Jim Hume MSP launches consultation on measure to ban smoking in vehicles with children present

Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland Jim Hume this week launched a consultation on his Members' Bill which would see smoking banned in vehicles where children are present. When I initially flagged this up on Liberal Democrat Voice a few weeks ago, there was a mixed reaction to the proposals.

Jim says in the foreword to his consultation document:

Recent research has shown that 17% of 11-16 year olds in the UK are exposed to second-hand smoke more than once a week while in a car with a further 30% indicating exposure once a week or less. These are shocking figures. I believe we can improve on the ban on smoking in public places and places of work, further protecting our children.

Research has found that second-hand tobacco smoke in cars has serious negative health impacts for children, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, coughing, wheezing, asthma and respiratory tract infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Not to mention the known risk of lung cancer from second hand smoke and the fact those exposed to second hand smoke as children are more likely to take up smoking themselves in later life.

Some children have no option but to go into a smoke filled car en route to the school, shops or their sport. I believe we have a moral duty to protect those children from second hand smoke, which will allow children to have the freedom to get the best start in life and go on to lead healthy lives themselves. I believe we need to remove the danger of smoke filled cars and ban smoking in cars when children are present. That is why I am consulting on the intention to bring in a Member’s Bill which will prohibit tobacco smoking in cars when children are present.

Penalty

The penalty Jim is proposing is similar to that for using a mobile phone while driving - an on the spot fine of £60. There would be no penalty points on a driving licence, though, as you wouldn't have to be driving to be in breach of this offence.

This might ease the concerns of some that a social services investigation would ensue on conviction.

Medical evidence

The document contains 9 pages of hard hitting, credible medical evidence outlining the case for change. In some ways, I think that some of that should be used to create a public awareness campaign on the dangers children face if you smoke in a car near them. If Jim's measure leads to that, surely it will be a big step forward.

Scots have until 30th August to respond to the consultation, which asks 11 questions. One issue that immediately comes to mind is how to raise awareness in other parts of the UK so that visitors to Scotland are aware. You can read the whole document and find out how to respond here.

Banning smoking in cars where children are present: what do you think?

North of the Border, the war on smoking continues. Today, larger shops are no longer allowed to display cigarettes. Now, Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP and health spokesperson Jim Hume is introducing a Member's Bill in the Scottish Parliament which will ban smoking in cars where children are present. His proposal will be put out to public consultation from 28th May. Talking about his plan over the weekend, he said:

The tobacco display ban is another welcome step in changing Scotland’s relationship with smoking which began with the ban in smoking in public places. But more can be done in our journey towards a healthier Scotland.
Passive smoking is entirely avoidable a

nd a private vehicle is one of the few places a child can still be legally exposed to tobacco smoke. That is why I am seeking a change in the law to safeguard the rights of children in Scotland and to give them a better start in life. My consultation to ban smoking tobacco in vehicles while children are present will be launched on the 28th May.

I stand alongside the British Heart Foundation, British Lung Foundation, Children in Scotland and ASH Scotland, amongst many others, in seeking a change to the law and hope that people and organisations from across Scotland can take part in this important consultation.

It doesn’t seem fair that any child should have to be trapped in a car which is filled with smoke. When you consider the real implications this can have for a child’s immediate and future health, it is clear we need to do what we can to protect children and give them the best start in life.

I have written several times about this issue over the year. In 2011, when Labour came up with this proposal, I said:

I think that the smoking ban introduced in 2006 by the Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition is one of the best pieces of legislation ever, because it strikes the right balance between freedom to smoke, and freedom to breathe air free from the poisons in cigarette smoke.   That covers public space, though. What about private space?  If we ban smoking in cars, surely there’s an argument to ban it in houses? And alcohol is harmful too – we know about the effects of growing up with parents who abuse alcohol. Do we ban drinking in a house where there are under 18s? What about obesity? Do we give the state the right to go through people’s food cupboards and fine per chocolate bar or crisp packet because obesity is such a problem and is going to cost us a fortune in the future?  If the issue is with the proven risks of cigarette smoke in a very confined space, you don’t get much more confined than a womb. Do we ban smoking in pregnancy? Even if we thought that was a good idea, which I don’t, how on earth do you enforce that?

My view hasn't changed since then and in fact I spoke to someone last week who said that a conviction of this nature might well end up with parents being automatically investigated by social services which might stretch already insufficient resources even further.

Having said all of that, I have a great deal of sympathy with the arguments in favour of such a measure and I do think that smoking around children at all is horribly inconsiderate and takes unacceptable risks with their future health. This is one of those issues where you can make a liberal argument from either perspective.

