Bingo!

Parliament is back and we have plunged straight into a wave of different issues.

Lib-Dem Water Minister Ross Finnie has just to appologise for misleading Parliament during a debate on the recent water crisis. Trihalomethanes, Cryptosporidium and immuno-compromise are terms that are on the lips of MSPs. Well perhaps not quite. But at least we recognise them and the public risks associated with them.

My colleague Richard Lochhead revealed that the recent water crisis in Glasgow and Edinburgh was not the whole picture. A problem in the Aberdeen area early this year affected a large number of people. And the source was not discovered for a couple of months!

But nae word in the so-called national media published in the Central belt of Scotland. So nae change there.

Parliament’s Justice Committee is working its way through the Land Reform Bill – slowly! And our consideration of the Criminal Justice Bill grinds on.

It seems increasingly likely that Scottish politicians will feel it is time to end the use of implements to punish children. And banning the hitting of children about the head is widely supported.

But proposals for totally banning ‘smacking’ seem bogged down. The inconsistencies in Jim Wallace’s proposals make it seem unlikely that they can proceed in their present form.

Much of the legislation in our Parliament is so-called secondary legislation. Many of our Acts of Parliament provide for Ministers ‘laying orders’ which vary the terms of legislation.

And in my first two days back I have been involved in the consideration of seven of these SSIs – Scottish Statutory Instruments.

Usually these pass without much comment. Not so in Justice Committee this week.

As a matter of policy this Lib-Lab Government has decided that all users of the court system should fully pay their way. One consequence of this is a raising of court fees.

Fair enough one might say. Indeed for those unable to afford legal fees there is always legal aid. Or is there?

In fact it is rare to get aid for civil cases. And the type most exercising our Committee involved people suing their employers for injury at work.

The Committee has long been on the side of asbestosis victims and it is precisely these far from rich members of the public on whom increased costs would bear. So we had a lively discussion. And a promise to look further from the Minister.

The other SSI debate was on bingo hall fees. The government wants to raise them by nearly a third.

Medical research indicates that playing bingo is good for the health of older people. Tracking three or four sheets is fine mental exercise. And for many of the widowed, a night out the bingo is the highlight of their social life.

So bingo could be saving our health service a lot of money. But at the end it was 2 SNP votes in Committee to keep fees the same and 5 Liberal, Labour and Tory ones to raise them.