The Sunday Whip

This has to go down as an excellent week for the Government. After the passage of the Business Motion, Wednesday saw full attendance for Stage 1 of the Budget (Scotland) Bill. First came an amendment from the Finance Committee (the first amendment tabled by a Committee since the Election), which passed by 65 (SNP, Tories, Greens) votes to 1 (Margo), with 62 abstentions (Labour and the LibDems). A Labour amendment fared badly: it fell by 82 votes to 46, with Labour failing to get any other party to support it. Even the LibDems voted against it. But there were no hard feelings: although the LibDem amendment fell by 66 votes (SNP, Tories, Greens and Margo) to 62, Labour were happy to support it. Then came to vote on the motion (as amended by the Finance Committee's proposals): as I'm sure everyone is now aware, it passed, by 64 (SNP, Tories, Margo) votes to 62 (Labour, LibDems) with 2 abstentions (Greens):

That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Budget (Scotland) Bill but, in so doing, recommends that the Scottish Government (a) brings forward proposals setting out how, over the period covered by the spending review, the level of police recruitment can be increased beyond that currently planned and (b) considers whether there is scope to increase the business rate reductions applying in 2008-09 beyond those stated in the Spending Review as the first stage of the acceleration of the reductions, setting out what changes will be required to the 2008-09 Budget as a result.

Following that, the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 (Modification) Order 2008 was waved through.

Thursday, on the other hand, saw only one actual vote, so consenual were proceedings (even the Presiding Officer remarked on this). The Government proposed a Legislative Consent Motion favouring the UK Parliament's Dormant Bank & Building Society Accounts Bill. It was the LibDems' proposed amendment that shattered the peace, falling by 65 votes (SNP, Tories, Greens) to 17 (LibDems) with 45 abstentions (Labour and Margo). Eagle-eyed readers will notice that there was one more supporter than there are LibDem MSPs: Karen Whitefield (Lab, Airdrie & Shotts) carried on the long tradition of the two parties voting together, though whether or not that was intentional is another matter. Also, Marilyn Livingstone (Lab, Kirkcaldy) was absent, though on a day like Thursday, she could afford to take the time off, especially as the Labour amendment to the motion passed without challenge, and the amended motion was agreed to on the nod:

That the Parliament supports the principle of clauses in the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill, introduced in the House of Lords on 7 November 2007, providing for the collection and distribution of sums released from dormant bank and building society accounts for social and environmental purposes, and agrees that the provisions in the Bill that relate to the distribution of such sums in Scotland should be considered by the UK Parliament and, in so doing, calls on ministers to ensure a full and open consultation involving all interests with a social or environmental purpose and, in particular, organisations providing services, facilities or opportunities to meet the needs of young people; notes that a further vote will be required in the Scottish Parliament, and calls on ministers to return to the Parliament at the conclusion of the consultation exercise for further consideration of the distribution of the funds not later than September 2008.

Following that, consensus was reached on the Government's motion on the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Report: this was waved through, after being amended by Labour and the LibDems, both of whom enjoyed the full support (or at least, acquiescence) of the Chamber:

That the Parliament welcomes the collaborative work being undertaken by a wide variety of partners across the public, private and voluntary sectors to take forward implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy from 2004 to 2007, as set out in Scotland's Biodiversity: It's In Your Hands - A Progress Report 2005-07; commends the enthusiasm and commitment of all those involved in that work, and acknowledges that continued effort by all the partners engaged in conserving biodiversity in Scotland is required in order to address the challenges identified in the progress report such as climate change, invasive non-native species, river basin management, sustainable management of the natural world, the development of the ecosystems approach, wildlife crime and the need for the broader engagement of all citizens so that Scotland can play its part in delivering our national and international commitments to the cause of halting biodiversity loss; calls on the Scottish Government to confirm the commitment to meeting the 2010 EU Gothenburg biodiversity targets; and notes that land users, land managers, inshore fishery interests, sea fishing interests and land practitioners are charged with delivering environmental benefits, and recognises that there is a need for these stakeholders in particular to be formally involved in the strategy at all levels, to understand the objectives, and thereafter to contribute practical solutions to the strategy and its overall aim.

And then, just to put the icing on the cake, no one wished to oppose the re-appointment of Kevin Dunion as the Scottish Information Commissioner until 23 February 2012.

All this consensus has left me with a warm fuzzy glow inside. I need to get back into a bad mood.