Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 14 March 2024.
Douglas Ross
Conservative
The First Minister referenced last year’s figures. In August last year, the former drugs minister said that the Government was turning the tide on the drug deaths crisis. We now hear from the current drugs minister that, even with a 10 per cent increase, she believes that “the plan is working”. It is absolutely not. The number of drug deaths in Scotland has consistently been the highest across Europe, and the number is on the rise again. The Scottish National Party’s plan is not working, and the SNP seems to be repeating the same mistakes all over again.
Nicola Sturgeon let a rehab facility in her Constituency close in 2019. Now Humza Yousaf has let Turning Point Scotland 218, which is a vital rehab service for women in Glasgow, close. The head of justice at Turning Point Scotland said:
“The loss of this service is likely to lead to more women in custody and trapped within the justice system.”
Just in January, the First Minister said in the chamber that that service does “excellent work”. He continued:
“I value the project very highly.”—[
Official Report
, 18 January 2024; c 27.]
Just a few weeks later, it closed. Why did that happen?
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
