Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 09 November 2016
09 Nov 2016 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Prevention and Eradication of Hate Crime and Prejudice
I support the campaign for more inclusive education in schools, but it is a wee bit unrealistic to expect a result from a campaign that has been going for only a year and which started from nothing. If I am correct, that campaign is already having close conversations with members of the Government. Plans are afoot, although I am not aware of what is happening.
My next point follows on from the discussion that we just had. If there is one thing that the past year has reinforced for us as politicians, it is the importance of using words carefully. The cabinet secretary talked about the language that the First Minister used the morning after the Brexit vote, when she told people that Scotland is their home and that their contribution is valued. We should compare that with some of the frankly xenophobic and racist language that is being used by politicians down south. Unfortunately, the use of that did not finish after the horrendous yes to Brexit vote in June.
Last month, the hashtag #WeAreScotland swept across social media in response to a xenophobic and divisive suggestion by the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, that businesses should list any foreign workers and should be encouraged to hire British workers in order to reduce net migration. Those proposals were met with anger not only across Scotland but across the business community.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Linda Fabiani)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-02364, in the name of Angela Constance, on working together to prevent and eradicate hate crime and preju...
The Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities (Angela Constance)
SNP
I start by simply stating that there is never an excuse for hate crime and prejudice and that this Government is absolutely committed to tackling it, whereve...
Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
We are all in agreement today that hate crimes in Scotland, as well as across the UK, should never be tolerated and that, as politicians, we should do all th...
Tom Arthur (Renfrewshire South) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Annie Wells
Con
I have just started, so please let me make some progress. Hate crime is not limited solely to race and nationality. Hate crime comes in many forms, many of ...
Tom Arthur
SNP
Will the member give way on that point?
Annie Wells
Con
I want to make progress. Voting to leave the EU and addressing hate crime are not mutually exclusive. I would like to remind the equalities secretary and th...
Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
Does the member have any idea when Theresa May will give confidence to EU nationals living in Scotland and the rest of the UK and say that they are welcome a...
Annie Wells
Con
As I say, we have not actually done anything to trigger article 50 yet, so we do not know what the other EU countries are going to say either. We can say tha...
Angela Constance
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Annie Wells
Con
I am actually just at the end of my speech—sorry. The motion raises a very important issue regarding deplorable acts of racial hate crime but I say to the S...
Pauline McNeill (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I recently had the pleasure of discussing the equality agenda with Tim Hopkins from the Equality Network. He reminded me how far we have come on lesbian and ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We move to the open debate, in which speeches will be of about six minutes. I have a wee bit of time in hand to make up for interventions if members take the...
James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart) (SNP)
SNP
I do not understand why you named me there, Presiding Officer. I said to Annie Wells on the way into the chamber that I would try not to have a go at her bu...
Annie Wells
Con
The point that I was making in relation to LGBTI issues was about the time for inclusive education campaign, which has been running for more than a year. The...
James Dornan
SNP
I support the campaign for more inclusive education in schools, but it is a wee bit unrealistic to expect a result from a campaign that has been going for on...
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I seem to recall that 50 per cent of SNP members support those measures. I accept that James Dornan might not particularly appreciate them, but it seems that...
James Dornan
SNP
I am now thinking of just saying anything that comes into my head, because nothing that I know of in reality is anywhere close to the point that Liam Kerr es...
Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
Today’s debate on preventing and eradicating hate crime and prejudice provides a welcome opportunity to raise awareness about, and to endeavour to address, t...
Christina McKelvie (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) (SNP)
SNP
I am pleased to hear Margaret Mitchell call out some of the crimes that are faced by people who have disabilities. In the light of that revelation from Marga...
Margaret Mitchell
Con
I will look at addressing such crime wherever it goes on and I will make a point of looking at Christina McKelvie’s motion. However, it is unfortunate if we ...
Christina McKelvie (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) (SNP)
SNP
The rise of hate up to and since the Brexit referendum has caused us all to rethink our place in this United Kingdom, and it has reminded us that we cannot b...
Johann Lamont (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
We live in fragile times. I cannot be the only person who feels that, following the past 24 hours, they have become more fragile still. I am happy to speak i...
John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Green
“Hate” is a much-used word; I would say that it is a misused word. We have talked about hate crime in the Parliament a lot—indeed, we talked about it very re...
George Adam (Paisley) (SNP)
SNP
There is absolutely no place for hate crime or prejudice in our 21st century Scotland. We can no more and we will not indulge the bigots as they practise the...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
This is not the speech that I planned to give this evening, nor is it the one that I wanted to give. I reflect that, despite the rancour and deep divisions t...
Ash Denham (Edinburgh Eastern) (SNP)
SNP
Politicians have a voice and the things that we say and do can shape the way society thinks about the issues of the day. That is a benefit, but it is also a ...
Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I became a member of this Parliament after having had quite wide and varied life and career experiences, the majority of which were happy and positive. Howev...
James Dornan
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Jamie Greene
Con
I am in my closing seconds. As members of the Parliament, we have a role to play with the language that we use and how we treat each other when we have poli...