Latest news with #LornaSlater
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scotsman
Why thousands of Scots support Reform (and it's not because they're racist)
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There have been many moments of parliamentary pantomime in Holyrood since 1999. Only two days ago, a growling Douglas Ross MSP was thrown out of the chamber for talking over John Swinney at the weekly session of First Minister's Questions. And who can forget the sight of women's rights campaigner Elaine Miller who, from her vantage point in the public gallery, lifted her skirt to expose her merkin to show her disgust at the MSPs' decision to pass the Gender Recognition Reform Bill? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad By Elaine's admittedly high standards – she is a part-time stand-up comic after all – Wednesday's urgent question by Patrick Harvie was pretty tame. There were no gasps of horror as the co-leader of the Scottish Greens got to his feet, at least none that were audible. Scottish Green MSPs Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater had urgent concerns about the Scottish Parliament's 'facilities' this week (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images 'Extremist fringe' During the 15-minute debate that ensued, no MSP or disgruntled observer exposed bare flesh. No voices were raised in anger. No one was banished from the chamber. But it was a farce all the same, because Harvie's coy yet 'urgent' question was about the use of the parliament's 'facilities' by MSPs and staff. For facilities, read toilets. His concern centred round a recent edict by the parliament's Corporate Body which declared that, for the foreseeable future, 'facilities' designated as male or female will be based on 'biological sex'. There will also be additional gender-neutral 'facilities' for those MSPs, staff and public who identify as transgender or non-binary. A sensible move one might think, following the recent Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman. But Harvie was having none of it, getting up on his high horse to compare the Corporate Body – made up of the Presiding Officer and four MSPs, including his Scottish Green colleague Maggie Chapman – to the 'extremist fringe of the United States Republican Party'. A tad hyperbolic, even for him. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A handful of equally outraged MSPs chipped in, with Alex-Cole Hamilton, leader of the Lib Dems no less, demanding that no one should be asked to show their birth certificate before spending a penny. Much to my surprise, Lorna Slater, a former government minister, revealed there is a lively internet conspiracy that she is a trans woman and asked if she will require a medical examination prior to using a toilet. Education, health, cost of living Veteran MSP Christine Grahame, who was responding on behalf of the Corporate Body, kept her cool in the face of such daft questions, but an exasperated Russell Findlay took to his feet to express his impatience about this 'farcical waste of time'. The Tory leader said: 'The people of Scotland expect politicians to focus on what matters – rising household bills, their children's education, getting a general practitioner appointment, fixing the roads and keeping communities safe, yet the priority for out-of-touch SNP, Labour, Lib Dem and Green MSPs is an urgent debate about the Holyrood toilets.' If the people of Scotland had been watching Scottish Parliament TV instead of getting on with their lives, you might have heard a resounding cheer across the country at Findlay's intervention. Harvie's urgent question may have only taken up 15 minutes of parliamentary time, but it was a telling snapshot of Scotland's political class which exposed the gulf between them and the rest of us. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The cultural divide between MSPs with their lanyards and pet causes and voters struggling to cope with the economic and social upheaval of the last decade could not be more stark than it was on Wednesday. While MSPs are fretting about where they should pee, we are worrying about whether our granny will get the social care she needs or if our children will get the education they deserve. Little wonder that Nigel Farage and his Reform party have spooked every political leader from John Swinney to Keir Starmer. Farage's popular rhetoric, cynical though it is, appeals to an electorate that is disillusioned with smug politicians so immersed in their private, elitist world that they are blind to what is happening in the real one. 'Litany of failures' The majority of people who will vote Reform at Thursday's Hamilton by-election are not racists, as some would have us believe. Most will not even have noticed Reform's despicable campaign ad, which crudely argued that the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar will 'prioritise' Pakistani people. As former Labour MP Tom Harris argued in a newspaper column earlier this week, most voters are 'simply sick of the litany of failures and disappointments which have been served up by successive governments…' He went on: 'Voters don't support Reform because of their policies; they support Reform because it is not one of the old parties.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Scotland's leading election guru, Sir John Curtice, doesn't think that Reform will win. He was reported this week as saying that while it's not impossible, it would be a 'spectacular' result if they managed to pull it off. 'I think even coming second would be quite an achievement,' he said. But he pointed out that Scotland is a different world to the one 12 months ago that saw Scottish Labour pick up 37 seats at the general election. And recent polls suggest that Reform will be the second biggest party at Holyrood after the 2026 election, with 20 per cent of the popular vote. Nearly 60 years ago, another Hamilton by-election heralded a new era in Scottish politics, when Winnie Ewing became only the second SNP MP to win a seat at Westminster. You can trace a clear path from her legendary 1967 victory to the 2014 referendum.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Bute House Agreement: How did the SNP-Green partnership go wrong?
