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Scotland Act 1998

No, because I only have two minutes. It should be recognised that the pro-independence parties—Tommy Sheridan's Scottish Socialist party, the Scottish Green party and the SNP—formed a minority in the last year's elections and did not secure a majority of Scottish opinion in their favour. Last May's election was the referendum. We do not need another one, because the single issue party—the SNP—put their manifesto to the electorate and it was soundly beaten. The pro-Unionist parties—we are now the pro-reform parties—were in favour of the Union and therefore secured a majority of opinion on our side. We must recognise that the will of the people has been expressed, and we must now have a serious look at the issues at the heart of the debate, such as fiscal federalism, the abolition of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, broadcasting and so on. Those are the issues of substance that should be considered.