Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 24 February 2021
Again and again, the Conservatives come to the chamber and denounce the choice of topic for a statement or a debate. It is therefore ironic that they have chosen to give up an hour of their debating time—virtually their last hour of debating time this session—for a naked political gesture that is as cynical as it is hollow.
As we have just heard, this debate has nothing to do with justice or democracy or even fairness; it has to do with trying to shore up the core hard-right vote in Scotland, and it is a sign of Conservative desperation.
The Tories know full well that we cannot overturn legislation of any sort, let alone legislation passed by a supermajority, with a single-sentence motion debated for an hour on a Wednesday, four weeks before dissolution. No matter what happens today—[Interruption.] No, I will not take an intervention; I just want to make this point, because it is essential that we say what the situation is.
No matter what happens today, even if the motion were to be passed, it would be a meaningless, empty gesture, and the Tories know that. That is an abuse of the Parliament. If the Tories were in any way serious about this issue, as opposed to just exploiting prejudice, they would have come here with a new bill to reverse the change. That is what it would take, and they know that. However, that is not what they have brought, and they know that, too.