Alasdair Allan: If, in its separate national conversation, the Labour Party has no fear of the answer to the question of independence, why is it afraid to ask it?
Alasdair Allan: Will the member take an intervention?
Alasdair Allan: I thank the member for giving way and apologise for interrupting his Ciceronian flow of rhetoric. Does he really take the view that the Government's national conversation is in some way exclusive and unhelpful, when it includes all the options, from giving the Parliament more powers to independence? The option that the member favours is that we should have a conversation purely about the...
Alasdair Allan: To ask the Scottish Executive how many small businesses in the Western Isles parliamentary constituency will benefit from the proposed cut in business rates.
Alasdair Allan: Will the member take an intervention?
Alasdair Allan: I note that the member does not credit his constituents with any interest in civil liberties. On the blanket retention of DNA samples, would his constituents be more or less inclined to participate in future mass DNA testing if they knew that their DNA samples would be kept for all time despite their innocence?
Alasdair Allan: Has the Government given any consideration to the use of new technology that might overcome the particular problems experienced by deaf people in remote and rural areas? There is often a lack of any meaningful access to British Sign Language interpreters.
Alasdair Allan: Like others, I congratulate Bashir Ahmad on bringing this debate to Parliament. As he pointed out, there are concerns about the dual standards that are applied to various dictatorships around the world. Quite rightly, the British Government and many in this Parliament condemn the atrocity that passes for a Government in Burma. However, we should also be as strong in the statements that we now...
Alasdair Allan: To ask the Scottish Executive what the conclusions are of its review of the Air Discount Scheme.
Alasdair Allan: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for utilising empty housing in the highlands and islands, with particular emphasis on attracting a younger workforce to live and work in the Western Isles.
Alasdair Allan: To ask the Scottish Executive what differences there are in eligible forage areas in sea-girt holdings in the Western Isles compared with those in Orkney and Shetland.
Alasdair Allan: Scottish langoustines, as they have now been officially renamed, are in huge demand across the world. What does the Government intend to do for Scotland's nephrops fleet, which is so crucial to many of our communities, particularly on the west coast? In relation to the west coast fleet, will he comment further on the increase in the Rockall haddock quota?
Alasdair Allan: Will the member allow me to welcome the sensible views of some members on the Labour benches? Sarah Boyack, Malcolm Chisholm and Pauline McNeill have all either signed or lodged motions on nuclear power that SNP members could have written. Does he agree with them that no convincing case has yet been made for a new generation of nuclear power stations in Scotland?
Alasdair Allan: I am interested to hear myself referred to obliquely by the member. If he is referring to the Western Isles, will he comment on the fact that his party's candidate in the Western Isles was far more militantly opposed to wind farms than I was, calling for an absolute ban on wind farms in the Western Isles and feeling that the SNP was too moderate in its stance?
Alasdair Allan: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to consider whether it would ever be realistically possible for NHS Western Isles to repay its cumulative deficits of £3.6 million.
Alasdair Allan: In seeking the return of the chessmen to Scotland, will the minister consider the possibility of some pieces being exhibited permanently or temporarily on the Isle of Lewis? What impact might that have on the cultural and economic life of the islands?
Alasdair Allan: To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government over the sovereignty of Rockall and its associated sea area.
Alasdair Allan: I hesitate to intervene once the names of Goebbels and Stalin have been mentioned. While I agree with the member that, obviously, no Government would wish to use history as a means of espousing nationalist propaganda, I am sure that he agrees with me that there have been instances—I can remember some from school—of history being used to espouse unionist propaganda.
Alasdair Allan: To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with its international development policy to ensure measurable and sustainable development in some of the world's poorest countries. (S3O-2169)
Alasdair Allan: As the minister will be aware, HIV is an endemic problem in many African countries. What plans does the Government have to work positively in Malawi, where 17 per cent of the population has HIV and where, according to Oxfam, life expectancy is 38?