Scottish Labour Party Debate: Inquiry to Restore Public Trust in Scottish Politics

Anas Sarwar S7M-00294 That the Parliament agrees to conduct an inquiry into the implications and lessons to be learned following the conclusion of Operation Branchform and the embezzlement conviction of Peter Murrell. Further details available for S7M-00294 Jamie Hepburn S7M-00294.1 As an amendment to S7M-00294 in the name of Anas Sarwar (Inquiry to Restore Public Trust in Scottish Politics), leave out from “agrees” to end and insert “considers the notion of representatives of political parties using a parliamentary committee to inquire into the internal operations of rival political parties to constitute a conflict of interest; believes that it is vital that independent authorities, including Police Scotland and the Crown Office, are free from political interference to fully and properly investigate and prosecute any and all criminal conduct, and urges elected representatives to use their parliamentary time to address matters that will improve the lives of the people of Scotland including, tackling the cost of living crisis, improving public services such as this NHS and taking climate action.” Further details available for S7M-00294.1 Ross Greer S7M-00294.2 As an amendment to motion S7M-00294 in the name of Anas Sarwar (Inquiry to Restore Public Trust in Scottish Politics), leave out from “agrees” to end and insert “believes there is a need to restore public trust in politics following multiple recent financial scandals, including those uncovered by Operation Branchform, further believes that an independent review into party political finances would go some way towards restoring this trust; believes that, to avoid this becoming a nakedly partisan process, it should be independently led rather than conducted by parliamentary committee, and that its remit must apply to the funding of all political parties; recognises wider concerns about the role of money in politics, including the scale of donations by extremely wealthy individuals, and the influence of organisations that refuse to disclose their funding sources, and calls for the devolution of power over the regulation of political parties and their funding to allow for the implementation of any recommendations of the independent review that would require legislative change.” Further details available for S7M-00294.2 Russell Findlay S7M-00294.3 As an amendment to S7M-00294 in the name of Anas Sarwar (Inquiry to Restore Public Trust in Scottish Politics), insert at end "; believes that public trust is undermined when legitimate questions go unanswered; notes the conviction of Peter Murrell following Operation Branchform; believes that scrutiny is essential to democratic accountability, and calls for any independent inquiry to establish what lessons must be learned from this scandal and what reforms are required to restore public confidence in Scottish politics." Further details available for S7M-00294.3