David Maddox: In Constance sorrow (2)

There is a debate going on this morning in Holyrood which may well go under the radar in terms of media coverage.

Labour have put down a motion raising concerns about a report which suggested that disabled people should be excluded from having free bus passes.

What is interesting about this is that the Labour motion in the name of their transport spokesman, the recently rehabilitated Charlie Gordon, is word for word the same as a written one put down by Livingston SNP MSP Angela Constance (top left).

The mystery here is why after putting down a written motion which was then signed by several of her colleagues and members of other parties Ms Constance then decided to withdraw it.

She is deputy convener of the parliamentary group and thee is a suggestion that she was heavily leaned on by the party whips because the motion essentially undermined future SNP spending policy, probably because the Scottish Government doies not have enough money for it.

An example of the SNP's famous central control over its MSPs who have yet to show any sign of rebellion.

If this is true then there is a slight irony in the sense that the leaning would almost certainly have been administered by the chief whip Brian Adam (pictured right).

This no nonsense MSP just recently put out a press release apparently criticising his finance secretary John Swinney for his decisions on council funding which has left Mr Adam's city of Aberdeen a little short of cash. To be fair, from my days as an Aberdeen reporter I know that Mr Adam is first and foremost a determined constituency MSP.

Whatever the inside machinations of the SNP Holyrood group, it will be interesting if Ms Constance offers an explanation for suddenly pulling a motion which commanded wide support.

Here's the original motion:

(1) S3M-04717 Angela Constance (Livingston) (Scottish National Party): Concessionary Travel— That the Parliament welcomes the recommendation of the Review of the Scotland Wide Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People to include seriously injured armed forces veterans to the scheme but notes with disappointment and concern the review’s recommendation to disenfranchise disabled people who receive the lower rate of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) from the scheme; further notes that the review paints a worst-case scenario of the costs of including disabled people who receive the lower rate of DLA and that these costs are open to scrutiny and debate and that the review also played down the positive social impact that the scheme has on people’s lives; acknowledges that denying disabled people on the lower rate of DLA access to the scheme will damage the main aims and ethos of the scheme, namely to allow disabled people improved access to services, facilities and social networks by free scheduled bus services and so promote social inclusion and improve health by promoting a more active lifestyle for disabled people; notes that previous local schemes operated in West Lothian and Strathclyde provided people on the lower rate of DLA access to concessionary travel schemes and that they supported the national scheme mirroring their eligibility criteria instead of the stringent criteria that is now adopted; welcomes disability organisations Leonard Cheshire Disability, Learning Disability Alliance Scotland (LDAS), Inclusion Scotland and many more in challenging the review’s negative recommendation, and considers that disabled people’s views, that the national concessionary travel scheme should include people who receive the lower rate of DLA instead of backing the unfair recommendation on eligibility from the review, should be listened to.
Supported by: Robin Harper (Green), Dr Bill Wilson (SNP), Stuart McMillan (SNP), Bill Kidd (SNP), Anne McLaughlin (SNP), Gil Paterson (SNP), Christina McKelvie (SNP), Elaine Smith (Labour), Charlie Gordon (Labour), Aileen Campbell (SNP)
Lodged on Friday, August 21, 2009; Withdrawn as of Friday, August 21, 2009