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Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): I congratulate Bill Butler on securing the debate. It is a tribute to Robert Owen’s legacy that so many members from the parties that are represented in the Parliament support the motion. I have not checked to see how many members have joined the bank on Owen Facebook group, but I assure the campaign organisers that I plan to be one of them.
Scotland’s historic right to print its own banknotes has always been a source of pride. It serves to remind us of the distinctive banking tradition in Scotland and the principles on which many banks were founded. Perhaps we have lost sight of some of those principles in recent years—members discussed that in more detail yesterday. Prudence and balance gave way to the impulse to make a quick buck, and serving wider society gave way to the quest for never-ending growth. Perhaps it is even more appropriate in the context of the financial crisis that we should find a way to commemorate the life and work of Robert Owen and the role that the co-operatives can and do play in society. Featuring Robert Owen on a Scottish banknote can serve those purposes, and I hope that one or more of Scotland’s banks can be persuaded to take up the challenge. Of course, as taxpayers, we already hold an 84 per cent share in the Royal Bank of Scotland and a 40 per cent share in Lloyds Banking Group, so there should be more ways to persuade those banks other than through petitions and parliamentary debates. The United Kingdom Government has been reluctant to get involved in their day-to-day running, but perhaps it could make an exception in this case at least.
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Read more... [Bank on Owen" Campaign]
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S3M-06204 Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (Scottish National Party): Congratulations to Jamie Wallace— That the Parliament congratulates Jamie Wallace, a first year student at the University of Glasgow, for receiving the Duais na Gàidhlig award, which recognises Jamie’s contribution to Gaelic at the university; acknowledges his many efforts to bring the Gaelic language to South Lanarkshire and his home town of Lesmahagow, and hopes that South Lanarkshire Council will increase its efforts to promote the Gaelic language in learning and education. |
Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): The first and most important thing that any of us can do to support small businesses during this recession is to be honest with them. So, for the Liberal Democrats to try to pretend that the Scottish Government is somehow in receipt of increased funding, when everyone knows that, in fact, we face the first real-terms budget cut in the history of devolution, does not in any way suggest that they are interested in supporting small businesses.
The Scottish Government, on the other hand, can and should be proud of its support for businesses of all shapes and sizes right across the country. More than 200,000 businesses in Scotland may be eligible for support under the small business bonus scheme, which has increased and expanded since it was introduced. Plenty of businesses in the South of Scotland region, which I represent, have felt the benefit of it. When I first consulted local businesses in the region about the impact of the scheme back in 2008, one local artist, whose studio had benefited from the relief, even felt moved to refer to the First Minister as the “blessed Alex Salmond” because of the difference that it had made.
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Read more... [Support for Small Businesses]
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S3M-06121 Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (Scottish National Party): Demos Calls for Votes at 16— That the Parliament welcomes the publication of two new documents by the think tank, Demos, An Anatomy of Youth and The New Frontier, which call for greater democratic empowerment of young people in the United Kingdom, including the extension of the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds, and examine the range of challenges facing younger generations; notes that the SNP in government has already extended the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds in the pilot elections to NHS boards and has proposed allowing this age group to vote in any referendum on Scotland’s constitutional future, and calls on political parties and government at all levels to find ways to ensure that young people are fully engaged with democratic life in Scotland. |
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