:00:26. > :00:31.Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. 100 days to go to the referendum and a
:00:32. > :00:45.row over a magazine interview with Alistair Darling. Comparing Alistair
:00:46. > :00:52.'s -- Alex Salmond to the North Korean leader. We will see when it
:00:53. > :01:00.-- whether any rhetoric emerges in questions to the First Minister. Let
:01:01. > :01:05.us cross to the Holyrood Chamber. In households across Scotland, the
:01:06. > :01:10.largest proportion was made up of vacant homes. Given the 4300 vacant
:01:11. > :01:14.homes in Edinburgh, what steps is the government taking to encourage
:01:15. > :01:20.those long-term empty properties back into use?
:01:21. > :01:24.In 2012, we brought forward legislation to allow councils to
:01:25. > :01:33.increase council tax charges on empty homes, supported the work of
:01:34. > :01:39.empty homes partnerships, and a number of councils employ a
:01:40. > :01:47.dedicated empty homes officer to bring properties back into use.
:01:48. > :01:53.We now move to first questions -- First Minister's Questions.
:01:54. > :02:00.What engagement is that he had planned for today?
:02:01. > :02:05.I will be travelling to France today to attend events marking the
:02:06. > :02:13.anniversary of the D-Day landings. It reminds us of the sad sacrifice
:02:14. > :02:30.of those who died, and the necessity never to forget that sacrifice.
:02:31. > :02:32.It is a proud opportunity to commemorate an important time in our
:02:33. > :02:38.history. Last week, we found out the First
:02:39. > :02:42.Minister does not know what it will cost to set up a separate Scottish
:02:43. > :02:47.state, or how to pay for his promises to those in greatest need
:02:48. > :02:51.of welfare. Can he reveal what he is going to tell us next week he
:02:52. > :03:00.doesn't know? What I can say to Johanna Lamont, as
:03:01. > :03:05.we publish the framework of an independent Scotland describing our
:03:06. > :03:08.future, if she consults chapters six and ten, she will seek extensive
:03:09. > :03:14.information presented on how we would go about producing a modern
:03:15. > :03:20.democracy in Scotland. And the arguments why Scotland, as a modern
:03:21. > :03:29.democracy will build a prosperous and more equal country.
:03:30. > :03:33.Most of us looking at the White Paper found there were lots of
:03:34. > :03:37.questions we weren't asking, and none of the real question is
:03:38. > :03:46.addressed at all. Last week, my colleague asked a
:03:47. > :03:55.simple question. What the childcare policy would cost? We were told,
:03:56. > :04:00.independence is the answer, and that is exactly right. We asked for a
:04:01. > :04:04.figure and we got back a statement of nonsense. Every single policy
:04:05. > :04:11.unveiled to persuade Scotland to vote yes is not costed. He has a
:04:12. > :04:18.plan to reduce plans for arithmetic, or he has no plans to deliver
:04:19. > :04:26.anything. He cannot deliver what we have now. Still, those promises are
:04:27. > :04:30.tumbling from his lips. When is the First Minister going to announce a
:04:31. > :04:38.money tree to every garden in Scotland!
