Mike MacKenzie: 3. To ask the Scottish Government what reassurances it can provide that the quality of rural health services will be maintained, especially in the more remote rural areas of the Highlands and Islands region. (S4O-00401)
Mike MacKenzie: I know that the cabinet secretary is aware of the problems in providing out of hours and emergency cover in west Ardnamurchan. Is she in a position to suggest a solution to the problem?
Mike MacKenzie: Does the member agree that extending RET to Shetland and some of the Orkney routes would have the effect of higher costs, not lower costs, for passengers?
Mike MacKenzie: 10. To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure that the quality of further education is being maintained in rural areas. (S4O-00468)
Mike MacKenzie: I thank the cabinet secretary for his reassurance. If Argyll College is merged with other colleges, what further reassurance can he give that local education services and local links with the community and businesses will be maintained and improved?
Mike MacKenzie: Given that alcohol abuse plays a significant part in domestic violence, does Jackie Baillie agree with and support the Government’s policy on minimum alcohol pricing?
Mike MacKenzie: Does Mr Findlay agree that, if the UK Tory Government had not cut our capital budget by 32 per cent, it might be possible to do some of the projects that he rightly says are not being done?
Mike MacKenzie: It is difficult to overstate the importance of the recently published “Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011”, for which I commend the cabinet secretary. It is a plan that contains a vision of Scotland’s future at a time when we have much need of vision; it is a plan that is ambitious when we have much need of ambition; and it is a plan that is aspirational when we have a need to be...
Mike MacKenzie: Jean Urquhart was referring to an era when the Highlands and Islands qualified for objective 1 status. I am sorry that, as a result of a serious miscalculation in the arithmetic by the Government of the day, the region no longer qualifies. I welcome the Government’s commitment to provide next-generation broadband for all parts of Scotland, especially rural areas. In the 21st century, the...
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member take an intervention?
Mike MacKenzie: Does the member acknowledge that the Highlands and Islands lost objective 1 status, when it should not have done, because of arithmetical errors in calculating GDP per capita and that that was the responsibility of the Labour Government at the time?
Mike MacKenzie: Does the member not agree that, at a time when the UK Government’s economic policy is manifestly failing, that policy represents a kind of cruel and unusual punishment, as it attempts to force people into jobs that simply do not exist?
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member take an intervention?
Mike MacKenzie: Presiding Officer, I have a confession to make: I cannot pretend to understand properly the common agricultural policy, some of which is mind-boggling in its complexity. That, of course, is part of the problem. I therefore welcome some of the proposed reforms, especially the proposed simplification, although I remain sceptical about elements of the proposals that may increase complexity. As I...
Mike MacKenzie: I am delighted to take Alex Fergusson’s assurance that the door is now open, although I am sure that he would agree that there have been occasions in the past when it has not been as open as he suggests it is now. I am concerned, too, that we have only six MEPs in Brussels. It is a matter of common sense that Scotland's farming interests will be better represented when we have 20 or more MEPs.
Mike MacKenzie: I understand that the number of MEPs would be in the region of 20. Of course, that will be a matter to be decided when the great day comes. I look forward to the day—the not too distant day—when, as an independent country, we have full and proper representation in Europe, and to Scotland getting the proper proportion of CAP funding that we are entitled to and should receive.
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member take an intervention?
Mike MacKenzie: Will Murdo Fraser give way?
Mike MacKenzie: 1. To ask the Scottish Government how it can assist private owners to meet the costs of common repairs where councils or housing associations propose significant improvements or repairs to the external fabric of blocks of flats with a proportion of private ownership. (S4O-00629)
Mike MacKenzie: Is the minister aware of the situation of private owners at Relief Land in Inverary, who are faced with a proportion of the significant cost of external repairs to the long-neglected 200-year-old tenement? What advice can he give to a pensioner with little savings who is suddenly faced with such a situation? Will he encourage Argyll Community Housing Association and Argyll and Bute Council to...
