Eric Joyce: I am grateful for this opportunity to address the House so soon after being returned as the Member for Falkirk, West. Hon. Members might know that my predecessor, Mr. Dennis Canavan, continues to serve the Falkirk, West constituency in his new capacity as the Member of the Scottish Parliament for our area. That adds an extra element of interest to my job and to my new professional life. I...
Eric Joyce: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. At the beginning of Scottish questions, the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning)—not a famous Scottish location since it is in Devon—appeared to suggest that she was the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. Were you made aware of that, Mr. Speaker, as no such courtesy was extended to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State?
Eric Joyce: Last month, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, a 15-year-old pupil at St. Mungo's school, Falkirk, in my constituency, died tragically in a road accident. Kathleen had travelled home from school by a contracted school bus, as she did each day, to be dropped close to her family home in the village of Bonnybridge. On this day, however, she stepped from the bus on to the pavement and walked around the front...
Eric Joyce: Thank you, Mr. Winterton--
Eric Joyce: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and congratulations. The last full financial year showed Scotland's manufacturing sector output growing 2 per cent. faster than the rest of the United Kingdom. Scotland's share of United Kingdom-manufactured exports is considerably higher than its share of manufacturing employment. That can be explained partly by Scotland's success in attracting export-oriented...
Eric Joyce: The hon. Gentleman will be aware of the development of local enterprise companies; my constituency is covered by Forth Valley Enterprise. There is a tight relationship between LECs and the Government. There have been several recent policy statements which would make good reading and encourage the hon. Gentleman in his projection of how well the Labour Government will perform in the coming...
Eric Joyce: Indeed, or to last week's debate on a similar topic. They talk the talk but they do not walk the walk. There is no meaning or sense in having representatives who do not come down to Westminster. As my hon. Friends know, low pay and low skills go together and are the hallmark of the Tory approach to job creation. Scotland has suffered for too long from both unemployment and skills shortages...
Eric Joyce: If she will make a statement on her role in devolution issue cases to be heard before the Privy Council. [155194]
Eric Joyce: I am often asked by my constituents as I go round my constituency whether it is necessary for the Advocate-General to appear before the Privy Council, and, if so, whether that takes up much of her time. What should I tell them?
Eric Joyce: If he will make a statement on the impact of his budget on the incomes of pensioners.
Eric Joyce: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the interests of pensioners in my constituency could only be grossly damaged by the Tories abysmal plans for pensions--
Eric Joyce: A couple of months ago, I read in bold print on the front page of The Times Educational Supplement that more—[Interruption.]
Eric Joyce: More than 9,000 teaching jobs were advertised in that edition of the newspaper. The figure was intended to catch the eye of teachers looking for new jobs. What struck me, however, was the amount of advertising revenue that the newspaper must have been receiving, mainly from the state education budget. Although the advertising rates varied depending on the size of advertisement taken out by...
Eric Joyce: Although the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk) is no longer in the Chamber, I congratulate him on his excellent speech. I have been sitting here rubbing my neck—very stupidly, I once agreed to play a season as tight-head in the front row and he has brought all those memories flooding back. I have had a sore neck ever since. I was also refreshed to hear the speech of—I...
Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what operational targets she has set for the Small Business Service for 2001–02.
Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will decide which Regional Development Agency chairs and board members are being reappointed.
Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on levels of inward investment into the UK.
Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many pensioners in Scotland are benefiting from the provision of free television licences to those aged over 75 years.
Eric Joyce: To ask the Advocate-General what effect the recent ECHR challenges have had on Scottish planning law.
Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what share of national income is projected to be taken up by public investment in transport in 2011–12 and what change this represents, in real terms, from the level in 1991–92.
