Elaine Smith: On a point of order, Presiding Officer. As we are going into recess for the election after today, can you advise on how the Scottish Government can be held to account on regulations? I am sure that you know that today the regulations on forced closure of churches in Scotland have been deemed to be unlawful. As the session of Parliament comes to a close, I am concerned about how we can hold...
Elaine Smith: On the issue of the reimbursement of patients’ travel expenses, will the Scottish Government consider reviewing the reimbursement of chronic pain patients who have been forced to travel to England and pay privately for pain relief because Scottish national health service pain clinics were closed during earlier lockdowns? Of course, some patients are still having to go to England as waiting...
Elaine Smith: The First Minister might be aware that, last week, my bill proposal to enshrine the right to food into Scots law received enough cross-party support to proceed and has now been lodged. I take the opportunity to thank the members who supported my proposal. Although the pandemic has highlighted concerns around food insecurity and poverty, food bank usage was already surging before the lockdown....
Elaine Smith: On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I do not make this point of order lightly. I want to ask about parliamentary procedure under our standing orders. While I have been in the chamber today, I have seen a Tweet. It says: “It’s as if all Ms Smith wanted to do was make an angry comment and get a dig at the cabinet secretary. Some of the language being used by certain contributors was at...
Elaine Smith: I wonder what the cabinet secretary has to say about the fact that, in debating the hate crime bill, I am now being accused of hate crime and could expect to have the police at my door.
Elaine Smith: I will make a short intervention in support of the amendments in group 1 that have been lodged by Johann Lamont. Over the past few weeks, members from across the chamber have spoken up against the growing inequalities that women in our society face; they have all expressed concerns about the unacceptability of continuing violence and abuse against women and the urgent need to take action,...
Elaine Smith: On a point of order, Presiding Officer. It is unfortunate that, given the way in which the Parliament has to operate during the Covid pandemic, there is no way of intervening on members to clarify points. I do not hear anyone in the chamber saying anything about the membership of the misogynistic harassment working group. As women, we are quite happy to support the group and to see what...
Elaine Smith: For clarity on that point, would your amendment mean that a woman could be sure that she would not be treated as being abusive or threatening solely for saying things such as the following: “There are two sexes, and people can’t change sex.” “A woman is an adult human female.” “Male people shouldn’t play women’s sports.” “Access to single-sex spaces like changing rooms...
Elaine Smith: It boils down to this: what is a reasonable person? Could the member perhaps answer that? It may be that an MSP is a reasonable person but they objected last week to speeches as being transphobic that other members thought were reasonable. That is the first thing. Would the principal of the University of Edinburgh be considered a reasonable person? He has reported stickers that say “adult...
Elaine Smith: I think that we are now quite clear about Mr Harvie’s views and motivations. I had remarks that I wanted to make, so I was not going to do this, but I will read out a tweet about last week’s international women’s day debate. The tweet said: “Oh there’s a bit of vicious transphobia in the #IWD2021 debate. Thanks Johann.” The reply from Mr Harvie said: “I’m sorry to say we can...
Elaine Smith: I am puzzled about that, and I hope that the cabinet secretary can enlighten me. We include cross-dressers in the bill but we do not include women. What happens if someone says that they did not know that someone was a trans woman and thought that they were a woman? Is that a loophole?
Elaine Smith: On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I do not appreciate anyone in this chamber telling me that I do not understand something. It is not that I do not understand; I want to have clarity and I do not wish to be patronised.
Elaine Smith: Now that more children are back at school, and the indication is that all children should return after Easter, when will all the after-school care facilities be permitted to start operating, given that they provide a vital service for working parents?
Elaine Smith: On a point of order, Presiding Officer. The First Minister said earlier that the Parliament would debate the findings of the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints and James Hamilton’s report. However, the Parliament closes in three weeks. Will the Parliamentary Bureau ensure that time is allocated before then to having that debate if the reports are produced?
Elaine Smith: I hope that the cabinet secretary agrees that that should include challenging the systems in this Parliament, because we can see that younger women and, in particular, women with families feel that it is not as family friendly a workplace as it set out to be in 1999.
Elaine Smith: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, with regard to my Breastfeeding etc (Scotland) Bill and trade unions. The theme for international women’s day this year is, as we know, #ChooseToChallenge—to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness of bias and take action for equality. Action is still needed, as we have...
Elaine Smith: Presiding Officer, can I take an intervention, or do you wish me to finish?
Elaine Smith: I am very glad that I took that intervention. Finally, I offer a special thank you to my mum, Moira, my sister, Siobhan, and my mother-in-law, Rita, for all their help, particularly with essential and much-valued childcare, which made it possible for me to be part of the Scottish Parliament in the beginning.?Last, but far from least, I thank my very supportive husband, Vann, and my son, Vann....
Elaine Smith: Members probably thought that I had spoken my last word. On the way down the hill today, I noticed that almost all the quotes on the Parliament’s wall are from men. There is only one quote from a woman. Perhaps the Parliament should consider that.
Elaine Smith: In Parliament on Tuesday, the First Minister said that she hoped that communal worship would restart on 5 April, which is the day after Easter Sunday. However, she went on to suggest that it could happen a few days earlier, possibly in time for important religious festivals such as Passover and Easter Sunday, which is the greatest Christian feast day. If the First Minister will not allow the...