A decent motion? Shock Horror

About time there was a motion to have a dig at George Foulkes, shame it doesnt mention the Jowly Jambo by name..

Short Title: Cost of Parliamentary Questions
S3M-03628 Ian McKee (Lothians) (SNP): That the Parliament, mindful of the answer to question S3W-17445 by the Minister for Parliamentary Business on 10 November 2008 that the cost of answering a parliamentary question is £98.51, notes that at least one member has asked over 1,000 questions in this parliamentary session, costing a total of over £100,000, and that if all members followed this example that the cost to the taxpayer would be nearly £13 million, or £26 million in a full session, and therefore requests all members to consider whether their question is really necessary before incurring yet more public expense

George Foulkes does it again

Hot off the press this one:

S3M-03621 George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab):
That the Parliament calls on the Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution to retract his derogatory remarks about parts of Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Stirling and Lanarkshire, made in his book, In Waiting: Travels in the Shadow of Edwin Muir, in October 1998; in particular calls on the minister to retract the comments that imply that Glasgow is too dangerous to get out of a car and that tenement closes are covered with the bodies of unconscious drug addicts, that describe the flag on Edinburgh Castle as “an awful mutant tablecloth”, that suggest that Dumfries is full of “skinny, ill-dressed women”, that Aberdeen is inhospitable and that Stirling is undesirable, and believes that it is against the interests of Scotland to have a minister who is responsible for promoting Scotland and its culture to be seen to continue to hold these views.

Heaven forbid that a politician would go out and, you know, actually meet people, talk to them and then tell it like it is.

For a better context on George Foulkes' rather carefully shown phrases, go to this blog and then decide if the eminently capable Mike Russell is a force for good or not.

Long time, no crap chat

Crap Holyrood Chat seems to have been impressed by the standard of motions and PQs of late. I have to admit my infrequent amble into what is being said at the Parliament has not turned up anything worthy of inclusion here.

That is until today. I fear Jackie Baillie is on thin ice with this rather poor motion and, so, she is entered into the vaults.

S3M-03567 Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): SNP Fails Dumbarton Academy— That the Parliament welcomes the decision by the Labour group of West Dunbartonshire Council to set a budget that included funding to enable a much-needed rebuilding of Dumbarton Academy; considers that the rebuilding of this 500-year-old school should be a priority; expresses considerable disappointment and anger that the SNP-led council failed even to consider the Labour group's proposals and voted against the rebuilding of the school; further expresses concern that, if the school is not rebuilt quickly, it will disadvantage thousands of young children in Dumbarton who are currently being denied access to the best educational environment possible, and therefore calls on the SNP to build a new Dumbarton Academy without any further delay.


A valid grudge perhaps, but a parliamentary motion? Save it for your campaign leaflets I think...

Obama's Coat Tails

Of course there is nothing wrong with congratulating President Obama on a successful inauguration but there is something unmistakably cringey about this one:

S3M-03260 Alasdair Allan (Western Isles) (Scottish National Party): 

Lewis Congratulates Island Connection for New President— That the Parliament welcomes the inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States of America; notes the welcome tradition of new American Presidents identifying their ancestors around the world, and further notes the particular pride in Ness on the Isle of Lewis that President Obama has ancestors from the township of South Dell.

Scotland has never felt so small.

George Foulkes - As unionist as they come

I understand that George Foulkes is mad keen on keeping Scotland inside the UK but not only do I find it strange that this zeal is taken to such lengths that he is troubled by the Tories choice of name, but I am annoyed that he uses our money to register his disapproval via a crap motion.

S3M-3195George Foulkes:Scottish Conservative and Unionist—That the Parliament notes with incredulity that the Scottish Conservatives have dropped the term unionist from their title just as the UK party has resumed its use following its electoral agreement with the Ulster Unionists and urges Annabel Goldie to end the confusion by reaffirming that the unionist credentials of the Scottish Tories remain intact.

Thanks George, the good people of the Lothians will be delighted with a hard days work there. 

Then again, given how often you put questions and motions up, I guess the above amounts to about 20minutes work on any given day!

A motion we won't see Kenneth Gibson lodge...

Short Title - 'Making the Parliament More Serious'

That the Parliament continues to be astounded by certain SNP members capacity to lodge turgid, utterly pointless motions such as 'Making the Parliament More Scottish'; notes that the processing of parliamentary motions costs money and should be used to raise issues of relevance and genuine importance to constituents; challenges Mr Gibson to find one member of the public who takes this sort of pish (fine Scottish word that so don’t accuse me of not wanting to make the Parley more Scottish!) seriously; recalls that, earlier this year, Mr Gibson's laid a motion praising his young daughter for winning a colouring in competition and pleads with the Kenny (sorry Kenneth) Gibson's of this world to stop wasting everyone's time with daft pedantic motions such as the one about wanting to make the Parliament more Scottish.

Highway to a Hellish Motion

It would be getting partisan to suggest that AC/DC are rubbish, which they are, but if we are to let the motions database go unchecked then nonsensical, and trivial guff can be allowed to be published. Is Christine the new George Foulkes?


*S3M-3151Christine Grahame:AC/DC - We Salute You—That the Parliament recognises the significant musical contribution of rock band AC/DC, whose founding members, Angus and Malcolm Young, moved from Scotland to Australia and joined with Bon Scott, another Scottish émigré, to create what has become a musical legend with the band selling an estimated 150 million albums worldwide and establishing themselves as one of the best-selling rock bands of all time; notes that the popularity of AC/DC continues to grow and welcomes their forthcoming performance at Scotland’s national football stadium on 30 June 2009, and finally acknowledges the musical inspiration that the band has provided to thousands of Scottish musicians who have themselves gone on to great international success.