Lack of support for recall Bill would be ‘failure of Parliament’, MSPs told

Not passing a Bill which would allow for MSPs to lose their seats would be a “failure of Parliament”, the member behind it has said.

The Scottish Parliament (Recall and Removal of Members) Bill would allow the potential sacking of MSPs if they are jailed for more than six months or barred from Holyrood for 10 sitting days or more.

Proposed by Reform UK MSP Graham Simpson, the legislation was debated and approved at stage one on Thursday, but will likely face major changes before being fully passed.

The Bill was backed by 81 votes to zero, with 35 abstentions.

Holyrood’s Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee released a report earlier this month on the Bill, raising concerns about the costs associated with the recalling of MSPs and the process for regional representatives.

The Scottish Government supports the general principles of the Bill, according to parliamentary business minister Graeme Dey, but would need to see amendments, including changes to how regional list MSPs will be recalled.

Speaking in Holyrood, Mr Simpson said he is open to working with others to make changes to the Bill, but he was adamant a process must be put in place for the recall of MSPs.

“If the Parliament doesn’t get this Bill over the line this session, then Scotland will be left as the only part of the UK without a recall system,” he said.

“That would represent a failure of Parliament that I don’t want to see.

“We must collectively rise to that challenge.”

Mr Simpson said he will propose an amendment to the Bill which would align the process for recalling list MSPs with proposals by the Welsh Government in a similar Bill.

Constituency MSPs would face a recall petition if the process is triggered, which would require 10% of their constituents to sign the petition for them to lose their seat, while Mr Simpson’s new proposals would require a poll to be opened for regional representatives which would require a simple majority of those voting.

Speaking in the debate on Thursday, Mr Dey said: “The Government’s support for the general principles of the Bill is conditional on changes to the Bill at stage two which reflect the significant concerns raised in the committee’s report.”

SNP MSP Kevin Stewart also proposed an amendment to the motion passing the Bill at stage one, which called for agreeing a “parliamentary complaints and sanctions process” in relation to the legislation.

The amendment was backed by 66 votes to 47, with two abstentions.

Mr Stewart, who is not standing again for his Aberdeen Central seat at Holyrood next year, said he has “no skin in the game” when it comes to the Bill, but added: “I do want to see a fair system in place for MSPs of all political colours.”