Patricia Ferguson
MP for Glasgow West · Labour · United Kingdom
“The Scottish Secretary will be aware that no NHS board in Scotland has met its target for starting cancer treatment within 62 days since 2012, that Public Health Scotland data shows that one in seven Scots are on an NHS waiting list, and that the Scottish Government’s own figures show that home completions fell by 10% in the year to March…”
“I absolutely agree with the hon. Member. I know that there have been such examples in Gaza, too. I raised that in a Westminster Hall debate almost two years ago, and I was reassured by the Minister that none of those drones are being produced in this country, which is at least a start.”
“I absolutely share that outrage, and I will mention it later in my contribution. We cannot as a country allow this situation to continue. We are out of step with so many of our European partners.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) for securing the debate and speaking with so much passion about an issue that concerns us all. The ever-increasing number of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal—each and every one of them.”
“A ban that simply covered agricultural products, for example, would just encourage the movement of activity into those other areas. We know that existing restrictions on trade have been neutralised, in effect.”
“The level of violence instigated by the settlers has increased; more than 1,700 settler attacks causing causalities or property damage have been recorded across 270 Palestinian communities in the west bank in 2025 alone.”
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“It is specifically worded in such a way that it covers the Thistle facility and nowhere else. That prosecutorial statement indicates that it is not in the public interest to prosecute people at the Thistle. Our report concludes that relying on separate prosecution policies for multiple facilities is undesirable. If there are to be other safer drug consumption facilities beyond Glasgow, it is even more important that the UK Government address the issues highlighted in our report by establishing a clear legal basis that applies across Scotland. That would require legislation by the UK Government and Parliament. The issues covered in our report are more relevant now than ever, because drug consumption trends in Scotland are changing rapidly. Inhalation is becoming much more prevalent.”
“In her response to this debate, I hope the Minister will help us to understand how the Government can welcome evidence while remaining closed as to what that evidence might say. Since the publication of our report, the issues we raised have only become more prescient. Interest has developed in additional safer drug consumption facilities elsewhere in Scotland. In Edinburgh, a feasibility study for a similar facility was undertaken in late 2024. That work confirmed strong local need for a facility, and identified two potential sites in the city. Then, in September 2025, the Edinburgh integration joint board announced plans to launch a formal public consultation early this year as part of developing a business case for a facility. The Lord Advocate’s current statement of prosecution policy, however, would not cover any other sites.”
“As our report says, “Any intervention found to be effective at saving lives and reducing harm should not be dismissed.” Experts and evidence, rather than preconceived ideas, should determine the facility’s future. I directly asked the Prime Minister about this issue during a public session of the Liaison Committee in December. Given the scale of Scotland’s drug crisis, I asked whether he would reconsider the Government’s opposition to amending the law if the Thistle’s evaluation shows it to be effective. He said that the Government had looked at it but does not intend to do so. He also said that legal decisions pertaining to the Thistle are best taken by those in Scotland, and that this should not lead to a UK-wide changing of drugs law. Unfortunately, that response appears not to recognise that drugs law is reserved.”
“The response also noted “the importance of evidence-based and high-quality treatment, which engages vulnerable people who use drugs.” Both those points very much align with the spirit of our report. When it comes to the Thistle itself, however, I must express some disappointment at the substance of the Government’s response. It states that the Government will “welcome any evidence” emerging from the evaluation of the Thistle. However, it also states that the Government have “no plans to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971” to permit the operation of such facilities anywhere in the UK. It is difficult to see how full and proper consideration can be given to the Thistle’s evaluation unless the Government are at least open-minded to considering legal changes.”
“Amid the media commentary, we should also bear in mind that it may take time for the local effects of the Thistle to be fully understood. We are reassured that the ongoing independent evaluation is monitoring the levels of discarded paraphernalia, and the pilot’s wider impact on the community. That is vital, and it will ensure that debate about local impacts is informed by accurate, objective data. In November last year we published the Government’s response to our report. There is some positive messaging in the response, which we welcome, and the Government have said that they are firmly committed to tackling drug-related harms and to working closely and positively with the Scottish Government.”
