Meeting of the Parliament 10 December 2024
I am pleased to open on behalf of Scottish Labour in this debate marking human rights day.
Presiding Officer,
“it is right and proper, that today is also a day that is associated internationally with the support of peace and work for peace because the basis of peace and stability, in any society, has to be the fullest respect for the human rights of all its people.”
Those are, of course, not my words but the words of the late, great John Hume, as he received the Nobel peace prize on this day in 1998 in Oslo, along with David Trimble. I say to colleagues across the chamber, as I often do, that we can learn a lot from people such as John Hume and David Trimble on building bridges, opening doors and protecting fundamental human rights.
I am proud of my party’s place in the story of taking action to protect and defend human rights. It was a Labour Government that introduced the Human Rights Act 1998, ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and ensured that the Human Rights Act 1998 was built into the Scotland Act 1998 and the foundational documents of the Scottish Parliament.
This year’s theme for human rights day, “our rights, our future, right now”, is a timely reminder of the importance of advancing human rights at home and abroad as a route to addressing many of the issues that we face in our world in a dignified and equitable way. In opening the debate, the cabinet secretary referred to some of the corners of the world where we know that human rights have been under threat and said that the international community must do more to protect human rights, not least in Ukraine, the middle east and Syria.
In opening the debate for Scottish Labour, I am pleased to speak about the many areas in which we have been able to work constructively with the Scottish Government to do more to advance human rights in Scotland where we can. That is particularly the case around advocacy for children’s rights, as seen in the cross-party support for actions such as the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots law and the establishment of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland.
It is important that, when there is consensus, we work across parties. In the cabinet secretary’s opening speech, she talked about how we can do more to advance human rights in Scotland. I very much welcome the spirit and tenor of the discussion with the new UK Government.