Hansard

I want to speak against the business motion, which proposes that we hold stage 1 and stage 3 debates in the chamber next week. We are clear that, when the Parliament meets in person, it should do so only to discuss the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We cannot return to business as usual in the chamber when we are asking others to undertake only work that is crucial to the Covid-19 response. As I said last week, the Parliament must lead by example.

The proposed business is consideration of legislation, and members must be present in the chamber in order to vote on that legislation. That disenfranchises members who must self-isolate. We proposed that, next week, we debate the Government’s response to the pandemic and the way forward. The debate on that could have been a debate without motion, meaning that there would be no vote. That would have allowed time for a remote plenary session to be tested and a remote voting system to be in place in order to allow legislation to be passed virtually. When that is in place, we will be able to continue the day-to-day work of the Parliament, because all members will be able to take part safely from home.

When the First Minister addresses people in her press conference, she reminds them of the importance of changing their way of life in order to save lives and protect the national health service, but that will have a hollow ring if she will not change her programme for government in order to do the same thing. We cannot deal with normal business until we can do so remotely and in a way that makes it safe for all members to participate.

The Parliament needs to lead by example. If we are asking others to prioritise only work regarding the pandemic, we should do that, too. Until all members are able to take part safely, we should not consider legislation. When we are forced to travel to meet physically in the Parliament, we should be involved only in work that deals with the pandemic.

To be frank, the “do as I say, not as I do” approach is wearing thin. If we do not get our act together, we will undermine the progress that is being made during the lockdown. If that happened, I do not believe that the Scottish people would forgive us. I made those points last week but, sadly, the other parties in the Parliament apparently do not share our concerns. We must therefore move against the business motion tonight.