:04:39. > :04:54.Well, can I remind you of what we have delivered for childcare. 600
:04:55. > :05:04.hours of free childcare, and living towards over the next two years, a
:05:05. > :05:09.substantial advance -- and moving. So desperate by day to make the
:05:10. > :05:30.point this wasn't enough, they were prepared to sacrifice primary school
:05:31. > :05:34.meals. We now find that people looking at the considerable advances
:05:35. > :05:40.made by this government, within our restricted budget and austerity
:05:41. > :05:46.programme from Westminster, you can see a track record of substantial
:05:47. > :05:50.success giving people every confidence as we look forward to
:05:51. > :05:56.controlling our own finances. We will be able to do even more for the
:05:57. > :05:59.families of Scotland. This is a government decided it
:06:00. > :06:16.wasn't in the public interest for us to know their policy on childcare,
:06:17. > :06:20.what it would cost. Let us listen to some real economists. Institute for
:06:21. > :06:26.Fiscal Studies said this week, I quote, Scottish Government ministers
:06:27. > :06:28.have not always been as careful as official Scottish Government
:06:29. > :06:33.publications when referring to figures. Nicola Sturgeon in
:06:34. > :06:41.particular, they say, is bad with figures. It says that the deficit in
:06:42. > :06:44.an independent Scotland would be ?1000 more for every person in
:06:45. > :06:49.Scotland. But that doesn't stop the First
:06:50. > :06:57.Minister. He has a referendum to win. More childcare, increased rail
:06:58. > :07:05.fare, but is the next offer? What ever people want and it won't cost
:07:06. > :07:09.you. Why? When the IFS says an independent Scotland couldn't afford
:07:10. > :07:19.what we have now. Why does he try... When the IFS says... Order,
:07:20. > :07:23.order. When an independent Scotland couldn't afford what we have now,
:07:24. > :07:29.why does the First Minister tried to dupe the people of Scotland by
:07:30. > :07:34.offering things he cannot deliver. Can I remind the Labour Party it was
:07:35. > :07:40.Johanna Lamont who said we couldn't afford the social gains of
:07:41. > :07:49.devolution, and set up a commission to examine it. I haven't heard from
:07:50. > :07:58.Arthur Mack went for a considerable time, but I am fully expecting that
:07:59. > :08:11.report to emerge to tell us that free tuition will be sacrifice --
:08:12. > :08:18.sacrificed. They were part of the something for nothing society. I
:08:19. > :08:24.believe that people saying, seeing this track record, will recognise
:08:25. > :08:30.that in this government, we have ambition for Scotland. If you match
:08:31. > :08:36.and marry our natural resource to the talent of our people, we can
:08:37. > :08:41.create a more prosperous society. It is about having confidence in the
:08:42. > :08:54.ability of Scotland to govern its own affairs. It is a recognition
:08:55. > :08:57.from the Labour Party that they couldn't run Scotland when times
:08:58. > :09:07.were good, so who would trust them now? And a dawning realisation that,
:09:08. > :09:11.after almost a century of the Labour Party losing elections, the reason
:09:12. > :09:12.they lose it is they have no ambition for the people and the
:09:13. > :09:29.country of Scotland. Order. Order.
:09:30. > :09:37.A serious question about the cost of his own proposals. And we are
:09:38. > :09:42.treated to his greatest hits over the last two years. It is about time
:09:43. > :09:47.he was serious about the job he is supposed to be doing. If the symbol
:09:48. > :09:55.for the United Kingdom is the pound sign, his symbol is crossed fingers.
:09:56. > :10:00.Fingers crossed, not in hope that things might work out well. But in
:10:01. > :10:08.hope that the people of Scotland will be daft enough to believe a
:10:09. > :10:18.word the First Minister says. Because most people know you need to
:10:19. > :10:22.know what things cost. We have childcare, not costed, no attempt to
:10:23. > :10:31.find out what the figures would be. Pensions, we have an assertion they
:10:32. > :10:37.will be better. Now, welfare. Big, cynical problems to those in
:10:38. > :10:42.greatest need and not a clue how to pay for them. Now, I agree with the
:10:43. > :10:46.First Minister when he says to the people of Scotland that they are
:10:47. > :10:57.talented, ambitious and bright. But where I disagree with him... Order.
:10:58. > :11:02.I do believe that the people of Scotland are talented, ambitious and
:11:03. > :11:07.bright. Where I disagree with him is the key polity his plans rely on.
:11:08. > :11:15.His belief that the people of Scotland are gullible and will
:11:16. > :11:21.believe anything he says. Let us have agreement that the
:11:22. > :11:26.people of Scotland are talented, ambitious and bright. This site
:11:27. > :11:35.believes these people are capable of making a success of running our own
:11:36. > :11:39.country. -- this side. I do not think she should have
:11:40. > :11:43.described our proposals for welfare in the way she has done. For
:11:44. > :11:56.example, the recommendation to increase the carers allowance up to
:11:57. > :12:01.?72 40, in Scotland, I think that is a substantial investment in our
:12:02. > :12:09.future. The costing of that policy is very important. It is ?32.9
:12:10. > :12:18.million a year. I believe we should afford that. Incidentally, a
:12:19. > :12:20.research fellow at the IFS was a Member of the expert working group
:12:21. > :12:26.on welfare which produced that policy. That commitment and
:12:27. > :12:29.recommendation is a declaration of faith in the work done by carers in
:12:30. > :12:37.Scotland, which people in this Chamber should support and aspire
:12:38. > :12:44.to. It will cost ?32 million but it is ?32 million well spent to help
:12:45. > :12:50.those people. I would have a care about the
:12:51. > :12:58.company Johanna Lamont is keeping. We know Danny Alexander exaggerated
:12:59. > :13:05.the setup cost of an independent Scotland of -- by a factor of 12
:13:06. > :13:09.times. They have been running from that reality ever since.
