Chamber and committees

That the Parliament welcomes what it sees as the decisive and important outcome from the high-profile High Court of Justice of England and Wales civil litigation, Lawrence and others vs. Associated Newspapers Limited, which is the publisher of newspapers including the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday; notes that, in his detailed judgment, which runs to 436 pages, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed in their entirety the seven claimants’ 97 allegations of misuse of private information and breach of confidence; notes that the judge made numerous positive comments about the conduct, character and honesty of several Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday journalists, including what he described as the "truthful" and "honest" evidence of Stephen Wright, associate editor (investigations), whose journalism it believes is recognised as being critical in securing convictions for the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence; agrees with reported comments from former Daily Mail editor, Paul Dacre, that what he described as the "trumped-up" case represented, in his view, a "conspiracy" to destroy the newspaper and that the court victory is, he believes, an "overwhelming vindication of our journalism"; further agrees with reported comments from Mr Dacre that the case "raises profoundly disturbing questions about the conduct of elements of the legal profession"; notes with concern a statement reportedly issued by the Duke of Sussex and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, which described the judgment as a "complete and obvious whitewash"; believes that this allegation is wholly inaccurate and without foundation and that it undermines and disrespects the fundamental principle of judicial independence in the UK; notes that the cost of legal fees for the court action are estimated to be around £50 million and that significant court time is reported to have been taken up by the case; believes that in today’s fragmented media and social media landscape, in which misinformation and disinformation are, in its view, rife, trusted and professional journalism has never been more important; considers that newspaper reporting plays a critical role in holding powerful individuals and organisations to account on behalf of the public across the UK, including Scotland, and believes that a free media must be cherished and protected from what it considers to be vexatious and costly litigation and unwarranted state regulation.         

As an amendment to S7M-00294 in the name of Anas Sarwar (Inquiry to Restore Public Trust in Scottish Politics), insert at end "; believes that public trust is undermined when legitimate questions go unanswered; notes the conviction of Peter Murrell following Operation Branchform; believes that scrutiny is essential to democratic accountability, and calls for any independent inquiry to establish what lessons must be learned from this scandal and what reforms are required to restore public confidence in Scottish politics."

As an amendment to motion S7M-00105 in the name John Swinney (Ambitious for Scotland), leave out from “welcomes" to end and insert "believes that its seventh session should be focused exclusively on resolving the issues that matter to most people in Scotland, such as dealing with NHS waiting times, reversing Scotland’s falling educational standards, tackling the growing benefits bill and delivering value-for-money for Scotland's taxpayers; urges the Scottish Government to drop its demands to hold a second independence referendum, and calls for the Scottish Government to drop its position of a presumption against new oil and gas licences, as outlined in its Draft Energy Strategy published in the last session of the Parliament."

That the Parliament has no confidence in the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, in light of her failures in candour and openness in her misrepresentation and subsequent misleading statements made to the Parliament with regards to Professor Alexis Jay and grooming gangs.

As an amendment to motion S6M-19980 in the name of Pauline McNeill (Transparency in Tackling Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse), leave out from “clarify” to end and insert "establish an inquiry into grooming gangs in Scotland."

That the Parliament believes that illegal immigration must be stopped because of the damaging impact on public finances and local communities; recognises that the Scottish Government’s decision to suspend local connection rules in relation to homelessness provision back in 2022 has contributed towards attracting asylum seekers to Scotland at an unsustainable level, and calls on the Scottish Government to immediately reverse this decision.

As an amendment to motion S6M-18671 in the name of John Swinney (Priorities for Scotland), leave out from "welcomes" to end and insert "recognises that the Scottish Government has failed to take action on the priorities of taxpayers, like cutting NHS waiting lists, fixing crumbling roads and stimulating economic growth; acknowledges that, despite repeatedly raising taxes, public services have not improved in Scotland; laments that, increasingly, the Scottish Government has focused on its obsession with independence, as well as fringe issues like gender reform and subjects wholly outside its remit like foreign affairs; notes with concern that Scotland continues to have a bloated public sector, with a huge number of quangos that often have overlapping functions and remits; argues that public money would be better spent being diverted to frontline services rather than on the bureaucratic state, and calls for the Scottish Ministers to prioritise economic growth and improving public services rather than yet another push for an independence referendum."

That the Parliament believes that the Scottish Government has failed to give sufficient clarity to the public sector about ensuring the availability of single-sex spaces for women and girls, such as toilets and changing rooms; acknowledges that this failure has resulted in workers in the public sector and school pupils having to share single-sex spaces with individuals of the opposite sex, jeopardising their safety, dignity and privacy, and subjecting some to horrific incidents of sexual abuse and harassment, and calls on the Scottish Government to urgently issue a directive to all public sector organisations requiring that adequate single-sex spaces for biological women and girls are provided on their premises in line with legal obligations.

As an amendment to motion S6M-16003 in the name of John Swinney (Tackling Child Poverty and Inequality Through the Scottish Budget), leave out from “the investments” to end and insert “that the Scottish Government has failed to reduce child poverty during 17 years of Scottish National Party administration; recognises that the poverty-related attainment gap between the most and least deprived pupils has grown according to the most recent statistics and that the Scottish Government will fail to meet its previously stated target of closing that attainment gap by 2026; acknowledges that Scottish Government policies, which seek to take a more lenient approach to young offenders, have contributed to vulnerable young people in deprived communities being targeted by organised gangs to carry out criminality; believes that the draft Scottish Budget 2025-26 will continue to harm Scotland’s economic growth, which is desperately needed if the country is to tackle child poverty, and calls on the Scottish Government to rethink the draft 2025-26 Scottish Budget by providing workers and businesses across Scotland with a tax cut that will help induce the economic growth that Scotland needs.”

That the Parliament pays tribute to Duncan and Margaret Spiers, who have campaigned to improve water safety and public awareness since their 28-year-old son, Christopher Spiers, tragically drowned in the River Clyde in Glasgow in January 2016; notes that their campaign, which is titled Christopher’s Saving Lives, has created a specialist high-visibility and floating rope, which is produced by Ibex Marina, based in Bury, Lancashire; further notes that the ropes are attached to lifebelts so that the lifebelts can be retrieved once thrown into waterways; understands that a lifebelt thrown to Christopher did not reach him and could not be retrieved, so further attempts could not be made; praises Duncan and Margaret for their success in donating ropes to various organisations; notes that recipients include North Lanarkshire Council, which has attached them to lifebelts along a two-mile stretch of the River Clyde running through Strathclyde Country Park, Glasgow City Council for use alongside the River Clyde in Glasgow city centre, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, Scottish Canals and others; understands that the Royal Life Saving Society UK charity is "amazed by the work undertaken" by Duncan and Margaret, and that it backs their campaign; further understands that Duncan and Margaret believe that existing legislation, which categorises the deliberate destruction of ropes, lifebelts and other life-saving equipment as acts of vandalism, is insufficient; understands that they are campaigning for new legislation, which would instead categorise such acts as endangerment of public safety, and wishes Duncan and Margaret well in their campaign to continue saving lives through the promotion of practical measures and raising public awareness.