Opponents of assisted suicide have expressed concerns that MSPs on the Holyrood committee which will scrutinise a new Bill have already signed up to support the legislation.
And they want Holyrood’s Presiding Officer Alison Johnston, MSP, to take action to root out any potential for bias.
Campaign group Care Not Killing (CNK) which is spearheading opposition to the proposed legislation, says five of the ten committee members have added their names in support of the Members’ Bill brought forward by LibDem MSP Liam McArthur.
CNK’s CEO Dr Gordon Macdonald has now called on Ms Johnston to remove responsibility for the Bill from the health committee.
And he wants a special stand alone committee formed to deal specifically with the legislation.
He says a precedent for such a move was set in 2010 when a previous assisted suicide Bill backed by former MSP Margo Macdonald was debated.
Dr Macdonald said: “It is quite clear that there is enormous potential for conflicts of interest when you consider that 50 per cent of the committee members have already expressed support for this Bill in public.
“Ordinary voters might reasonably consider these individuals could possibly be biased in favour of the Bill.
“That cloud of suspicion needs to be removed in the interests of transparency and the best way to do that is to repeat the 2010 exercise, wrest control of the Bill from the health committee and form a special one-off committee composed of MSPs who have yet to express a view one way or another.
“This Bill is much too important to have any shadows of doubt hanging over the work of the scrutinising committee.”
The five members who have added their names in support of the proposal for the Bill are Dr Sandesh Gulhane (Con), Paul Sweeney (Lab), Carol Mochan (Lab), Emma Harper (SNP), and David Torrance (SNP).
In a letter to the Presiding Officer urging action (attached), Dr Macdonald states:
“I would draw your attention to our concern about potential conflicts of interest raised by the parliamentary process relating to the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill (Adults) Scotland Bill and, in particular, the potential scrutiny of this Bill by the Health, Social Care & Sport Committee.
“Five members of that committee added their names in support of the proposal for the Bill.
“Moreover, Dr Gulhane chaired the Medical Advisory Group which Liam McArthur MSP established to assist in developing the Bill.
“Rule 9.13A of the Scottish Parliament’s Standing Orders prohibits an MSP who proposes a Members’ Bill from sitting on the relevant committee scrutinising that Bill. This is to avoid any conflict of interest arising and to ensure adequate scrutiny of the Bill.
“However, the Standing Orders make no reference to MSPs who add their name to a Bill proposal being unable to sit on the relevant committee(s) with scrutiny responsibility. This is an oversight which may undermine the rigour of scrutiny of Members’ Bills.
“We would request that a stand alone Committee be established by the Parliamentary Bureau to scrutinise this Bill.
“This precedent was set by the Scottish Parliament’s consideration of the End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill brought forward by the late Margo MacDonald MSP in 2010.”
His letter continues:
“Alternatively, the five MSPs currently sitting on the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and who signed the Bill proposal should recuse themselves from the Committee’s consideration of this Bill and replaced by other MSPs who did not sign the Bill proposal.
“The same should apply to MSPs sitting on secondary committees scrutinising the Financial Memorandum or proposed delegated powers for Scottish Ministers. Kenneth Gibson MSP and Bill Kidd MSP sit on relevant committees.
“Moreover, you may wish to consider whether the Standing Orders of the Scottish Parliament should be amended to address this concern.”