:13:10. > :13:14.I have been looking at what Danny Alexander has been saying about his
:13:15. > :13:23.allies and that plans. He, earlier this year, said, Labour's new
:13:24. > :13:26.borrowing bombshell will pile another ?166 billion of extra
:13:27. > :13:31.borrowing on to the debt mountain left by the catastrophic
:13:32. > :13:37.mismanagement of the UK economy. Presumably she does not believe that
:13:38. > :13:40.Danny Alexander is correct in his assessment of Labour's borrowing
:13:41. > :13:47.bombshell, so why should he believe he is correct in his assessment of
:13:48. > :13:58.the cost of an independent Scotland. We don't believe it, the Scottish
:13:59. > :14:03.people do not believe it. To ask the First Minister whether he
:14:04. > :14:08.will meet the Prime Minister? No plans in the near future.
:14:09. > :14:13.We know the impartial and independent Institute for Fiscal
:14:14. > :14:19.Studies has concluded... It is when it suits the part Sascha Burchert
:14:20. > :14:23.the First Minister. Has concluded that Scotland would have a black
:14:24. > :14:27.hole in its finances in the first year of independence.
:14:28. > :14:32.These are similar findings to work which has been done by other
:14:33. > :14:38.impartial bodies such as the Centre for Public Health see for the
:14:39. > :14:42.regions. It is part of a trend. On the one hand, expert groups with
:14:43. > :14:52.sober analysis of the facts, on the other hand, the SNP with Gloucester.
:14:53. > :14:57.So, I am asking, in all seriousness, why does the First Minister think
:14:58. > :15:03.that these people are wrong, but only he is right?
:15:04. > :15:08.I have a range of quotations of independent experts who make the
:15:09. > :15:14.point that Scotland is not just a sustainable country but a highly
:15:15. > :15:28.prosperous country, more than the UK in terms of the potential we have.
:15:29. > :15:34.That Scotland would qualify for the highest economic assessment even
:15:35. > :15:38.without North Sea oil and gas. A characteristic common to the
:15:39. > :15:43.assessment with Davidson quotes is they are based on the OBR figures.
:15:44. > :15:47.If you base something on the same figures, you come up with the same
:15:48. > :15:52.conclusion. The track record of the OBR is such
:15:53. > :15:56.that we should have confidence at looking at the oil industry in
:15:57. > :16:02.Scotland at present, our estimates in terms of revenues in 2017 are
:16:03. > :16:06.more reasonable than those of the OBR, since we don't assume a
:16:07. > :16:18.collapse in oil prices to less than $100 a barrel, that assumptions on
:16:19. > :16:21.climate energy are correct. We follow the industry estimates in
:16:22. > :16:25.terms of the increased investment, which will result in a substantial
:16:26. > :16:44.increase in production. estimates, that is a reasonable
:16:45. > :16:47.estimates to put forward, as opposed to figures which rely on the
:16:48. > :16:53.Department of energy and climate change, but disregard the forecast
:16:54. > :16:59.when it comes to price, that is why we put forward a reasonable
:17:00. > :17:03.perspective, on which -- but the policies we follow will be the
:17:04. > :17:12.policies that will grow the economy, and above all, bring about
:17:13. > :17:17.a more equal and just society. I am delighted that the First Minister
:17:18. > :17:21.brought up oil and the quote of reasonable estimates, because it is
:17:22. > :17:27.not just independent experts to take issue with the First Minister, but
:17:28. > :17:32.his own advisers. The professor who wrote the fiscal commission report,
:17:33. > :17:35.who is a key member of the First Minister's Council of economic
:17:36. > :17:42.advisers, described by the First Minister as the most intellectual
:17:43. > :17:46.firepower ever to have tackled Scottish economic underperformance,
:17:47. > :17:50.so we know the First Minister thinks he is a big deal, and he reveals
:17:51. > :17:56.just yesterday that the First Minister's will figure is wrong. The
:17:57. > :18:03.professor wrote that it would be reasonable to expect revenues to
:18:04. > :18:07.rise to 5 billion before -- between 2016 and 2020, so let's remind
:18:08. > :18:11.ourselves, that after months of stalling, the Scottish government
:18:12. > :18:23.claimed that figure would be ?7 billion a year. It is a total farce.
