Margo MacDonald: Alex's approach is questionable

"These new lions' contributions to the debate were more impressive than many of the dear departed who lost their seats in May's massacre"

Parliament staff could be found, swotting hard, in every nook and cranny of Holyrood this past week. Their noses were stuck in books containing the mug-shots of the new MSPs . . . all 49 of them, and many of them without a red rose or jacket, blue tie, or discreet threads of tartan to provide clues as to their identity.

After the first real debates of this fourth session of parliament, many of the new boys and girls have made things a bit easier by giving excellent "maiden" speeches.

Personalities have begun to emerge from the ranks in all parties and, thankfully for the future of the Scottish Parliament, some remarks and conclusions in speeches in all quarters of the chamber hinted at some independently-minded MSPs.

In the debate on renewables - the jargon buzz word for those new forms of energy currently being developed to take the place of fossil fuels - these young lions' contributions to the debate were more impressive in their grasp of the new technologies than many of the dear departed who lost their seats in May's massacre.

Every session of parliament develops its own characteristics and idiosyncrasies, and this one already looks as though it will be much more anoraky, in a good way, than its forebears.

Many of the first-timers showed an impressive knowledge of the technicalities of the development, production and operation of wind, wave and tidal power. Slightly less expertise and imagination came through in the debate on sport, but the "young ones" were on the side of the angels as regards the need for PE in schools.

There were also some solid performances from the "old lags". Iain Gray looked and sounded like a new man: his questions to the First Minister were shorter and to the point. Alex Salmond's answers were not.

Willie Rennie, who's picked up the Lib Dems' fallen standard although he's hardly in the door, showed at First Minister's Questions that his time in Westminster wasn't wasted. His questions were concise and clear. Alex Salmond's answers were not.

The First Minister is superb when on top form or desperate to explain the possibilities of renewables having the prospect of becoming even more of a technological, economic and employment bonanza for Scotland than oil and gas.

But, like the rest of us, he has his off days. On Thursday he showed all the signs of being exhausted as he rambled, blustered and bored for Scotland.

Unfortunately, Tricia Marwick, in the Presiding Officer's chair, with all its authority, didn't do the First Minister a kindness by letting him ignore almost every point of guidance in the rulebook regarding relevance and reasonableness when speaking in the chamber. As her new role demands, she nudged other MSPs to cut to the chase . . . I'd bet on her having a miserable time in the chair, judging by the annoyance voiced by some of the rookies, if she doesn't nudge the First Minister into line.

But one aspect of the topic that will dominate this parliament looked to this old lag to be glaringly obvious: Labour and the SNP are still in denial over how much less money is going to be available to run the public services in the manner to which we have become accustomed.

It's obvious that some serious thinking will have to be done on care of the elderly, and it's unlikely to show the need for a cut in spending. If the economic recovery of the UK economy improves at its present snail's pace of one per cent or less growth per year, with Scotland's performance a shade bleaker, who's going to be able to invest in the social and built improvements to the infrastructure that defines our communities and quality of life?

Sir John Elvidge, the immediate past boss of the civil service in Scotland, who put his heart and soul into supporting and servicing the Scottish Parliament and government, told a weekend conference the plain truth - this government or any other in Holyrood, will not be allocated block grants, by the Treasury big enough to keep their pre-election pledges.

Guess what my question was to the First Minister last week? "Will the Scottish Government institute a scheme whereby all employees in care homes require to have a certificate of competence in caring for the elderly?"

Timely, topical and to the point . . . just what such questions are supposed to be.

So why wasn't I called to ask it by the Presiding Officer? Ah well, the half-hour allocated for First Minister's Questions had run over time. And why was that? Alex Salmond's answers took about as long as the introduction to War and Peace and used up all the time available for backbenchers to question the government.

I've put down the same question for this week.