Duncan McNeil: I was anxious to speak today for a selfish reason. I do not know whether this is appropriate, but I would like to announce that, yesterday afternoon in Harrow, my daughter gave birth to my first granddaughter. She weighed in at 6lb 14oz-members can tell that she does not take after my side of the family. I felt that in this family-friendly Parliament, I could not miss the opportunity to make...
Duncan McNeil: Will Dorothy-Grace Elder allow an intervention?
Duncan McNeil: Does she agree that we are getting a real bargain when we compare Holyrood to the costs that she has just given?
Duncan McNeil: There has been a lot of discussion about the university aspect of the debate. I have not been to a university, and would like to remind people of the importance of further education colleges, which provide around 50,000 student places in Scotland. James Watt College, in my constituency, provides 1,400 of those places. As members will know, further education colleges are an important gateway...
Duncan McNeil: I think Colin Campbell must have misheard; I must have been talking too fast for him. I said that the experience of many people in further education colleges is that they must always pay; they either pay their own fees or employers pay them. That was my experience. To get an angle on the issue and to get a feel for the debate, I tried to exclude myself from the accusations, bluster and...
Duncan McNeil: Wait a minute, Tommy, I am in full flow here. Ninety-six per cent of students at that college received either full or partial support for their fees.
Duncan McNeil: I fully support a wide-ranging review and all the- [Laughter.] Well, I do, and I think that it is very important to have a review and an independent inquiry to discuss all the issues. Dennis Canavan alluded earlier to the fact that there is more than one thing at issue here, and that is what I am trying to get at. As I said, I found the college in a period of investment and expansion. It is...
Duncan McNeil: As someone who was born and brought up in a shipbuilding community and saw the shipbuilding industry destroyed by representatives of the Conservative party-just as it destroyed the steel industry-I find that hard to take. Enough is enough. I do not want any lectures from David Davidson on jobs.
Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make a statement on the number of young unemployed who have benefited from the first full year of the new deal. (S1O-146)
Duncan McNeil: I welcome the minister's statement, but does he agree that short-term unemployment is a growing problem in places such as Greenock and Inverclyde, where the electronics industry is a major employer? People have been asked to accept either short-term employment or long-term educational opportunities. We need to create local flexibility in the new deal to ensure that it works properly. One...
Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will congratulate Inverclyde Council and its partners on the staging of the recent tall ships event in Greenock. (S1O-204)
Duncan McNeil: The event was such a success that we made a video and there is a free copy for Sam at the end of question time. For everyone else, it costs £11.99 from Inverclyde District Council. Does the Executive recognise that while event-based tourism such as the tall ships race boosts an area's image, confidence and self-esteem, long-term gains can be achieved only by supporting the Invest in...
Duncan McNeil: Will the member give way?
Duncan McNeil: Does the member accept that the best way in which to tackle poverty is to provide people with jobs?
Duncan McNeil: Will Alex Neil also accept that we now have the lowest unemployment figures in Scotland for many years?
Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on support for local community involvement in regeneration through citizens juries. (S1O-279)
Duncan McNeil: I welcome the minister's response. As I have already referred in the chamber to the serious problems of crime, ill health and poverty in the Greenock and Inverclyde district, I also welcome the fact that the first citizens jury in Greenock will take place at the end of October. Ordinary people will be allowed to discuss key concerns in the community. Given that there are 30 citizens juries in...
Duncan McNeil: Will Fergus Ewing inform us what the SNP's position is on the penny rise in tax that it proposed?
Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for developing housing policy in Scotland.
Duncan McNeil: To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the location and relocation of public service jobs in Scotland.