:18:24. > :18:30.The First Minister has widely overestimated beyond the expectation
:18:31. > :18:36.of any rigorous analysis in order to try and plug the gaping holes in
:18:37. > :18:43.this white paper. Your old man says you are ?2 billion out. Is he wrong
:18:44. > :18:47.as well? The Conservative Party have been predicting the demise of the
:18:48. > :18:54.North Sea oil industry since the 1980s. The professor is voting yes
:18:55. > :18:58.in the referendum because he believes in a Scottish economy that
:18:59. > :19:04.will be better managed from Scotland. It was pointed out in the
:19:05. > :19:11.papers last week, based on the price assumption I'd have spelled out, and
:19:12. > :19:17.the investment, they are a great deal more robust than the estimates
:19:18. > :19:31.of the OBR. I have got some independent experts. The chair of
:19:32. > :19:41.petroleum, someone who knows something about it. An annual
:19:42. > :19:44.production of ?600 million. At least 40 years of production was
:19:45. > :19:52.significant to find resources which might be added. The professor is
:19:53. > :19:57.aware of the production estimates that we are making, which indicates
:19:58. > :20:01.the caution of the Scottish Government's forecast and how we
:20:02. > :20:09.look forward to seeing the result of that in terms of the economy of
:20:10. > :20:16.Scotland. Order. First Minister, can you sit down? Can we please hear the
:20:17. > :20:25.First Minister? Everybody needs to be heard in this chamber. First
:20:26. > :20:31.Minister. In the Aberdeen chambers, 700 firms in the industry. More of
:20:32. > :20:34.these companies believe that independence will benefit the
:20:35. > :20:41.industry than those who believe it will not benefit the industry. Isn't
:20:42. > :20:44.that why the industry and the people believe that having these huge
:20:45. > :20:52.quantities of oil and gas in the economy, that it is an advantage for
:20:53. > :21:04.Scotland like it is for any other oil producing country, as opposed to
:21:05. > :21:10.the Tory Party has -- as opposed to what the Tory Party has produced?
:21:11. > :21:18.There have been calls for the suspension of implants which treats
:21:19. > :21:21.pelvic prolapse. Will the First Minister instruct the Secretary of
:21:22. > :21:26.health to issue new guidance that would have the effect of suspending
:21:27. > :21:35.the use of this product until an inquiry is held into the safety of
:21:36. > :21:38.it? The matters are under serious consideration. We tend to move in
:21:39. > :21:41.conjunction with the other health departments, but for the Health
:21:42. > :21:46.Secretary is more than prepared to do is directly meet with the women
:21:47. > :21:55.concerned and explained the consideration that is being given to
:21:56. > :22:03.what is a serious issue. What recent discussions regarding the use of
:22:04. > :22:06.stop and search... We have been discussing a range of issues,
:22:07. > :22:12.including stop and search. The most recent meeting was on the 15th of
:22:13. > :22:20.May. Stop and search is an important tool in the prevention of crime. It
:22:21. > :22:25.makes a conjured Bhushan to the reduction of the shrub or a
:22:26. > :22:33.contribution to the reduction of -- it makes the contribution to the
:22:34. > :22:39.reduction of violent crimes and of course we welcome the scrutiny and
:22:40. > :22:44.the review of stop and search. Police Scotland have established a
:22:45. > :22:48.new units to ensure the consistency of the approach of this report and
:22:49. > :22:53.tactic to tackle violent crime and anti-social behaviour. The First
:22:54. > :22:56.Minister has been saying that the policy cuts crime. The police
:22:57. > :23:02.authority says there is no robust evidence that it does so. Reports
:23:03. > :23:06.show hundreds of children aged not even under six have been searched
:23:07. > :23:11.here in Scotland. Is it not time for the First Minister to change the
:23:12. > :23:17.law? Can he tell me how a child of six can give informed consent to a
:23:18. > :23:25.police search? You say there is no arguments to support this policy.