“With this licence, Glasgow will become the first city in Scotland where people can legally test drugs for dangerous contaminants. We know that applications for further drug-checking facilities in Aberdeen and Dundee have also been submitted to the Home Office, and we await the outcome of those applications. I will now make some remarks about the impact of the Thistle on the local community, which has quite rightly been the subject of much media reporting. I highlight how our report emphasises the importance of supporting the community surrounding the Thistle. The concerns of the local community must be taken seriously, which is why our report recommended proactive engagement through the community forum and the development of a responsive communication strategy.”
“However, with over 1,000 deaths in 2024 alone, the Committee is clear that the scale of Scotland’s emergency necessitates a commensurate response and significant investment. The report also emphasises how vital a drug checking licence would be in combating drug-related harm. We explained how such a licence would allow support services to better understand drug trends across Glasgow, and to take action in relation to them. That could be key in ensuring that the Thistle achieves maximum effectiveness. We recommended that the Home Office urgently complete its assessment of Glasgow’s application for a drug checking licence at the Thistle, and I was very pleased to see that the application was approved in October last year.”
“However, evidence suggests that facilities such as the Thistle can provide value for money by generating savings elsewhere in the health service. Such facilities can reduce costs associated with public injecting, including the costs of hospital admissions, ambulance call-outs and treating blood-borne viruses. Preventing just six to eight cases of HIV annually could potentially generate savings equivalent to the annual cost of the Thistle. It is right that the Thistle’s costs were properly considered in the Committee’s inquiry because it is a gold-standard model. That means that the value-for-money and harm-reduction capability of a less sophisticated model remains untested.”
“Now, that might sound like a bad thing, but this means that there have been 78 instances where people have received professional medical intervention, which they might not otherwise have received. This medical intervention treats overdoses and potentially saves lives. There have been no fatalities at the Thistle in the year since it opened. Our Committee heard that, as a single service, the impact of the Thistle is expected to be highly localised. It is unlikely to shift the dial on national drug death figures, and it is not designed to do so. The question of cost was an ongoing theme throughout the inquiry. The Thistle is being funded by the Scottish Government, and up to £2.3 million per year has been committed for the duration of the three-year pilot. The Thistle is undoubtedly expensive to run.”
“Preliminary figures for 2025 suggest that those numbers are increasing. There is a suspected 8% increase in drug deaths in the first nine months of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024. Those deaths and drug-related harms are very much concentrated in Glasgow, although not exclusively so. To address that, Glasgow City Council Health and Social Care Partnership and other partners launched the Thistle. The Thistle is located on Hunter Street in Glasgow’s east end, and it is the first sanctioned UK safer drug consumption room. In its first 10 months, the Thistle has had 522 unique visitors and has supervised over 6,000 injecting episodes. During this time there were 78 medical emergencies on site.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered the Third Report of the Scottish Affairs Committee, Problem drug use in Scotland follow-up: Glasgow’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility, HC 630, and the Government response, HC 1485. It is a privilege, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I am very grateful to the Liaison Committee for allocating time for this debate on the Government’s response to the Scottish Affairs Committee’s report on the pilot safer drug consumption facility in Glasgow, known as the Thistle. The Committee began this inquiry in January 2025, amid ongoing concern that Scotland faces the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe. In 2024, 1,017 deaths were recorded, alongside harms including blood-borne viruses and injection wounds.”
“One of the things that is advantageous about the Thistle is that it does not exist in a vacuum. It can refer people on to other services such as housing— many of the people being dealt with are homeless, unfortunately—and it can also address mental health issues and send people forward to the requisite services that they need to access. It can also do basic things such as allow people the opportunity to have a shower and get some clean clothes—the basic necessities that the rest of us take for granted. In that way, it does more than just address the relatively straightforward issue of injecting; it also tries to help people with the problems they experience day to day.”
“So this is not just about the criminality or treating those who are already addicted; it is about preventing those blood-borne viruses, which are so harmful to people in their individual lives, but which also have such a devastating effect on our health services. It is about more than just misusing drugs; it is about a whole-society approach.”
