Margaret Curran: I was trying to make the point that you should be explicit about the coalition that you have with the Government. [ Laughter. ] I beg your pardon: I meant the coalition that you have with the Tories. You should make it clear—Mr McLetchie rightly gave you praise for this—that you are implementing a Conservative approach to Government.
Margaret Curran: My apologies.
Margaret Curran: Will the member take an intervention?
Margaret Curran: I am shocked that Margo MacDonald seems to have abandoned all her criticisms of the Tories, and appears to be cosying up to them. In response to her direct challenge to me, I tell her that Labour recognises the challenges that Edinburgh faces and that the city has a special status as our capital. However, we also recognise the challenges that other cities face—especially Glasgow, which...
Margaret Curran: Many speakers have articulated a sense of déjà vu. As Angela Constance made clear, we have learned one overwhelming lesson—that the process that has been gone through this week, which has involved the critical ability to give ground on key areas that matter to other parties and the ability to tie down details and to clinch a deal, should have been gone through last week. If that had...
Margaret Curran: Mr FitzPatrick might not be aware, but I was a member of the previous Government, which was a coalition. There is an enormous difference between working with another party to find common ground and delivering that party's political agenda. David McLetchie made what was perhaps the best remark in the debate, when he described this Government as "the next best thing to a Tory Government". That...
Margaret Curran: To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used by the NHS when issuing taxi contracts.
Margaret Curran: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the NHS is required to ensure that the vehicles used under its taxi contracts are accessible to disabled people.
Margaret Curran: To ask the Scottish Executive how many vehicles covered by the patient transport contract are equipped to transport disabled people for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Margaret Curran: To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the threat to the construction industry posed by the financial crisis, what it will do to ensure that projects such as the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the new Southern General Hospital in Glasgow go ahead as planned.
Margaret Curran: To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth last met representatives from Glasgow City Council. (S3O-5683)
Margaret Curran: I am sure that the cabinet secretary will join me in welcoming to the gallery students from John Wheatley College. I am also sure that the cabinet secretary will again meet Glasgow City Council representatives. When he does so, perhaps he will discuss with them the Glasgow Evening Times campaign to get Glasgow a fair deal—or, more appropriately perhaps, a fairer deal. Does he support that...
Margaret Curran: Oh, for goodness' sake. [ Laughter. ]
Margaret Curran: Is the member not persuaded that the cities growth fund in previous years better allowed the diverse needs of our cities to be recognised? The city of Edinburgh properly received an allocation from that fund, but so did other cities.
Margaret Curran: This is indeed a defining moment for the Scottish Government. Alex Neil's speech illustrates the problem that we face: instead of the consensus that the Government promised, we get sectarian attacks and instead of an acknowledgement that we live in a period of profound economic dislocation, in which countries throughout the west and beyond are in the grip of a serious economic downturn—
Margaret Curran: I hope that that intervention is added on to my time, Presiding Officer, because I understood that it was a point of order. Alex Neil made a party sectarian remark. There is no doubt about that. We are in the grip of a serious economic downturn but, instead of rising to the occasion, the SNP gives us diatribes—noise rather than substance. How the Parliament responds will shape the lives and...
Margaret Curran: I very much regret that I do not have time. Some of the SNP members have short memories. I wonder whether anyone can guess which member of the SNP said of the skills gap in Glasgow in a previous budget debate: "If the problem is not tackled ... we will not be able to tackle the social deprivation that mars Glasgow."—[Official Report, 30 October 2003; c 2796.] Why not address rationally the...
Margaret Curran: That goes to the core of the problem. That is the analysis that has been offered to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee. All our major cities have needs and they should all be addressed in the budget. That is what is wrong with it. What could have been a budget for jobs is a partnership with the Tories. What could have been a budget for front-line services is a package of cuts. What could have been...
Margaret Curran: To ask the Scottish Executive how much Scottish Enterprise has spent on public relations and public affairs over the last two years.
Margaret Curran: To ask the Scottish Executive how much Glasgow Housing Association has spent on public relations and public affairs over the last two years.