:23:26. > :23:29.I'd disagree. More importantly, some of her former colleagues in this
:23:30. > :23:32.chamber disagree fundamentally. Robert Brown, the Liberal Democrat
:23:33. > :23:39.justice spokesperson, in the last Parliament, said that the single
:23:40. > :23:44.thing that deters people from criminal behaviour is the likelihood
:23:45. > :23:50.of being caught. The stop and search tactics have been very effective.
:23:51. > :23:57.That strikes me as a secure -- significant voice of someone who
:23:58. > :24:01.understands the importance of stop and search. The carrying and use of
:24:02. > :24:06.weapons, the this has been a major success for the police services of
:24:07. > :24:09.Scotland. It is right and proper that we review policy and that the
:24:10. > :24:14.Scottish police authority does that, but not to believe that one of the
:24:15. > :24:19.aspects of the carrying of weapons by young people was their fear that
:24:20. > :24:24.other people were carrying weapons is to neglect the overwhelming
:24:25. > :24:27.burden of evidence, the one supported by her former colleague in
:24:28. > :24:32.the best of the journey of people who argue for this policy. Above
:24:33. > :24:39.all, in terms of the impact of stop and search in the carrying of
:24:40. > :24:45.weapons, perhaps she should listen to some of the families of victims
:24:46. > :24:50.of violent crime. Lisa McLean, sister of Barry McLean, killed in a
:24:51. > :24:53.knife attack in May of 2011, the police get a lot of stick for the
:24:54. > :24:58.number of searches they are carrying out, but I am very supportive, if
:24:59. > :25:03.they can stop just one person from carrying a knife than it has been
:25:04. > :25:06.worth it. My brother's death changed my life irreversibly. At some point
:25:07. > :25:11.in this argument, perhaps Alice might face up to the fact that the
:25:12. > :25:14.victims of crime, the people who celebrate the fact that nice
:25:15. > :25:18.carrying in Scotland has been reduced, the fact that young people
:25:19. > :25:21.do not have the same fear that other people are carrying weapons, is a
:25:22. > :25:28.substantial advance for justice in this country. Margaret Mitchell.
:25:29. > :25:36.There are estimates that the whole process takes approximately 250,000
:25:37. > :25:40.police hours per year. As the First Minister think this is a
:25:41. > :25:48.proportionate use of police time? Well, I see that the Conservative
:25:49. > :25:52.Party is ever moving their aspect on this, but I think the police
:25:53. > :25:55.services using proportionate methods in terms of putting forward the stop
:25:56. > :26:01.and search policy. I think the numbers should consider that the
:26:02. > :26:07.statistics rather speak for themselves. Violent crime, down by
:26:08. > :26:13.almost a half since 2007, crimes of handling offensive weapons, down by
:26:14. > :26:18.60% since 2007. When we had this debate in the 2011 elections, or was
:26:19. > :26:23.a whole variety of suggestions put forward to arrive at the sort of
:26:24. > :26:29.position that he police service have meant it to arrive at. Some people
:26:30. > :26:34.suggested mandatory gel sentences. -- jail sentences. That caused some
:26:35. > :26:37.confusion in the Conservative Party, which may have resulted in the
:26:38. > :26:45.jailing of people who were carrying garden implements. Order. I've are
:26:46. > :26:55.for the Labour Party to be famous interview during the election
:26:56. > :27:03.campaign. -- I remind the Labour Party of the famous interview during
:27:04. > :27:09.the election campaign of Richard Baker. How will the First Minister
:27:10. > :27:14.respond about Expert Working Group on Welfare? The government has
:27:15. > :27:17.considered carefully the recommendations made by the Expert
:27:18. > :27:25.Working Group on Welfare. These recommendations include abortion,
:27:26. > :27:31.ending a cap on benefits, ending the current work capabilities assessment
:27:32. > :27:36.and establishing a convention and Social Security. We have already
:27:37. > :27:42.taken action on abolishing the bedroom tax. This is a conference of
:27:43. > :27:45.report and it indicates that with independent Scotland can chew to
:27:46. > :27:52.take its own path on Social Security, rejecting the Westminster
:27:53. > :27:57.system and take substantial strides to building a more equal society
