Legislative Announcement

Wednesday, 7th September 2005

“Follow that,” as one of my colleagues has just said.

I will follow the trend and begin by adding my welcome for Nicol Stephen to his new post.

I am rather glad to be here myself.

Someone in the whip’s office rather mischievously asked me whether I should not now be featuring in our debates on strong and healthy families, to which my response was, “Not yet.”

Tempting as it is to counter some of the pessimism from the Jeremiahs on the Opposition benches, I will restrict myself to just the briefest of ripostes.

We have more Scots in work today than in 23 of the other 25 nations in the European Union.

Today, Scottish unemployment is below that of London, which was a pipe dream for so many years.

This year, growth in Scotland is predicted to be higher than that of our major trading partners, France, Germany and the euro zone as a whole.

I will not fall into the trap of simply trading statistics.

This debate is on a programme for government; it is about our response as politicians.

Yesterday, the proper clarion call from the SNP’s deputy leader was for a coherent programme.

 Who could disagree with that?

Many of us on the Labour benches believe that that is just what we got, with a landmark decision on business rates, further modernisation of the justice system, reform of school meals and so on.

In the eyes of Her Majesty’s principal Opposition, however, the search for a coherent programme apparently still goes on.

I decided to take a look at the policy proposals—the foundations of any coherent programme—to have emerged over the last 70 days of recess from the SNP’s 19 front-bench spokespeople.

Here I personally exempt front-bench new boy, John Swinney, who, I am delighted to see, has returned to grace the Opposition’s front bench, albeit only two days ago.

For the other 18, consider this: over the whole recess they managed less than one release each. Members should not fear, however: there was a handful of issues that were so pressing for Scotland—

If we count the releases on the SNP website, 17 issues were thought to be worthy of comment.  

We should listen up for that coherent programme.

The member should bear with me; I am simply inviting the chamber to reflect on whether the SNP has given us a coherent programme.

There was the small matter of William Wallace; there was the constitutional status of the Faeroe Islands; there was the size of the SNP’s debt; there was which demonstration they were attending and there was condemnation of Scotland’s profit-hungry power companies.

That was from an allegedly pro-enterprise party, according to today’s First Minister’s question time.

When the largest power company in Scotland is fighting for its future, it is being condemned as a profit-hungry power company.

Of course, it is easier to go back to the old ideas because they are always the best, so whenever there is a global crisis such as this summer’s continuing conflict in the middle east or catastrophe in the southern United States, and whatever the immiseration that has been visited on the world’s benighted people, when it leads to a spike in commodity prices, the SNP calls for the spoils, and suddenly it is “Scotland’s oil” again.

The various bandwagons went like the summer sun, but a coherent programme was as elusive as the SNP’s leader.

Indeed—with the sole and honourable exception of education—having searched all 7,000 of the words of wisdom that came from the SNP’s summer sun, it was hard to find a new idea.

I turn to Her Majesty’s other loyal Opposition.

It might be smaller than the SNP, but the Scottish Tory party has almost as many spokespeople as does the SNP.

So what was its coherent programme this summer?

What were the burning issues and priorities for Scotland for what we are assured is a resurgent Tory party?

We discovered that they are still anti-Europe, anti-trade union, and against relocation of jobs.

They are now even against Brazilian cows.

Beside those really big issues, we have to wonder why, for nine long weeks, the fearless Tories had not a word to say on the economy or the health service and not even a squeak on education when the schools went back.

To be fair, the Tories did stick up for one cause this summer; Scotland’s dairy cows.

Perhaps they reckon that if the people of Scotland will not vote for them, the cows might.

In conclusion and in a spirit of genuine cross-party interests, I invite the Opposition parties, which are searching for that holy grail of a coherent programme, to follow where the Executive has led.

As we on these benches have learned, and perhaps others have yet to discover, coherent programmes can come only from moving beyond the old slogans and being ‘agin’ everything and for nothing, to embracing the future with confidence and clarity.

