If Ruth Davidson's speech on equal marriage doesn't win some sort of award, I'll be upset

It's not like me to hand out praise to a Tory, let's be honest.

I don't have much choice, though. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson's speech in Holyrood's equal.marriage debate last night had me blubbing actual, proper tears.

It was magnificent; well constructed, persuasive and heartfelt. In a week when the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address has got us thinking about our favourite political speeches, this one has certainly got under my skin. Watch it here.



The bit that had me blubbing was this one:

Last year, the University of Cambridge conducted a huge body of research called “The School Report”. The researchers spoke to hundreds of LGBT pupils from across the UK who were open about their sexuality. The majority said that they were the victims of homophobic bullying and that it happened to them in their schools. More than half of the respondents deliberately self-harmed. Nearly a quarter had attempted to take their own life on at least one occasion.

These are our children and they are made to feel so much guilt, shame and despair. We have an opportunity today to make it better for them. At the moment, we tell these young people, “You are good enough to serve in our armed forces. You are good enough to care in our hospitals. You are good enough to teach in our schools. But you are not good enough to marry the person you love and who loves you in return.” We tell them that they are something different, something less, something other, and that the dream and gold standard of marriage does not apply to them. They do not get to have it. That apartheid message, that “same but different” or alien quality, and that otherness is reflected in every hurtful comment, slander, exclusion and abuse, whether it takes place in the school playground, on the factory floor, or in the local pub.

That is why the bill matters to those people who will directly benefit from it, such as those couples who are eager to commit their relationship in marriage and who should be allowed to do so. More than that, it matters to the future nature of our country. We have an opportunity today to tell our nation’s children that, no matter where they live and no matter who they love, there is nothing that they cannot do. We will wipe away the last legal barrier that says that they are something less than their peers. We can help them to walk taller into the playground tomorrow and to face their accuser down knowing that the Parliament of their country has stood up for them and said that they are every bit as good as every one of their classmates. They will know that their Parliament has said that they deserve the same rights as everyone else.

Willie Rennie talks about drug treatment on Sunday Politics Scotland

Yesterday, Willie Rennie went on Sunday Politics Scotland to take part in a discussion about drug treatment with the SNP's Mark McDonald and Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.

The impression I've had from what Willie was saying is that he's fed up of politicians pontificating about stuff they know nothing about, and making sweeping pronouncements about care. He thinks that everyone's different, that what works for one might not work for another and it really needs to be left to health professionals on the ground to choose the best way of treating each individual from a range of options.

We've seen the use of Methadone come under attack by politicians and the media. Willie described the Daily Record's demonisation of methadone "deplorable."

Speaking ahead of his appearance on the programme, Willie was keen to stress that the debate on addiction must put medical necessity ahead of moral prejudice:

The debate around drug misuse and the connected methadone programme has taken a disturbing turn in recent months with moral rather than professional judgements dominating the drugs dilemma. Drug related deaths reached an all-time high last year so it is vital that we give professionals all the tools they need to help people, including tools aimed at reducing the harms associated with drug misuse.  

While much of the recent focus has been on the overall number of deaths in which methadone was involved, other substances were involved in nearly 60% of these deaths. This shows that drug addiction is an extremely complex issue.  The suggestion from Labour that methadone treatment should be time or cost limited risks undermining the work that drug professionals are doing every day in our communities. Methadone is responsible for saving and stabilising many lives and could be regarded as a success for thousands of individuals. 

The key issue is getting people into treatment as soon as possible and ensuring that a whole range of recovery options are available. Another big issue is whether individuals stay engaged with treatment and enjoy a good relationship with the key workers involved in their care. Every drug addict is different. There should be no one-size-fits-all approach. We need a flexible and patient focussed approach. Politicians should not seek to restrict options for moral reasons but ensure that trained professionals are able to deliver the service they think best for the patient. 

You can watch him here.

The Scottish Parliament will be debating drugs strategy from 2pm on Thursday 8th November. 

I'm cross with Willie Rennie........

Well, kind of. Even though it's not his fault that he found himself having to high tail it to St Andrew's last night to take part in Question Time at the last minute.

There was even a sort of symmetry about one great by election winner taking a role on the national stage exactly 50 years after another's ground breaking win.

But, did it really have to be the night before the F1 practice sessions started in Australia? I need my sleep, otherwise I turn into the Witch Queen from Hell. There was no way I'd manage to get up at 5:30 for Free Practice 2 if I'd been up till all hours watching Question Time. So who was it going to be, Michael Schumacher or Willie Rennie?

