Minister and Junior Minister
The next item of business is consideration of motions S2M-5390 and S2M-5391, in the name of the First Minister, on the appointment of a minister and junior minister.
I am happy to move both motions at the same time and to speak to both in one speech, which I hope will be brief.
First, I formally record my thanks to Malcolm Chisholm for his time as the Minister for Communities and previously as the Minister for Health and Community Care and the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care. During his time as the Minister for Communities, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 was implemented, which has put the public interest at the heart of governance arrangements for charities. Implementation of the central heating programme for elderly citizens has continued—the 75,000th central heating system was installed just before Christmas. The impact of that scheme on reducing dampness in Scottish homes, improving older people's quality of life and tackling fuel poverty is unparalleled.
During that time, we have also had the Parliament's agreement to, and the implementation of, the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006. That was a considerable achievement that will make a huge difference to the whole of Scotland. I praise Malcolm Chisholm for that and thank him for his time, and I am sure that all members want me to do so. [Applause.]
Secondly, I nominate with pleasure Rhona Brankin to join the Cabinet as the Minister for Communities. As the Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, she has made a considerable impact, not least on matters such as green space and air quality and through leadership on the protection of natural sites and our natural species. We know that she cares passionately about the Highlands—I look forward to visiting that region tomorrow. She has done an excellent job in that post.
The big priorities for the Minister for Communities in the few months that are left in the session include the continued implementation of our strategies for housing and regeneration. Investment is being made in housing—not just through community ownership, but through supporting starter homes and in other ways. The national strategy for regeneration targets the areas that need support most and will ensure that we have new vehicles to attract private investment and make the best use of public investment. The strategies for housing and regeneration will make a difference to ordinary communities in the way that the Parliament was established to.
A key priority for Rhona Brankin will be her work on closing the opportunity gap and tackling poverty throughout Scotland. The number of children, old people and others who live in poverty in Scotland has reduced massively since 1997 and since the Parliament was established in 1999. Continuing and leading that work across the Executive will obviously be a priority. I am sure that working with voluntary and equality groups in Scotland that make a big difference in the field and ensuring that their engagement in the process continues in the remaining months of the session will be uppermost in Rhona Brankin's mind.
The immediate, number 1 priority for the Minister for Communities will be to move on in the Parliament the strategy for improving services for older people—looking after them so that we engage them in the process and ensure that they have a constructive and positive role in our society that allows them to share their talents and experiences with younger generations—and to progress the strategy for a Scotland with an aging population, which we will publish in the coming weeks. As a result of her health portfolio work in particular, prior to her appointment as Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Rhona Brankin is ideally placed to see that strategy through to its publication.
I have real pleasure in nominating Sarah Boyack for the post of Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development. We all know that she achieved a number of things when she had ministerial responsibility for the environment and transport, among other things, and that there will be a lasting legacy from that time. One of the Parliament's great achievements has been the creation of Scotland's national parks. That righted a wrong that had existed since John Muir and others were creating national parks elsewhere in the world more than a century ago. I am sure that Sarah Boyack is proud of that achievement. She can also be proud of her more recent achievements as convener of the Environment and Rural Development Committee. She will have the opportunity to bring her experience as convener of the committee to her portfolio and to the ministerial team in the remaining months of the session, and to ensure that we see our programme through and make a real difference to the environment and Scotland's rural communities.
I commend the motions to the Parliament and hope that members support them.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees that Rhona Brankin be appointed as a Minister.
That the Parliament agrees that Sarah Boyack be appointed as a junior Scottish Minister.
Given his warm words about the nominees, I conclude that the First Minister must bitterly regret sacking them when he became First Minister. However, I wish Rhona Brankin and Sarah Boyack well in their new positions.
Given the imminent election, both appointments have a temporary feel. Notwithstanding that, I hope that Ms Brankin's short period in office will be more harmonious and constructive than the circumstances and manner of her appointment. I mean no personal slight to her—saying that immediately distinguishes me from most of her Labour colleagues—in saying that she has been nominated for one reason. Having decided to toe Tony Blair's line on Trident, the First Minister was simply unable to stomach anyone in his Cabinet being prepared to stick to their principles. Malcolm Chisholm was, to use his own words, given no choice but to resign from the Cabinet.
The episode has highlighted the depth of Labour's divisions on Trident, but it has also exposed the personal animosity that exists in Labour's ranks. The sheer vitriol in the comments that Labour back benchers and front benchers have made about Rhona Brankin has been breathtaking. I will not be so ungracious as to repeat any remark that has been made about her, but it is worth repeating that Mr McConnell's Labour colleagues now think that he has lost the plot. They are in touch with the rest of the Scottish population on that score at least.
Individual ministers' personalities are a secondary consideration. The hard fact is that the Government has simply run out of steam. With every day that passes, the Government looks and sounds more like the Tories circa 1997. It is divided, and everything that it says and does is negative and depressing. It talks down Scotland's potential at every opportunity. Roll on May, when Scotland will have the opportunity to elect a new team of ministers—a Scottish National Party Government that has ideas and ambition and which is positive about Scotland and the abilities of the Scottish people to build a country that is every bit as successful as our small, independent European neighbours.
Many members of the Executive have risen without trace but, after the events of the past couple of days, Rhona Brankin is certainly not one of them. Her path and mine have not crossed often over the past seven and a half years, but I have always found her a pleasant person, so what could have caused the monstering that she has received in the papers in the past couple of days? It is astonishing. One MSP says that there is no-one who rates her, and another describes the appointment as a reward for incompetence. A further MSP describes the appointment as unbelievable and suggests that the First Minister has completely lost the plot, which confirms a view that has long been held by Conservative members, and another colleague says that she is the least competent member of the Labour group. I find that surprising. What has the poor woman done to be the cause of all that vitriol?
However, in a spirit of generosity, Conservative members congratulate Rhona Brankin on her appointment and wish her well. She faces some serious tasks in the few months ahead: she will have to sort out the problem with the Glasgow Housing Association; there are still planning difficulties; and the programme on the installation of central heating for pensioners is in considerable difficulty.
At the same time, we congratulate the new Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Sarah Boyack, who also seems to be quite a congenial person and does not seem to have caused the ire of her colleagues.
Who is to blame for the criticism of Rhona Brankin? The blame seems to stop with the First Minister, whose judgment on many issues is completely awry. It seems that his back benchers recognise that fact and are now speaking out against him. It would be harsh and churlish not to wish the two new appointees all the best, and I am sure that they will be voted in by the majority of the Parliament, if not unanimously. However, the First Minister has serious questions to ask himself about the handling of the matter.
The question is, that motion S2M-5390, in the name of the First Minister, on the appointment of a minister, be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
That the Parliament agrees that Rhona Brankin be appointed as a Minister
The question is, that motion S2M-5391, in the name of the First Minister, on the appointment of a junior Scottish minister, be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
That the Parliament agrees that Sarah Boyack be appointed as a junior Scottish Minister.