A Week in Parliament

Brexit
The Brexit negotiations continue on a stop-start basis. Yet again, fishing seems to be integral to what is going on. Why are the needs of a small cohort of fisherman the No.1 issue? Essentially the rest of the UK is to have a worse deal so that a limited number of fishing quota owners can make even more money for themselves. Meanwhile more local fishermen such as those who operate in the Firth of Clyde are potentially being penalised with tariffs and issues of exports. So, they will suffer as well as the rest of us, just for the North Sea fishermen to benefit. It is completely bonkers.  

Killie FC

As a politician, I often rail against conspiracy theories. However, like any Killie fan who listened to the SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster rail against Killie for the covid-19 outbreak at the club, it seemed obvious the book would be thrown at Killie. The award of a 3-0 defeat then was really disappointing but sadly not surprising. I have read the ruling – one breach was the pre-match meal where the players were 1m apart as per hospitality guidelines. The SPFL said that didn’t matter and Killie should have stuck to 2m distancing. The actual SPFL guidance doesn’t stipulate this though. While Killie stated everyone on the team bus wore masks, the ruling also argues that “there is no formal vouching of same”. I.e. we don’t believe you. What kind of judgement is this? Also, with regards, 2m social distancing the verdict states “Every school child in Scotland should be aware of it.” It is unprofessional to be so dismissive. No wonder fans and the club alike feel hard done by.

I am a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Scottish Sport. I am aware that Neil Doncaster has been invited to a meeting of the group. He hasn’t even had the decency to respond to the original invite or any follow-ups. Yet, he is quick enough to run to the media to complain about the Scottish Government. Is he really the best man for the job?

Live Animal Exports

The UK Government is looking to ban the exporting of live animals for fattening or slaughter from English ports. I appreciate many animal rights activists will approve of such a decision. It is not a process I am entirely comfortable with, but it is a reality that animals get moved around. The important thing is this is done so in the best of conditions and not unduly long journeys without breaks. This decision could have a massive impact on Scottish farmers and sows yet again, that Westminster doesn’t care about the impact elsewhere – instead, they see an “easy win” post-Brexit politically and that is more important to them than the rural economy of Scotland. Bizarrely though they are allowing the transport of animals for breeding purposes. This shows the hypocrisy of their arguments because if the ban is for animal welfare reasons then it should be uniform.