The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
MP’s bill given royal assent
Politics: North-east member’s measure tackles violence against women
A north-east MP’s bill aimed at tackling violence against women has received royal assent.
The legislation, brought forward by the SNP’s Eilidh Whiteford, provides the UK Government with a vehicle for ratifying the Istanbul Convention.
This is the Council of Europe agreement, signed in 2012, on combating violence against women and domestic violence.
The UK played a prominent role in developing it, but the process subsequently stalled.
Now the bill, which received cross-party support, has passed through both Houses of Parliament and been rubber-stamped by the Queen, and will become law.
It puts legal obligations on the state to prevent violence against women, protect women and prosecute the perpetrators.
As well as backing from MPs, it was supported by actress Emma Watson, a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, and a host of women’s equality organisations.
Ms Whiteford said she was delighted to be the first ever SNP MP to get a private member’s bill onto the statute book.
She added: “I brought forward this bill because the Istanbul Convention has the potential to change the lives of women in my own constituency of Banff and Buchan, across the whole of the UK and also globally.
“The convention is the gold standard for legislation to prevent and combat violence against women
“It has the potential to change the lives of women”
and girls, and domestic violence.
“Since I started the process of bringing forward this bill last year, the UK Government has moved quite significantly, with the prime minister committing to overseeing new legislation on domestic violence.
“This could be, if the government wants it to be, the legislative vehicle to bring the UK into full compliance with the convention, paving the way for ratification.
“I’m very pleased to have been able to steer through legislation, but it’s only the beginning.
“Now we’ll be holding the government to account on their report and Politicians across Scotland are on alert after a suspected anthrax package was sent to council offices in Angus.
The Scottish Parliament sent out a warning notice to MSPs on the advice of Police Scotland, who have also warned councillors and MPs.
The letter from Holyrood’s head of security Becky Thomson said three packages containing white powder had been handled by police.
The letter said: “Between Tuesday April 25 and Wednesday April 26, three suspicious mail packages containing a “white powder” type substance were timetable for ratification. I won’t stop this work until the UK ratifies the Istanbul Convention.” sent to an elected official, a political party headquarters and a council building.
“All packages were associated with the forthcoming UK general election. Police Scotland’s inquiries into this matter are ongoing.
“We enclose a letter from Police Scotland with some further advice regarding mail handling, suspicious packages and indicators of “white powder”.
Reports of a suspicious package came in after Forfar town centre was locked down by police on Wednesday. It is understood the letter indicated it contained spores of the disease, along with the message “Get SNP out. Tories in”.