Former Scottish National Party MSP for West of Scotland
I suppose I must declare an interest. When I was coming up the road, David Davidson told me that he supposed that I would be speaking today. I asked, "Why is that?" and he replied, "On grounds of antiquity." No one has tried to define older people. It is funny—the young people in the gallery probably think that older people are 30. When someone is 30, they think that old is 45, and when...
I could not possibly disagree with Helen Eadie in this instance. That is just great and really good to know. The second benefit of people taking non-vocational courses after they leave work is that they can share their life's experience with the other people on the course, and with the staff. Not only does that educate other people, it is good for their own self-esteem. To give the people in...
I would not pretend to have much knowledge of this subject but I have just reviewed in my head the few instances of suicide that I have come across in my lifetime. I remember meeting, at the age of six, older boys—probably about 10 years older than me—who were obviously grief stricken because one of their friends, whose younger relatives I knew, had died the previous night. It was not...
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31477 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 11 December 2002, whether it will now give information on the destination of graduates from medical schools for 2002.
I congratulate Linda Fabiani on securing the debate. I spent the first 25 years of my life in Paisley, which is in my region and is as near to my home town as anywhere can be. Paisley is trying vigorously to qualify as a Fairtrade town. Last year, Renfrewshire Council supported the initiative and the provost of Renfrewshire appeared in his pyjamas in bed in a shop window eating Fairtrade food...
I was on my feet a couple of weeks ago talking about discipline in schools and reflecting on the fact that discipline in schools has got a lot worse in recent years. Labour claims to have the first national policy on school discipline. In retrospect, given all the head teachers and teachers who, down through time, have striven to maintain the highest standards in their schools, I find that a...
No, I am sorry but I only have three minutes. Labour's figures indicate that in 2001, 59 per cent of primary 7 and 57 per cent of S2 pupils were not reaching appropriate national standards of reading. The same figures indicate that 43 per cent of primary 7 and 62 per cent of S2 pupils did not reach national standards in writing. However, the 1999 Labour manifesto in Scotland pledged that 80...
I am sorry, but I really must move on.
