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Most speakers have supported the continuing simplification of government agenda and every MSP probably agrees that our constituents clamour for simplification and the removal of unnecessary red tape, but public protection and the maintenance of quality should be at the heart of legislation that the Parliament passes.
I remember the National Parks (Scotland) Bill well, as it was the first bill that I dealt with in depth after becoming an MSP, when we considered it in the Rural Affairs Committee.
Against that background, it would be wise for all MSPs to maintain as much flexibility and as many options for the future as possible rather than create and sustain a monopoly.In 2003, the SNP supported the proposals that it seeks to abolish today.
This has been a hugely impressive debate on a very serious issue that affects constituency MSPs, regional MSPs and all those who are concerned about the future of Scotland's environment.Roseanna Cunningham's excellent speech provided the context for all our speeches.
That this debate is important has been shown by some of the speeches that we have heard.As MSPs, many of us have experienced people coming to our surgery to express frustrations about criminal activity and the inability of the police and court service to track down and punish such activity.
Mike Rumbles raised an example of the real issues that face us as MSPs on a daily basis. Any MSP who lives in a constituency that has a dangerous road that causes deaths and accidents needs to ensure that the voices of his constituents and communities are heard in the Parliament.
He left in a hurry and came back after 25 minutes with a revised calculation, which gave Labour three seats, the Tories two and the SNP two. I was an SNP MSP, and we had won the election—the rest is history.
However, to be fair, since 1999 the percentage of women among Tory MSPs has improved, overtaking the SNP, which is going in the opposite direction, on a downwards slide towards the Liberals' poor percentage of women.