Committee
Public Petitions Committee, 22 Jun 2005
22 Jun 2005 · S2 · Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
Current Petitions
Criminal Memoirs (Publication for Profit) (PE504)
My main concern is that, as Jackie Baillie and Sandra White have pointed out, the delay is not helping anyone. We must get some clarification on whether the Home Office is going to move on the issue and when. To me, that is fundamentally important.I take a different view from that expressed by Sandra White, as I think that it would be problematic for the Scottish Parliament to legislate in this area. If someone was convicted of an offence in Glasgow and was jailed in Glasgow but then moved to London, how could we prevent them from printing their memoirs if the legislation applied only in Scotland? The issue is complex. Before we get into those complexities, we must receive an answer from the Home Office about what it intends to do. If it tells us that it is not going to do anything, we can then consider whether something practical could be done in Scotland to address the concerns that Mr and Mrs Watson have rightly raised. They are concerned about the potential for people to profit from their crimes, which is something that we should all abhor.Nevertheless, we must consider the practicalities. The starting point has to be the Home Office. We must chase the matter up. I am prepared to do that—I will write in the strongest terms that we expect a definitive response from the Home Office, as the prevarication is no longer acceptable.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
Petition PE504 calls on the Scottish Parliament to take the necessary steps to stop convicted murderers or members of their families profiting from their cri...
Jackie Baillie:
Lab
I am genuinely concerned about the matter. This will be the 10th time that we have considered it. It feels like we are just being dangled along. I accept tha...
Ms White:
SNP
I share Jackie Baillie's concern about how time has dragged on and about the Home Office letter that said that we did not get a reply before because the Home...
The Convener:
Lab
My main concern is that, as Jackie Baillie and Sandra White have pointed out, the delay is not helping anyone. We must get some clarification on whether the ...
Mike Watson:
Ind
I agree. The minister in whose name that letter was signed on 15 April has now moved on, but that should not affect the issue. I believe that we should follo...
The Convener:
Lab
We must push a lot harder on the matter and I am prepared to write to the Home Office in strong terms. I agree with Mike Watson that we should encourage Mr a...
John Scott:
Con
Sandra White suggested that we produce Scottish legislation on the issue. Would that be within the competency of the Parliament?
The Convener:
Lab
It would be.
John Scott:
Con
Although it might not necessarily be effective.
The Convener:
Lab
That is my concern. I think that, from a practical point of view, it would be very difficult to have effective legislation that covered Scotland only. The pe...
Ms White:
SNP
As we all know, things have been happening at Westminster that affect Scotland, involving Sewel motions. Perhaps if we went it alone and legislated on the ma...
The Convener:
Lab
They would be at liberty to do that but, as I say, that is for a later debate. The issue at the moment is what the Home Office is doing. We must identify tha...