Hansard

Mr Hamilton: SNP Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Question Time · Air Services (Glasgow to Barra)

On behalf of the people of Barra, I ask the minister to confirm that the two-year extension to the review period is simply a stay of execution rather than a long-term commitment to the route. Will he take the opportunity of the additional two-year review to guarantee that the ...

8. Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Question Time · Air Services (Glasgow to Barra)

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is on the future of the air service between Glasgow and Barra. (S1O-6703)

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Question Time · Ferry (Ballycastle to Campbeltown)

On positive alternatives, is the minister aware of the success of Neil MacCormick MEP in convincing the European Commission to treat peninsulas in the same way as islands for the provision of additional public service obligations? If so, will he consider having additional rout...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Chamber

26 Mar 2003

Island Transport

Before the minister leaves the subject of air services, will he say something about the announcement that he made about the Barra air service? Will the extension of two years allow him to give Parliament a commitment today that the full requirements of the Scottish transport a...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Chamber

26 Mar 2003

Island Transport

I am grateful for that intervention.The point that comes out of that is that whether it involves working with the Republic of Ireland, Ayrshire or anywhere else we must be creative about what we do to secure the future of that ferry route, because in many ways it is the final ...

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Chamber

26 Mar 2003

Island Transport

I congratulate Tavish Scott on securing the debate. I should also say that I agree with just about everything that he said, which is a strange, but nonetheless welcome, position for me to find myself in.It was interesting that Tavish Scott started by telling us that he was som...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

The point is that if we make an active choice to extend parliamentary privilege to something that we are sceptical about, we do a disservice.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

We have to be careful about this. My take on it is that to publish half the paper would be to stoke the fire still further. I suspect that we should simply say that if the petitioner wishes to publish the evidence, distribute it or put it on his own web page, so be it, but it ...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

I am content that the issue has been exhausted.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

In that case, I am happy to support that approach.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

Is this part of our legacy paper? Does the paper already state that there will be an on-going review?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

Who is responsible for the collation of the statistics?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

I do not doubt it.I have one final question on whether the process works. Is there any facility for keeping a note of the statistics? Is there on-going research so that we know whether the process works and whether we need to review it further? I do not know whether such resea...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

That is fine. I was just curious.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

I appreciate that. My other question is about the dispute that might surround an application for an accelerated diet and Bill Aitken's comments about rule 43.8, which states:"Any party opposing such an application will be required to demonstrate that their opposition is well f...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

Okay. That is fine.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

But for those who are in the pre-April category, the fact that the other cases will take place on a truncated time scale will mean that the queue is shorter and the wait is shorter so everybody will benefit. However, there is no possibility of changing the pre-April regulations.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

Once that policy has been decided different procedures do not necessarily mean that those cases prior to April will be leapfrogged in the process. Is that correct?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

What is the difference between that position and the new procedure?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Petitions

The convener, Bill Aitken and the Lord President are to be commended for what they have done on this petition. We have reached the point that is precisely where we would have wanted to end up, and we have the commitment that matters will be expedited as quickly as possible. Pr...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

Can I stress that I will be available next year at a cheap rate?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

That would also combat the problem of short time scales for dealing with legislation or decisions, because we would not have to approve an adviser. The advisers would be available if we needed to pick up the telephone to them and such help would be available to all committee m...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

Yes. The committee advisers section of the paper from the Faculty of Advocates says that the faculty would be willing to act in that way, as I presume people from other walks of life, such as academia, would be.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

Such advisers would not be here all the time, but we could tap into them as appropriate.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

That brings up the prospect of having standing advisers. Although some flexibility is needed for each issue and the committee might want to have an individual expert on a matter, is there an argument for having four or five retained advisers?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

The paper from the Faculty of Advocates says that the faculty's law reform committee is keen to have feedback from us about the degree to which a technical rather than policy-focused approach would help us. The committee should probably reply to the faculty about that.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

So once you have received that letter, the committee may want to reflect and report on it.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

And, on scrutiny, the minister will write to the convener to outline the process from—

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

Could I just get some clarification about what precisely we are asking of Professor Gane? What is his remit?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

It strikes me that the nature of the discussion that we have just had is one reason why the bill should have been considered in much more detail. Notwithstanding the considerations about timing, bills such as this one should come before the committees of this Parliament as a m...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

I am interested not in the right, but in the practice.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

I have another point, which picks up on something in the Executive memorandum on Sewel motions generally. The enshrined principle is that the UK Parliament will not normally legislate on devolved matters, yet the Executive memorandum states:"the policy of both the Scottish Exe...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

I would be interested to know the level of Scottish representation on the committee and how seriously the scrutiny will be taken by that committee, because I am willing to bet my last buck that some of the perfectly valid issues that have been raised by this Scottish parliamen...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

In terms of the scrutiny, do we know to which committee the bill will go?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

It strikes me that, even though the second part of the delay that you describe was nothing to do with the Scottish Executive or the Scottish Parliament, it will nonetheless impact on whether the legislation gets the scrutiny here that it deserves. On scrutiny, you said that th...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

What we are just about to do.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

Lady Cosgrove's recommendations were published in 2001. It may have been decided that it was best to wait for the Home Office consultation, but I am not sure what more that was supposed to achieve. If the Executive thought that that was the right thing to do, that is what it s...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

In answer to a question on how our deliberations fit in with what is happening in Westminster and why we are discussing the bill after it has been agreed to in principle, the minister quite properly said that there is an opportunity for us to influence the legislation, to teas...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

So how do you know that the issue will be addressed?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

I understand that. However, the nature of amendments is that one has no idea how they will end up.

