Former Scottish National Party MSP for Glasgow Shettleston
I thank Jamie Halcro Johnston for securing the debate and other members for their kind words. Many people in Scotland’s urban areas and central belt still care deeply for our remote, rural and island communities. I have visited a number of islands with the Parliament’s committees during the past 15 years, including Islay, Arran, Mull, Harris, Lewis, and Orkney, as well as going...
Does Michael Marra accept that the Parliament has been put into a bit of a corner by Westminster and that we have had to have such a bill, which might not have been ideal?
I am happy to support Douglas Ross’s amendment 256. Amendment 257 would introduce an institutional opt-out, which is an essential safeguard to ensure that no hospice, palliative care provider or other health or social care organisation is forced to participate in or facilitate assisted dying or assisted suicide, depending on which term members prefer. The amendment recognises...
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the current fiscal framework is biased against Scotland. (S6O-05629)
I thank the cabinet secretary for the fact that we are looking for an ambitious review. The fiscal framework was based on our competing with or matching the rest of the UK. We can do that with most regions in Northern Ireland and Wales, but we struggle to do that—and always have—with London and the south-east. On top of that, the Barnett formula squeezes our spending and ignores needs...
The member has had a few negative comments, so I will give him a positive reaction. Does he agree that one of the differences between the 2014 independence referendum and the Brexit referendum in 2016 was that in 2014 the whole population got really engaged, thought it through, discussed it on the buses, heard it everywhere and made an informed choice? I happened to disagree with that choice,...
Will Mr Marra give way?
