Mr Peter Duncan: I welcome any progress being made on seizing the illegal profits of drug dealers in Scotland, not least in Stranraer in my constituency. However, I am sure that the Secretary of State will agree that it is equally important for the Government to minimise the risk of these dangerous criminals striking again. Is he proud of the fact that these prisoners will be entitled to automatic early...
Mr Peter Duncan: Ten years ago, the then Leader of the Opposition, now the Prime Minister, said that the aim of his pensions policy was to remove the stigma of means-testing for ever. Would the Secretary of State like to give the House a report on progress towards that aim in Scotland?
Mr Peter Duncan: The stigma.
Mr Peter Duncan: The Secretary of State's phoney bluster will do nothing to hide the fact that the Government have clearly failed on this issue. The simple fact is that 50 per cent. more pensioners are subject to means-testing in Scotland and must go cap in hand to the Chancellor for the stigma to which the Prime Minister referred 10 years ago. Is not a restoration of the earnings link and a substantial cut...
Mr Peter Duncan: The Secretary of State implores us to look at the detail, but that shows Scotland's relegation to 36th in the world league for competitiveness. Is he proud of that record in government?
Mr Peter Duncan: The simple fact is that Scotland's economy is not attracting or retaining the very best. The figures are indisputable, with gross domestic product growth consistently lagging behind the rest of the UK, at some 7 per cent. since 1995, business start-ups at only three quarters of the UK level, and manufacturing export levels continuing their seeming decline. What more will the Government do to...
Mr Peter Duncan: Clearly, the Minister knows that it is important to get the energy mix right. So, too, does the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning in the Scottish Parliament, who said: "does it make sense, at the very time when climate change and the reduction of greenhouse gases have shot up the political agenda, to be planning the elimination of nuclear power?" Does the Minister agree...
Mr Peter Duncan: Given the Minister's family interest in the issue, has she asked her colleagues for their views on why the fishing fleets of Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands are successful and are expanding while the Scots fleet has been decimated?
Mr Peter Duncan: The Minister must accept that the problem is that we do not have any fish swimming around, as the CFP has emptied our seas of fish. The problems faced by Scotland's fishermen are almost exclusively the result of the CFP itself. The Scotland Office has a poor track record in standing up for Scotland's interest. Will it now do so, and recommend either to the Prime Minister or to the Chancellor,...
Mr Peter Duncan: I am glad that the Minister has become excited again during our annual exchange on fisheries. She is right—we will return our fisheries to local and national control, we will withdraw from the CFP, and Scotland's fishermen will be the better for it. Does she agree that the people best placed to manage Scotland's fisheries are fishermen themselves, not politicians in Edinburgh, London or...
Mr Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) Scottish people aged 16 to 24, (b) Scottish people aged 25 or over and (c) Scottish people have entered a period of employment through the New Deal for longer than 13 weeks in each of the last four years; and what each figure is as a percentage of all individuals leaving the New Deal.
Mr Peter Duncan: I am very grateful to the Secretary of State for that timeous reply, but will he give a more specific indication? He will appreciate that there is genuine concern that the Government are seeking to evade their responsibilities. How long does he expect it to take before the order is laid before the House?
Mr Peter Duncan: I thank the Secretary of State for that, but he will also be aware that local authorities have an important role in adapting to any boundary change. What discussions has he had with local authorities about how long they need to react to the order when it is laid? In particular, what request has he had from them about the time delay that they need to adapt to those changes?
Mr Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hours of scrutiny were given to each Bill relating exclusively to Scotland between 1997 and 1999, broken down by (a) Scottish Grand Committee, (b) House and (c) House of Lords.
Mr Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what the latest date would be by which the orders implementing the Boundary Commission for Scotland's report on Parliamentary Boundaries in Scotland would have to take effect in order for an election in May 2005 to be contested on the new parliamentary constituencies; (2) what advice he has received from local authorities in Scotland about the...
Mr Peter Duncan: Does the Minister think that a multi-battalion single regiment will assist or take away from Army recruitment in Scotland?
Mr Peter Duncan: I add my congratulations to the hon. Member for North Tayside (Pete Wishart), and I express my sympathy with his remarks on the recent bereavements. They remind us of the high price paid by the British Army, and it has been paid by our forces over generations. There is a considerably improved turnout on the Government Back Benches for this debate, which is obviously related to the Minister's...
Mr Peter Duncan: Our policy certainly is to retain all the regiments as they are at present. I have made that perfectly clear, and I will restate it shortly. The hon. Gentleman mentions a declining budget. That contradicts what the Secretary of State for Scotland said yesterday in this Chamber; he suggested that the budget was increasing. The hon. Gentleman and his colleagues should get their figures correct....
Mr Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the percentage of (a) females and (b) males was among (i) initial applicants and (ii) successful candidates in each of the promotion and recruitment exercises for posts in the senior civil service and in Band C (formerly Grade 7) in the Scotland Office and the Scottish Office since 1 January 1994.
Mr Peter Duncan: Given the importance of continuity of supply, does the Secretary of State endorse the rush by the Scottish Executive towards wind energy at the expense of other options, specifically new nuclear build? Does he not think it rather inappropriate that the Scottish Executive have the first and last say on the largest wind farm developments? The larger the development, the more severe the impact...