Meeting of the Parliament 10 December 2024
I thank the cabinet secretary for her intervention. I have more to say about the Conservative amendment and the prevailing attitude of the Conservatives towards human rights and access to them.
We have more to do. We cannot just talk the talk on human rights—we need to make sure that we are also walking the walk.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights speaks to us about the fundamental rights of people to adequate standards of living to ensure their health and wellbeing, including food, clothing, housing and medical care. Those are all issues that we debate every week in the Parliament. I do not think that we will find much disagreement across the chamber about those principles, yet we have to face the facts of the challenges that exist in Scotland right now with regard to many of those issues.
On adequate housing, we know that there are record levels of homelessness, a housing emergency and families who are trapped in temporary accommodation.
On medical care, we know that one in six Scots is stuck on a waiting list for national health service treatment. We know that particularly vulnerable groups, such as people who have a learning disability, face serious challenges to access healthcare. Through recent freedom of information requests, we have found that people who have a learning disability, who were promised health checks, have not been able to access them, despite the Government’s investment.
I will mention briefly the right to food and my colleague Rhoda Grant’s work in leading on that issue, not least through her member’s bill. She was hopeful, as were other members who have an interest in various aspects of human rights policy, that much of that would have been covered in a human rights bill.
In our exchanges today, we have already heard about the challenge of the withdrawal of the proposal for that bill and I am sure that we will hear more about it as the debate progresses. I hear what the cabinet secretary has said, and I have said to her previously that I appreciate that she wishes to take more time, but there is serious disappointment out there among those who have been invested in the bill process, who have done the research work and who have worked extremely hard to bring us to a place where we can consider all the issues in the round. It is clear that we must see more action to progress the issues.
Professor Angela O’Hagan, the chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said that John Swinney and the Government have made it clear that human rights are not a priority for them. The Government will have to reflect on that and on how we go forward in the next 18 months. I recognise that the Scottish Green Party amendment, which was not selected, sought to outline much of that in many of its points.
I have been encouraged by the broad joint working on the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on many of the issues.