James Dornan: The only thing on which I agree with Margaret Mitchell is the hope that this is not an annual debate.
James Dornan: Like others, I thank Jackie Baillie for bringing the motion to the chamber. When I came into the chamber for the debate, I did not expect the Portuguese theme that I have heard and, unfortunately—
James Dornan: I am going to continue it, yes. As many members know, I was over seeing my brother get married on Wednesday. Michael is an immigrant to Portugal. He has been there for nearly 40 years and has made a life for himself. However, more interestingly and because it is right that we recognise clearly that there is a distinction between immigration and asylum, Michael’s partner, Raul, stayed in...
James Dornan: My apologies, Presiding Officer. I also wrote to the then Minister of State for Crime Prevention, Lib Dem Jeremy Browne, after some encouraging newspaper comments from him. Unfortunately, since then, he has been removed from office. I am sure that that is just a coincidence. Of course, like everyone else, I welcome the Home Office decision to discontinue the go home poster campaign and the...
James Dornan: Yes, I will do. I am pleased that the white paper promotes the idea of a truly progressive immigration and asylum system that would consider each application on its merits and which would not ask people to go home, because we want everyone who lives in Scotland—for whatever period of time and wherever they have come from—to see it as their home. I support the motion.
James Dornan: Does Gordon MacDonald accept that although William Burrell wanted the collection to be kept together and to be shown to the public, the condition of the building just now is such that many items in the collection have never been shown to the public and that one of the ways to deal with that while the building is being refurbished is to allow the items to be seen outwith Scotland?
James Dornan: I was not going to take part in the debate but, with your indulgence Presiding Officer, I will make a short contribution. Some members have already raised the point about a preponderance of males aged between 35 and 54 committing suicide. If it is not altogether understandable, we can see why people in that group might feel the most pressure. People reach an age at which they feel that they...
James Dornan: 1. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of United Kingdom Government welfare reforms on health and wellbeing in Scotland. (S4O-02837)
James Dornan: Does the cabinet secretary agree that the reforms are clearly having an adverse effect on people, including many young people, across Scotland? Does he share my concerns that both the coalition reforms and Labour’s recent threats to remove benefits from the under-25s will only add to the pressure on our young people and that only with independence can we assure Scotland’s people that they...
James Dornan: Like others who are in the chamber, I was in the Candleriggs when the announcement was made that we were getting the Commonwealth games. I think that John Mason and Sandra White joined me and I suspect that Patricia Ferguson and Hanzala Malik were both there as well. It was an exciting time. We were enthusiastic, but I am sure that we were a wee bit nervous about how we were going to cope...
James Dornan: On the different ethnicities among people in Glasgow and the people who will come to the city, does Mr Malik share my delight at hearing today that Anne McLaughlin, our former colleague, and Graham Campbell have secured funding for the emancipation jam, which will mark the importance of emancipation day at four venues in Glasgow’s merchant city and consider Scotland’s links to the slave...
James Dornan: You will not need them.
James Dornan: Will the member take an intervention?
James Dornan: I thought that I did not jump up and down at all, Presiding Officer. I accept Patricia Ferguson’s points and that the Labour-Lib Dem Executive did a lot of good work before the SNP came into power. I was the leader of the SNP group on Glasgow City Council at the time, so I recognise that a lot of great work was done by the council and by both Governments. My concern or nervousness was not...
James Dornan: Glasgow City Football Club trains in my constituency. I have been along to see the team training and I went to see them play in the quarter final of the European cup, which was a great game. I agree that representation of women’s sport in the media needs to improve. Part of Scottish women in sport’s role is to push for that to ensure that we achieve what the member and I are looking for.
James Dornan: I start by responding to the point that Alex Johnstone just made. I would have thought that, if anything, the bill would strengthen marriage because it makes marriage much more acceptable for every sector of society. I also think that Alex Johnstone’s argument about the weakening of marriage being at the root of all evil over the past decades is a bit simplistic. However, the bill can only...
James Dornan: I, too, thank Stuart McMillan for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I thank the Trussell Trust for all the good work that it has done both in the food banks and around the debate. The subject is probably one of the most schizophrenic for a politician to deal with. My local MP, Tom Harris, and I, along with local councillors, were at the launch of the Netherauldhouse food bank, and it...
James Dornan: Okay. Once again, I thank Stuart McMillan and I thank the Trussell Trust for all their good work. Congratulations.
James Dornan: I will pick up on a point that John Pentland made about the thousands of jobs that he said were being axed. Given that there are no compulsory redundancies, that is not really the case, is it? [Interruption.] So it is? Is it the same thing, then? The claim is scaremongering, as is the motion.
James Dornan: There will be no interventions. Not one of the member’s colleagues took an intervention.