With that, I commend to Parliament the only coherent programme that is on offer, which comes from the Executive. “Follow that,” as one of my colleagues has just said.

I will follow the trend and begin by adding my welcome for Nicol Stephen to his new post.

I am rather glad to be here myself.

Someone in the whip’s office rather mischievously asked me whether I should not now be featuring in our debates on strong and healthy families, to which my response was, “Not yet.”

Tempting as it is to counter some of the pessimism from the Jeremiahs on the Opposition benches, I will restrict myself to just the briefest of ripostes.

We have more Scots in work today than in 23 of the other 25 nations in the European Union.

Today, Scottish unemployment is below that of London, which was a pipe dream for so many years.

This year, growth in Scotland is predicted to be higher than that of our major trading partners, France, Germany and the euro zone as a whole.

I will not fall into the trap of simply trading statistics.

This debate is on a programme for government; it is about our response as politicians.

Yesterday, the proper clarion call from the SNP’s deputy leader was for a coherent programme.

 Who could disagree with that?

Many of us on the Labour benches believe that that is just what we got, with a landmark decision on business rates, further modernisation of the justice system, reform of school meals and so on.

In the eyes of Her Majesty’s principal Opposition, however, the search for a coherent programme apparently still goes on.

I decided to take a look at the policy proposals-the foundations of any coherent programme-to have emerged over the last 70 days of recess from the SNP’s 19 front-bench spokespeople.

Here I personally exempt front-bench new boy, John Swinney, who, I am delighted to see, has returned to grace the Opposition’s front bench, albeit only two days ago.

For the other 18, consider this: over the whole recess they managed less than one release each. Members should not fear, however: there was a handful of issues that were so pressing for Scotland-

If we count the releases on the SNP website, 17 issues were thought to be worthy of comment.  

We should listen up for that coherent programme.

The member should bear with me; I am simply inviting the chamber to reflect on whether the SNP has given us a coherent programme.

There was the small matter of William Wallace; there was the constitutional status of the Faeroe Islands; there was the size of the SNP’s debt; there was which demonstration they were attending and there was condemnation of Scotland’s profit-hungry power companies.

That was from an allegedly pro-enterprise party, according to today’s First Minister’s question time.

When the largest power company in Scotland is fighting for its future, it is being condemned as a profit-hungry power company.

Of course, it is easier to go back to the old ideas because they are always the best, so whenever there is a global crisis such as this summer’s continuing conflict in the middle east or catastrophe in the southern United States, and whatever the immiseration that has been visited on the world’s benighted people, when it leads to a spike in commodity prices, the SNP calls for the spoils, and suddenly it is “Scotland’s oil” again.

The various bandwagons went like the summer sun, but a coherent programme was as elusive as the SNP’s leader.

Indeed-with the sole and honourable exception of education-having searched all 7,000 of the words of wisdom that came from the SNP’s summer sun, it was hard to find a new idea.

I turn to Her Majesty’s other loyal Opposition.

It might be smaller than the SNP, but the Scottish Tory party has almost as many spokespeople as does the SNP.

So what was its coherent programme this summer?

What were the burning issues and priorities for Scotland for what we are assured is a resurgent Tory party?

We discovered that they are still anti-Europe, anti-trade union, and against relocation of jobs.

They are now even against Brazilian cows.

Beside those really big issues, we have to wonder why, for nine long weeks, the fearless Tories had not a word to say on the economy or the health service and not even a squeak on education when the schools went back.

To be fair, the Tories did stick up for one cause this summer; Scotland’s dairy cows.

Perhaps they reckon that if the people of Scotland will not vote for them, the cows might.

In conclusion and in a spirit of genuine cross-party interests, I invite the Opposition parties, which are searching for that holy grail of a coherent programme, to follow where the Executive has led.

As we on these benches have learned, and perhaps others have yet to discover, coherent programmes can come only from moving beyond the old slogans and being ‘agin’ everything and for nothing, to embracing the future with confidence and clarity.

With that, I commend to Parliament the only coherent programme that is on offer, which comes from the Executive.