Oral Answers to Questions

Kenny MacAskill Excerpts

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It gives me great pleasure to thank my right hon. Friend for all the work that he did on the “New Decade, New Approach” deal. I agree that it would be a good thing for the whole package to be agreed, and I certainly support the approach that he has set out. I think that what the people of Northern Ireland want is a stable, functioning and mature Executive.

[Kenny MacAskill (East Lothian) (Alba)]

A new Lord Advocate has taken up position, but the structural flaws in the office remain. In no other legal jurisdiction in the UK, or indeed in the western world, is the Government’s senior legal adviser simultaneously the country’s chief prosecutor; yet the role is enshrined in the Scotland Act 1998. Will the Prime Minister commit to changes so that that historical anachronism can be changed and a separation of powers achieved?

[The Prime Minister]

First, I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on the outstanding success of his party in the recent elections. I will study the anomaly that he raises and revert to him as soon as possible.