Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 24 February 2021
That is what I am doing, Presiding Officer.
I value shrieval judgments in Scotland and rulings of the European Court, not the rantings of Mr Kerr about his understanding of those rulings. We want robust, well-resourced alternatives to prosecution and custody and an end to ineffective short-term prison sentences that give people have little chance of doing constructive work. We want participative and inclusive democracies—and we know that the Tories do not like Johnny Foreigner voting either; they want to roll back the franchise even further.
We should be encouraging every jailed father to vote in a local authority election where the education of their child is an important issue. We should be encouraging every inmate with a history of addictions to vote, given the funding decisions that are made about addiction services. Such services are a key issue.
A casual observer might think that the Tories have called it wrong in this debate, but they know exactly what they are doing. They are separating themselves from others, away off to the right. Let us, in Parliament, distance ourselves from that unpleasant group of hypocrites and reassert our view. It is not that long ago that we valued human rights and the work of our prison staff. We believe that rehabilitation is a key element of human rights, and voting has a role to play in that.
The Scottish Green Party was and remains fully behind the franchise and representation legislation that was passed just a year ago. We will support the amendment in the name of Michael Russell at decision time.