Enterprise and Culture Committee,

Meeting date: Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Official Report 278KB pdf

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Interests

I welcome everyone to the 12th meeting this year of the Enterprise and Culture Committee. I will deal with housekeeping matters first. I ask everyone to switch off their mobile phones. We have received no apologies. In about half an hour, nine clerks from the House of Commons will join us in the public seating area—no doubt they are coming to see how the job is done well in Scotland.

They will listen and learn.

Absolutely.

I welcome Jamie Stone back to the committee—after a brief absence during which he was a member of a more junior committee—and I ask him to declare any interests.

Thank you for your cordial welcome. It is a great pleasure to be back. I enjoyed my work on this committee in the past and I intend to do so again. Rather than chunter through the various bits and pieces, such as my brother's small cheese business, which seems to be a standing joke in Parliament, I refer members to my entry in the register of members' interests, which should cover the matter.