Report to the People
10th September 2007
The Light Programme
Eyebrows were raised last week when Alex Salmond announced he had found £100,000 to re-brand the Scottish Executive the Scottish Government. There were also mutterings when, a few days later, the First Minister (as he is still called) set out a very thin legislative programme.
Why,
some asked, when there are serious worries about crime, drugs and jobs, is money
being spent changing signs on buildings? Why do we have a legislative programme full of Bills about
replacing the Scottish Arts Council or abolishing tolls on the Forth Road
Bridge?
The
answer to both questions is the same. The
feasibility of any policy would come under severe parliamentary scrutiny if a
Bill was introduced to enact it. And,
as the SNP are a minority government, they could not command enough support to
force a Bill which was found wanting through parliament.
So,
Ministers are trying to do as much as they can without referring to parliament -
hence the raft of cosmetic moves such as name changes and the announcement of
countless consultations.
One
such consultation is on drugs policy, on which there was a debate in the
Parliament the following day. As Telegraph
readers know, the children of addicts are in danger right now and I used the
debate to tell Ministers they had to take urgent action before it’s too late.
We
need radical solutions if we’re going to kick the drug habit, not another
talking shop.
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