June 2011 (Alison McInnes)

Alison McInnes <info@alisonmcinnes.co.uk>

June 2011

June 1, 2011 12:01 AM

Welcome to my first post-election column! I'm really pleased to have been elected to parliament once again as regional MSP for North East Scotland and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for putting your trust in me to stand up for Aberdeenshire. You can be assured that I will keep on working tirelessly for everybody in our area.

Election Results

It was, of course, a bad election for the Liberal Democrats. We are now much reduced in numbers at Holyrood, but we are even more determined to be the strong voice on local issues, fighting for the things that matter to you locally. Here in the North East that means continuing to battle for the AWPR, for better rural bus services, fairer funding for Aberdeenshire Council, and responsive local services.

Readers will know that I have campaigned to keep our emergency services local. I oppose the plans to have a national police force and a single Scottish fire service because I am concerned that it will lead to a loss of local accountability, and, even more worryingly, a cut in the numbers of officers on the beat here in Aberdeenshire and the number of firefighters in our local fire stations. The consultation on the future of our emergency services has now closed and I have urged the government to move quickly to publish its proposals as the uncertainty is damaging.

UK Supreme Court

The most recent ruling by the UK Supreme Court on the Nat Fraser case has created controversy, fuelled I must say by the inflammatory language of the SNP government's Justice Secretary. Mr MacAskill challenges the right of this court to rule on Scottish cases and has suggested that scots should only be able to appeal to a Court in Strasbourg.

We have always had a distinct Scottish legal system and that is not under threat. When the Scottish Parliament was set up, the devolution arrangements meant that questions on compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights could be referred to the Law Lords. The modernisation of the Lords led to the setting up of the Supreme Court and that is where those cases are now heard.

When Nat Fraser appealed his case to the Supreme Court it was on the grounds that he had been denied a fair trial: evidence available to the prosecution had not been disclosed to his defence team. On those grounds alone the Supreme Court agreed the appeal and instructed the Scottish courts to quash the conviction and consider a retrial. Instead of lamenting the fact that we had an unsafe conviction, the government choose to turn this into a "London vs Edinburgh" battle. I expect we will see many more of battles of this kind as the SNP prepare for their independence referendum. I think Scots should have the same protection of their rights as everyone else in the UK and those rights shouldn't be disregarded, or traded off to fuel nationalist point scoring. Direct access to the UK Supreme Court on Human Rights issues means faster decisions made by judges who know and understand Scots law and how it fits into the UK.

Rural School Closures

The Scottish Government is demanding a year-long moratorium on the closure of rural schools. While many parents will welcome the proposal, councils are left wondering what's next in line for central government interference. Running schools is a core service of every local council and decisions on these matters should rest with your locally elected representatives. I have called on the Education Secretary to make a statement to the Parliament on the implications of such a moratorium.