It was only a matter of time.

SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson, for so long the villain star of Crap Holyrood Chat, has won the not-so-sought-after Better Nation accolade of Worst Motion of the Week.

Now, I like a good fry up, I’m sure most of my co-editors do and no doubt you yourself as you’re reading this are picturing a nice crispy tattie scone, some lovely fried mushrooms, plump poached eggs and, heck, let’s go for the black pudding too.

Motion S4M-00958 – Kenneth Gibson ( Cunninghame North ) ( Scottish National Party ) : Best Breakfast Award, Auchrannie House Hotel
That the Parliament congratulates the owners and staff at Auchrannie House Hotel, on the Isle of Arran, for winning the Best Breakfast category in the LateRooms.com Best Kept Secret Awards 2011; notes the judges’ comments that “Auchrannie House Hotel is a clear winner for Best Breakfast. Not only does it look delicious (and tastes it by all accounts) but the elegant surroundings really complete the breakfast experience”; understands that, after the judges whittled down the thousands of nominations, Auchrannie House Hotel saw off competition from hotels in Harrogate and Eastbourne in the final three, and wishes everyone at Auchrannie House Hotel all the best for the year ahead, following what it considers to be this great achievement.
Supported by: John Scott, John Lamont, Fiona McLeod, Mike MacKenzie, Humza Yousaf

One of the beauties of this motion is that not only has Kenny seemingly not eaten the breakfast, neither seemingly has the reviewer quoted in the text. (And, full disclosure, I nicked that point from Aidan).

Now, I am a breakfast connoisseur, snob even. I would, and I do, travel through hell and high water to enjoy the first and most important meal of the day wherever it may be – from Edinburgh’s Word of Mouth, Rock Salt, Toast or Valvona & Crolla or London’s Caravan, Smith of Smithfield, J&A or Kopapa but, a slap up brekkie deserving of a parliamentary motion? Not for me.

But, it’s soggy porridge to full Scottish now because the Best Motion of the Week goes to Lothians MSP Kezia Dugdale for this shining example of what the process should be used for:

Motion S4M-00965 – Kezia Dugdale ( Lothian ) ( Scottish Labour ) : Addiction and Relapse Prevention

That the Parliament commends the community development agency, Comas, for what it considers to be groundbreaking and innovative work in enabling recovering drug addicts and alcoholics to create new solutions to the challenges that they face when sustaining abstinence; notes that Comas supports individuals transitioning from a life of addiction into one of work and prosperity through developing their own social or community groups to create a community of peer support, self-help and self-management; welcomes this approach to recovery based on community development as one the best ways of helping to promote long-term recovery and relapse prevention; is concerned, however, that out of the £173 million that Audit Scotland estimates is spent on drug and alcohol services annually, there is no identified spend on maintaining recovery after treatment, and considers that serious investment in relapse prevention is key to any commitment to addressing failure demand and moving toward preventative spend.
Supported by: John Pentland, Malcolm Chisholm, David Torrance, Jackie Baillie, Neil Findlay, Graeme Pearson, David Stewart, Mary Fee, Anne McTaggart

Lefties jumping up and down about cuts to services isn’t going to cut it as Osborne finds his range with his swinging axe. Politicians need to dig deep and make persuasive, near-uncontestable arguments in favour of continued support for the vulnerable in society who are too easily maligned and pushed to the side.

This isn’t necessarily about the amount of money spent, however, it’s about better outcomes and identifies an area of real concern – if we’re going to spend money on helping people deal with their addictions in the first place it’s surely better spending money to help them stay off rather than paying for a second, third or fourth course of treatment.

Even better, there’s an existing provider identified for Parliament to look at and learn from!