“I do not know whether the hon. Member is aware that naloxone is widely used in Scotland by paramedics and the police. As a councillor on Glasgow city council, I had the opportunity to be trained in its use, and I have a vial of it that I can carry around—fortunately, I have never had to use it. However, I wanted to make the point to the hon. Member that the main driver for considering a safer drug consumption room in Glasgow was the fact that, in 2015, we had one of the biggest outbreaks of HIV infections ever seen in Europe. That was tracked back to the sharing of needles and the fact that people were injecting. That is what sparked the whole discussion about whether Glasgow needed a safer drug consumption room.”
“One thing we know from the evidence is that there has never been a death from an overdose in a safer drug consumption facility anywhere in the world, and that history now goes back over 20 years. We must remember that and have it at the forefront of our minds when discussing this problem. Thank you for your steady chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I thank all hon. Members for their time and thoughtful contributions on this important issue; I hope they will keep an open mind. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the Third Report of the Scottish Affairs Committee, Problem drug use in Scotland follow-up: Glasgow’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility, HC 630, and the Government response, HC 1485.”
“That is one of the things we highlighted in our report, and I want to highlight it again today. The hon. Member for Woking (Mr Forster) was absolutely correct that we need a package of measures and that our approach needs to be evidence-based. I thank the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) for his contribution. He is right that this is not simple, but I ask him to reflect on the fact that in the time the Thistle has been open, 78 overdoses have been dealt with on the premises. If they had not taken place in the Thistle, those overdoses would likely have taken place on the street or in those people’s homes, where they would likely have been alone, and might have resulted in increased deaths.”
“I thank my friend and co-Committee member, whose constituency I cannot remember—the hon. Member for Angus and Perthshire Glens (Dave Doogan)—for his contribution this afternoon. Both he and his SNP predecessor on the Committee, the right hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn), played a very constructive part in bringing together our report. I am sure that he, like me, was very impressed by the mobile facilities that we saw when we visited Lisbon. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (John Grady), whose constituency name is much easier for me to remember, is obviously a great champion for his community. He is absolutely right that the views of the community must be heard, but the community also need more regular feedback about what is being done to address their concerns.”
“Around the world, there is a lot of hard evidence demonstrating that these facilities have a part to play not only in eradicating drug use, but in controlling the way in which drugs are used. Drug consumption rooms are not the only intervention available to us, nor should they be. They are complementary to and should work in tandem with vital recovery services, as well as other harm reduction interventions. Our Committee has been clear that these facilities are just one tool available to address problem drug use—and that is what they are about: problem drug use. With Scotland continuing to record the highest rate of drug deaths in Europe, our response has to match the scale of that crisis. I am very grateful to Members from around the House for their contributions this afternoon.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for that response. It is clear that, across this room, we all share the goal of tackling the harms caused by problem drug use. However, in the face of the crisis that we have talked about today, I do not think we can afford to dismiss any potential remedy, so I take this opportunity to once again encourage the Government to follow the evidence. As we have heard, there will be an evaluation of the Thistle published in three years’ time, but some interim work is likely to be done before then. As part of our inquiry, the Committee also visited drug consumption rooms in Oslo, Bergen and Lisbon—those in Oslo have been going for more than 20 years.”
“Will the Leader of the House join me in welcoming today’s announcement by the Secretary of State for Scotland of £140 million of local growth funding for Scotland, including £60.9 million for the Glasgow city region? Does he agree that this funding, together with the record Budget settlement for the Scottish Government, demonstrates that Scotland really is at the heart of this Labour Government?”
“I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement, and I thank him and the Prime Minister for their leadership on this issue. He rightly referred in his statement to the actions of the Finns last week in intercepting a rogue ship that was cutting, or suspected of cutting, cables. He also mentioned the operation of the Yantar, which has been spying on our cables. Given the activity of the Russians in the high north, does he agree with me that the deal with BAE Systems and Norway is important, not just because of the frigates that will be built, but because it is a sign of the co-operation between our two countries, and that our co-operation with NATO allies extends across the high north—with the exclusion, of course, of Russia?”