:27:58. > :28:12.which values all of our citizens. As we have heard, I wonder if the first
:28:13. > :28:16.investor agrees that the fact that this measure had to be recommended
:28:17. > :28:21.is a damning indictment of the treatment of a sector of society
:28:22. > :28:24.that we all owe so much to, a successive Westminster government,
:28:25. > :28:30.and shouldn't be Tories and Lib Dems be ashamed that rather than
:28:31. > :28:43.inheriting a welfare system, an independent UK will have to create
:28:44. > :28:48.one? -- independent Scotland. This strikes me as a standout of one of
:28:49. > :28:55.the immediate and welcome recommendations of this report. I
:28:56. > :28:58.cannot see how, and we had a recent discussion on inequity in the
:28:59. > :29:02.bedroom tax, and a whole series of demands for this government to
:29:03. > :29:07.provide compensation against a Westminster measure, and we cannot
:29:08. > :29:10.have the same majority support for a clear inequity towards Scotland's
:29:11. > :29:16.carers. It is spelled out in the report that the value country should
:29:17. > :29:24.we make to society in Scotland, and I'd hope that any government of an
:29:25. > :29:28.independent Scotland brings forward the carrier's allowance proposals
:29:29. > :29:32.which are required for us to control social security to bring them
:29:33. > :29:39.forward, then they will meet with a resounding majority in this chamber,
:29:40. > :29:48.but a resounding chamber -- majority among the Scottish people. When will
:29:49. > :29:54.the Vale of Leven inquiry be published? It is a member -- matter
:29:55. > :29:58.for the chair. It is an independent public inquiry and has been
:29:59. > :30:02.examining all of the issues in a tragic and serious case. The inquiry
:30:03. > :30:06.is taking longer than anyone would have wanted to know which will be
:30:07. > :30:10.frustrating to many, not least the families who are affected. The
:30:11. > :30:14.responses to the warning letters issued by the inquiry are being
:30:15. > :30:20.considered, and amendments to the report will be made. In keeping with
:30:21. > :30:25.an ax from 2005, the Scottish Government will be advised when the
:30:26. > :30:37.process is concluded. The Health Secretary will provide that. He will
:30:38. > :30:50.he aware that the first death from C. Difficile at hospital macro was
:30:51. > :30:54.in 2007. -- Vale of Leven in 2007. Here we are with no sign of
:30:55. > :31:01.publication, spiraling costs of almost ?10 billion the -- ?10
:31:02. > :31:05.million. Whilst we want to retain public inquiries, perhaps it is time
:31:06. > :31:13.to review how they can operate more effectively, not least so that the
:31:14. > :31:17.families can get answers. There is a very fair point about the length of
:31:18. > :31:23.time, the number of public inquiries set up under the inquiries act,
:31:24. > :31:27.which is eight UK act in terms of the legislation, but she will
:31:28. > :31:32.understand the principle behind that act makes the inquiry chair
:31:33. > :31:36.responsible for the timing and timescale of the inquiry, and she
:31:37. > :31:40.will also understand that in inquiries like Vale of Leven or the
:31:41. > :31:43.inquiry into blood products where people have been casualties were
:31:44. > :31:49.suffered fatalities and deaths of family members, there can be many
:31:50. > :31:53.issues which require a huge amount of scrutiny. Jackie Baillie will
:31:54. > :32:00.know and accept that the fact that the and wiry in terms of looking at
:32:01. > :32:02.these serious issues has not invented serious action in the
:32:03. > :32:11.Scottish health service to reduced hospital acquired infection. The
:32:12. > :32:15.recommendations will be hugely important to the family members
:32:16. > :32:17.concerned. I actually agree that we have to find a mechanism beyond the
:32:18. > :32:44.2005 inquiries act. To ask the First Minister whether
:32:45. > :32:49.the Scottish Government plans to order a public inquiry into the
:32:50. > :32:55.handling of the Emperor trams project. -- Edinburgh Trams. I am
:32:56. > :32:58.sure everyone will be delighted to see that the trams are fully
:32:59. > :33:02.operational and carrying passengers. We cannot lose sight of
:33:03. > :33:05.the considerable public concern over conduct of the project, the
:33:06. > :33:10.disruption caused to households and businesses in the city of Enron, and
