Report to the People
29th March 2004
Lock
up Cons’ Union Plans and Throw Away the Key
OK.
Here’s a quick test of lateral thinking.
What
do a wedding for Elton John in Alloa and Kenyan sex advice have in common?
No?
They are both, believe it or not, matters which Glasgow Green Party MSP,
Patrick Harvie, has seen fit to raise in the Scottish Parliament in recent
months.
While
they might on occasion give you a laugh, the outpourings of the more colourful
fringes of our rainbow Parliament are usually ignored.
But I cannot turn a blind eye to Mr Harvie’s latest scheme.
In a move as offensive as it is insane, he wants to set up a trade union
for prisoners. That’s right, he
wants to give murderers, drug dealers, wife beaters and all the rest their own
shop steward. Before you knew it,
we’d have hardened criminals roaming the country on their way to their annual
conference. (And what would they
call it? The Confederation Of
Nefarious Scoundrels, or CONS for short?)
Not
only is this a slap in the face for victims, their families and our community,
it is a slur on all genuine trade unions. I am therefore determined that it never sees the light of day.
Thankfully,
Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, shares this view. When I raised the matter with her at last week’s Question
Time, she gave me a complete assurance that she rejects the plans out of hand.
I
hope that the Minister’s fierce condemnation and the anger Mr Harvie has
provoked will encourage him to think again.
I’m
not, however, too confident – some elements in the Scottish Parliament have
form on this. It seems they simply
don’t understand or don’t care about the issues decent, hardworking
communities face, being more interested in self-indulgently riding their hobby
horses or debating politically correct trivia.
Some
think, for example, that antisocial behaviour is all in our heads – something
we imagine after watching too much telly – and actually voted against
the very principles of the Antisocial Behaviour Bill.
When parts of the education system and the NHS require our urgent
attention, should the protection of interesting
types of moss really be our top priority?
People
in our communities have real problems which they need addressed and that is what
the Scottish Parliament is there to do. Hijacking
it to push irrelevant personal agendas is an abuse of your power as an MSP.
Talk
of a prisoners’ union? Lock it up
and throw away the key.
Back to Current Reports to the People
[ HOME ] [ News ] [ Report to the People ] [ Interact ] [ Links ] [ E-Mail ]
[ Copyright ] [ UK Online ] [ Scottish Parliament ]