Plenary, 26 Feb 2003
Meeting date: Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Official Report
712KB pdf
Presiding Officer's Ruling
This is the first convenient moment that I have had to respond, as promised, to the points of order that were raised with the Deputy Presiding Officer on Thursday by Mr Robson, Mr Matheson, Mr Gallie and Ms MacDonald. George Reid was right to say that we would study the Official Report. Having done so, we see that it is obvious that Mr Robson's point was not the same as the point that Mr Jim Wallace raised during First Minister's question time, which I ruled was not a point of order.
Mr Robson complained that Mr McLetchie had raised matters for which the First Minister was not responsible. He had a fair point, because Mr McLetchie discussed the policies of another political party, but so did Mr Swinney and Mr McConnell, all of which makes me think that an election might be coming soon. I remind all of those involved and all other members that our standing orders stipulate that First Minister's question time is about the matters for which the First Minister has general responsibility. He is not responsible for the policies of the SNP, the Liberal Democrats or the Conservatives. I hope that that will be borne in mind at the remaining question times in this parliamentary session.