Mr William Small: I enter into debate in terms of the Oedipus syndrome.. I do not know the difference between the old Italian school, which relied on the stethoscope, and those who relied on the horoscope. The difference here is this. It is purely auto-suggestion—a kind of Freudian penicillin—that in Scotland, under a devolved Parliament, we should alter the law. There is no suggestion that that is a...
Mr William Small: I know that I have a quaint way of expressing myself on occasions, and probably it will happen again today in terms of devolved power and the status quo. If one looks at Ireland as a philosopher, what does one find? It was created because one party would not commit political bigamy. That was the difference between the two camps, and we got the result in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. We...
Mr William Small: I should like to comment on the absenteeism and the escapology of the sages of the Tory Party on this amendment. All the important names are missing from the amendment. It has been left to a few lightweights to introduce this matter. The Leader of the Opposition was in Scotland during the recess and I am surprised that she did not go to Edinburgh. I believe that Edinburgh will become the...
Mr William Small: rose—
Mr William Small: Will my hon. Friend indicate whether this proposal would weaken or strengthen the historic dimension of the Goschen formula by reliance on a mathematical base, dependent on "down time" in the accountants' assumed assessment calculations?
Mr William Small: This debate is about Greek meeting Greek. I am surprised that the Scottish National Party should put up the hon. Member for Dunbartonshire, East (Mrs. Bain) to be its spokesman when the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Mr. Wilson) spent 58 days discussing the Bill. The trouble with the SNP is that its members see a potential swan in every duck egg. I turn at once to the speech of the hon....
Mr William Small: I take on board what my hon. Friend said. However, I speak against the background of the loss of dignity which occurred in the old days. I had the misfortune to walk the streets for two years, and I know something about it. As long as a man has a roof over his head, he has a chance. However, there is no mobility on the river. Once a boy has served his time and started in shipbuilding, he...
Mr William Small: Once again there is the appearance of the English disease and the repetitive position of the English. All I know about the English is that they are haunted by ghosts and ghoulies, usually headless, clanking their chains through their castles enveloped in fear and terror. This is the most poorly drafted amendment that I have ever seen. It seeks to insert insofar but only insofar as it...
Mr William Small: Very well, let us say pro tanto. I want to clear my mind and the minds of others. It may be that those who have tabled the amendment are talking to the innocent. The meaning of the clause is perfectly simple in every aspect. It is well drafted. It seems that the right hon. Member for Farnham (Mr. Macmillan) is afraid of a red Socialist revolution and an Assembly in Scotland. That is his...
Mr William Small: Is that the intention—to come back to Labour?
Mr William Small: The hon. Member for Aberdeen, South (Mr. Sproat) referred to Cassandra. I shall not follow him along that line. I will take the line of the artist with a brush drawing this clause, and I think that the young Goya would be the best comparison. Goya looked towards private patrons, one of whom was the Duke of Wellington. That painting is beautiful and is internationally recognised as one of...
Mr William Small: I am dealing with the guidelines.
Mr William Small: I am very tempted, Mr. Godman Irvine, to deal with the shortcomings of the Tory Party. I do not really know what is the true SNP attitude to the Bill. I was seeking to deal with the directions or instructions to be given to those who will operate these matters on behalf of the SDA and the Highlands and Islands Development Board. I only hope that they will have full freedom to promote...
Mr William Small: In order to protect ourselves, is there any "Index Expurgatorious" so that we can have remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for West Lothian (Mr. Dalyell) expunged from the record because they were not a point of order?
Mr William Small: I would think that in the hinterland of his consciousness the right hon. Gentleman would recognise the reality of what we are discussing in the clause. May I put it in this way, from the Delphin Classics of the past? The Latin scholars who prepared them did so "In usum Delphini", meaning for the use of the Dauphin. The substance of the clause means "for the use of the Queen".
Mr William Small: Is my hon. Friend yet in a position to make any comment on the practice in Scotland of remission of fines, a practice which has received great Press publicity? If that is not possible, can my hon. Friend tell me the increase in the prison population?
Mr William Small: I intervene briefly to discuss the rubric to Clause 20: Scrutiny of Assembly Bills. "Scrutiny" is an exquisite word. Any future Secretary of State, of whatever party, is likely to be involved with such a matter. He is unlikely to adopt any kind of central derogation and lose face. The upshot of all this is that he will take counsel's opinion before reaching a decision. In the normality of...
Mr William Small: Will the Minister explain the composition of the Judicial Committee? Will it have to reach a unanimous decision? I recognise that the committee is composed of top-level legal headshrinkers, but how long will be allowed for its thought processes?
Mr William Small: In answer to the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Mr. Wilson), my mind is ambushed by the conduct of the Scottish National Party of recent date in defying the principle of Clause 1. As I interpret the clause, it is the Madame Defarge clause under the guillotine with someone in a tartan shawl. The whole idea originally was destroyed in the ambush, and the similarity is contained within the...
Mr William Small: My hon. Friend is correct, and I have that point in mind. However, I am known as a two-minute miler, and I do not make long speeches.
