Meeting of the Parliament 10 December 2024
That is fine. It is fairly difficult to defend wanting to remove any reference to the Council of Europe and the European convention on human rights, but there we go. The Tories are under new management at UK and Scottish levels, so perhaps that is what we have come to expect.
In concluding, I want to be clear that Scottish Labour wants the Scottish Government and the UK Government—and the United Kingdom and Scotland—to lead the way not just in putting down rights on paper but in ensuring that we implement and deliver those rights properly. When we talk about people’s rights not being realised or upheld right now, we are talking about children who are struggling, families who are struggling to get a roof over their heads and all the consequences that flow from policy decisions.
I welcome the chance that today’s debate gives us to recognise human rights day 2024, but what matters is that we make significant change to ensure that long-promised action is put into effect by all of us in the chamber, and by Governments across these islands, to give people their dignity and their rights.
15:51