“I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement. I agree with her that Maduro was a corrupt dictator, who frankly cared nothing for the lives of his own people. I welcome her comments about the importance of upholding international law, so does she agree that if we believe in a world order with clear rules about sovereignty, we cannot pick and choose when those rules do and do not apply? Otherwise, what is to stop others with further bad intentions from taking advantage of that situation and following suit?”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his statement. I entirely agree with him that, at a time when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains so desperately urgent, the decision by the Israeli Government to withdraw accreditation from 37 extremely credible aid agencies, such as Caritas Internationalis, ActionAid and the International Rescue Committee, is an act of cruelty. Will the Minister therefore join me in condemning this decision, and urge Israel in the strongest possible terms to rescind it immediately, before more deaths occur in Gaza and the west bank because of a lack of humanitarian aid? Will he also urge Israel to open the Rafah crossing as a matter of extreme urgency?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement, I thank him and the teams across Government who have worked so hard to secure the deal to protect jobs at Grangemouth. I also want to commend all those in Government who have worked so hard to ensure that Babcock flourishes, Methil stays open, and BAE Systems secures contracts with Norway, and just last week they also secured the MiAlgae deal for the Grangemouth site too. All of that stands in stark contrast to the actions of other parties who had, or perhaps should have had, a role in these matters. Can the Minister reflect on that fact and give us some more information about what other developments we see in Grangemouth in the weeks and months ahead?”
“I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing the urgent question. We know that over 10 million people have already been displaced, more than half of them children. We know that children are trapped in hard-to-reach places and that access to food is cut off. Just last week, 63 children were killed in an attack on a kindergarten in South Kordofan. What action can be taken to support these children and their families? They are malnourished and traumatised and have had no education for the duration of the conflict.”
“Earlier this year, I held a child poverty taskforce event in my constituency. All the organisations that took part identified inconsistent funding as a barrier to their work. I warmly welcome the child poverty strategy, but it is ironic that almost at the same time as it was announced, the SNP-controlled city council announced funding cuts to a number of organisations across Glasgow West. Given the record settlement from this Government to the SNP Government at Holyrood, does the Leader of the House agree that vital community organisations such as The Annexe, Drumchapel LIFE and Kingsway Community Connections—to mention just a small percentage—deserve stable funding to allow them to continue their good work, and that local authorities in Scotland have been underfunded for far too long?”
“He attempted to sow division in Glasgow, by describing multilingualism in the city’s schools as “cultural smashing.” What he chose to misunderstand—I think he made a choice to misunderstand—is that many languages are spoken by families in our city, including Scots, Gaelic and British sign language, and that for many children in Gaelic-medium education and in BSL education, English is not the language in which they are taught. Such comments by any politician are despicable.”
“And many people from the Indian subcontinent came to our country after partition. I well remember the Chilean refugees, many of whom came to Drumchapel, in my constituency, seeking safety having escaped from the brutal regime of the dictator, Pinochet. In recent years, we have welcomed many Ukrainian refugees. It is always a pleasure to attend the annual event to celebrate Ukraine’s independence day, held in Victoria Park in my constituency, which is an absolute joy, even if my painting skills have not got any better over the years. All of that is the reason why the comments made last week by the leader of Reform UK, the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), were so objectionable.”
“As a result of these stories, he is often spoken of as an intermediary, someone who was open and encouraging of others and who worked hard to bring people to Jesus through his missionary work. I mention that because I believe that those attributes are reflected in the character of Scotland. We do not have an exclusive right to those values, and we do not always get it right, but we are generally a welcoming, supportive and encouraging place, with a warm welcome for the stranger. We have experienced waves of immigration over the centuries. Irish immigrants sought refuge from the economic difficulties of that island, my own family among them. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, many Italian families came to Scotland. After the second world war, many Polish people sought refuge with us.”
“We are told that Andrew asked those who would crucify him not to do so on a traditional upright cross, because he was not worthy to die in the same way as Christ, and that is why his cross is diagonal. That cross, with its blue and white design, forms Scotland’s national flag, the saltire. We are told that Andrew brought his brother, Simon Peter, to Christ. He did not try to keep his new and inspirational friend to himself, but instead encouraged his brother and others to embrace and follow Christ. We are also told that it was he who found the little boy with the basket of loaves and fishes and brought him to Jesus, so that the crowd that had followed him could eat. He also arranged for some Greek people who wished to meet Jesus to do so.”
