months.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he proposes to update assessed average rental values used in the calculation of entitlement to housing benefit.
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her policy towards locational pricing structures for electricity transmission.
