Our newest MSP Jamie Greene has hit the ground running since he joined us last month. Since being appointed as Economy and Finance spokesperson by Alex Cole-Hamilton, he has been holding the SNP to account on such issues as their spectacular ferry failures.
He knocked it out of the park on Debate Night (BBC Scotland Question Time equivalent which, unlike its UK counterpart, you can often watch without losing the will to live) on Wednesday. Here he is challenging Labour’s Melanie Ward about Keir Starmer’s disgraceful language on immigration:
The SNP Government recently announced that it was lobbing its promise to legislate to ban conversion practices into the very long grass. This week, Jamie challenged them to let him take the Bill through Holyrood if they won’t.
He said:
All political parties promised to back change in the law in their 2021 Holyrood manifestos. The SNP made an explicit promise if they got into government to introduce this Bill and haven’t.
It’s no wonder political parties were banned from taking part in this year’s Pride events. Organisers say they are sick of warm words of encouragement to the LGBT+ community and want action.
It might be politically unappealing in an election year to have difficult conversations and debates of this nature, but backing down from promises and shying away from the argument is an insult to those affected by this abhorrent practice
I’ve made a simple offer to the SNP government: introduce the legislation this year, and if you can’t, or won’t, give the Bill to me and I will introduce it.
The only blockage now is the Scottish Government. So it’s over to them: do they say you support the LGBT community in words alone or will they take action?”
The text of Jamie’s letter to Equalities Minister, Kaukab Stewart, is as follows:
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
First Labour by-election gains of the Burnham Premiership
The problem with balancing budgets
Dennis Potter's 1975 dramatisation of Angus Wilson's Late Call
Long, long ago on a Policy Working Group far, far away...
Andy Burnham's bounce
Birthright
Pawel Urbanski 
Keith Creswell 
expatsj 
Steve Trevethan 
Jeff 