It is undoubtedly a good thing that this is being debated. At least some of the risks and dangers of the practice will be discussed openly and may encourage people to change their behaviour.  I wondered what LDV readers thought of the idea. Let us know in the comments below.

The Love Equally March in pictures #equalmarriage

Yesterday over a thousand people marched from the Edinburgh University down the Royal Mile to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood to make the case for the law to be changed to equalise the marriage laws for same sex and heterosexual couples. There was a healthy delegation from Liberal Youth Scotland who, generously, didn't mind elderly hangers on walking with them.

It's worth bearing in mind that those opposing marriage equality could only manage 200 people just before Christmas at their event.

At Holyrood, in the shadow of Arthur's Seat, the crowd was addressed by Green MSP Patrick Harvie and SNP MSP Marco Biagi as well as representatives from the Humanist Society of Scotland (did you know they perform more marriages in Scotland than the Catholic Church) and the Unitarian Church.

It was great to meet up with Liberal Democrat MSP Jim Hume at Holyrood too.

Here are my images of the day, including the one that made both LYS President Sophie Bridger and I cry. I know I'm soft hearted and cry at anything, but she's a lot more grown up.

Sophie and Kavya in costume

Arriving at Holyrood

Two girls on friends' shoulders - captures the happy spirit of the occasion

Marco Biagi MSP speaks

Patrick Harvie MSP speaks

There were many bright and colourful banners around

Lib Dem MSP Jim Hume catches up with LYS

Irony of the day - the SNP and Greener Scotland

Well, I needed something to make me laugh today.

Do the SNP not get how hypocritical it is to launch the Greener Scotland campaign, telling us all to get out our our cars and on our bikes, at the very same time that they are slashing investment in sustainable transport and failing miserably on their provisions for cyclists? MSP Jim Hume said recently:

“Making low carbon transport initiatives and active travel a priority will reduce emissions in Scotland, helping us to achieve our internationally renowned climate change targets. We should also not underestimate the substantial contribution it can make to communities. Active travel gets people out of cars which can help reduce pollution and improve the nation’s health.

“For far too long, the Scottish Government’s progress on this has been unsatisfactory. Scottish Liberal Democrat research recently showed no clear improvements in the rates of children and adults walking or cycling to work or school in recent years.

“The Scottish Government need to ensure this welcome announcement is followed up with decisive and clear action. Ministers need to get on with delivering the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland and ensure that active travel infrastructure is at the heart of all housing and commercial developments. The SNP have made some grand statements about making progress in this area but with only 1% of journey’s being made by bicycle, the SNP have a lot do to meet their 10% target in 2020.”

Jim had previously revealed that green vehicles made only 14% of the Scottish Government's fleet. Their unambitious plans for rail travel, basically pay more for fewer trains and a worse service, were highlighted by Willie Rennie.

Clearly, Greener Scotland is all about "do as I say, not as I do". 

Hume reveals heartbreaking homelessness statistics

I've long said that I want a Government to decide that it's going to sort out housing. During my years working for Willie Rennie as his caseworker, by far the biggest tragedy I could see unfolding before me was housing. Every week we'd have around 5 new families wanting, no, needing to be rehoused.

Maybe their family had grown or two families had amalgamated meaning a current property was too small. Maybe they'd had to take a private let, sacrificing their priority on the local authority list, but paying out more than they could afford in rent. Maybe a relationship had ended or they'd been put out by family. Maybe illness had meant that their current home was impossible for them. I remember returning once from holiday to the awful news that one person who'd been waiting for a long time to be rehoused had actually died.

The problem is, of course, that the supply of social housing has never recovered from Margaret Thatcher's "right to buy" policy. Forcing local authorities to sell houses at knock down prices and not letting them build any more has had horrendous consequences for people needing affordable housing today. There simply is not enough to go round.

In Scotland, the Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition between 1999 and 2007 passed legislation aimed at ending homelessness by 2012.  Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament show that we are still some way from meeting that target.

It's horrifying to think that a minimum of 2000 families are living in temporary accommodation. This might, if they're lucky, be a flat, usually in the sort of area nobody would choose. However, they could be moved out of this to another part of their local authority area at any time. Imagine, for example, being made homeless in Dunfermline in the south west of Fife. You could be put in temporary accommodation in St Andrew's, a good hour away. How do you get your kids to school? How do you get to work if you do shifts at unsocial hours if you don't have a car? And you could be moved to another part of this pretty big kingdom at any time.