The Scottish government has dropped plans for a new national park in Dumfries and Galloway - the latest in a series of policies driven by the Scottish Greens to have been scrapped by the idea was originally taken forward by Lorna Slater, when she was a government minister under the Bute House Agreement between the two since she and Green co-leader Patrick Harvie were kicked out of their ministerial offices by Humza Yousaf, the majority of policies included in the pact have been marine protection areas to climate targets, changes how homes are heated and a ban on conversion therapy, the agreed programme has mostly been torn the partnership worth it, looking back? And where does it leave the SNP and Greens heading into next year's Holyrood election? Things have changed enormously in Scottish politics since Nicola Sturgeon brought the Greens into government in departed Bute House the following year, and her successor Humza Yousaf barely lasted a year as first it was his decision to end the Bute House Agreement (BHA) which ended his tenure.A big motivation for the SNP in going into the pact was that it would provide stability against votes of no confidence, so it was somewhat fitting that the threat of such a vote forced Mr Yousaf out of office days after he ended the Swinney has since taken the administration off in a different direction with Kate Forbes as his decision on the Galloway national park is just the latest in a procession of policies which underpinned the partnership to have been consigned to take a look through the original agreement documents to check on the fate of some others. Changing climate measures Cracks had started to appear in the pact prior to Mr Yousaf's decision to end it, particularly when the government announced it was dropping its climate BHA had called for a "credible pathway" to hitting the admittedly ambitious 2030 interim target for cutting carbon after watchdogs underlined that this was looking increasingly unlikely, the government decided to do away with the interim goals and move to a system of carbon wasn't the last climate measure to be scrapped either, with ministers also conceding that a target of reducing car use by 20% by 2030 wasn't going to bone of contention at the time was Mr Yousaf's abrupt announcement of a council tax freeze - something the Greens the original agreement was that there would be a citizen's assembly on council tax has never materialised, and the longstanding promises to change how local taxation works have been kicked off into the next parliamentary term (again). One of the biggest pieces of work the Greens undertook in government was Patrick Harvie's heat in buildings bill, which aimed to move more homes to greener systems like heat pumps rather than bill was shelved earlier this year after acting net zero secretary Gillian Martin said it would "make people poorer", voicing concerns that it could increase fuel poverty.A revised version of the bill has since been published, but it stops short of a legal requirement to replace heating systems by 2045. 'Watered down' Mr Harvie was also the minister for tenant's rights, with the Greens central to plans to cap rents and ban evictions during the cost of living the party takes a fairly dim view of the "watered down" system of rent controls currently being considered in the Housing (Scotland) Bill, saying they are not nearly strong proposed bill was the ban on conversion therapy, which the Greens remain keen on - but which SNP ministers would really rather the UK government deal decision to kick that into the next parliamentary term compounded the rift over gender reforms, which the two parties had cooperated over while passing the Gender Recognition Reform Bill in Mr Yousaf decided to drop legal challenges to defend the legislation after it was blocked by the UK government, and Mr Swinney's administration have been clear that they will not be bringing it back. Ending the headaches These policies follow a pattern of the Swinney government being happy to drop particularly controversial same thing happened with a plan to designate 10% of Scotland's waters as highly protected marine areas, which sparked opposition in coastal fairness, a few things had been delivered before the Greens left new National Planning Framework had been finalised, including the BHA requirements for 20 minute neighbourhoods and greater priority for onshore wind it should be noted that Green hopes for an energy strategy which would support offshore wind and marine renewables remain unrealised, given Mr Swinney's government still hasn't published its long-awaited energy strategy. The Scottish government also boosted the Scottish Child Payment, something enshrined in the agreement - although given it is a flagship policy for the SNP, it is likely that would have happened same could probably be said of the £500m just transition fund for the North East and Moray, given it was in the SNP successes included the Fair Work First guidance, which requires public sector bodies which get government grants to pay the real living wage, and a pledge to replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority.A National Register of Ancient Woodlands is being produced, with a target date of 2027, and the promised Natural Environment Bill – aimed at improving biodiversity - has been do feel like relatively small wins, though, compared to what was promised and ultimately abandoned. 