Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Attorney General

Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Arkless Excerpts
Thursday 26th May 2016

(7 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Ingenuity is a valuable parliamentary commodity.

Richard Arkless Portrait Richard Arkless (Dumfries and Galloway) (SNP)
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I am genuinely mystified at our apparent ingenuity. Clearly, human rights are not listed in schedule 5. Schedule 5 is the exhaustive list of reservations, and human rights are not on it. What is the legal basis for the Attorney General’s assertion? Human rights are devolved to Scotland.

Jeremy Wright Portrait The Attorney General
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Mr Speaker, I am not sure how many times I can get away with giving the same answer. The position is as I have set out: the Human Rights Act is a matter for the UK Parliament. I entirely understand SNP Members’ frustration at having to sit in a UK Parliament, but I am afraid that that was the decision of the Scottish people and they are going to have to live with it.