Eric Joyce: In that case, will the hon. Gentleman explain why Nickelodeon.com and Nickelodeon TV are taking market share from CBBC?
Eric Joyce: When I referred to vested interests, I was referring to the food processing companies. I agree that the advertising industry can certainly be a force for good, and I am very pleased that we have a successful industry.
Eric Joyce: I am touched by the slavish defence of the advertising industry that was presented from those on the Tory Front Bench. I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman's arguments and he has made some good and sophisticated points, but does he not agree that my hon. Friend's Bill is primarily about children's health, and did he not find it depressing to hear the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr....
Eric Joyce: When it comes to tackling terrorism and providing security in this country, does my right hon. Friend agree that ID cards have a part to play? Such things should be dealt with at the UK level, contrary to what that bunch diametrically opposite suggest. Their suggestion that they should be dealt with in Scotland is, at best, a dangerous distraction.
Eric Joyce: I will be as quick as I can. The hon. Gentleman said that there should be no return of powers to Westminster, but I think that I am correct in saying that the Liberal Democrats have said that, whatever the Calman commission proposes, we should support it. As far as I can see, they have abdicated responsibility; I believe that that is the position in Scotland.
Eric Joyce: I congratulate the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) on securing this debate. I shall make three very quick points. First, I surveyed 10,000 households in my constituency and asked various questions about issues that were important to them—issues of the day—and discovered nothing of great surprise. The things that are important to people—health, education, the...
Eric Joyce: No, because I only have two minutes. Secondly, the way in which the nationalist conversation is being conducted seems to encourage the posting of bigoted, racist comments on the Government website, which is funded totally by the taxpayer. The Scottish Administration needs to consider very carefully what they are encouraging. My third point concerns the issue about which the hon. Member for...
Eric Joyce: Need we say more? Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will ask the leader of his party whether he will dissociate himself from Jeff Duncan's comments because, until now, he has been a big fan of his. To answer the hon. Gentleman's question, I am entirely relaxed about an intelligent discussion on the powers of the Scottish Parliament. That is the purpose of the Calman commission, and I look forward to...
Eric Joyce: I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman saw his party leader being interviewed by Andrew Marr on Sunday, but he unequivocally said that it should be done under the single transferable voting system—that voters should have three choices. Did the hon. Gentleman not hear that? Is there no significance in the fact that his party leader said that?
Eric Joyce: If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 2 April.
Eric Joyce: In a few days, the all-party group on the great lakes region of Africa will visit Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both of which have proper, legitimate, democratically elected Governments. Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that it is, today, time for Mr. Robert Mugabe to accept that the people of Zimbabwe deserve no less?
Eric Joyce: I was one of a number of Scottish colleagues who had the privilege of looking at the interior architecture of terminal 5 last Thursday. Once we had finished doing that, we did it again, because there was plenty of time. Does my hon. Friend agree that that shows how terminal 5, when it is fully functioning, is a vital economic asset to the whole of the UK—Scotland, Wales, Ireland and...
Eric Joyce: The business start-up rate in my constituency is just above the Scottish national average. What is my right hon. Friend doing to help small and medium-sized companies to innovate, and can he convey any of that to the Scottish Executive?
Eric Joyce: During the past week I have been privileged to speak to a number of veterans in my constituency, and one of the subjects that they wanted to discuss was burden sharing in southern Afghanistan. Will my right hon. Friend give his assessment of the current direction of travel in that respect?
Eric Joyce: What recent steps he has taken to help lone mothers into work.
Eric Joyce: I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Recently, I visited the solve-it programme at Falkirk football club with my right hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Des Browne). It has an objective of getting 65 per cent. of single mothers who attend back into work, and it has recently been hitting that objective successfully. Will my right hon. Friend the Minister join me in...
Eric Joyce: Apprenticeships have been mentioned. My hon. Friend the Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (Gordon Banks) and the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) are referring to very skilled jobs. It is not the policy of the Scottish Executive or Government, or whatever we call them, to fund apprenticeships in the workplace to the same degree as the UK Government, but is my...
Eric Joyce: Is my hon. Friend content with the performance of Royal Mail deliveries in Scotland? I understand that there are various problems—one of which is that there have been only a handful of replies to the Scottish National party's "national conversation". The reason for that problem might not lie with the Royal Mail, but does my hon. Friend have a view on this question?
Eric Joyce: I listened carefully to what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence had to say about the personnel Command Paper, and it put in my mind the importance of advocacy. My hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Mr. Jones) referred to his attempt to gain some recognition for the British Armed Forces Federation, an interesting subject that provided food for thought. There is...
Eric Joyce: I have not heard the hon. Gentleman mention armed services personnel for the past five minutes of what is now an eight-minute speech.
