Former Conservative MSP for Glasgow
I agree with James Kelly, although perhaps for different reasons. As is generally known, I am a great supporter of the common law, which I believe has served Scotland well over the centuries. However, James Kelly is right to support these amendments today, and we will support them too. The cabinet secretary has had to lodge lengthy, convoluted and complex amendments, but when one looks at...
It is appropriate that the final debate in this session should deal with an important legal principle. The principle of the rule against double jeopardy has been enshrined in Scots law down the centuries. It would be oppressive if we lived in a society in which the Crown or the prosecution service had carte blanche to prosecute time after time. No one in the Parliament would support that, but...
I congratulate Des McNulty on bringing the matter before the Parliament. I speak as a member of a fairly blessed generation. Born post-war, I did not have to go and fight. My father had to, as did his father, who lost an arm in the process. Nor did I, as a child, live under the threat of being bombed. The second world war was the first war that the United Kingdom experienced in which the...
There were always going to be definitional difficulties. There is no doubt that when we sat down to establish whether a route forward was ascertainable, it was exceptionally difficult. I am not at all satisfied that there may not have to be some judicial determination of some of the phraseology that we intend to include in the bill. However, having been unable personally to come up with...
Instances of domestic abuse in Scotland remain stubbornly—indeed, disgracefully—high. There were 51,926 incidents of domestic abuse in the last recorded year, which is unacceptable. Those incidents happened despite the best efforts of everyone concerned over the past 12 years. It is clear that, if there is a gap or lacuna in the protection that is being offered to the victims of such...
I thank Mike Pringle for his kind remarks, which I appreciated. I hope that when the bill is passed, Rhoda Grant does not feel that because of what happened to section 2 she is getting only half the loaf—although half a loaf is clearly better than no loaf—because I do not think that that was the Parliament’s intention. The Parliament was confronted with a difficulty and it would have...
Amendment 3 obviates a difficulty that could arise. Overall, consideration of this matter has revealed that we can no longer operate on the basis of the nuclear family. Times have changed and the law must move with them. The amendments that are proposed by Mr Ewing are satisfactory. Amendment 1 agreed to. Section 7—Assessment of compensation for loss of support
Bill Butler has spent a lot of time and put a lot of commitment into getting the bill through the Parliament and his enthusiasm for having it implemented as soon as possible is entirely understandable. However, certain dangers could arise if we proceeded as he has suggested in amendment 5. The last thing that we want to do is to spoil the effectiveness of a very fine piece of legislation by...
