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Chamber and committees

Right to Food

  • Submitted by: Elaine Smith, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour.
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 March 2021
  • Motion reference: S5M-24450

That the Parliament welcomes the proposed Right to Food (Scotland) Bill, which has been backed by 28 MSPs across parties; understands that campaigners, charities, churches, trade unions and members of the public strongly support the principle of enshrining the right to food into law, with over 90% of respondents to the public consultation on the proposed Bill indicating their support; calls for the Scottish Government to act with urgency to give food policy the priority that it deserves, to ensure that no-one goes hungry in Scotland; regrets that food insecurity is one of many important social issues where it considers that the full powers of the Scottish Parliament have not been used to their potential; believes that the Parliament was created with significant optimism, in part due to its potential to stand up for Scotland against what it considers to be social injustices caused by the policies of UK Conservative administrations in the 1980s and 1990s; considers that it has the necessary powers to enact a radical agenda for meaningful social change and that this potential is underlined by the passing into law of Members' Bills, such as the Breastfeeding (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Period Products (Free Provision)(Scotland) Act 2021; believes that it has failed to enact legislation that effectively redistributes wealth and power and adequately tackles key issues such as child poverty, homelessness, hunger and challenging austerity; considers that there are a number of systemic causes for what it sees as the failure of the Parliament to address these issues; considers that these include a disproportionate focus on constitutional matters, a committee system that has not held the Scottish Government to account as was originally envisaged and the continued under-representation of women; is of the view that enshrining the right to food would be a radical, progressive action in line with the initial promise of the Parliament, and hopes that future Members will pass such legislation so that the Parliament can finally realise its tremendous potential for creating a fairer, socially just and equal society.


Supported by: Sarah Boyack, Iain Gray, James Kelly, Johann Lamont, Monica Lennon, Richard Leonard, Jenny Marra, Mark McDonald, Alex Rowley, Anas Sarwar