Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2025 [Draft]
I speak in favour of the motion of no confidence in Angela Constance, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs. I do so for one reason above all others: victims and survivors of grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation have lost confidence in this justice secretary.
What has led them to lose confidence is that they feel that the justice secretary and this Government are not on their side. That has been cemented by a clear breach of the ministerial code. Angela Constance misrepresented the views of Professor Alexis Jay on an issue as serious as grooming gangs and organised child sexual exploitation. In doing so, she misled this Parliament.
Angela Constance has had multiple opportunities to correct the record. She has failed to do so. She has received repeated requests from Professor Alexis Jay herself to correct the record. She has failed to do so. This has now stopped being an error and has become a matter of honesty and transparency.
Let us be clear about why that matters. This is not an abstract argument about process or wording; it is about grooming gangs. The justice secretary misrepresented Professor Jay’s views in order to find an excuse not to have an inquiry into grooming gangs. Victims and survivors should be able to rely on their justice system and their Government to tell the truth, to act with integrity and to put them first. On that, the justice secretary has failed.
I want to read the powerful words of Taylor’s mum. Taylor is a brave survivor who has spoken out. Her mum said:
“Taylor is again feeling that she can trust no one, all because of this Government’s inability to be truthful and transparent.”
She said:
“Any MSP who chooses to support Angela Constance in this vote is choosing politics over victims. It is as simple as that.”
She went on to say:
“You cannot say you stand with victims while defending a minister who lied to Parliament, the public and, more importantly, the survivors.”
This has now also become a question of John Swinney’s judgment and of whether victims and the public can have confidence in him. Taylor’s mum said:
“My daughter and me attended Bute house last week. I travelled over 500 miles in a round trip to meet with the First Minister to spend one and a half hours being lied to my face.”
That is utterly damning. John Swinney should have sacked Angela Constance, but he has not. Shamefully, he is not willing to even refer the matter to the independent advisers on the ministerial code. However, it should not be up to him, which is why I have written to the independent advisers on the ministerial code and asked them to investigate.
The justice secretary has lost the confidence of victims. She has lost the confidence of survivors. In my view, she should not have the confidence of this Parliament. She cannot continue in her role. I will end by speaking Taylor’s mum’s words to every MSP in the chamber:
“Can you look yourselves in the mirror, knowing that you are supporting her to remain in position against the will of the victims?”