:33:11. > :33:15.we therefore recommend a judge led public image -- the city of
:33:16. > :33:25.Edinburgh, and I've therefore prevent a judge led public inquiry
:33:26. > :33:30.into the project. It is important that there are lessons to be learned
:33:31. > :33:35.on the conduct of the Edinburgh trams project, and I'd think the
:33:36. > :33:39.course of action being proposed will be of substantial assistance in
:33:40. > :33:45.doing that. Can I'd take this opportunity to welcome the decision
:33:46. > :33:51.and announcement. All of us opposed -- who opposed the project have been
:33:52. > :33:55.shown to be right daily. Now that the trams are rolling, if there is
:33:56. > :33:59.to be anything from the public in the, management or potential cost
:34:00. > :34:08.estimates for projects like this, we need to know for sure that these
:34:09. > :34:14.mistakes will never be repeated. I welcome that remark. The decision we
:34:15. > :34:21.have made is to have a non-statutory inquiry. We have done that for two
:34:22. > :34:25.reasons. One, what we have just been discussing in terms of timescale,
:34:26. > :34:28.and secondly, the Transport Minister has been assured of full
:34:29. > :34:36.documentation and cooperation of all aspects of the long process of the
:34:37. > :34:41.budget. -- the project. That gives us the opportunity to have a judge
:34:42. > :34:45.led inquiry, which will give us a proper examination and a public
:34:46. > :34:48.account of what has happened to the project. One thing I would say in
:34:49. > :34:52.terms of the importance of doing this, because it is particularly
:34:53. > :34:56.important if projects like this are being considered in the future that
:34:57. > :35:00.lessons are learned, but it is simply not the case at other major
:35:01. > :35:05.public projects in Scotland are running overtime and over budget.
:35:06. > :35:10.The fourth replacement crossing, the biggest infrastructure project in
:35:11. > :35:15.Scotland for a generation, is being built on time and under budget, a
:35:16. > :35:21.total of ?145 million of savings have been made from the project
:35:22. > :35:28.since construction started in 2011, and that would be the case for the
:35:29. > :35:31.completion of the bypass. Huge numbers, public investments in
:35:32. > :35:35.Scotland, which have been completed on time and in many cases under
:35:36. > :35:41.budget, so it is important to see how the and Brad trams object went
:35:42. > :35:49.astray. -- the Edinburgh trams project with astray. We are now
:35:50. > :35:54.moving to member's business. And there we have it. We have come to
:35:55. > :35:57.the conclusion, a rather substantial conclusion, that announcement of a
:35:58. > :36:03.judge led inquiry into the Edinburgh trams, and it will be non-statutory
:36:04. > :36:07.to avoid the problem that was being discussed previously in answer to
:36:08. > :36:12.Jackie Baillie, that if there are statutory inquiries under the 2005
:36:13. > :36:18.acts, they can stretch and stretch, perhaps beyond the tolerance of the
:36:19. > :36:27.public. Some sense of announcement at First Minister's questions, and
:36:28. > :36:29.at one point, the officer had to call for silence. Now it is time to
:36:30. > :36:38.hand you over. in Birmingham, but where are the
:36:39. > :36:45.moderate Muslims who actually need to lead in a different direction?
:36:46. > :36:49.There is excellent work going on in a number of places, and I can give
:36:50. > :36:52.you examples, particularly in London, of programmes which bring
:36:53. > :36:55.youngsters together from all communities and take them through
:36:56. > :37:01.these issues in a very, very explicit way. And it produces
:37:02. > :37:05.remarkable results - remarkable results. A lot more money needs to
:37:06. > :37:10.go into that kind of thing. We would just like to welcome viewers from
:37:11. > :37:14.Scotland, who have been watching First Minister's Questions in
:37:15. > :37:22.Holyrood. Here, we are discussing the Government's anti-extremism
:37:23. > :37:26.agenda. Is it not surprising that things were allowed to get as far as
:37:27. > :37:31.they got in these schools in Birmingham? No, I agree, it is
:37:32. > :37:34.worrying. One does have to recognise, this is not just central
:37:35. > :37:41.government, a lot of this is local government. It is not always easy to
:37:42. > :37:42.get in from central government into the operation. Where the scores are