'Totemic policy' The decision to end the partnership agreement couldn't have been much more damaging for Humza Yousaf, given he ended up has had consequences for the party's broader policy platform too SNP had also been relying on Green support for one of its flagship policies for the term, the National Care BHA committed the parties to driving forward what it called a "totemic policy", but the Greens eventually joined other opposition parties in rallying against the proposal put down on paper by ministers.A vote at the party's conference went overwhelmingly against the proposal, underlining that it could not make it through parliament - although it was already clear by then that it would be undeliverable in any case, given opposition from key partners like unions, councils and health boards. The future Looking back over the wreckage of the Bute House Agreement may be instructive when we think ahead to the next Holyrood Swinney has sought to build bridges now, with a view to operating in a fractured parliament of minorities next would the Greens work with the SNP again in future?For all that they ultimately got out of the agreement, the smaller party may reflect that they may be able to deliver more by remaining in opposition and driving hard bargains when budget votes are was a budget deal which secured one of their favourite policies which still remains – free bus travel for Greens may also be happy to have more clear water between the parties on policy when voters go to the polls, given they are competing with the SNP for a similar slice of the there is one topic we know the parties do still agree on, which may remain of outsize Bute House Agreement included a pledge to secure a referendum on Scottish that didn't happen this term - but depending on the result of the election, building a "pro independence majority" may well be something which puts the SNP and Greens back on similar ground next May.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
STEPHEN DAISLEY: Ross sauntered out, sulkier than a teenager sent to his bedroom
Russell Findlay has a way of putting questions. It's the incredulous tone, the dagger-sharp diction, the arctic stare, the shoulders that recoil like a feline catching its reflection. No matter the topic, no matter how outwardly reasonable the government's position, Findlay treats it like a monstrous crime. He could be querying climate mitigation policy and still he sounds like a desk sergeant reading a list of charges to a toerag who'd just been caught after his 17 mugging in as many days. In fact, climate mitigation policy was the very topic under discussion yesterday, and Findlay was in the highest of dudgeon. The Climate Change Committee had put out a report recommending steps to be taken so Scotland can meet Net Zero. It's the kind of report almost written for Findlay to steam about at FMQs, containing as it did proposals to turn Scotland into a high-tax, high-price, electric-motored, heat-pumped, semi-vegan dystopia. Imagine Planet of the Apes only at the end Charlton Heston finds a giant statue of Lorna Slater. Findlay fumed that, under the report's recommendations, 'the number of cattle and sheep in Scotland would need to fall by two million' in the next ten years. Culling two million sheep. There goes the SNP 's core vote. This was the point where Swinney should have said: Are you mad, man? I'm the MSP for Perthshire North. I'm hardly about to put thousands of farmers on the dole. Alas, he couldn't say that because, having signed up to the Net Zero religion, open deviation would make him a heretic. The doctrine would have to be finessed without any admission that the dogma was wrong. Or, as the First Minister put it: 'The government will consider specific proposals and bring them forward, and the parliament will have the opportunity to decide whether those proposals should be approved or not.' Ah, of course. When there's credit to be taken for climate targets, it belongs to the government. When there's a problem, it's parliament's mess to clear up. Next Findlay railed against the report's call for heat pump installations to be ramped up. He said 70 per cent of homes would need one to meet the Nationalists' eco goals, and only one per cent of houses boasted one today. And they don't come cheap: somewhere between £8,000 and £15,000. SNP ministers could cover that with their recent £20,000 bonus, but what about ordinary punters? Swinney blamed Brexit. I'm still not sure how, but he slipped it in there, as if it was a perfectly logical response, as if he didn't blame it in every answer to every question. One MSP not terribly impressed by this answer was Douglas Ross who began heckling from the cheap seats up the back of the Tory benches. Swinney began to stumble over his words, when Alison Johnstone's patience snapped like an overstretched bungee rope. The Presiding Officer gave Ross a right telling off, scolding him for having 'persistently refused to abide by our standing orders', then ordered him out of the chamber and told him not to come back for the rest of the day. He didn't move a muscle. Throats cleared awkwardly across the room. 'Mr Ross, I have asked you to leave the chamber,' Johnstone said. Still no movement. For a fleeting second or two, it looked as though things might get hairy, but after a pronounced pause, the former Tory leader picked up his parliament pass and sauntered out, sulkier than a teenager sent to his room. Johnstone seemed to think booting him out of FMQs was a sanction. If she really wanted to punish him, she should have made him sit through all 45 soul-sapping minutes. Ross was deprived of watching Nat backbencher Clare Adamson's halting attempt at reading out a question so planted it should have come with its own watering instructions. That's what they consider orderly at Holyrood, but speaking your mind, they chuck you out for that.
