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I whole-heartedly welcome Alasdair Morrison as a new member of the committee. Irene Oldfather has sent apologies and has indicated that she may be a little late. I am sure that Mr Morrison will contribute a great deal to the work of the committee over the coming weeks, months and, possibly, years—should he be so unfortunate as to remain on the committee that long. I invite Mr Morrison to declare any interests that are relevant to the work of the committee.
I cannot think of anything, apart from my membership for 12 or 13 years of the once-radical Scottish Crofters Union. I assume that my membership of that union has now been transferred to the Scottish Crofting Foundation. I think that that is my only relevant declaration—certainly, when I left the house this morning, I was not in possession of large tracts of land in the Western Isles.
I welcome Irene Oldfather to the committee and invite her to declare any interests that are relevant to the work of the committee.
I am a member of the National Union of Journalists and have been paid to write a couple of articles on the common agricultural policy.
I trust that you will not be tempted to write too many articles on the internal workings of the Rural Development Committee. However, I welcome you warmly to our number.
I nominate Rhoda Grant.
Does Rhoda Grant accept the nomination?
Yes.
As no members have indicated that they wish to speak against the nomination, I welcome Rhoda Grant as a reporter on the committee's work programme. Our first meeting is next Thursday at 1.45 pm, but we will deal with that at another time.
Members indicated agreement.