We come now to motion S1M-1746, in the name of Henry McLeish, on the appointment of Euan Robson as a junior Scottish Minister. I call the First Minister to move the motion.

I have a genuine point of order. [MEMBERS: "Oh."]

That will make a refreshing change.

It will make a very refreshing change.

Rule 4.8 of the standing orders requires you, as Presiding Officer, to notify the Parliament when a Minister resigns. Obviously, that must happen before the Parliament agrees to the appointment of a new minister. There has been no such notification in the business bulletin, or in a statement or a message from you to MSPs. In those circumstances, I ask you to consider whether the debate can continue.

Let me inform the Parliament that yesterday I received Tavish Scott's resignation in writing.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. You mentioned that after you called the motion for debate. The announcement was therefore not made before the motion was called for debate, and indeed it was not made before the motion was lodged. That is contrary to the spirit of the standing orders. I ask you to consider that seriously. [Interruption.]

Order.

I take your point seriously, but I am looking at the standing order and it does not say anything about timing. It says simply that I am required to

"notify the resignation to the Parliament."

I apologise, and regret that I did not do that. I must confess that I had forgotten about that standing order. I have technically announced the resignation now, and it is in order for the First Minister to propose a replacement for Mr Scott.

I am pleased to move that Euan Robson be appointed as a junior Scottish Minister. The purpose of the motion in my name is to get the approval of Parliament for the appointment. I would thereafter present Euan Robson's name to Her Majesty the Queen. We do not need to delay the chamber further on this busy day. However, I know that Euan Robson will serve Scotland with pride and distinction. I hope that colleagues on all sides of the chamber will support him this afternoon. I cannot promise that he will always have a smooth time in government, but I can say that they will be interesting times. I wish him all the best.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that Euan Robson be appointed as a junior Scottish Minister.

As members will be aware, we have argued since the inception of the Parliament that there are far too many ministers in the Scottish Executive and Scotland Office. We have a situation in which 23 ministers perform functions that, back in 1997, were more than adequately performed by five.

Accordingly, the non-replacement of Mr Scott would have been a welcome commitment on the part of the Executive to cutting down the size of government in Scotland. Indeed, Mr Robson may well come to regret that the First Minister has not taken our advice. He may come to regret his appointment to a post that has been shown to be something of a poisoned chalice—he is our third Deputy Minister for Parliament in five months. It is not so much a ministerial job as an occupational hazard and it should come with a public health warning.

I am sure that Mr Robson will bring to the post the same diligence that he has brought to his work as a back-bench member of the Parliament, but I offer him one word of advice on the conduct of his responsibilities. His biggest challenge will be to sort out the schizophrenia in his own party. It cannot be a party of Government and a party of Opposition at one and the same time. It has been two-faced for too long. Unless Mr Robson addresses that fundamental issue and sorts it out, I suspect that he will not be in post for any longer than were his predecessors.

Good luck to him anyway in that challenging and demanding post. It would be churlish of me to refuse his appointment to the dying embers of the coalition Administration.

I shall oppose the appointment, but not on the basis that Euan Robson is unfit for it. Indeed, I have spoken to him and I think very highly of him.

I am sorry that I cannot say that of some other members in the chamber. It is a difficult thing to be a business manager, even for a well-disciplined and well-ordered party such as the SNP, so It must be absolutely impossible for the Liberal Democrats. However, I must tell Mr Wallace that to lose one business manager is a misfortune, but to lose two is careless. At 5 o'clock tonight we may lose a third if the piece from the Berwickshire News & East Lothian Herald that Mr Salmond quoted is true, because Euan Robson cannot, in all conscience, support today's motion if what he is reported to have said to the fishermen is true. Fortunately, however, there is a fourth candidate in the wings—George Lyon. We all heard his stomach-churning application for the post a few minutes ago, which was delivered with his customary charm.

The Parliament and the Parliamentary Bureau are not a rubber stamp for the Executive. It cannot be business as usual in the Parliament if the bureau and the Executive believe that all they need to do is trot out another name, trot out another motion and try and rerun history and all will be well. My voting against Mr Robson's appointment today is not a vote against Mr Robson, but against what the Executive is doing in this country. We will go on voting against that until members of the Executive become democrats and, perhaps, until the Liberal Democrats become democrats, too.

