Mike MacKenzie: Yes, of course. That is why I am delighted that communities such as Gigha have been able to take advantage of the many opportunities in renewable energy for example with the dancing ladies of Gigha. I am also delighted that the Scottish Government has established the community and renewable energy scheme, through Community Energy Scotland, which will enable many more communities to take...
Mike MacKenzie: Does Rob Gibson agree that, when we consider the cost of assisting communities such as Gigha, we should also consider what the monumental cost of not assisting them could be in the future? We would have to continue to provide health and social care services even if the population of Gigha dwindled to a handful of people.
Mike MacKenzie: When I read Liz Smith’s motion, I found it hard to believe that it came from the same Tory party that is in the process of savaging the UK’s further education budget by 32.3 per cent in real terms, as Marco Biagi told us. It is difficult to reconcile the two things.
Mike MacKenzie: Not at the moment, thanks. Perhaps the Tories have woken up from their long slumber and imagine that we are now in an independent Scotland where it might be credible for the Scottish Tories to say one thing and for the Tories south of the border to do another. Or perhaps, undaunted by Mr Obama’s recent election victory, they are merely following Mitt Romney’s maxim that, “You can fool...
Mike MacKenzie: If Mary Scanlon is prepared to wait and listen to my speech, I will deal with that very point. In the previous system, success was often measured by the success of the institution but not always by that of the students. A few colleges may have done well under that system, but others most certainly did not. In answer to Mary Scanlon’s point, I say that I have personal experience from my...
Mike MacKenzie: Not at the moment; I am still answering Mary’s question.
Mike MacKenzie: On one occasion, I refused to sign off training modules as the apprentices had agreed with me that they had not achieved competence in those areas. The following week, the head of the department telephoned me, and he explained to me that I was missing the point. The point was, from his business perspective, that he would not receive the funding unless I signed off the modules that week. He...
Mike MacKenzie: I did not say that—I said that some colleges did well and that others did not. I could go on at length and provide more examples— [Interruption.] Members will be glad to hear that I am not going to do that. I must pay tribute to the cabinet secretary, because he is in the process of pulling off that most difficult of tasks—making a virtue out of necessity. We cannot pretend that the...
Mike MacKenzie: In winding up, I must pause to reflect on the fact that Hugh Henry’s amendment seeks to add only one very small sentence to the Tory motion—
Mike MacKenzie: Perhaps the Labour and Tory parties really are better together, because it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell them apart.
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member take an intervention?
Mike MacKenzie: In beginning a speech in a debate about tourism, it is only proper that I first pay tribute to the man who is credited with single-handedly starting the Scottish tourism industry: Walter Scott. I am sure that he would be more than surprised to know that he founded an industry that now supports about 10 per cent of employment in Scotland and which, even in these dark days of recession, grew...
Mike MacKenzie: In his speech just a few moments ago, Liam McArthur accused the cabinet secretary of lodging with the ombudsman a complaint against his own Government about the Dunoon ferry service. I and a number of members from the Highlands and Islands region were copied into the same email from the Dunoon ferry campaigners that Mr Russell received, and Mr Russell copied me into his reply. I can therefore...
Mike MacKenzie: No, I am not prepared to take an intervention. This debate should not be about the cabinet secretary or who said what when—[Interruption.]
Mike MacKenzie: I invite the member to speak to me after the debate, which is—or should be—about further education. [Interruption.]
Mike MacKenzie: Last week I paid tribute to the cabinet secretary because he was on the verge of pulling off that difficult task of making a virtue out of necessity. This week, I renew that tribute. The further education system has been in need of reform for many years. Hugh Henry admitted as much in last week’s debate and he agreed that reform was necessary—reform that Labour failed to carry out when it...
Mike MacKenzie: No, I took a number of interventions last week and did not even get halfway through my speech. The need for reform was evident in that daft system in which colleges sometimes operated in competition with each other like pseudo-businesses—some colleges did well and others did not, and two colleges that were close together would sometimes struggle in competition with each other, running...
Mike MacKenzie: No, I have to make progress. The system was not always about supplying education that was relevant to the needs of those young people for today and tomorrow. How do we know that? We know that because in an era of rising unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, we hear from industry sectors of skill shortages. We hear that they are desperate for young people but that they cannot get...
Mike MacKenzie: No, thank you. With estimates of 22 billion barrels of oil still to come out of the North Sea, with a value of more than £1.5 trillion, the sector offers not just short-term employment but rewarding long-term careers.
Mike MacKenzie: No, I will not, thank you. We hear about skill shortages from the renewable energy sector. With some estimates suggesting that there will be investment of more than £100 billion in the sector in Scotland in the next decade, the sector offers great career opportunities for young people.
