Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie: My Lords, I support this group of amendments. Last week, I was lucky—that is not necessarily the right word—to participate in a briefing organised by the noble Lord, Lord Russell of Liverpool, with the 5Rights Foundation on its recent research, which the noble Lord referred to. As the mother of a 13 year-old boy, I came away wondering why on earth you would not want to ensure safety by...
Neil Bibby: ...to spend “as they see fit”. As confirmed by our own Scottish Parliament information centre, that COSLA figure equates to a £304 million real-terms cut. The Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Fraser of Allander Institute also believe that the budget represents a real-terms cut. The issue with what the Deputy First Minister said earlier today is that it is no longer simply an issue of...
Murdo Fraser: .... In 1990, the car that I was in was involved in a head-on collision on the A9 single carriageway near Carrbridge. I suffered multiple fractures and spent weeks in hospital. I was one of the lucky ones—I survived—but others have not been so fortunate. For decades now, I have been campaigning for A9 improvements, with petitions, at public meetings and by raising the issue in Parliament...
Russell Findlay: .... I know that Mr Corry and the CPG have long championed the rights of veterans living in Scotland. In his 2015 report, “Transition in Scotland”, the first Scottish veterans commissioner, Eric Fraser, talked about the difficulty that he experienced in transitioning from a life in naval uniform to being a civvy. We are familiar with stories of service personnel struggling to cope as they...
Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie: ...in Scotland comes from the block grant, so apparently we would be doomed without the broad shoulders of the United Kingdom Government. This narrative leaves the impression that the Scots are lucky to have the UK. While I believe that all of us, from whatever part of the United Kingdom, are fortunate to live in it, that does not give us an appreciation of the full picture. The debate...
Murdo Fraser: ...of Session that he did not have immunity from common-law liability. They were fortunate in having the resources to pursue such a case—many others in similar circumstances would not have been so lucky. Whitehouse and Clark have now each been paid the sum of £10.5 million in damages, together with another £3 million in legal costs. The Lord Advocate confirmed yesterday that those damages...
Rachael Hamilton: ...highlighted the fact that the Government is sitting on £2.2 billion of Barnett consequentials that should, rightfully, be in the hands of businesses around Scotland, which are on their knees. The Fraser of Allander institute revealed that the Government is hoarding more than £1 billion at Holyrood instead of using it to protect jobs and support businesses. More than anything, that...
David Linden: I am very lucky to count Celtic Park in my constituency and its 60,000-seater stadium. I commend to the Minister the report from the Fraser of Allander Institute about the economic contribution of Celtic football club and implore him, when he is having conversations with the Treasury, to be mindful of the fact that this is about not just sport but the impact on the local hospitality sector....
Lord Kennedy of Southwark: ...people and unemployed people all living together. That is not the situation now on many of our council estates. Moving forward to today, I and all my siblings are home owners and we recognise how lucky we were as children to have a decent home to live in. My noble friend Lord Sawyer was right to say that the story now is often one of pain, misery and suffering. I think that life is very...
Eddie Hughes: ...afterwards, the Government offered YMCA Birmingham tremendous support through what might seem to be a lexicon of the funding available. Indeed, YMCA Birmingham seems to have been particularly lucky. Alan Fraser, the chief executive who appointed me, is obviously a very wise man, and the organisation’s success is partly down to his brilliance. When I joined the organisation, it had just...
Alison Johnstone: There is a great deal of consensus in the chamber on this issue. I even agree entirely with Jeremy Balfour, particularly regarding what he said about Murdo Fraser and Facebook. I agree, too, with Mark Griffin, who said that the issue is cross-cutting—there are education impacts, housing impacts, planning impacts and transport policy impacts. I am really glad that we are debating this...
Daniel Johnson: ...as mountain rescue, that the armed forces carry out. I will address that in my speech, as well as some of the points that other members have made about transition. I am mindful that we are very lucky that the debate is being led by people such as Keith Brown, Maurice Corry and Edward Mountain who have seen that transition in action. I can only imagine what it must be like, but they can...
Jenny Gilruth: I absolutely agree with what Murdo Fraser says. I will come to that issue later in my speech. Much as in the Borders, opening up the Leven rail link would not only be about driving investment and job creation. It is about more than that; it is about tourism. When the rail line first opened in the 1960s, it helped Leven to become a tourist destination. My granddad, who is from Springburn, used...
Graham Simpson: First, I apologise for the non-appearance of my colleagues Murdo Fraser and Adam Tomkins, who were desperate to take part in the debate but were somehow unavailable. As a west of Scotland politician, I have always steered clear of mentioning football allegiances, but my wife tells me that it is time to come out. My dad, his dad and his dad’s dad before him were born and brought up in the...
Jenny Gilruth: ...Party, which is seeking to provide selective education in England and to divide people according to ability. [ Interruption .] When the pupils at Levenmouth academy leave school, they might be lucky, as Ruth Davidson and I were—they might leave for the big smoke to study at university or college. But what about jobs? In recent years, my constituency has suffered disproportionately at the...
Gavin Newlands: ...the reality facing her is that there is nothing blue about it. Scotland voted remain with a clear 24 percentage-point majority. If we sit back and allow this folly to happen to us, the independent Fraser of Allander Institute predicts that a hard Tory Brexit will threaten 80,000 Scottish jobs and cost Scotland’s economy up to £11 billion a year by 2030. The Prime Minister is in receipt...
Graham Simpson: That was more of a speech than a question. In any case, its premise was entirely wrong, because, as the Fraser of Allander institute has pointed out—and as Derek Mackay’s figures show—there has been an increase this year in money coming from the UK Government. That is why my colleague Murdo Fraser has described Mr Mackay as a very lucky man. He is indeed, yet still he has chosen to cut...
Murdo Fraser: In the stage 1 debate three weeks ago, I said that the finance secretary was a lucky man. He was lucky because he had more resources than any of his predecessors had—his budget will go up by £500 million in real terms as against the current year, and we know that the Scottish Government’s total budget is up even on the previous high of 2010-11. He was also lucky because he has—or...
Murdo Fraser: There we have it from the Liberal Democrats. The Greens are not hard left enough for Willie Rennie. He wants to go even further. Derek Mackay had so many advantages with this budget. He is a lucky man, first because he has had more money to play with than ever before. By his own admission, his budget for the coming year is up on the current year, in real terms, by some £501 million. He has...
Maurice Corry: .... However, I am glad to say that through the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association and other organisations, including the council, we are gradually getting him back on the rails. Eric Fraser and his team deserve our thanks for creating a well-produced and well-thought-out document that has many good points. There are points that we will probably discuss this evening and that...
