Meeting of the Parliament 21 December 2022
Supporters of the bill from all parties have highlighted that the rushed timetable has made engaging with the detail of the bill unnecessarily difficult for them. We could have quite easily avoided this by scheduling numerous sessions to consider stage 2 and 3 amendments, including in the new year, so that scrutiny could have been maximised and the rights and wellbeing of MSPs and staff could have been respected. To the shame of this Parliament, that reasonable option was kicked aside in favour of political gain for the SNP—or, I should say, for the avoidance of political loss.
The business motion seeks to make one final effort to force a vote on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill before Christmas; yet, so much has changed over the course of stage 3. We have seen a Court of Session ruling after the amendment deadline had passed, meaning that Parliament has had no opportunity to consider how it might affect the bill. Time must be taken to consider these things properly.
There is so much other crucial business that needs to be debated before we head into recess, not least following yesterday morning’s news that Scottish national health service workers intend to strike. That is a true crisis being faced by Scotland’s NHS, and it is exactly the type of issue that the people of Scotland actually want Parliament to be prioritising before Christmas. My colleague Stephen Kerr has asked for a much-needed statement on the curriculum for excellence achievement statistics. Education was once brandished by the SNP as top priority. It is clearly not any more.
Therefore, my amendment would insert statements on the NHS strikes and the education statistics. Although I welcome Labour’s backing of the Conservative calls for statements, I wish to say this: the rush of the GRR bill is possibly the most serious disrespect that the Scottish Parliament has ever seen. If Labour shares our wish to have those statements, it should vote for our amendment. That is because it removes the final debate on the GRR bill from tomorrow’s programme, with a view to holding a final vote in the new year.
Before the minister stands up and gives his faux outrage about who he believes is to blame for his Government’s timetable, I draw members’ attention to the business programme for the week that we return from recess. As I stated yesterday, there was a debate slot on the afternoon of Tuesday 10 January that had yet to be allocated. We proposed moving the final debate on the GRR bill to that slot, with further amendment consideration tomorrow, to avoid the situation in which we have found ourselves in the past few nights. To be clear, that would still be our preference, as per my amendment.
However, I can reveal to Parliament that, as of 7.40 this evening, that slot has now been filled, with the Government’s first—and only—priority. Yes, the minister has confirmed that he seeks to fill it with a debate on independence. [Interruption.]