And that accommodation, like I said, might not be a flat. It might be bed and breakfast, in which case as a family you'd be expected to leave during the day. Where do you go? It might be a homeless hostel, where you have to share with strangers.  Can you imagine how horrendously difficult it would be to live in those circumstances? Most people reading this will wake up in a warm house, with a washing machine to hand to clean their clothes and cooking facilities they can use when they feel like eating and space to rest and relax. There will doubtless be enough room for people to escape from each other when they've had a row. Imagine your whole life, your whole family in one room with possessions that you can carry. How would that affect a child?

Have a read of Shelter's article on what it's like to be homeless and you'll get an idea. The horror of the reality is being experienced now by far too many people and particularly children.

The Liberal Democrats' housing spokesman at Holyrood, Jim Hume, has today released the findings of his Freedom of Information requests to local authorities about the number of children and families in temporary housing. Glasgow, Aberdeenshire and South Lanarkshire aren't included, so this is a minimum figure. Basically we have 2073 families in temporary accommodation and this is at 1st October. 1271 had been there for more than 3 months and 779 for more than 6 months. By anyone's standards, that's just wrong.

Housing affects so much else, your health, your ability to work, your sense of security and it's vital that someone has the political will to sort it out. This is too important an issue for the SNP just to blame the coalition government for cuts or say that independence would sort everything out.  They have £30 billion, the entire Scottish budget, to spend as they please. If they want to, they can build more houses with the powers they currently have rather than halve the budget and forget their pledge to build 6000 new houses every year. If they want to.

We need to have not just an intelligent debate, but actual action now to make sure that everyone in need has a roof over their head and a long term strategy in place to make sure it stays that way.  It's not just about building new houses, it's about making better use of those we have. Ewan Hoyle has some ideas over at Lib Dem Voice about elderly people in larger houses sharing with younger people, maybe students, who help out with jobs around the place in a mutually convenient and non exploitative way.

It's not just homelessness we have to deal with, though, it's poor quality social housing with damp, condensation, leaky doors and windows and with appallingly bad energy efficiency so that they're difficult to keep warm. Something has to be done about them, too, and fast. There's no point in investing in education if kids haven't got somewhere warm to do their homework or they lie freezing in their beds at night.

I'll give the final word to Jim Hume:

“Thousands of families with children are facing a hard Christmas in temporary accommodation. We can only imagine how hard this is, especially for the 779 families that have been without a permanent home for over 6 months.
 “January marks the beginning of the year in which Scotland’s homelessness commitment is due to be met. “The SNP Government must ensure that it’s fully committed to ending 2012 with every homeless person having access to a permanent home. “A good start will be looking again at its planned 50% cut to the affordable housing budget and Alex Neil needs to face up to his government’s U-turn on the 6000 new socially rented houses each year
 “We also need to see a more innovative approach to tackling homelessness across Scotland. “We cannot afford to leave so many families out in the cold this Christmas.” 

Braehead photo scandal - it's not over yet as Police still don't get it

So, the owners of Braehead Shopping Centre have been dragged kicking and screaming to sup from the Fountain of Common Sense.

They finally and clearly reluctantly apologised to the appalling treatment their security guard meted out to Chris White who was challenged for taking photos of his 4 year old eating an ice cream.

The Boycott Braehead group which was set up on Facebook and attracted 4 times more fans than the Braehead site itself said today that it was no longer calling for a boycott, but that Chris White would be actively involved in doing more work on these issues. Their latest announcement said:

No one involved in this was doing anything other than what was expected of them from their job. The issues are around the policies and procedures that have been put in place. We want to bring back a bit of common sense. We no longer call for any public boycott and will be back soon with another page covering the broader issue. As a result, we will lock this page from comments. Keep a look out for an update from us with details of the new page.

I'm not so sure I would be quite so kind about the actions of the security guard and the police. From Chris White's own account, the Police, when they said that they could delete the photographs, were threatening to use a power that they don't have. And even if they thought they had a power under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act, they were wrong because this was suspended last July after it was found to be illegal.

Les Gray from the Police Federation doesn't seem to get this. Interviewed on Newsnight Scotland on Monday night, he seemed remarkably po-faced about the whole thing, insinuating that there may be more to this than met the eye. He had the manner of someone who doesn't think that ordinary citizens ever have the right to challenge the authority of the Police. You can watch the segment here on iPlayer.

