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Donate to our crowdfunderPhil Gallie: Hopefully.
Phil Gallie: Will the member give way?
Phil Gallie: Will Mike Rumbles give way on that point?
Phil Gallie: Well, unfortunately—
Phil Gallie: Will Mike Rumbles give way now?
Phil Gallie: I thank Mike Rumbles very much for giving way. Conservatives in the next session of Parliament will work with others—on an issue-by-issue basis. However, we will not break the promises that we make in our manifesto to coalesce with others who do not believe in the things in which we believe.
Phil Gallie: Following Nicol Stephen's comments about the collapse of the eastern bloc, will he join me in congratulating Margaret Thatcher and her Governments on playing a major part in bringing that about?
Phil Gallie: On independence, will the First Minister join me in congratulating the organisers of last Saturday's march for the union in Edinburgh? Some 12,000 people marched and more looked on. There was no trouble—there was only a celebration of the union. Will he endorse that march?
Phil Gallie: I understand the point that Mary Mulligan makes about train companies not liking trains stopping. They think that too many stops reduce the number of customers on lines because they increase the time that trains spend on routes. However, in light of what has been said about the Glasgow to Edinburgh link, is not there potential on the Airdrie to Bathgate line to miss out stops occasionally...
Phil Gallie: How strange life can be: here we are debating legislation in a building that neither you, Presiding Officer, nor I wanted, in a Parliament that you fought for and I fought against, on what for each of us is the eve of retirement from half a century or more of full-time employment and 15 years of parliamentary activity. My mind goes back to a debate in the mid-1990s that was organised by the...
Phil Gallie: I could not agree more with Janis Hughes. It is a pity that she will not be here to fight for crossrail in the next session of Parliament. I hope that the members who will be here will put their backs into ensuring that a bill on crossrail is the first transport bill to be introduced in the next session. Janis Hughes has my total support on crossrail. Much work remains to be done to develop...
Phil Gallie: I thank members very much indeed. First, I congratulate Linda Fabiani, the convener of the European and External Affairs Committee, on her award from the Italian Government. [Applause.] At consideration stage, the Airdrie-Bathgate Railway and Linked Improvements Bill Committee amended the bill to require mitigation commitment documents, including the landscape and habitats management plan and...
Phil Gallie: Will the minister advise me what proportion of that £50-plus million has been paid under civil law for people who are incarcerated in Scottish prisons? If she can tell me that, can she advise me how many of them have made claims under the European convention on human rights?
Phil Gallie: The question was about the ECHR.
Phil Gallie: What about the ECHR?
Phil Gallie: Margo MacDonald also intervened on the subject of energy. Although energy is not one of the European Parliament's competences, it is an area in which nation states can work together without being bound by being in a particular union. Margo MacDonald's thoughts on Europe are worthy of consideration.
Phil Gallie: It is a privilege to have worked with Jim Wallace for the past 15 years or so and to have participated in many debates with him at Westminster and in the Scottish Parliament. His speech on the union has probably been the best in the debate, principally because, rather than slagging off other sides for their views, he stuck to considering the union and its implications. I am being honest. I...
Phil Gallie: I am obliged to do so, given what I have said.
Phil Gallie: Okay, but I cannot think of any lies that I have told about it. For a change, I agree with Mike Rumbles. I believe that Scotland could stand alone. The difference between us is that I do not believe that that would be in the best interests of Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland. We are a union. We have been a union for the past 300 years and we have worked well together through hard...
Phil Gallie: Certainly, he is an icon. In his youthful days, Burns wrote a poem entitled "Such a parcel of rogues in a nation" in which he said: "Fareweel to a' our Scotish fame, Fareweel our ancient glory; Fareweel even to the Scotish name, Sae fam'd in martial story!" We all know that Rabbie got it wrong there, as Scotland's reputation has been built since then. Scotland's martial capabilities—to...