Interests
I welcome members, the press and the public to the first meeting of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill Committee. I remind members to switch off their mobile phones and pagers. We have a full turnout this morning—no apologies have been received.
The first item on the agenda is to ask all members of the committee to declare any relevant interests. As that is a statutory requirement, it would be advisable for members to err on the side of caution by declaring any interests that would prejudice, or give the appearance of prejudicing, their ability to participate in the committee's proceedings in a disinterested manner.
Before I invite members to declare any interests, I note that standing orders also require members to declare that they will act impartially in their capacity as members of the committee and will base their decisions solely on the evidence and information that are provided to it. It makes sense for members to make such a declaration at the same time as they declare any interests.
I begin by declaring that I have no declarable interests and that I will act impartially.
I believe that I have no interests to declare and am convinced that I will act impartially. However, I want to bring to the committee's attention something of which I have already notified the clerk through my office. At functions that MSPs have been invited to attend, I have sat as a guest at the table of Scottish Airports, which is part of the British Airports Authority, although I do not consider that that impugns my ability to act impartially.
In addition, I spoke at a fringe meeting at the Conservative party conference that was sponsored by Strathclyde Passenger Transport. I talked about transport in broad terms rather than about transport in Strathclyde specifically. Again, I regard that as having no impact on my ability to arbitrate on the merits of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill. I note those activities for the committee's information, lest they be brought up at a later stage, but I do not believe that they will make any difference to my work on the committee and I am therefore not declaring them as interests.
I have no interests to declare and I will act impartially.
I, too, have no interests to declare and I will act impartially.
I have no interests to declare and I will act impartially.