Keith Raffan: Will the minister join me in congratulating bridgemaster Alastair Andrew and his team on the efficient way in which they are managing traffic on the Forth road bridge? They cannot be expected to do that indefinitely. What does the most recent structural report that the minister has received say about the state of the bridge, especially since the opening of the main suspension cables, which I...
Keith Raffan: Does the minister agree that the Conservatives have shown again and again their failure to understand the complexity of drug misuse? The whole point of DTTOs and drugs courts is to get drug addicts into treatment and recovery and so break the cycle of reoffending. That is how we should treat people—unless they are guilty of serious offences—rather than sending them to prison, which is a...
Keith Raffan: I listened carefully to what Miss Goldie said, but what is absent from her speech is any indication of how the Conservatives would try to break the cycle of reoffending through rehabilitation, training or educational opportunities in prisons. All that they see is punishment.
Keith Raffan: I join members from all parties in welcoming the Black Watch home and expressing condolences to the families of those brave five who lost their lives in the deserts of Iraq. "I ... believe that a super-regiment would submerge and eventually extinguish all the individual loyalties, traditions and histories of the Scottish regiments as we know them. That might not matter to the MOD or to...
Keith Raffan: No. My second main point is to counter the argument that the move to larger regiments will increase recruitment and retention. I will give the 2003-04 recruitment target and actual recruitment figure for the Black Watch: the annual target was 112 and the actual recruitment was 122, so 109 per cent was achieved. The links with the community are not only a matter of sentiment, tradition and...
Keith Raffan: Does the minister agree that important sections of the constitutional treaty would give increased power to sub-state national Parliaments in their say on European legislation? Will he kill the myth from the Tories and will he endorse the work of that noted member of the Scottish National Partly, Sir Neil MacCormick, by appealing to the SNP to come off the fence, stop being entangled in...
Keith Raffan: Never.
Keith Raffan: Does the member agree that the invasion of Iraq has made it much more difficult to deal with countries such as Iran and North Korea that have weapons of mass destruction?
Keith Raffan: Will the member take an intervention?
Keith Raffan: The report of the Iraq survey group said: "The former regime had no formal written strategy or plan for the revival of W.M.D. after sanctions. Neither was there an identifiable group of W.M.D. policy makers or planners separate from Saddam." How does Lord James respond to that statement?
Keith Raffan: In winding up for the Liberal Democrats, I do not need to waste much time responding to the Greens. Just now I was outside the chamber speaking to a senior journalist—no particular friend of the Liberal Democrats—who said, "You can say many things about the Liberal Democrats, but you can't say that they have not consistently and strongly opposed the war." It is rather sad for the Greens...
Keith Raffan: Patrick Harvie should sit down, as he is a waste of time. Sir Menzies Campbell has shown consistent, strong opposition to the war and has presented a very reasoned policy on how we should go forward from here. Obviously, Green members are buried in their internet websites, but they should start to watch "Newsnight", where they would see the very constructive contribution that my highly...
Keith Raffan: It was appalling under Saddam Hussein and it is now completely chaotic and anarchic. The worst thing that we could do would be to withdraw troops, as the Scottish socialists absurdly suggest, which would lead to a trebling or quadrupling—if not more—of civilian deaths. That was a rather silly intervention from Mr Fraser. I expect more of him, but obviously my expectations will not be...
Keith Raffan: No. The invasion of Iraq has led to huge loss of life and has alienated moderate Muslims. The Labour Government has caused havoc not only in Iraq, but worldwide. It has seriously undermined the United Nations and seriously damaged relations with European Union partners. Last night Labour members showed a talent for rebellion—one that we did not know they had. I hope that they will continue...
Keith Raffan: Will the member take an intervention?
Keith Raffan: That is complete nonsense, as Mr Harvie knows. My colleague Robert Brown was very prominent in speaking at rallies in Glasgow.
Keith Raffan: Our federal leader Charles Kennedy was very prominent in leading and speaking at the demonstrations in London. My colleague Menzies Campbell has a seat on "Newsnight" that Jeremy Paxman describes as the Menzies Campbell chair, because he is on the programme so often opposing the war.
Keith Raffan: That is utter nonsense.
Keith Raffan: I opposed the war right from the beginning. Mr Ballance should know that. Perhaps he should look at the Liberal Democrat website, as he seems to get all his information from websites.
Keith Raffan: That is rubbish.
