A Party Of One

On Friday Scotland lost am inspiring woman who was truly one of a kind and her passing leaves me feeling sad, not only for Scottish politics but for her family who have lost a person of warmth, intelligence, wit and gallous will.

I heard the news on the car radio and was astonished to hear a gushing tribute to Margo from John Swinney, the finance secretary of the Scottish Government. What a difference a couple of decades make.

Margo was one reason why I became interested in Scottish politics a couple of decades ago.  I had recently returned to Scotland but I had followed the independence debate for many years. In England, when Scottish politics and independence were mentioned in conversation Margo’s name was the only one anyone seemed to know.  

By the time I became actively involved in the SNP in the 1990s, I naively thought that Margo had been forgiven for branding the party establishment as ‘tartan Tories’, but I was wrong.  One day I innocently mentioned Margo’s name in conversation with John Swinney and was told, “Don’t mention that woman’s name again in my presence.”  I was astonished by his tone because usually he spoke kindly about everyone - political friend or foe - and asked why. “She makes promises she’ll never be able to keep,” was the curt response.  Of course I’m paraphrasing here, but I vividly remember this conversation as it was an important factor towards my departure from party politics.

During my time involved with politics, I listened to Margo speak on a few occasions, although I never had the pleasure of meeting her.  She exuded a warmth, honesty and sincerity to her audiences which few politicians possess. Her politics were a little too far left for my own taste, but her unwavering belief in Scottish independence fitted perfectly with my own belief.

Although the SNP expelled her in 2003, if the tributes from the SNP hierarchy are to be believed, they realised she was a greater asset than a liability to the party and in recent years must have regretted not having her ‘inside’ rather than outside but often onside. Margo was too independent-minded to be a party politician and came into her own in recent years. (In case anyone is interested, I too found party politics stifling and decided not to renew my membership in the early 2000s).

A fitting memorial would be a Yes vote in September.  Another would be the passing of her assisted dying bill, which Patrick Harvie has vowed to continue, in the Scottish parliament.  My hope is that her end was dignified because she fought hard, throughout her own severe, debilitating illness, for each and every one of us to have that right.

Ultimately Margo MacDonald fought, and triumphed, as a party of one.  It was perhaps the only party that could ever hold her.

The video is from her speech at the Independent Rally in Edinburgh 2012.

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Unionist MSPs Accused of Trickery

My request for an explanation of the Parliament's decision to send Margo MacDonald's End of Life Assistance Bill to an ad hoc committee has been fully explained in the press today.

Possibly the best account is in the Caledonian Mercury. It would appear it's a ploy from unionists parties to derail the SNP's Referendum Bill.

Under Holyrood rules, each party gets the chance, in turn, to chair an ad hoc committee. Before the business bureau's decision to send Margo's Bill to one of these committees, the libdems were to provide the convener of an ad hoc committee overseeing a minor bill on Scottish charity law reform and the Nationalists would have had the convenership of the ad hoc Referendum Bill committee.

But now, because the Assisted Dying Bill will come first in the queue, the libdems will chair that ad hoc committee, leaving the SNP, who are next in line, chairing the Charity Bill committee and a Labour MSP chairing the Referendum Bill committee.

It means that a Unionist party convener will have the casting vote on the committee and will be able, along with the committee clerk, to set the timetable of meetings. Crucially, he or she will also have the biggest say in deciding on the amount of consideration the committee should give to the Bill.

That means that the committee, with a Unionist party majority, could decide to curtail committee debate and send the Bill to Parliament at an early stage, where, because of the Unionist majority among MSPs, it is certain to be voted down within weeks. It has been widely thought that Mr Salmond wanted to keep the Referendum Bill alive for as long as possible and certainly until the General Election campaign got underway.

The wrangle has led to unprecedented divisions in the business bureau which became public when a spokesman for Bruce Crawford, the SNP's Minister for Parliament, said: "This decision (on the Assisted Dying Bill) was the wrong decision. It sets an unfortunate precedent.

"This Bill deals with matters of conscience and should be dealt with by the normal subject committee."

Margo MacDonald wrote to the Presiding Officer saying she was "surprised and puzzled" by the business bureau's decision on her Bill. She also asked for assurance that the bureau has good reason for this unexpected decision.

"The Bill has become enmeshed in the politics of how and when the government's Referendum Bill would be presented and the convenership of its ad hoc committee decided..."

