SNP and Greens vote down Douglas Ross’s Right to Recovery Bill

MSPs have voted down a Bill proposed by Douglas Ross that would have enshrined in law the right to treatment for people with drug addiction, including rehab.

The former Scottish Tory leader’s Right to Recovery (Scotland) Bill was expected to fail in its first stage after Holyrood’s health committee recommended voting against it.

The Greens joined the SNP in voting down the bill while Labour and the Lib Dems voted for it. It fell by 52 to 63 votes.

Mr Ross accused the two parties of “shamefully abandoning” vulnerable Scots by voting down his Bill and warned them the public would not forgive them.

“This is a dark day for Scotland,” he said after the vote.

“Our country is the drugs deaths capital of Europe and has a huge problem with alcohol fatalities too, yet SNP and Green politicians have shamefully abandoned some of our most vulnerable people by failing to back a Bill that would have been a game-changer.

“People across Scotland – especially the thousands of families grieving loved ones lost to drugs and alcohol – will not forgive or forget the failure of nationalist politicians to tackle this emergency.

“The Right to Recovery Bill was written by those with lived experience and backed by experts in the field of addiction.

“But the SNP and Greens think they know best and are content with the failing status quo.”

Mr Ross accused the Greens and the SNP of putting “politics before people”.

He added: “No wonder the public feel detached from Holyrood when they see complacent politicians refusing to tackle Scotland’s most pressing problems.”

During the debate at Holyrood, drugs minister Maree Todd said the “belief in the right to recovery unites us all”, adding: “No-one should be denied the treatment they need.”

But the minister said the Scottish Government would vote against it because it was “clear from the evidence presented that the Bill raises profound legal, practical and resource concerns that risk undermining service delivery, rather than enhancing it”.

She pointed to the committee’s report which found “fundamental flaws” in legislation which require “fundamental revision” to go forward, while experts, she said, raised concerns about its feasibility even with amendments.

Ms Todd said the issue was not an “abstract policy debate for her” and spoke of her personal experience as the daughter of parents with alcohol addiction.

She said her mother and father eventually became sober, but said “even in the same household, each of my parents had different recovery journeys”.

“That illustrates to me there is no one right road to recovery,” she said.

Despite rejecting the Bill, and saying non-legislative measures by her Government would go further than Mr Ross’s proposals, Ms Todd said she was still open to working with Mr Ross on the underlying issues behind it.

She went on: “Recovery is not linear. It is not just about whether a person is using substances. It is about restoring hope and dignity, and building relationships, and it is about empowering people to control their own destinies.

“As such, I can confirm that the Scottish Government’s intention is to vote against the motion today.”

SNP MSP Clare Haughey, who convenes the health committee, said many with addiction were unhappy with current services on offer and she said MSPs were aware more needed to be done to help those struggling with drugs.

But she told Parliament the majority of the members on the committee could not recommend backing it.

She said there were several issues with the legislation, including the need for a diagnosis before receiving the right to treatment.

The committee set out concerns around the cost of it, the potential for it to lead to legal issues and its scope being too narrow.

Green MSP Patrick Harvie said “no-one is in denial” about the drug problem facing Scotland but said he did not believe the Bill was the solution.

This included the potential threat of legal action after the Bill was passed and the precedent for the creation of legal rights to treatment in certain areas, which he said could mean healthcare changing from clinical need to whether MSPs passed certain Bills at Parliament.

Jackie Baillie, Labour’s health spokeswoman, said the legal right for addicts to receive support is needed amid the high drug deaths and a “postcode lottery” for treatment.

She said the SNP and Greens should be “ashamed” of voting against the law.