It would be tempting to rise to some of the bait, but I want to put on record the fact that, under the terms of the partnership agreement, it was I who recommended Euan Robson to the First Minister for appointment. I endorse the First Minister's motion and I wish Euan Robson every success in carrying out his duties.

I would like to pick up on what Mr McLetchie and Mr Russell said about having yet another Deputy Minister for Parliament. It would be unfortunate if the debate took place without proper and formal recognition of the contribution that Tavish Scott made and of the dignified way in which he made his resignation speech in the chamber this morning. [Applause.]

Under standing orders, this is one of the motions that I must put to the chamber right away. Members should therefore check that their cards are in place and that the light in front of the card is out. If there is a Division after I have put the question, members should check that the flashing light becomes a solid light. That way, we will know that everybody's vote has been recorded.

The question is, that motion S1M-1746, in the name of Henry McLeish, on the appointment of Mr Euan Robson as a junior Scottish Minister, be agreed to. Are we agreed?

Members:

No.

There will be a Division.

Division number 1

For: Aitken, Bill, Baillie, Jackie, Barrie, Scott, Boyack, Sarah, Brankin, Rhona, Brown, Robert, Butler, Bill, Chisholm, Malcolm, Craigie, Cathie, Curran, Ms Margaret, Davidson, Mr David, Deacon, Susan, Douglas-Hamilton, Lord James, Ferguson, Patricia, Fergusson, Alex, Finnie, Ross, Galbraith, Mr Sam, Gallie, Phil, Gillon, Karen, Godman, Trish, Goldie, Miss Annabel, Gorrie, Donald, Grant, Rhoda, Gray, Iain, Harding, Mr Keith, Henry, Hugh, Home Robertson, Mr John, Hughes, Janis, Jackson, Gordon, Jamieson, Cathy, Jamieson, Margaret, Jenkins, Ian, Johnstone, Alex, Kerr, Mr Andy, Lamont, Johann, Livingstone, Marilyn, Lyon, George, Macdonald, Lewis, Macintosh, Mr Kenneth, MacKay, Angus, MacLean, Kate, Macmillan, Maureen, Martin, Paul, McAllion, Mr John, McAveety, Mr Frank, McCabe, Mr Tom, McConnell, Mr Jack, McGrigor, Mr Jamie, McIntosh, Mrs Lyndsay, McLeish, Henry, McLetchie, David, McMahon, Mr Michael, McNeil, Mr Duncan, McNeill, Pauline, McNulty, Des, Monteith, Mr Brian, Morrison, Mr Alasdair, Muldoon, Bristow, Mulligan, Mrs Mary, Mundell, David, Munro, John Farquhar, Murray, Dr Elaine, Oldfather, Irene, Peacock, Peter, Peattie, Cathy, Radcliffe, Nora, Raffan, Mr Keith, Robson, Euan, Rumbles, Mr Mike, Scanlon, Mary, Scott, John, Scott, Tavish, Simpson, Dr Richard, Smith, Elaine, Smith, Iain, Smith, Mrs Margaret, Stephen, Nicol, Stone, Mr Jamie, Thomson, Elaine, Tosh, Mr Murray, Wallace, Ben, Wallace, Mr Jim, Watson, Mike, Whitefield, Karen, Wilson, Allan, Young, John
Against: Adam, Brian, Campbell, Colin, Canavan, Dennis, Crawford, Bruce, Cunningham, Roseanna, Elder, Dorothy-Grace, Ewing, Dr Winnie, Ewing, Fergus, Fabiani, Linda, Gibson, Mr Kenneth, Grahame, Christine, Hamilton, Mr Duncan, Hyslop, Fiona, Ingram, Mr Adam, Lochhead, Richard, MacAskill, Mr Kenny, MacDonald, Ms Margo, Marwick, Tricia, Matheson, Michael, McGugan, Irene, McLeod, Fiona, Morgan, Alasdair, Neil, Alex, Paterson, Mr Gil, Quinan, Mr Lloyd, Reid, Mr George, Robison, Shona, Russell, Michael, Salmond, Mr Alex, Sheridan, Tommy, Sturgeon, Nicola, Swinney, Mr John, Ullrich, Kay, Welsh, Mr Andrew, White, Ms Sandra

The result of the Division is: For 86, Against 35, Abstentions 0.

Motion agreed to.

That the Parliament agrees that Euan Robson be appointed as a junior Scottish Minister.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Have you any indication of who is on the substitutes bench?

That is not a point of order.