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Mike's recent speeches and oral parliamentary questions
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Speech delivered on Thu 8th Jan 2009
Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): If anything has been established in the debate, it is that the approach that characterised Scotland's justice system for a generation is no longer fit for purpose. We heard from members about continued problems with prison overcrowding, reoffending and lack of public trust in the justice system. As my colleague Robert Brown and several other members said, the figures speak for themselves. I do not mind repeating that more than 75 per cent of those who enter prison reoffend within two years, whereas only 42 per cent of those who carry out community sentences reoffend in the same period.
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Speech delivered on Thu 25th Sep 2008
Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): As we have heard, the bill is important. Work on it was started in the previous parliamentary session by the Scottish Executive, and the Liberal Democrats are pleased that it is reaching its conclusion. In the previous two sessions, the Scottish Parliament passed a range of bills on the justice system in Scotland. The bill follows on from those important changes and deals with new issues that needed to be addressed.
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Speech delivered on Wed 16th Apr 2008
I apologise on behalf of my colleague, Margaret Smith, who is the Lib Dem member on the Justice Committee. Sadly, she is not here as she has a problem with her back. She specifically asked me to pass on her thanks to her colleagues on the committee, with whom she has worked well, and to all the people who came to give evidence. In particular, she wanted me to convey her thanks to all the parliamentary staff. I was on both the Justice 1 Committee and the Justice 2 Committee in the previous session of Parliament. We always asked for great commitment from our staff, and whenever we asked them to do something they came through. I thank them, too.
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Speech delivered on Thu 27th Mar 2008
Scotland is widely perceived to be a reasonably safe place to live and it is relied on as such. Whatever activity someone takes part in, be it white-water rafting, bungee jumping or simply a day at work, it has been fully risk assessed for any reasonable eventuality. If an accident occurs, we have committed emergency and health care professionals at hand to deal with problems. That comprehensive approach to safety means that when something goes tragically wrong it is often all the more inexplicable, so it is right to have in place a rigorous, reliable and efficient system to assess why the multitude of fallbacks and regulations failed.
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Speech delivered on Thu 27th Mar 2008
Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): I accept Bill Aitken's criticism of what happened a fortnight ago. However, I have been consistent. I supported home detention curfew: I voted for it at committee when I substituted for my colleague Margaret Smith, and I voted the right way on the day. I assure Bill Aitken that, at 5 o'clock, I will try my very best to herd sheep into the chamber at the right time.
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Speech delivered on Thu 6th Mar 2008
This is the third time in as many weeks that I have spoken in Parliament on a complex and emotive issue. I welcome the debate, which presents an opportunity for Parliament to begin to tackle a national shame.
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Speech delivered on Thu 28th Feb 2008
It is not yet a year since we last debated this emotive issue in the chamber. However, as disturbing figures that were released during the past few days detailing widespread rises in sex-related offences in Scotland have shown, we are clearly not making the required progress in tackling the issue. More can be done to protect the public, particularly children and vulnerable others, from sexual exploitation and sexually predatory behaviour. That was acknowledged, at least partially, by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in The Scotsman earlier this week.
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Speech delivered on Thu 21st Feb 2008
Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): Prison reform is an important and emotive issue and I welcome today's debate. Like other members, I welcome the minister's statement with regard to children.
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Speech delivered on Wed 20th Feb 2008
Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): I am delighted to be speaking in the debate. I have been extremely fortunate to have been to Malawi twice with the Scottish branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. I am glad to hear that the minister is well following her visit, which I know she enjoyed.
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Speech delivered on Thu 24th Jan 2008
The Parliament is invited to agree to the motion in my name, on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, to nominate Kevin Dunion to Her Majesty the Queen for reappointment as the Scottish Information Commissioner for four years.
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Speech delivered on Thu 17th Jan 2008
I agree with the minister that there is increasing public concern about gun crime. In 2006-07, the Scottish police recorded 1,245 offences in which it was alleged that a firearm had been used-an increase of 17 per cent on the total of 1,068 such crimes recorded in 2005-06 and the highest number in the past 10 years. Of the total number of firearms offences in 2006-07, 54 per cent, or 675, involved an air weapon, compared to 58 per cent, or 618, in 2005-06. As we all know, firearms legislation is reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Liberal Democrats have difficulty in accepting that there would not be considerable problems in having separate firearms regulations and penalties in England and Scotland. We share the United Kingdom Government's view that a total ban on some weapons would be unworkable and impractical.
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Speech delivered on Wed 9th Jan 2008
The debate has been vital in maintaining the dialogue between elected representatives that is required to tackle an adaptive and constantly evolving problem. I agree with the minister, Margaret Smith, Pauline McNeill and others when they say that organised crime is now an international business. It is still a serious issue in Scotland. There are examples of it everywhere and many businesses suffer.
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Speech delivered on Thu 15th Nov 2007
Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): That is probably a first
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Speech delivered on Thu 1st Nov 2007
I welcome the motion. George Foulkes started by asking what was left to say, although he referred to a great result in Glasgow last night, which all Hearts supporters will be celebrating today, and he informs me that the First Minister will be making the draw later today. As one of the chosen people-Hearts supporters-I urge the First Minister to ensure that we avoid Rangers in the next round.
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Speech delivered on Thu 25th Oct 2007
The subject that the Tories have chosen for the debate is an interesting one. Police numbers almost always seem to appear in political manifestos. Indeed, all the major parties, apart from Labour-I could not find a figure in the Labour manifesto-put numbers on their proposals for extra police. That is not only a bit of a hostage to fortune, but begs the question of what it means to the voter. What do my constituents in Edinburgh South want from a police service? The answer is that they want to feel secure in their homes and in their local community. Nigel Don made a good point when he said that communities want to see police officers in the fabric of the community.
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Speech delivered on Thu 6th Sep 2007
I am delighted that the first debate of this term to which I am contributing is on the important issue of drugs misuse. I thank Kenny MacAskill for bringing the issue to the chamber. There are a number of topics that I want to address today, but I will enter into the consensual spirit of this period in Scottish politics for a moment and say that I welcome those parts of the SNP motion in which ministers commit themselves to promoting recovery from addiction, ensuring that children are protected and improving drug education.
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 Speech Feed(v1.0).
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