Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2025 [Draft]
Today, my party brings forward a motion of no confidence in the justice secretary. I will now explain why that is a necessary course of action.
In my four years at Holyrood, I have had more dealings with Angela Constance than with any other member of the Government. Our encounters have usually been courteous, sometimes fiery and mostly serious. We fundamentally disagree on the Scottish National Party’s approach to justice. That can be defined as seeking to excuse criminal behaviour, which I believe fails crime victims and Scotland’s law-abiding majority.
I disagree with the Government’s closure of police stations and releasing hundreds of prisoners early. I disagree with gender self-identification in the justice system and weak bail laws. I disagree with unjust under-25 sentencing guidelines and a £1 billion price tag for a new prison. I also disagree with the Government’s position on grooming gangs.
However, this motion and today’s vote are not about the fact that we disagree. They are about the conduct of the justice secretary. This is about the fundamental importance of honesty and integrity in Government and in Parliament. No matter the attempts of John Swinney, Kate Forbes and other SNP members, Angela Constance’s conduct is inexcusable and her position is no longer tenable.
The starting point for today’s proceedings was 16 September, when my colleague Liam Kerr lodged an amendment to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill. That amendment sought to begin the necessary work of establishing a grooming gangs inquiry—an inquiry that would answer questions about the sickening sexual exploitation of children, and that would establish why so many were so badly failed, why abusers acted with impunity and why whistleblowers were silenced. The amendment was imperfect, but it was the only mechanism at our disposal.
In rejecting it, Angela Constance cited leading abuse expert Professor Alexis Jay. The justice secretary said that Professor Jay shared her view that a grooming gangs inquiry was not needed. However, Professor Jay did not say that—and she did not say that because that is not her position.
Ten days later, Professor Jay emailed the Government to object. At that point, the justice secretary was obligated to correct the parliamentary record, as stipulated by the Scottish ministerial code. She had 20 days in which to do so, but she did not.
Instead of coming clean, it was decided that a correction would be made to the online minutes of the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group, which is buried on an obscure Government web page and was not posted until 18 November.
Then, on 26 November—more than two months after misrepresenting Professor Jay—Angela Constance doubled down. She publicly denied that she had misrepresented Professor Jay. When asked whether she had misrepresented Professor Jay, Angela Constance said:
“No, certainly not. I gave an accurate quote and indeed the correspondence that Ms Jay sent to me acknowledged that the quote that I gave was accurate.”
I note that we are not allowed to use the word “lie” or to call anyone a “liar”, so I will not. However, it is little wonder that Professor Jay sent another email to the Government on the very same day, in which she said:
“The current position is unsatisfactory for me.”
After all of that—misleading the public, Parliament and grooming gang victims—Angela Constance has still not admitted her mistake. She has still not corrected the record and she has still not apologised. That is the problem. It is not that a mistake has happened, but that Angela Constance, John Swinney and the whole Government want to pretend that it never happened and that it does not really matter. Well, it did happen, and it should matter.
Many will see this tawdry defence of the indefensible for what it is—the typical actions of a calculating and cynical Government. The First Minister can look grooming gang victims in the eye and tell them that he cares, only to destroy his own warm words with his cold inaction.
I have met Taylor, who, from the age of 13, was drugged and gang raped, and who was failed by the authorities that should have protected her. A recurring theme around grooming gangs is the existence of a conspiracy of silence in which police, social workers and others fail victims over fears of being branded racist. Survivors say that there is evidence of institutional cover-up. They are forced to battle for records, many of which no longer exist or have been severely redacted. Taylor raised that exact issue in her meeting with John Swinney on 9 December. In a letter to all MSPs, Taylor’s mother says:
“Within 24 hours of leaving Bute House, the suppressed email from Prof Alexis Jay was made public.”
Do John Swinney and Angela Constance really not understand what message their conduct sends to victims who already lack trust in authority? When he became First Minister, John Swinney made big statements about restoring the relationship between the public and politicians. Earlier this year, he said that he would
“renew public trust in politics”.
He has the opportunity to do so today; however, we all know that he will not.
Even though he will not do the right thing, each of us can do the right thing. Here is the choice: we can say that it is acceptable for ministers to mislead and to cover up, or we can say that there should be reasonable consequences for doing so. This is about truth; this is about respect; this is about simple decency. Therefore, I urge every MSP who is here today to vote to remove the justice secretary for misleading the Parliament, the public and grooming gang victims.
I move,
That the Parliament has no confidence in the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, in light of her failures in candour and openness in her misrepresentation and subsequent misleading statements made to the Parliament with regards to Professor Alexis Jay and grooming gangs.
14:37