"If we are to determine such matters as the processing of Bills according to the personal beliefs of business managers, then as a Parliament, I fear we have moved too far from the words on the Parliament's mace for us to claim to speak for all of the people who trust us to govern fairly and transparently."

Margo's Bill deserves to be considered by the Health Committee, not because ex-GPs sit on it, but because it's the proper committee to deal with it. They will also be handling proposed legislation concerning palliative care and the two subjects are very much inter-related. This is an important Bill and very obviously falls under the health remit. It requires wide debate.

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Holyrood Accused of Dirty Tricks

The week before last MSP Margo MacDonald presented her End of Life Assistance Bill to the Scottish Parliament.

The normal procedure for such a Bill would be for it to be sent to one of the experienced existing committees such as health or justice.

The Parliament's hierarchy (Bruce Crawford SNP, Paul Martin Labour, David McLetchie Tory, Mike Rumbles Libdem), have sidestepped the normal procedure and now insist instead it should go to a one-off committee with a new membership - designated by party leaders. This action has never been taken before in the lifetime of the Parliament.

Ms MacDonald said she was "mystified and disappointed" by the decision of the business bureau to appoint a new committee to consider her Bill.

"This seems to stink to high heaven because the health committee which everyone expected would handle this Bill is fortunately and randomly better placed than any other committee could be.

"It has two experienced doctors on each side in party terms and a chair who is a qualified lawyer who has agreed she does not know where she stands on the issue but is a good convenor."

It does indeed stink. Robbie Dunwoodie didn't manage to get anyone other than Christine Grahame to make a comment and Ms Grahame stated "it was an attack on Holyrood democracy as a whole".

Time for the hierarchy to explain their reasons or many will be thinking it is indeed a dirty trick.

Editors Note: I'm told by my reader Hythlodaeus that this has occurred before and it's common for Bills which are either highly controversial or require more time than the standing committees can give, to be spun off to a dedicated committee. It appears it has happened 7 times in the life of the Parliament. It's at times like this that I wish I had an inside informant!

Update: Blether with Brian has an interesting PS on his latest post.

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The Right To Die

Margo MacDonald is the only Independent MSP in the Scottish Parliament. For many years she was a member of the SNP but after internal rows she departed and stood as an Independent.

Margo MacDonald suffers from Parkinson's disease and yesterday, in the Scottish Parliament, she unveiled her The End of Life Assistance Bill after months of consultation.

"Dying is a part of living, it's the last act of your life and if we accept the responsibility of how we live our lives, then I really fail to see where there is any demarcation of how we should die.

"This Bill is meant to try and redress that unfairness, to give those people the autonomy to exercise some control over how they die, to give them the legal right to seek assistance and to protect the people who give assistance."

Terminally ill or severely disabled patients as young as 16 will be able to seek help to end their lives in Scotland under the proposals in the Bill and it would make Scotland the first country in the UK to legalise assisted suicide. The person must have been registered with a GP in Scotland for at least 18 months, two formal requests must have been made and approved by the medical practitioner and they must have a meeting with a psychiatrist.

Ms MacDonald said the Bill did not apply to people with dementia because they would not be able to go through the process unless they were "in full control of their faculties."

At present in Scotland anyone helping another person to commit suicide can be prosecuted for culpable homicide and to avoid ending up in court they would have to travel to a country such as Switzerland where it is not an offence.

The Catholic Church vows to block the Bill saying 'the legislation would cross a moral boundary that no society should ever breach."

MSPs and Scottish government ministers will be allowed a free vote on the Bill.

The journey of this Bill will certainly encourage debate on an issue which many choose to ignore. Once you retire and have attended a few funerals of your peers, it's inevitable you look towards your own end and the effects a terminal illness or permanent incapacity could have upon your family and yourself. With my own father I watched his pain and suffering during his last months in Dundee hospice where he died of prostate cancer. After that experience I will never be convinced that pain can be relieved to any great degree no matter what experts tell me.

I have yet to read the Bill in any real depth, but having listened carefully to the debate so far, I would support Margo's proposals.

Word of this Bill has even reached deepest England where Dick Puddlecote makes his contribution.

Source along with others.

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garydunionMargo MacDonald on top form: "I can't see why Alex Johnstone's persisting with... ach, no, maybe I can."about 2 hours ago from web

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