Meeting of the Parliament 10 March 2016
That is a matter of opinion on which Mr Brown and I are going to have to disagree. There is plenty of information and analysis available that will enable Parliament to form that judgment. Ultimately, it is a judgment for elected members of Parliament; it is not a judgment for people appointed by Parliament on its behalf. It is a responsibility that all elected members of Parliament should take seriously.
I hate to close my speech tonight on a discordant note, as the Presiding Officer has informed us that it is Mr Brown’s final speech to Parliament. Mr Brown seemed to be surprised that it was his final speech, but I can advise him that the source of that information was in fact the Conservative chief whip. Maybe Mr Brown will take a message from that revelation.
I want to share with Parliament a little story about Mr Brown. I was on my summer holidays last year, escaping from it all, and was waiting in the queue to get on the ferry at Oban for my summer retreat to the Argyll island so magnificently represented in this Parliament by Mr Russell. As I pulled up in my car to join the queue for the ferry to Mull, who was in the car next door but Mr Gavin Brown and his family? It was a real get-away-from-it-all break for the Swinney family.
Mr Brown has been a creditable and commendable adversary for me in this Parliament but also a friend. I commend him for his distinguished contribution to Parliament, which will be the poorer for his not being a member of it after the election. If I may give some private advice to the Conservative Party, it is that it will be significantly weaker for not having Mr Brown in its ranks. However, I thank Mr Brown for his contribution. [Applause.]
Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con) rose—