Dr Winnie Ewing: To ask the First Minister whether, in the light of Her Majesty's Government's decision to give official recognition to British sign language as a language in its own right, the Scottish Executive will fund a long-term training programme for more sign language interpreters. (S1F-2624)
Dr Winnie Ewing: That was an encouraging answer. I am proud to be asking the last question in the Parliament. Since my members' business debate on the subject, during which the public galleries were packed with deaf people, the Executive has taken quite a lot of steps on the issue, such as the type-talk scheme, interpretation for visitors, the BSL video, leaflets and the £10 million for audiological...
Dr Winnie Ewing: In my past life in the European Parliament, there was tremendous agreement among the Irish MEPs from the north and south and from all parties and people like myself that a port in the Republic of Ireland should be added to the Campbeltown route, which would thereby attract cross-border funding. If that had been done, the route would have been much more secure: it would have been good for...
Dr Winnie Ewing: We did not criticise the First Minister.
Dr Winnie Ewing: Tha mi uabhasach toilichte a bhith ann am Pàrlamaid na h-Alba a-rithist, agus tha mi uabhasach toilichte cuideachd gu bheil deasbad againn an-diugh. Tha mi duilich nach eil mi fileanta anns a' Ghàidhlig fhathast, ach gheall mi gu càraid agam, Kay Matheson, cailleach na cloiche, gum bithinn fileanta mus bithinn sean. Is e a' Ghàidhlig a' chànan a bhruidhinn iad ann an Gàradh Eden. Is e...
Dr Winnie Ewing: In the negotiations, are any special incentives being offered to attract GPs to work on islands? Will the minister consider offering travel warrants? The cost of travel is an aspect that makes people unwilling to live on an island, because they would be unable to afford to keep in touch with people on the mainland.
Dr Winnie Ewing: Perhaps we will agree when we debate the Gaelic (Scotland) Bill tomorrow.
Dr Winnie Ewing: I begin by recording my genuine thanks to all the members from all parties who wrote to me on the death of my husband. I found great comfort in those letters. I remind the Minister for Environment and Rural Development that, before he went to Brussels for the fisheries council, he got my genuine good wishes for success in those negotiations. He will agree that that is the case. I am...
Dr Winnie Ewing: No. I have a lot to say. I find it amusing that my party and I should be attacked by Rhoda Grant for not being sincere. I have been in three Parliaments—I am happy and proud to be in this one—and I know that that is not the case. My party is known the length and breadth of fishing ports, from Eyemouth up to Shetland, as being totally committed and sincere. No amount of name-calling can...
Dr Winnie Ewing: I thank the minister for meeting us this morning. We sensed much of the agony that he must be going through as he tries to take this horrible situation on board. We discussed the point about timing, which was made by Richard Lochhead and is in our amendment. He did not agree with us and told us why, but I reiterate that we agree about the enormous complexity of the decisions that have to be...
Dr Winnie Ewing: We agree with each other that the Spanish are behaving badly—they are pirates and have always behaved badly. They do not attempt to enforce and would not agree to sensible measures about the powers of our fisheries inspectors. At the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries, UK representatives moved that the fisheries inspectors should have roving enforcement powers not only in UK...
Dr Winnie Ewing: Well, I have a lot more to say. I gave poor Mr Finnie another piece of paper to read. It was a copy of the speech made at the rally by Brian Phillips, who has dared to challenge the scientific evidence in basic ways. I know that the minister has a lot of papers to read, but I would really be obliged if he could spend a few minutes on that paper to find out how devastating Mr Phillips's...
Dr Winnie Ewing: I must stop there. I am getting into bad habits. I fought for 24 years, often alone, against Spain—Britain gave in time after time. Frankly, it has broken my heart to see that the situation is not improving.
Dr Winnie Ewing: If the minister's optimistic statements turned out to be wrong, what would the Scottish Executive do?
Dr Winnie Ewing: Will the member take an intervention?
Dr Winnie Ewing: My question—
Dr Winnie Ewing: My question, which I have raised with the First Minister, is about the reserved nature of the debate. Competition law in respect of the newspaper industry should differentiate between the Scottish dimension, in which people read different newspapers, and the English one. I received a sympathetic answer from the First Minister. We should go along that line.
Dr Winnie Ewing: It is.
Dr Winnie Ewing: A matter that concerned everyone on the European scene for many years was the secrecy of the European Council. Members of the European Parliament constantly tried to unveil the secrets and find out about major discussions. Sometimes we could find out, if we had a friend at court who told us what went on inside. That happened to me sometimes—I have to admit that it was usually through an...
Dr Winnie Ewing: Is my time up already? I feel as though I have just got started. My view is that an internal legislative assembly should be able to have direct representation in Europe. I reject the myth that being in Europe as part of the UK gives us clout. In fact, we have the opposite of clout. Look at fishing. Look at what happened with objective 1 funding. Look at the numerical representation that we...
