Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 25 November 2020
Yesterday, we saw the Parliament at its finest, working across parties to pass an important piece of legislation for people across the whole of Scotland. It gave us a glimpse of what this place is capable of being and doing.
Today, unfortunately, we are back to normal—political opportunism, point scoring and desperate attempts to gain some headlines as we head towards the Scottish Parliament elections, and as support for independence continues to grow.
We will hear a lot today about the integrity of the Government, the Deputy First Minister, the First Minister and anyone else those members can drag down to the gutter with them. But please do not be fooled—this is not about integrity; indeed, it is the exact opposite. Eight days ago, the Lord Advocate told the committee that the DFM was still considering whether he should make the advice public. There is a complicated process going on, which the Opposition parties are well aware of—but why give up the opportunity to have a sly kick at your opponents when you can?
Presiding Officer, if you want to see just how opportunistic and hypocritical is the motion from the Scottish branch of the Westminster Tories, ably supported by their better together team mates, let me mention just two names: Priti Patel and Robert Jenrick. So far, there is no sign of the report that shows the Home Secretary to be a bully, for which crime her Prime Minister—who, to be fair, I note had previously been caught on tape discussing a journalist being beaten up—fully supported her.
As for Mr Jenrick, let us just say that there were many options to select from, but this one is extremely timely. It was reported on 11 November that officials are refusing to release the justification for a controversial £25 million handout to a cabinet minister’s constituency, which was approved by a colleague. His department’s top civil servant cleared the grant, but has agreed to release only
“a summary of his assessment provided in confidence”
to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. Transparency? Openness? Nah! Hypocrisy? Tories? Never!