Cole-Hamilton to Swinney: Reform the character of your government

Following the First Minister’s summit last week, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has written to John Swinney calling on him to adopt a series of measures to reform the character of his government, after a slew of SNP scandals have left members of the public disaffected with Scottish democracy and looking for something new.

Mr Cole-Hamilton is now asking the First Minister whether he will:

• Expand freedom of information laws, ensuring that WhatsApp messages fall within their scope and delivering on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s request to give Parliament more powers to determine the subject of FOI. In 2023, the Scottish Government refused to do either. This was despite the deletion of Covid WhatsApps and a Scottish Liberal Democrat investigation finding WhatsApps have only been released under FOI on two occasions.
• Respect the will of Parliament after it voted to scrap P1 testing, extend free school meals to all primary school children and end peak rail fares. Despite losing the votes on all three, the Scottish Government have refused to deliver on any of calls.
• Clamp down on divisive rhetoric from activists, which includes SNP activists harassing members of the media and those on the other side of the constitutional debate, using language like “quisling” and “traitor”.

The text of Mr Cole-Hamilton’s letter is as follows:

Dear John,

I would like to thank you for the extremely important summit you convened last week.

As longstanding champions of transparency and accountability, my party was heartened to engage in discussions which, as you set out, centred on “the quality of our democracy”. You said that to realise our commitment to democracy, “we must now work at pace to ensure targeted action delivers results.” Indeed, you said that you would “leave no stone unturned” in that pursuit, emphasising the need to “protect, strengthen and renew our democratic values”.

That is why I am appealing to you to begin that work today. If this summit is to be more than simply well-meaning sentiment, it is incumbent on the Scottish Government to follow through with action.

From the scandals over deleted WhatsApp messages to your government's unwillingness to accept the will of parliament on matters such as national testing of 4-and-5-year-olds and free school meals, the Scottish Government has not always upheld the high standards that the public expect from those who govern them.

This feeds a disaffection with politics that unscrupulous characters can exploit.

My party has proposed a number of ways in which this disaffection can be tackled.

Will you, therefore, commit to:

• Expand freedom of information laws, ensuring that WhatsApp messages fall within their scope, in both theory and practice, and acting on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s request to give Parliament more powers to determine the subject of FOI.
• Respect the will of Parliament after it voted to scrap national assessments for five-year-old pupils, extend free school meals to all primary school pupils and end peak rail fares.  
• Clamp down on divisive rhetoric from activists, which includes SNP activists harassing members of the media and those on the other side of the constitutional debate and the use of language like "quisling" and "traitor".

If we are to truly restore faith in our politics and regain the trust of those who feel disaffected, the government cannot simply say it is committed to democracy. It must show that commitment.

Yours faithfully,

Alex

Alex Cole-Hamilton

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh Western