Meeting of the Parliament 07 May 2024
Exactly a week ago, I stood here and asked the Scottish Government, now a minority in the Parliament, to work with others, and I did so to seek just one thing: for us to stay behind by just 30 extra minutes, last Tuesday, to get an urgent statement from the Lord Advocate. Last week, Scottish National Party and Green members voted that down. I hope that, this week, they will support this proposal. This is a genuine request to get an update not just from the head of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service but from a member of the Scottish Government Cabinet.
We last heard from the Lord Advocate in January, when she made a statement to Parliament and was questioned by MSPs. During the statement, she was clear that exonerating everyone—a mass exoneration of everyone who was convicted under the Horizon scandal—was not, in her view, the correct course of action. We are now into May and we do not know whether the Lord Advocate still holds that view or whether her opinion has changed.
We now know that, in just a matter of weeks, this Parliament will be asked, on 21 May, to debate and vote on stage 1 of the Scottish Horizon legislation in Holyrood. The next day, 22 May, we will debate stage 2 as a Committee of the Whole Parliament. How can we go into that important legislative process without knowing the position of the most senior law officer in Scotland?
Last week, when I raised the issue, George Adam said:
“There is no clarity needed. The Scottish Government has repeatedly made clear its position that proposed legislation”—[Official Report, 30 April 2024; c 6.]
on the Horizon scandal will be introduced. What is not clear is whether the Lord Advocate agrees with the Scottish Government’s position. I do not think it too much for this Parliament to ask for the Lord Advocate to come to this chamber to outline her position and answer questions about it.
We know that questions on the issue are due at First Minister’s question time this week. Pauline McNeill has a question on the issue at FMQs.