Plenary, 11 Jun 2003
Meeting date: Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Official Report
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Point of Order
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I gave you prior notice of my intention to raise a point of order on the exchange that took place at question time on 29 May, between me and the First Minister, which appears in column 251 of the Official Report. The First Minister said:
"Mr Swinney asked a specific question about the specific proposal for exclusive competence on the common fisheries policy. Not only have we made representations on that matter, but we have written to the UK Government and asked it to oppose the proposal. Not only has the UK Government made representations, but it has written to the EU to make it clear that it is also opposed to the proposal. Not only is this Administration opposed to it, but the UK Government is opposed to it."—[Official Report, 29 May 2003; c 251.]
A fair-minded view of all that would be that the First Minister was opposed to the exclusive competence on fisheries in the European Union.
Yesterday afternoon, apropos of nothing, I received a letter from the First Minister in which he said that the Government was not opposed to exclusive EU competence over fishing and that the United Kingdom Government had not written the letter to the EU that the First Minister said it had. Either the First Minister has misled Parliament, or he does not know what he is talking about when he talks about the fishing industry, or he is covering up for the fact that the Westminster Government has once again sold out the Scottish fishing industry.
Presiding Officer, has the First Minister made any representations to you to put the record straight by making a statement to the Parliament, rather than by just sending me a letter at 4 o' clock on a Tuesday afternoon?
I have not discussed the matter with the First Minister. As in previous cases of this type, the matter is not one for the Presiding Officer; it is a matter for the ministerial code. In this case, Mr Swinney, you should address your comments directly to the First Minister.