I did wonder if little month old Michael Green would be up watching his namesake for the first time. His daddy works for the Mercedes team and his mummy is probably an even bigger Schumi fan than I am.

Anyway, I digress. I couldn't really go to bed without seeing how Willie had done. He was on with Janet Street Porter, Humza Yousaf, Ruth Davidson and Frank Field.

I felt that he really didn't get his fair share of airtime, but when he did speak he talked sense. If any random, normal people had been watching, other than the political geeks who normally gather round on Twitter, I think they would have seen a reasonable, articulate, very sensible guy. He's much wiser than I am because I was urging him on Twitter to have a go at Humza Yousaf over the SNP's economic failures over the economy and its Plan MacB, but it wasn't the right place. I wish he'd got the chance to bring up Alex Salmond's close links to Rupert Murdoch and this grubby little association they seem to have going on independence. He really had Salmond flailing on that last week and I think actually it's relevant to a UK audience that a vengeful Murdoch is quite happy to try to break up the UK over Leveson.

It was very interesting to see Ruth Davidson take credit for the rise in the tax threshold and Nick Clegg's Youth Contract - both Liberal Democrat ideas.

Humza Yousaf showed why the leadership contest he'll have with Nicola Sturgeon after the Independence Referendum will be an interesting one indeed.

Willie talked about how the argument we need to put forward on wind farm isn't just about jobs, it's about protecting the future. On minimum alcohol pricing he said that we could either sit and do nothing on harmful alcohol consumption, or do something we know works. On jobs, he talked about the difficult tightrope the Government was walking at the moment between spending enough to keep the economy going and spending too much which would cause problems with our credit rating and markets. It's good to see politicians acknowledge that it's a tough environment and it's hard to steer the right course. Labour would just go on about how it was a global recession and nothing to do with them, but then take credit for saving the world. Willie's comments were very real.

Anyway, I've done my usual Storify of my tweets and some interesting Twitter conversations I had along the way last night and you can see it for yourself here. Enjoy.

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Rennie: Salmond would dine out with Devil to further independence cause

I've been watching the love in between Alex Salmond and Rupert Murdoch with an increasing sense of foreboding. And it appears I might have good reason.

Have a look at this succession of tweets from Andrew Neil:

Especially the one where he says:

Murdoch never much liked UK but post-hacking he hates it. His revenge is to campaign for its break up. Scot Sun will back independence.

Apparently there's also a plot afoot to move the whole of BSkyB to Edinburgh.

The First Minister seems to be delighted to have such a backer for his cause that he's prepared to overlook the Murdoch empire's shameful record on phone hacking. Writing in the Sun on Sunday he said:

 "But the questions the probe is looking at relate to the industry, not one newspaper or company.

Aye, so it will, but why exactly was it set up in the first place? Because it emerged that the News of the World (prop that Murdoch man who was getting all cosy in Brute House last week) had hacked murdered Milly Dowler's phone. Does journalistic practice actually get more despicable than that?

You have to wonder what sort of media regulation there will be in an independent Scotland if Rupert and Alex  have their way. 

It's almost as if Salmond just doesn't care any more. He knows he's popular and quite clearly feels that he can do what he likes, even if that means sucking up to someone whose company has shown exceptionally poor ethical standards in its journalistic practices in order to secure media backing for independence.

I'm thrilled to see that Willie Rennie has challenged him on this. Many people will be glad that someone is standing up to the First Minister's increasingly ill-judged dalliances with the rich and powerful. 

“By seeking to exploit Rupert Murdoch's spiteful revenge for phone hacking the First Minister has confirmed that he will dine out with the devil to get his way on independence.

“The First Minister has already defended News International in his recent Sun on Sunday column and now he's seeking a grubby deal with the media tycoon to support splitting Scotland from the rest of the UK.

"This is a cynical attempt to exploit Rupert Murdoch's personal grudge and grievance against UK politicians who rightly criticised the News of the World and the Sun over phone hacking.

“The real substance of last week’s cosy fire-side chat with Rupert wasn't jobs but his revenge over Leveson. Has the First Minister no shame?"

If you are as outraged as Willie that Salmond has "traded defence of Murdoch over phone hacking for Murdoch's support for independence, why not get regular updates from him on his Facebook page?

Note that we're not hearing much on this from either Ruth Davidson or Johann Lamont, whose parties have heavily courted the Murdoch empire over the years.