Former Liberal Democrat MSP for North East Scotland
1. To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland’s counter-corruption unit is to be abolished. (S4T-01369)
The future of the counter-corruption unit matters to Parliament because its activities have been of national significance. MSPs have spent months scrutinising its unlawful spying on journalist sources. Scottish ministers were happy to cut the ribbon and open the unit as a vital service in 2013. In September, I asked the justice secretary whether the Government was at all concerned about the...
It has been reported in the media that the unit’s powers will be handed to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner. If that is the case, the cabinet secretary will have to get involved, because the commissioner’s powers are set in statute. Will the cabinet secretary tell Parliament whether the Government has had any discussions with either Police Scotland or PIRC about such a...
I do not support Margaret McDougall’s amendments; I did not support them at stage 2 and I do not believe that she has made her case. There is a danger of drawing the offence too widely and we need to take a cautious approach in this new legislation.
I, too, pay tribute to Margaret Mitchell’s persistence in this matter—she has been rewarded at last. The recent judicial review vindicated the position that Margaret Mitchell and I took on the issue of representation at the stage of recovery of documents. I am pleased that the cabinet secretary set out clearly—at the committee and in written answers to me—the Government’s acceptance...
The bill addresses the need to tackle the damage that is done by abusive behaviour and sexual harm. The Government has acknowledged that the bill deals with only part of a wider problem, and I hope that Parliament will return as soon as possible to the issue of creating a specific offence of domestic abuse. We need legislation that can properly capture the complex web of coercive behaviour...
1. To ask the Scottish Government what independent assessment has been carried out into the impact of abolishing air passenger duty (S4T-01363).
My question was what independent assessment had been carried out. In 2013, my colleague Willie Rennie asked the same question and asked for the evidence. In the official written answer at that time, which I have, the Scottish Government referred us to the easyJet corporate website, to a report that had been commissioned by four airlines. Did I miss the news—is the Scottish Government now...
