Report to the People
12th May 2003

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You can hardly control your nerves; you feel the eyes of the nation watching your every move; you hope you’ll be up to the greatest challenge of your career so far.  But enough about “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here”, I’m supposed to be talking about last week’s Oath Taking Ceremony in the Scottish Parliament.

While the new MSPs’ nervous excitement at being sworn in did bring back some pleasant memories of my own first day, like most returned members I was more pensive.  Having been here before, I know that testing times lie ahead and know just how hard things can get.

No such grave thoughts, however, were weighing heavy on the shoulders of the new boy who got so carried away (or was so desperate to get himself some publicity, you decide) he gave us a song.  I nearly had a heart attack – no-one told me I was meant to have a party piece prepared.  I was straight on the phone to my office demanding that they rush my Max Bygraves songbook over immediately.

But, away from the Chamber, some important business was being done last week.  Labour and the Liberal Democrats – the parties who now have the responsibility of facing up to the challenges facing Scotland – are hammering out the coalition agreement which will allow us to form a government.

Working with our negotiating team and colleagues, I have been clear about what I want to see in any such agreement.  The bottom line is that Labour, as the largest party, must get the key points of the manifesto on which we fought and won the election into the Executive’s legislative programme.

And for me, no point is more critical than building safer, stronger communities in places like Greenock and Inverclyde.

That means putting at the heart of any agreement tough new measures to crackdown hard on the sort of anti-social behaviour which makes decent people’s lives a misery.  And, as a strong community is a prosperous community, we need to prioritise growing and strengthening our economy.  Finally, a community can’t be safe without strong, local services and that means halting the march towards centralisation in the NHS.

Tonight in Edinburgh there will be the latest in a series of special meetings of the Labour Group at which we will discuss what progress is being made.  I am hopeful that by then we will be close to an agreement which reflects our priorities here in Greenock and Inverclyde and allows us to move forward with the job we were elected to do.

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