A Week in Parliament
/Virtual Parliament
Despite hopes that we have now reached the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak and cases, it is only right the lockdown has been extended a further three-weeks to ensure the virus outbreak really is on the wane. This means that despite Westminster resuming after the Easter recess I will not be travelling to London while these restrictions are still in place.
With this progress we are hoping to further advance political matters with the prospect of a ‘Virtual Parliament’ taking place this week. from being one of the most old-fashioned institutions in the world (and many MPs determined to keep Westminster that way) then this really is groundbreaking stuff! The Scottish Parliament participated in this last week with a virtual question time for MSPs to hold the Scottish Government to account on matters relating to Covid-19. It is fair to say it worked well and allowed members to be transparent with the public and keep everyone up to date with current affairs. It was great to see the Scottish Government leading the way once again with this initiative.
On a personal basis I have to admit to being a technophobe, but the lockdown has already forced me to participate in online meetings using Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. So it has forced me to up my game technology wise which is no bad thing. I will also be taking part in Select Committee meetings online. This approach is the right approach while we try to beat the pandemic but I still prefer face to face contact and so like many other people I am also looking to get back a period of normality.
SPFL Votes
Given the massive impact of Covid-19 on peoples’ lives, it is hard to move away from this topic in my column. A side issue however is how severely it has affected sport and in particular, football. On the whole, it has been great to see the world of football come together in times like these. However, the SPFL has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. There is a civil war unfolding within Scottish football as clubs have now ultimately voted to end the 2019/20 campaign in the current league standings. This comes as Dundee made a voting U-turn with the club now supporting the proposal to conclude the season in its current form. There has definitely been bullying tactics over allocation of money clubs need to survive. The SPFL state only ending the season allows money to be paid out. However, in the past they have given the money out as advances or loans so the reality is they could do so again. The return of football would be a welcome sign of normality. Why deprive fans the excitement of the end of season run-in? We might even end up trialling summer football as a bonus. Mind you, as a Killie fan, the end of season might be too fraught depending on how some games close out! Only Scottish football can stunningly ignore the wishes of fans yet again.
