Decision Time
The first question is, that motion S1M-82, in the name of Mr Henry McLeish, be agreed to. Are we all agreed?
No.
In that case, we will have a division.
FOR
Alexander, Ms Wendy (Paisley North) (Lab)
Baillie, Jackie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Barrie, Scott (Dunfermline West) (Lab)
Boyack, Sarah (Edinburgh Central) (Lab)
Brankin, Rhona (Midlothian) (Lab)
Brown, Robert (Glasgow) (LD)
Chisholm, Malcolm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)
Craigie, Cathie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab)
Curran, Ms Margaret (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab)
Deacon, Susan (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab)
Dewar, Donald (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab)
Eadie, Helen (Dunfermline East) (Lab)
Ferguson, Ms Patricia (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab)
Finnie, Ross (West of Scotland) (LD)
Galbraith, Mr Sam (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab)
Gillon, Karen (Clydesdale) (Lab)
Godman, Trish (West Renfrewshire) (Lab)
Gorrie, Donald (Central Scotland) (LD)
Grant, Rhoda (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Gray, Iain (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Lab)
Henry, Hugh (Paisley South) (Lab)
Home Robertson, Mr John (East Lothian) (Lab)
Hughes, Janis (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab)
Jackson, Dr Sylvia (Stirling) (Lab)
Jackson, Gordon (Glasgow Govan) (Lab)
Jamieson, Cathy (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley)
(Lab)
Jamieson, Margaret (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)
Jenkins, Ian (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD)
Kerr, Mr Andy (East Kilbride) (Lab)
Lamont, Johann (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab)
Livingstone, Marilyn (Kirkcaldy) (Lab)
Macdonald, Lewis (Aberdeen Central) (Lab)
Macintosh, Mr Kenneth (Eastwood) (Lab)
Mackay, Angus (Edinburgh South) (Lab)
MacLean, Kate (Dundee West) (Lab)
Martin, Paul (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab)
McAllion, Mr John (Dundee East) (Lab)
McAveety, Mr Frank (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab)
McCabe, Mr Tom (Hamilton South) (Lab)
McConnell, Mr Jack (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)
McLeish, Henry (Central Fife) (Lab)
McMahon, Mr Michael (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab)
Macmillan, Maureen (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
McNeil, Mr Duncan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab)
McNeill, Pauline (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab)
McNulty, Des (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab)
Morrison, Mr Alasdair (Western Isles) (Lab)
Muldoon, Bristow (Livingston) (Lab)
Mulligan, Mrs Mary (Linlithgow) (Lab)
Munro, Mr John (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD)
Murray, Dr Elaine (Dumfries) (Lab)
Oldfather, Ms Irene (Cunninghame South) (Lab)
Peacock, Peter (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Peattie, Cathy (Falkirk East) (Lab)
Radcliffe, Nora (Gordon) (LD)
Raffan, Mr Keith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD)
Robson, Euan (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD)
Rumbles, Mr Mike (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
(LD)
Scott, Tavish (Shetland) (LD)
Simpson, Dr Richard (Ochil) (Lab)
Smith, Elaine (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab)
Smith, Iain (North-East Fife) (LD)
Smith, Mrs Margaret (Edinburgh West) (LD)
Stephen, Nicol (Aberdeen South) (LD)
Thomson, Elaine (Aberdeen North) (Lab)
Wallace, Mr Jim (Orkney) (LD)
Watson, Mike (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab)
Welsh, Ian (Ayr) (Lab)
Whitefield, Karen (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab)
Wilson, Allan (Cunninghame North) (Lab)
AGAINST
Adam, Brian (North-East Scotland) (SNP)
Aitken, Bill (Glasgow) (Con)
Campbell, Colin (West of Scotland) (SNP)
Canavan, Dennis (Falkirk West)
Crawford, Bruce (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP)
Cunningham, Roseanna (Perth) (SNP)
Davidson, Mr David (North-East Scotland) (Con)
Douglas-Hamilton, Lord James (Lothians) (Con)
Elder, Dorothy-Grace (Glasgow) (SNP)
Ewing, Dr Winnie (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
Ewing, Fergus (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP)
Ewing, Mrs Margaret (Moray) (SNP)
Fabiani, Linda (Central Scotland) (SNP)
Fergusson, Alex (South of Scotland) (Con)
Gallie, Phil (South of Scotland) (Con)
Gibson, Mr Kenneth (Glasgow) (SNP)
Goldie, Miss Annabel (West of Scotland) (Con)
Grahame, Christine (South of Scotland) (SNP)
Harding, Mr Keith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Hyslop, Fiona (Lothians) (SNP)
Ingram, Mr Adam (South of Scotland) (SNP)
Johnston, Mr Nick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Johnstone, Alex (North-East Scotland) (Con)
Lochhead, Richard (North-East Scotland) (SNP)
MacAskill, Mr Kenny (Lothians) (SNP)
MacDonald, Ms Margo (Lothians) (SNP)
McGrigor, Mr Jamie (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
McIntosh, Mrs Lyndsay (Central Scotland) (Con)
McLeod, Fiona (West of Scotland) (SNP)
McLetchie, David (Lothians) (Con)
Marwick, Tricia (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP)
Matheson, Michael (Central Scotland) (SNP)
Monteith, Mr Brian (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Neil, Alex (Central Scotland) (SNP)
Paterson, Mr Gil (Central Scotland) (SNP)
Quinan, Mr Lloyd (West of Scotland) (SNP)
Reid, Mr George (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP)
Robison, Shona (North-East Scotland) (SNP)
Russell, Michael (South of Scotland) (SNP)
Salmond, Mr Alex (Banff and Buchan) (SNP)
Scanlon, Mary (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Sheridan, Tommy (Glasgow) (SSP)
Sturgeon, Nicola (Glasgow) (SNP)
Swinney, Mr John (North Tayside) (SNP)
Tosh, Mr Murray (South of Scotland) (Con)
Ullrich, Kay (West of Scotland) (SNP)
Wallace, Ben (North-East Scotland) (Con)
White, Ms Sandra (Glasgow) (SNP)
The result of the division is as follows: For 70, Against 48, Abstentions 0.
