Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2016
I am pleased to close on behalf of the Scottish Labour Party. I am also pleased to recognise the tone of the contributions from all sides of the chamber. This is one of those debates where there is nothing to argue about. Human rights lie at the very heart of who we are and what we seek to achieve in our lifetimes—to treat others as we would want ourselves to be treated.
I thank members of the Justice Committee for the work that they have done on behalf of the Parliament in considering the plan that we have debated this afternoon, and I join other members of the Parliament in welcoming Judith Robertson as the new Alan Miller for Scotland. I wish her as much luck and as much success as Mr Miller enjoyed during his time in the post.
Christine Grahame quite rightly focused on the fair hearing and the need for legislation in developing a criminal justice system that reflects at its heart a recognition of human rights and respect for those rights. She gave some examples of how those things have been developed in new legislation and in our approach to a new national police force. She went on to point out how important it is to take human rights to small places. I acknowledge that whole-heartedly, and I hope that she equally acknowledges the small people I spoke about earlier.
One of the key statements made this afternoon, during what was necessarily a truncated debate, was made by the cabinet secretary himself. He said that he acknowledged that there was much more work to be done. Although everyone feels good commenting on the positive aspects of human rights, the comfort that we gain from being able to say those things in this chamber can continue to be comfortable only if Government takes truly seriously its responsibilities in relation to human rights and what that means for the future and only if it works hard to ensure that a culture of openness and frankness with the citizen is delivered.