“The aim of this scrutiny is to ensure that the work of the UK Government reflects Scotland’s unique strengths, interests and needs. In each of our reports, we set out how the Government can do that. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Committee members, whose hard work, commitment and good humour makes our work possible. This debate is about St Andrew’s day and Scottish affairs, so—surprise, surprise—I am now going to talk a little bit about St Andrew. He is the patron saint of Scotland, as well as of Russia and Greece. The New Testament tells us that he was the first of the apostles chosen by Jesus, and that he was ultimately martyred for his beliefs in Patras in Greece.”
“One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Committee’s work is getting out of Westminster and visiting businesses, communities and leaders across Scotland. Just this week, the Committee was on the Isle of Skye hearing at first hand about connectivity issues experienced by some of the most remote communities in the UK. We have also visited Shetland, the Western Isles and key parts of Scotland’s energy industry on the east coast. On no other Committee of this House would Members find themselves visiting community energy projects in the Hebrides one week, and having tea and cake on a nuclear submarine the next. Seeing operations and engaging with stakeholders at first hand provides unparalleled insight that we bring back to Westminster and use to inform our reports.”
“Members of the Committee thoroughly enjoyed the visit and found their experience at SaxaVord enlightening with regard to the potential of that industry for our country. We also examined in detail the establishment of the Thistle in Glasgow’s east end. The Thistle is the UK’s first sanctioned safer drug consumption facility, and reflects a pioneering approach to drugs policy. So far, the Committee has produced four reports; those hon. Members who have not quite sorted out their Christmas reading might want to pop down to the Vote Office and collect a copy of each, as they do make very interesting reading. We have also launched four new inquiries for 2026, including on digital and fixed-link connectivity, defence skills and jobs, and the future of Scotland’s high streets.”
“The Committee met for the first time in this Parliament just two days after it was formally re-established, and we have been working non-stop ever since. Although the Committee’s remit covers the Scotland Office, in practice we examine any issues affecting Scotland where the UK Government have a responsibility or interest. That results in a varied programme. In the last year, we undertook five inquiries covering topics that hon. Members might expect such as energy, the Barnett formula and Scotland’s industrial transition. We also considered less obvious topics where Scotland leads the way or is implementing original approaches. For example, one of our inquiries looked at the impressive potential of Scotland’s space launch sector. We eagerly await the UK’s first rocket launch next year from the SaxaVord spaceport in the Shetland Islands.”
“Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer—sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker. When we talk of Scotland, I am afraid my mind does sometimes wander to that other place at Holyrood. It is a pleasure to speak in this debate about St Andrew’s day and Scottish affairs. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) on securing it and on an excellent opening speech. May I also add my thoughts for the families of the former colleagues we have lost this year to those of the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell)? They were, without exception, good parliamentarians, good people and good friends. They will be missed. In a debate on Scottish affairs, it would be remiss of me not to mention the work of the Scottish Affairs Committee, which I chair.”
“Whatever our political differences, we share certain values—values that we will work with anyone to protect. At the end of the day, those values are what make us who we are and they are important; if they are not, they should be.”
“It does not belong to any one of us and it does not belong to any political party. Like the man whose death we should remember when we consider that flag, it is a flag of welcome and inclusion—we would all do well to remember that. I have no problem with people celebrating their nationality by flying their flag, whichever flag that happens to be, but when that flag is used to threaten, intimidate or suggest to people that they are not part of that country, then that is bullying, which is despicable. That is why I found the showing of flags across the country this summer, wherever they happened to be, to be totally reprehensible, because in many instances—perhaps not all—that was being done for entirely the wrong reasons. We have to be proud of our flags as symbols of our identity.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman, my colleague and friend, for his comments. I will come on to talk about flag shortly, so I will not answer him directly at this moment. As I was saying, I think that comments such as those that we heard last week are despicable. I for one will continue to praise and welcome the work of teachers across Glasgow who work to support bilingual families and multiculturalism. There is much good work going on to promote that within the city of Glasgow. In my own area, every year Thriving Places Drumchapel hosts a well-attended Hope not Hate event, which showcases the talents that young people from other countries and traditions have brought to our local area. I mentioned earlier that the saltire is the flag of St Andrew and the flag of Scotland.”