Motion agreed to.
That the Parliament recognises the growing importance to Scotland's society and the economy of lifelong learning, the wide range of circumstances of those engaged in lifelong learning and the widespread concern about how students finance their studies; calls upon the Scottish Executive to appoint urgently an independent committee of inquiry with the following terms of reference and membership to report before the end of 1999, and calls upon the Executive to lay a copy of the Committee's report before the Parliament—
Terms of Reference
To conduct a comprehensive review of tuition fees and financial support for students normally resident in Scotland participating, part-time or full-time, in further and higher education courses anywhere in the UK;
To have regard to the desirability of promoting access to further and higher education, particularly for those groups currently under-represented, while taking account of the need to maintain and to develop quality and standards, and the position of Scottish further and higher education in the wider UK system;
To make recommendations for any changes to the current system, and provide costed options where these may require additional resources;
To present a report of its finding to the Executive by the end of 1999.
Membership
Andrew Cubie (Chair), Morag Alexander, Rowena Arshad, George Bennett, David Bleiman, Eleanor Currie, David Dimmock, Marian Healy, Archie Hunter, Dugald Mackie, Ian Ovens, Heather Sheerin, Professor Maria Slowey, David Welsh.
The next question is, that motion S1M-83, in the name of Mr Tom McCabe, be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
That the Parliament approves the addition of Tommy Sheridan to the membership of the Equal Opportunities Committee and the addition of Dennis Canavan to the membership of the European Committee.
The next question is, that motion S1M-73, in the name of Mr Mike Rumbles, be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
That the Parliament agrees that on or after 2 July 1999 the register of interests of Members of the Parliament be printed in a loose-leaf folder to be kept at the Office of the Clerk of the Parliament and published on the Parliament's website.
That concludes decision time.
Before we finish, I will take Pauline McNeill's point of order, which I understand is addressed to me and has nothing to do with Mr Monteith allowing an intervention. Is that correct?
Well, I—
I will give guidance; points of order to me must be direct, without preamble. I thought that you were raising a point of order about Mr Monteith not giving way and I have already given guidance—
No, I was not.
Unfortunately, that was how you started. If you come straight to the point, I will deal with it.
My point, which I did feel was a point of order, Mr Presiding Officer, was that it would have been in order for Mr Monteith to declare his interest. He said that the National Union of Students was not the appropriate body and that there should be an additional student on the committee of inquiry. To my certain knowledge, Mr Monteith spent most of his student life opposing the universities that he mentioned joining the NUS, an organisation to which he is fundamentally opposed. It was dishonest of him and he should have declared his interest in the matter in the first place.
Mr Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP)
rose—
Do you wish to speak on the same point, Mr Salmond?
On a point of order, yes. Some of us were hoping that Pauline would raise a point of order about the fact that you seem to have discouraged—twice, I think—interventions in our proceedings. Many of us feel that we should encourage more interventions. I know that there are constraints on time, but we have a recess in which the Procedures Committee, members and you might reflect on how we can encourage more interventions in debates, rather than fewer.
I have reflected on the matter and, if I may remind you, I issued guidance on interventions in the business bulletin some days ago. I encourage interventions, but not during the closing seconds of a member's speech. I was trying, with great respect, to get Mr Monteith to wind up; that was why I did not allow the intervention.
The register of interests is about to be published. It deals with current interests; that is what it is about. It is up to Mr Monteith and Miss McNeill to continue their argument outside the chamber.
That concludes the main business. I remind members who have not yet done so to sign the commemorative volume and collect a copy.