FMQs unpicked with Dale Miller and Rachel Amery February 29 2024
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Good afternoon and welcome to the Scotsman's Politics Show.
00:15 We're wrapping up First Minister's Questions here
00:18 for another week.
00:20 I'm joined by political correspondent, Rachel Armory.
00:23 Good afternoon, Rachel.
00:25 - Afternoon.
00:26 - Look, you're coming to us from Holyrood
00:28 and perhaps unsurprisingly, all the questions today
00:32 off the top from both Anna Salwa and Douglas Ross
00:36 were about the Emma Caldwell verdict,
00:38 which we learned yesterday.
00:40 Can you talk us through what that verdict was
00:42 and the nature of some of the questions?
00:45 - Well, yes, after 19 years,
00:47 Ian Packer has been found guilty
00:49 of the murder of Emma Caldwell
00:50 and a number of other cases of attacks and rapes
00:53 against various women over the years as well.
00:55 So both Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader,
00:58 and Anna Salwa, the Scottish Labour leader,
01:00 both questioned Humza Yousaf on this topic today.
01:03 Saying that there's been multiple feelings in the police.
01:05 Police do have an issue with things like misogyny
01:08 and sexism as well.
01:09 Both as well calling for an independent
01:11 public inquiry to take place.
01:13 Now, Humza Yousaf's response to that
01:15 was that it's not off the table.
01:17 In fact, later on in his speech,
01:18 he then said it's firmly on the table
01:20 and it is something that the government
01:22 is actively looking at exploring just now.
01:24 He also says that he has written
01:26 to Emma Caldwell's mother, Margaret,
01:28 offering to meet with both,
01:30 offering for him and the justice secretary
01:32 to meet with her and her legal representatives as well.
01:34 But a very subdued atmosphere in FMQs today,
01:37 particularly after the last couple of weeks.
01:38 It's been very fiery questioning
01:40 the last few weeks of First Minister's questions.
01:42 But this time around, very subdued.
01:44 Now, after First Minister's questions finished,
01:46 we tried to grab a word from Humza Yousaf
01:47 to ask for a bit more detail.
01:49 You might actually be able to see
01:49 he's behind me right now trying to get his photograph taken.
01:51 Unfortunately, he walked past and just said,
01:53 I've said what I've said in the chamber already.
01:56 - It was interesting, Douglas Ross,
01:58 we shouldn't be surprised.
01:59 He agreed with some of what Humza was saying,
02:02 but basically made it clear that he felt
02:05 that he needed to act urgently
02:07 to press ahead with this judge-led inquiry.
02:10 There was some questions about whether that judge,
02:13 if the inquiry went ahead, came from Scotland or not.
02:16 Was that relevant?
02:17 Rachel?
02:18 - Yes, one thing that's quite unusual about FMQs today
02:21 was that Anna Sarwar, Humza Yousaf and Douglas Ross
02:23 all seemed to agree on a lot of the points
02:25 that we're seeing today.
02:26 So lots of consensus between the three party leaders
02:29 at this debate today.
02:30 But yes, Douglas Ross is very keen to make sure
02:32 that this is an independent judge-led inquiry
02:35 and that person leading the inquiry is not from Scotland.
02:38 They want to make sure it's completely separate
02:39 from all of the sort of justice system
02:41 that we have here in Scotland,
02:43 all of the police services we have as well.
02:44 They want someone who's completely separated
02:46 from all of those things.
02:47 So he's wanted to make sure that individual
02:49 is not somebody from Scotland
02:51 so they can be completely unbiased and fair
02:53 when it comes to this inquiry.
02:54 - And Rachel, just for Police Scotland,
02:58 this is another headache that they do need to deal with.
03:00 Anna Sarwar brought up failings within the force,
03:04 the questions over misogyny,
03:06 there's questions over listening and properly taking forward
03:10 evidence given by victims.
03:12 There were references to journalism,
03:14 the fact that it took several publications
03:19 and broadcasters like the BBC
03:20 to really push this story to get justice.
03:23 We know here at the Scotsman,
03:25 we've written a lot about the case as well.
03:27 But coming around to what Police Scotland have to get right,
03:32 there was a report as well when Ian Livingstone
03:34 was finishing up as chief constable,
03:36 acknowledged failings within the force.
03:38 How much pressure on them to actually show
03:41 they're undergoing meaningful change now?
03:44 - Well, yes, the outgoing chief constable, Ian Livingstone,
03:47 when he left his position,
03:48 he did say that it was a very big problem
03:50 within the police force with things like
03:52 misogyny, sexism and racism.
03:54 And that is something that Anna Sarwar
03:56 brought up in the chamber today.
03:57 And given the content of this report that we had
04:01 about the problems of misogyny,
04:03 this case in certain ways kind of demonstrates that.
04:06 It feels that there was a lot of sexism and misogyny
04:08 in investigating this particular case.
04:10 So there's been a lot of headaches for the police force,
04:12 a lot of questions for them to answer.
04:14 And that is why the two party leaders
04:16 have been calling for this public inquiry
04:17 because they're hoping that that will give the answers
04:20 people are so desperately wanting.
04:21 - Rachel, Jo Farrell is the chief constable
04:26 that started in October.
04:28 So it will be interesting to see what she has to say
04:32 about calls for improvement within Police Scotland.
04:34 I, thanks very much, Rachel, for joining us.
04:39 It's taken us through the majority of what we heard
04:41 at First Minister's Questions today.
04:43 Thank you all for joining and watching this video.
04:46 You can read our full coverage at scotsman.com.
04:49 Follow the politics tab for the latest,
04:53 and you'll be able to find out all the details
04:56 about the Emma Caldwell case,
04:57 the verdict surrounding Ian Packer,
05:00 and what the criticism is
05:03 about the failings of the force moving forward.
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05:10 (upbeat music)
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