Hansard

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I very much look forward to working with you and all my colleagues in the Parliament; I wish you all the best of health. May we all serve Scotland with integrity, compassion, justice and wisdom. To the constituents whom I represent in Central Scotland and Lothians West—I will serve you well.

I deliver my first speech with a sense of irony, because, as I arrive in the Parliament and am given my portfolio as justice spokesperson for Reform UK Scotland, the biggest political scandal in Scottish history unravels and the former chief executive of the SNP, Peter Murrell, pleads guilty to embezzling £400,000 from SNP funds. You could not make it up.

I take my duties as a regional MSP and justice spokesperson seriously. Many people know me as a primary teacher, but, before teaching, I was a police officer. I specialised in child protection and worked on incredibly complex, disturbing and serious cases in which children were abused and neglected, and, sadly, some died at the hands of their abusers. I have a deep respect for the public sector workers who serve us with grace and dignity and who sacrifice themselves and their families to serve their communities. I thank them for their service.

However, we must acknowledge that the very services that are designed to protect the most vulnerable sometimes fail to do so. The recent publication of the learning review into the family C case outlines a deeply disturbing case of systematic child abuse in a family unit that took place in Glasgow. The experiences described in the report reflect the very worst outcome when systems that are designed to protect the most vulnerable fail to function as they should. Key strategies for improvement for the Scottish Government to consider have been highlighted in the report, and I look forward to working with the Government on delivering those improvements.

I reflect on the tragic deaths of the children Victoria Climbié, who died on 25 February 2000, and Peter Connelly, known as baby P, who succumbed to his injuries on 3 August 2007. Those young, innocent lives were lost to abuse, which led to serious case reviews in England and lessons to be learned. After the death of baby Peter, I, along with other multi-agency professionals, delivered high-level training, based on the recommendations in the Lord Laming report, to front-line professionals, in order to prevent anything like those cases from ever happening again. Yet, child abuse continues and organisations that are designed to protect do not deliver, and here we are again.

In Scotland, we have key pieces of legislation, guidance and frameworks for protecting our children: the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, the “National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021” and the getting it right for every child—GIRFEC—guidance, to name but a few. My point, as justice spokesperson for Reform UK Scotland, is that we have the legislation, guidelines and frameworks in place to protect our children; however, the systematic abuse of children and young people continues in our communities. We must do better.

Domestic abuse and child abuse are often intrinsically linked. As an MSP, I have visited amazing domestic abuse charities. Many charities provide services to victims of crime, which are a lifeline for them. Statutory agencies depend on those charities as part of the wider referral systems to keep victims safe, and individuals rely on the ability to self-refer to try to protect themselves. However, those charities, despite having huge waiting lists, are left to seek funding each year through a variety of means, not knowing from one year to the next whether they can keep their doors open. One manager said to me:

“On Christmas eve, we didn’t know if we would have to shut our doors for good. Our funding streams are unpredictable and fragile.”

We need to do better.

Criminals do not work in isolation; they are in our communities, workplaces and homes—they are among us. Criminals rely on individuals failing to act; on failing systems and smokescreens; on whistleblowers being silenced; and on coercion and control of others.

As a police officer, my job was to shine a torch in some very dark corners. My job was to hear hard-to-hear information and not to turn away but, rather, to act, investigate, arrest, interview and charge, and to work towards a successful conviction.

As a teacher, my job was to educate and nurture young minds, to care for and be part of a wider community and to raise children in a safe, happy and secure environment. All those skills I bring to the table. As an MSP, I will be shining a torch in dark corners. I will not turn away when the darkness disturbs me. I will not be deterred. I will not be silenced. I will work with others who work with me. I will challenge and question the Government. I will remain resilient, because people rely on those who are in positions of authority to do better. We must, we can and we will do better.

16:08