Colin Smyth
Independent · Scotland
“When the minister considers the review, will he also commit to considering full cost recovery from licence applicants so that the public no longer subsidise private interests when licences are granted for the killing of protected species?”
Scottish Parliament18 June 2025Source ↗
“Amendment 64 agreed to. The Deputy Presiding Officer: That ends stage 3 consideration of amendments. As members will be aware, under standing orders, the Presiding Officer is required to decide whether, in her view, any provision of the bill relates to a protected subject matter—that is, whether it modifies the electoral system and franch…”
Scottish Parliament17 June 2025Source ↗
“I was taken in through the big arch door, and as soon as that door closed, my nightmare began—six weeks of hell I’ve carried with me all of my life.” Those wee girls’ hell was concealed, covered up and kept from parents. The children were made to write “nice” letters home, copied word for word from a blackboard.”
Scottish Parliament12 June 2025Source ↗
“Presiding Officer, “Trust is sacred. Our trust was broken as little girls—and now, trust in the system that’s supposed to help us and do right by us has been shattered.” Those are the words of the Fornethy survivors. Some of those brave women are with us in the public gallery today. Hundreds more have shared their story.”
Scottish Parliament12 June 2025Source ↗
“Most of those girls stayed for four to eight weeks, sometimes more than once. Some were as young as five years old. They were sent away to somewhere new and exciting—a place to rest and recuperate. One survivor said: “I remember getting on a bus with a suitcase. I was going on holiday for the first time.”
Scottish Parliament12 June 2025Source ↗
“My focus today will therefore be on the failures of Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government to show that same respect to those women. They have been campaigning for five and a half years against those failures, and they are still waiting for a full and meaningful apology.”
Scottish Parliament12 June 2025Source ↗