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Committee

18 Mar 2003

Sexual Offences Bill

That does not make any sense to me. You say that there is an intention to deal with the issue at the committee stage. How can you know what is going to happen at that stage or that the issue will be addressed?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Chamber

13 Mar 2003

International Situation

I appreciate that, Presiding Officer.Resolution 1441 refers to resolution 678 to ensure that the matter goes back to the Security Council. Indeed, the resolution specifically refers to that.The Conservatives talk about what the resolution says, or does not say, about "serious ...

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Chamber

13 Mar 2003

International Situation

As the Parliament wrestles with the enormity of the possible international conflict, members are asking themselves, "What can we do about it?" This is no day for grandstanding or great rhetorical flourishes. Indeed, the Parliament has risen to the occasion by having a mature a...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Chamber

13 Mar 2003

International Situation

Will the member give way?

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Chamber

13 Mar 2003

International Situation

Mr McLetchie is right to quote the term "serious consequences". Will he confirm that the definition of "serious consequences" is a matter for the Security Council alone and that it is not for member states to define the term as they wish?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Chamber

06 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I am sorry, but I do not have time. I say to the Executive that the one thing that we need to hear from the minister when he sums up is that the Executive will give the bill parliamentary time and lodge amendments to give it every prospect of being on the statute book. Nobody ...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Chamber

06 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

No, I will not give way at this point. I draw to members' attention the committee's report, because it details innovative prospects for getting around the problem. It suggests that, rather than drawing arbitrary lines on a map, we could use a more sophisticated demographic pro...

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Chamber

06 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I gather that I was showing up on the Presiding Officer's screen as Alex Neil. That is truly terrifying for all concerned.This could be a special day for the Parliament, whose reputation has been battered and bruised in the Highlands and Islands, as it has across Scotland. How...

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Chamber

06 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Has Bòrd Gàidhlig na h-Alba now met and has it reached a view on whether it is in favour of the bill?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

04 Mar 2003

Judicial Appointments

I understand that, but do you accept that even to make that statement and to direct that that be a factor—I think that you said that the board "should" look towards those kinds of areas—is to impinge on the independence of that body?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

04 Mar 2003

Judicial Appointments

I am still slightly confused. On the one hand, the Judicial Appointments Board is an independent body, which the minister said must be seen to be fair and independent and must be seen to get the best candidates. On the other hand, the board is to consider what is the right com...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

04 Mar 2003

Judicial Appointments

Are you sending out the message today that there is no fundamental problem with the way in which the system is perceived and that you are not aware that membership of the freemasons, the Speculative Society or anything else is substantially prejudicial?

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

04 Mar 2003

Judicial Appointments

Apart from those examples, there is a general principle on which I would be interested to hear the minister's view. The committee's paper on judicial appointments states:"The system in England and Wales also requires that all new applicants for posts in the judiciary must indi...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

04 Mar 2003

Judicial Appointments

It related to a social security case and to the failure of the tribunal concerned to consider whether freemasonry constituted a breach of the principle of a fair trial. It was found that that question ought to have been considered. The failure to consider the matter, rather th...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

04 Mar 2003

Judicial Appointments

I turn to the petition on freemasonry that the committee has been dealing with. You said that there is a limit to what you can say on something that is still a matter for the courts, but I have issues to raise on the subject. We received—as, I assume, you did—evidence from Mr ...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

04 Mar 2003

Judicial Appointments

That is interesting. That means that the board is not simply considering the individual merits of the candidates; it also has the capacity to look at the broad spectrum of those who are on the bench.

Mr Hamilton: SNP Committee

04 Mar 2003

Judicial Appointments

Looking at things the other way round, I presume that you would think it unacceptable for any Executive to prescribe a policy base for appointment. It would be inappropriate for the Executive to say to the Judicial Appointments Board that it wanted to impose quotas or set targ...

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Committee

04 Mar 2003

Judicial Appointments

The establishment of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland represents a huge, and very welcome, change to the system. I would be interested to hear about the interrelationship between the new board and the Executive. As the minister said, the board makes recommendations...

Mr Hamilton: SNP Chamber

27 Feb 2003

Ambulance Service (Wick)

Will the minister take an intervention?

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP Chamber

27 Feb 2003

Ambulance Service (Wick)

I have two initial points, one of consensus and one of discord. I join other members in welcoming the debate and congratulating Jamie Stone on securing it, but I ask the Presiding Officer to reflect on the fact that not a single Labour member is present, apart from the ministe...