Willie Rennie spoke on Saturday about how we should challenge power and authority when it is being abused. Chris White has given us all a bit of a masterclass in how to go about it over the past few days. If more of us do so, slowly, the powers that be will get that they have to behave in a  more appropriate and common sense manner.

I was very glad to see in all of this that our MSP Jim Hume had a good go at the actions of the Police, saying that Big Brother had got too big for his boots.

 “When a father cannot photograph his daughter without being threatened with laws designed for terrorists then we know big brother has got too big for his boots.

“A photo of a four year old enjoying an ice cream is not a matter of national security.

“A little bit of common sense would have told officers that there was no need for such a threat. People are rightly angry that common sense seemed to be at such a premium.”

Rennie welcomes ex SNP councillor back to Lib Dems

Good news this lunchtime for the Renfrewshire Liberal Democrat Council Group. Cllr Mike Dillon, who joined the SNP Group in May has reconsidered and come back to us. Here he is with Willie today.

Mike has clearly seen that the grass is not greener on the SNP side. I am glad that both he and the Council group, led by Cllr Eileen McCartin, have been grown up enough to let bygones be bygones. It takes a lot of character to do that in these circumstances and I'm proud of them both.

Mike Dillon said:

I am delighted to rejoin the Liberal Democrats. “I have been very impressed with Willie Rennie’s leadership of the party since the Scottish election and feel that he is absolutely taking us in the right direction.
 “His opposition to the centralisation instincts of the SNP has never been more important. “I also believe that Paisley will be best served by having as many Liberal Democrats elected to the council as possible in elections next May. We have been doing great things for Paisley and I want to keep doing so.”

 Welcoming him back, Willie Rennie said:

“I’m thrilled to welcome Mike back to the party.
 “Many of the people in Paisley and right across Scotland who voted for the SNP in May can now see that they are taking Scotland in the wrong direction. “By centralising services like the police and fire brigade, the SNP have revealed themselves not as a party for the people but a party obsessed with power. “Mike is one of many people who, after a brief flirtation with the SNP, are returning home to a strong relationship with the Scottish Liberal Democrats.”

This party isn't great at holding grudges, fortunately. Now, I don't expect that  Hugh O'Donnell, our former MSP who resigned just before the election in May, will rejoin the party, but I was really encouraged by his tweet that he had a good chat with Willie Rennie and Jim Hume in Parliament.

 Hugh was, is and always will be a friend of mine. He continues to have many friends inside the party and he is widely respected across Scotland for his work on autism among other things. It makes me feel really happy to see that there is no personal animosity between these three, who are all among my favourite people.

Lib Dem Jim Hume campaigns against Dovesdale Incinerator

A long, long time ago, I had a boyfriend who lived in a tranquil corner of rural Lanarkshire, near Strathaven, so I spent a bit of time in the area.

I'm not very pleased to hear that a whopping big incinerator is proposed for part of that beautiful countryside, a move which seems to fly in the face of local planning policy.

However, I am relieved to see that Jim Hume, Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland is helping the campaign against this proposal for a number of reasons:

• it's in the countryside, on greenbelt, near an organic dairy farm and in the middle of agricultural land.
• the incinerator would be near ancient woodland and a site of special scientific interest and a conservation area

As if that wasn't enough, there's also the fact that we should be reducing our waste, not burning it.

He has said that he thinks the incinerator goes against the Scottish Government's own zero waste plan:

“Whilst there may be some small place in the grand scheme of waste reduction, recycling and disposal for energy from waste plants, they should only be used for the small percentage of waste that can only be processed in this way and only where there is a proven, direct and significant energy benefit.

“They certainly should not be seen as a quick fix to the landfill problem.

”It seems to be quite clear that in this particular case, the proposal breaches local planning policies and is not an appropriate development for the countryside. Indeed, the Scottish Government's own Zero Waste Plan states that ‘potential sites should only include industrial areas; degraded, contaminated or derelict land; working and worked out quarries; sites that have the potential to maximise the potential for the re-use of waste heat through co-location with potential heat users; existing or redundant sites or buildings that can be easily adapted; existing waste management sites, or sites that were previously occupied by waste management facilities’.

“People might argue that the Dovesdale site's easy access to the main road infrastructure is a justification for this application, but local planning policy breaches should certainly not be overshadowed by roadside convenience."

Jim Hume and the local action group are asking local residents to send objections to South Lanarkshire Council - all the details are on the Action Group Against Dovesdale Incinerator's website - and in addition, Jim has started a petition against it which you can sign here.

The deadline for objections is rapidly approaching according to AGADI so if you oppose this developmet and you live in the area, please act quickly.