Scotsman
7 days ago
- Politics
- Scotsman
Lorna Slater: Made in Britain, dropped on Gaza - the arms trade must end now
Over the past eighteen months we have witnessed some of the most horrific atrocities of our time. Thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza - so many of them children - have been killed, maimed or displaced as Israel wages a relentless and brutal assault on a besieged and impoverished population. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The scale of the suffering is almost incomprehensible. Entire families wiped out in a single airstrike. Hospitals and schools reduced to rubble. Aid convoys turned away or attacked. Children buried under collapsed buildings or left to starve in refugee camps that offer no refuge. As a humanitarian disaster unfolds, we are faced with a simple but urgent question: How much longer will the world allow this to happen? Scottish Green Party co-leader Lorna Slater This weekend more than 90 lorry loads of humanitarian aid were collected by UN teams inside the Gaza Strip, three days after Israel eased an 11-week-long blockade. There is no scenario in which a near three month aid blockade to innocent, starving civilians can be justified. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There are signs that global opinion is finally shifting. From the streets of London to the chambers of The Hague, millions have raised their voices to demand justice and accountability. South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice served as a wake-up call to many who could no longer ignore the overwhelming evidence of war crimes and collective punishment. Palestinians inspect the damage at school used as a shelter by displaced residents that was hit by Israeli military strike and killed at least 36 people, in Gaza City yesterday But it is too late for too many and for those still alive in Gaza, the change is not coming fast enough. Here in the UK, we cannot stop the war - but we can and we must stop being complicit in it. For too long, the UK Government has turned a blind eye to the role this country plays in enabling Israel's actions. The weapons and technology being used to inflict death and destruction are being produced, in part, right here in Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In Edinburgh, arms factories have supplied components and support for the very bombs and drones that have been dropped on Gaza's neighbourhoods. These are not abstract facts, they are matters of life and death. We cannot claim to be champions of human rights and international law while continuing to sell weapons to a state that refuses to abide by either. We cannot ignore the fact that Israel has deliberately obstructed and denied humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, in violation of global norms and basic human decency. This is not a time for silence or for carefully worded statements of concern. It is a time for action. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The UK Government must immediately suspend arms exports to Israel. It must launch a full review of the licences already granted and ensure that no British-made weapons are used to commit war crimes. Keir Starmer must demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and support genuine efforts for peace, accountability, and justice. Here in Scotland, we must do our part too. From the Scottish Parliament to the streets of our cities, people are demanding change. We must listen. We must act. The people of Gaza deserve to live in peace, with dignity and freedom. Not under siege and bombardment. If we cannot stop the bombs, we must at least stop helping to build them. Lorna Slater, Scottish Green party co-leader
The National
21-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Scottish Government 'must immediately freeze' all arms firm funding
Both Oxfam and Amnesty International have hit out at the lack of action from the SNP after ministers committed to looking at "due diligence" procedures around state support for arms firms earlier this year. In a Holyrood vote in February, MSPs backed a review into grants given by government agency Scottish Enterprise (SE) to weapons firms linked to Israel. SE has given £8 million to 13 companies involved in weapons manufacturing since 2019, leading to a barrage of criticism – although the Scottish Government has always maintained that the funding doesn't go directly to the production of munitions. and insisted that the 'due diligence' checks are thorough. READ MORE: Scottish Labour by-election candidate refuses to take part in TV debate But that has been called into question given that, of the 199 human rights checks between 2021 and 2023, no firm has ever failed – leading to claims the system 'isn't fit for purpose'. In early April, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes faced criticism after failing to outline the review's scope, terms of reference, or timeline – only saying that SE was conducting it internally. Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater (below) has also since called for Forbes to update MSPs on the review. But now – a day after the UK Government announced it would suspend trade deal talks with Israel in a bid to ramp up pressure as it continues to bombard and starve Gaza – both Oxfam and Amnesty International have urged the SNP to end the delays and take immediate action. Jamie Livingstone, the head of Oxfam Scotland, first stressed that the UK Government must now go further and suspend all arms exports. Last September, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the suspension of around 30 arms sale licences to Israel. However, earlier this month The National reported how UK firms have exported thousands of military items to Israel despite the ban. But Livingstone said that 'it's time for tougher action' from the Scottish Government too. 'Months after Scottish ministers promised a review of how arms companies are assessed for public funding, the wait goes on,' he told The National. 'Scottish taxpayers' money should never be used to line the pockets of those fuelling this horror. Delay is not neutral, it is indefensible.' Neil Cowan, Amnesty International UK's Scotland programme director, said that the Scottish Government has 'rightly condemned' the UK Government's continued failure to suspend arms transfers to Israel. 'But for years, ministers have stood by while Scottish Enterprise awarded millions in public grants to arms companies involved in the manufacture and sale of weapons to Israel and other states accused of serious violations of international humanitarian law,' he said. 'In February, the Scottish Government finally accepted the need for an urgent review of Scottish Enterprise's human rights checks, but that review is happening behind closed doors and is being led by Scottish Enterprise itself. That's simply not credible, and it makes a mockery of Scotland's stated commitment to human rights. 'Scottish ministers must immediately freeze all grants to arms companies supplying states implicated in rights abuses. And they must urgently change course by ensuring the review is truly independent, transparent and accountable. Anything less would be a profound moral failure.' The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
