§ 15. Mr. Harry EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many schools in Scotland have taken steps towards opting out of local authority control.
§ Mr. LangParents at one school have presented a formal written request calling for a ballot to be held on self-governing status.
§ Mr. EwingAfter all the parliamentary time spent on the opting-out legislation, all the civil servants' time spent on it and all the people's money spent on it, how does the Minister have the nerve to get up to say that one single school has asked to opt out of the system? Is not that ample evidence of an unrepresentative Government imposing unwanted legislation on an unwilling population? Why does not the Minister take his courage in his hands by joining the rest of the people in Scotland tomorrow and, through the ballot box, telling the Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Stirling (M r. Forsyth), to get lost and to take his dangerous and daft opting-out legislation with him?
§ Mr. LangThe longest journey begins with a single step and I have no doubt that many other schools will be interested in following the example of the one school that has so far applied to be considered. South of the border, where the opting-out provisions have been in place longer, some 36 applications have now been approved and the number of applications for admission to those schools has risen in many cases by as much as 50 per cent.
§ Mr. CanavanOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. It arises out of questions.
§ Mr. SpeakerIt does not necessarily have to arise out of questions and I shall take it after the applications under Standing Order No. 20.