“There is something that has always perplexed me about the arguments around Brexit. I remember campaigning very hard to try to stop the UK leaving the European Union, but I do not remember seeing many SNP members out campaigning. Records show that the SNP spent less money campaigning against Brexit than on a local authority by-election. I have always wondered why that was; perhaps the hon. Member can tell us.”
“Does the hon. Gentleman think that his constituents would have benefited if Nicola Sturgeon had delivered the promise that she made eight years ago to the people of Scotland to deliver a publicly owned energy company for our country? I think it would have made a difference, but unfortunately it never happened.”
“Does my hon. Friend share my regret the Scottish Government have been content to keep £1 billion of underspend rather than building 39 new health centres or 30 new primary schools, employing 23,700 nurses in our NHS, or investing money in Scottish public services and having a consequential effect on Scotland’s economy?”
“and learned Friend agree that point 26 of that plan, that “all parties involved in the conflict will receive full amnesty for their actions during the war and will agree not to make any future claims or pursue any grievances”, cannot be tolerated?”
“I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for his work to secure peace in Ukraine and for his very good comments about BAE Systems, which is partially located in my constituency of Glasgow West. Point 24 of the Trump plan indicates that “all civilian detainees and hostages will be returned, including children.” The kidnapping of children is heinous and a war crime in and of itself. Surely, as a mark of good faith, Putin should not wait for any agreement on this or other plans, and should release those children immediately. In saying that, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter) for her work over many months on this issue. Does my right hon.”
“It would seem that the traditional role of the American President as someone who can straddle the world stage, working with friends and allies to achieve outcomes for good across the world, is in danger of being diminished to the role of someone who proffers capitulation on behalf of another sovereign nation. That is something that we cannot accept. On the children who are the focus of this urgent question, I, too, pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter). As young people are returned—hopefully in increasing numbers—what work can we do as a country and a Government to ensure the reintegration of those young people into the society that Putin worked so hard to prevent them being part of?”
“As we celebrate International Men’s Day, may I ask the Leader of the House to join me in thanking the staff and volunteers at Men Matter Scotland in Drumchapel? They offer social, financial and emotional support to men. In particular, will he join me in thanking Ian Sproull, who ran 10 marathons in 10 days to raise funds for the organisation? Will he also be so kind as to consider visiting the organisation next time he is in Scotland?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement this evening. I share the concern of colleagues, particularly those based in Fife, about the effect the closure will have. The news that contract workers were locked out of the plant this morning is a major concern, as is the news that staff—many of whom have worked in the company for many decades—have not yet been given information about what redundancy packages may be available. That is very worrying. What engagement is the Minister having with trade unions on this troubling development, and does he believe the trade unions have been properly consulted, as they should be in a situation such as this?”
“I am grateful. As the hon. Member knows—or at least I hope he does—I care deeply about these issues too, and in fact spent some six years on the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee in Holyrood, which was referred to earlier. Would the hon. Member be content if the Scottish Government were to seek a Sewel motion on the proposal he is suggesting, so that this could be a cross-UK initiative, rather than just one that focuses on this place?”
“As people continue to flee from El Fasher to Tawila, a town that is already sheltering some 652,000 displaced people, it is clear that the situation on the ground in Sudan is not only extremely dangerous—not to mention barbarous in some cases—but chaotic. It is likely that Sudan will need ongoing support for a very long time. Has the Minister had those discussions with colleagues at the UN and from other interested countries, to make sure that that support is provided for the country, whenever we have the opportunity to give it that aid?”
“There is going to be a three-year assessment of the Thistle, and if that assessment comes up with the results that we think it might, then surely that evidence should be used to inform Government policy. Our particular disappointment is that the Government seem not to think that is relevant.”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for taking an intervention, and indeed for bringing forward this debate. As she has referenced, the Scottish Affairs Committee has done some work on this issue and has visited the safer drug consumption room in Glasgow, but it has also looked at facilities in Norway and Lisbon. The disappointment we have is that at the moment the Thistle operates under the prosecutorial discretion of the Lord Advocate in Scotland and that could continue indefinitely—she has made that clear—as could her permission for other centres to open. We need a change in the legislation that would allow such centres to be set up across the country if necessary.”