Rural Development Committee, 11 Sep 2001

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Official Report 154KB pdf

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Interests

Item 1 on the agenda is the traditional request for a new member of the committee to declare any interests that are relevant to the workings of the committee.

I welcome a recent arrival to the Scottish Parliament—Stewart Stevenson. I hope that you will greatly enjoy working on the Rural Development Committee.

Thank you very much, convener. I look forward to working on the committee. I will make two declarations of interest. Although I am not formally required to register the interest, it is appropriate, in view of the amount that HBOS plc lends to the farming sector, to declare that I receive a pension from that bank. I also hold some 39,000 shares, which is just below the level that I would be required to declare.

I also declare—this will come as no surprise to the committee—that I represent the parliamentary constituency that has the most substantial fishing interests. That is not a subject on which I expect to remain silent.