Plenary, 15 Nov 2007

Meeting date: Thursday, November 15, 2007

Official Report 697KB pdf

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Point of Order

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Section 2.1 of the guidance on parliamentary questions states:

"Parliamentary questions provide a means for Members to obtain factual and statistical information from the Scottish Executive".

Earlier this afternoon, the First Minister was challenged by Wendy Alexander on the fact that the Scottish National Party is breaking a number of promises on various issues. That means that there will not be 1,000 new police; that there will not be class sizes of 18 by 2011; that there will be no first-time house buyers grant; that student debt will not be written off; that there will not be a 15 per cent increase in nursery education; and that there will be no annual climate change targets. In response, the First Minister said:

"All those things are happening".

Given that earlier this week the SNP said that only 500 new officers would be hired and that yesterday John Swinney admitted that student debt will not be written off, what the First Minister said is clearly not the case. Indeed, not one of the promises that were made previously will be met.

Ms Brankin, is the point of order about the veracity of the First Minister's statement?

Absolutely.

I have made clear that that is not a point of order for the chair.

I am sorry, but I have quoted—

I have made that clear in the past, Ms Brankin.

I will write to you—

I would like you to come to your point of order.

My point of order relates to section 2.1 of the guidance on parliamentary questions. Presiding Officer, since the First Minister's answers were clearly not based on fact, will you outline what steps you can take to ensure that parliamentary questions remain a means of eliciting factual and statistical information from ministers? Given this change in position, should not the First Minister be held to account for misleading Parliament and the Scottish people? Should he not also be required to give a statement to Parliament clarifying his position?

The only thing that I am prepared to say in relation to that so-called point of order is that it is not a point of order for the chair. [Applause.] It is not a matter for applause, either. I have stated repeatedly that it is not the role of the Presiding Officer to verify any ministerial response—that is a matter for the ministerial code of conduct. I can say no more than that in this instance.