On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Pursuant to rule 13.1 of standing orders, and in the light of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body’s media access policy and rules, I ask whether any member has sought to make a personal statement to Parliament to address the questioning by media within the parliamentary estate. I ask that because—
Perhaps, Presiding Officer, you could hear the point of order in full to determine whether it is a point of order.
Further to that point of order, Presiding Officer. Given the urgency of the issue, may I ask how we would raise it in Parliament—
Was this statement not an entire waste of valuable parliamentary time? Is it not symptomatic of this Government’s obsession with matters beyond the control of this Parliament? I will indulge the minister by asking him this simple question. By what economic logic would we want to leave a union in which we are a net beneficiary, to become, at the flick of a switch, a member of a...
I thank the minister for her invitation for us all to work together. I will meet the Deputy First Minister next week to that end. If the new, fiscally prudent, small-state Scottish Government can commit to reducing tax and cutting the benefits bill, we will have a fruitful relationship. However, today’s statement comes at a time when Scotland’s economy grew by just 0.1 per cent...
[Made a request to intervene.]
I rise not in a spirit of self-congratulation, unlike the other members who have intervened so far. I have a question about young people beyond the cities. I recently met young carers of Dumfries and Galloway, who raised with me not the cost of bus travel but the absence of bus travel. Does the cabinet secretary accept that there is a trade-off? With a finite budget, if the Scottish...
Will Mr Flynn take an intervention?
