Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Thursday, January 17, 2013

Official Report 827KB pdf

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Point of Order

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

This morning, before a meeting for stakeholders about the possible closure of the marine biological station at Millport, petitioners presented to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Mike Russell, a 10,000-strong petition. That petition was for the Scottish Government—it was addressed to Alex Salmond and presented to Mike Russell—and highlights the importance of the marine biological station to students across the United Kingdom. [Interruption.]

Mrs McDougall, please stop for a moment.

I remind members that I have to listen to the member to judge whether her point is a point of order. Members have up to three minutes in which to make a point of order.

Mrs McDougall, under which standing order are you making your point?

I am merely asking for advice, Presiding Officer. [Interruption.]

Will you finish quickly, please?

The petition asked the Scottish Government to work with others in education and industry, and with statutory bodies to ensure that the Millport marine station remains open. I met afterwards some of the stakeholders who were in attendance at the meeting, and they were, quite frankly, shocked that Mike Russell handed the petition to the University of London representative at the meeting. The petition was addressed to—

Please make the point of order.

The petition was addressed to the First Minister, Alex Salmond, but Mike Russell passed it to an outside body. [Interruption.]

Please come to the point of order.

I ask the Presiding Officer to confirm whether Mike Russell’s action was acceptable parliamentary conduct. [Interruption.]

Order.

If it was not acceptable parliamentary conduct, what does the Presiding Officer advise should be done? [Interruption.]

Order.

The member gave me notice of her intention to raise a point of order, but no detail of it was provided to me. Therefore, I will reflect on the matter.