SNP MINISTER IS FORCED TO QUIT OVER DRUG DEATHS
Health minister resigns before no-confidence vote over scandal
PUBLIC health minister Joe FitzPatrick yesterday ‘agreed’ to resign just days after Scotland recorded its highest ever number of drug deaths.
A record 1,264 drug deaths were registered in 2019, prompting calls for the SNP minister to resign or face a vote of no confidence.
Although it initially appeared he would attempt to survive the crisis, Mr FitzPatrick last night admitted he had ‘agreed’ to leave the Scottish Government after speaking to the First Minister.
Former education and equalities secretary Angela Constance has been appointed as a minister to take charge of the drugs crisis.
In a statement issued last night, Mr FitzPatrick said the ‘most heart-breaking and difficult problems’ he faced as public health minister were the harms and deaths caused
‘Terrible failures over the last 13 years’
‘I spoke with the First Minister today and agreed that I should leave government. As the minister responsible for this area I, ultimately, take my responsibility.’
Joe FitzPatrick
‘While the time has now come to make a change in the public health brief, no one should doubt Joe’s hard work, dedication and sincerity.’
Nicola Sturgeon
by drug use. He then added: ‘I spoke with the First Minster today and agreed that I should leave government.
‘As the minister responsible for this area I, ultimately, take my responsibility. It is clear that my presence as a minister will become a distraction, when we should be focused on achieving the change we need to save lives.’
Miss Sturgeon thanked the MSP for Dundee City West. She said: ‘While the time has now come to make a change in the public health brief, no one should doubt Joe’s hard work, dedication and sincerity.
‘He will continue to champion the interests of his constituents at Holyrood, and I wish him well in the future.’
Earlier this week it was revealed there were 1,264 drugs deaths in Scotland in 2019 – a record high and double the number in 2014.
This was an increase of 6 per cent on the 1,187 deaths in 2018 – and gives the nation a drugs death rate three-and-a-half times higher than England and Wales while being the worst of any European country.
Opposition parties had demanded Mr FitzPatrick – who was appointed to the public health role in June 2018 – resign immediately over the soaring numbers of deaths caused by illicit substances.
And they had threatened to bring a vote of no confidence to the Scottish parliament only days before MSPs break for the Christmas recess.
The resignation comes just 24 hours after Miss Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament that she wanted to work with Mr FitzPatrick ‘to make sure we collectively accept this responsibility and take the actions required to fix the problem’.
The First Minister described the drug deaths figures as ‘completely unacceptable’ and admitted that the Scottish Government needed to do more to tackle the issue.
However, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: ‘ The families of the 1,264 people who lost their lives in the last year to drugs will take little comfort in his resignation.
‘They are more interested in how we have reached this shameful position after more than 13 years of the SNP being in power, with Nicola Sturgeon i n charge of health for much of that.’
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: ‘ This was inevitable but it doesn’t ease the pressure on the Scottish Government to make up for the terrible failures over the last 13 years on drugs policy. ‘Change is needed and fast.’ Last night, Scottish Labour health spokesman Monica Lennon said it was ‘right that Joe FitzPatrick has resigned’.
She added: ‘ Having been neglected for too long, Scotland’s drug deaths emergency must now be given the full attention of the Scottish Government.’
Miss Sturgeon was forced to jump to Mr FitzPatrick’s defence after an embarrassing performance in the Scottish parliament led to a fierce backlash online.
Under his public health role, Mr FitzPatrick would have been involved in the roll- out of the coronavirus vaccine.
However, he has never chaired a government briefing and has been noticeably absent from pandemic planning publicity. Speaking just days after the Pfizer vaccine was given the go-ahead, Mr FitzPatrick repeatedly refused to directly answer questions in Holyrood on plans for the roll-out of the jab.
Instead, he attempted to set out a timeline leading to Wednesday’s announcement – prompting presiding officer Ken Macintosh to repeatedly cut in and rebuke him.
Miss Sturgeon last night revealed that Angela Constance will take up a new government role as a drugs minister – working solely on combating the crisis.
Miss Constance was formerly education secretary and then equalities secretary in Miss Sturgeon’s government before departing in the 2018 reshuffle.
She is a former social worker who has worked with drug users and their families. A public health minister is yet to be appointed.
Mr FitzPatrick’s statement said: ‘I spoke with the First Minster today and agreed that I should leave government.
‘It has been the privilege of my life to serve in the Scottish Government and, during that time, the most heart-breaking and difficult problems I have faced as public health minister is the harms and deaths caused by drug use.
‘I have worked with families who have felt the burden and weight of grief from drug use. I want to thank them for their candour and the amazing efforts they make to try and make our country better and safer for all.’
THE departure of Joe Fitz-Patrick as public health minister was inevitable.
Figures showing 1,264 scots lost their lives to drugs last year, the highest toll in Europe, made his position untenable. in a statement released yesterday evening, he said: ‘As the minister responsible for this area i ultimately take my responsibility.’
The question is when Nicola sturgeon will take hers. For the first seven years of SNP rule, she was deputy first minister, five of those spent as health secretary. For the past six years, she has been First Minister.
That is more than a decade in which she has been wholly or partly responsible for drug treatment policy in scotland.
if 1,264 people dying from drug misuse in just 12 months is a reflection on Joe Fitz-Patrick’s two-year tenure, what does it say about Miss sturgeon’s 13 years?
Mr Fitz-Patrick will be succeeded by Angela Constance, whom sturgeon reshuffled after 18 chaotic months as education secretary and dumped as communities secretary two years later. it is a testament to the paucity of talent on the SNP benches that one failed minister has been replaced by another.
if Miss Constance fails again, Miss sturgeon will have to bid farewell to another public health minister. At least she has experience sacking Miss Constance.