‘We are here to serve all communities in Scotland’

KATE Forbes has vowed to “progress” the rights of all communities in Scotland, amid concerns from the Greens about what they said are the Deputy First Minister’s “judgemental attitudes” towards social issues including abortion.

The newly appointed Deputy First Minister spoke to journalists in Holyrood yesterday after Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie urged the Government not to backtrack on progressive LGBT policies.

Forbes, a member of the Free Church of Scotland, has previously faced criticism for her social views on gay marriage and abortion rights.

In John Swinney’s inaugural session of First Minister’s Questions (FMQs), Harvie said many in the LGBT community are “worried” about his deputy appointment.

Speaking after FMQs, Swinney was asked if he believes his deputy supports his progressive values. He replied: “Yes, she does actually.”

Forbes then told journalists:

“I am here to support the First Minister and together we serve all communities in Scotland as we further and progress the rights of every community in Scotland, and I look forward to doing my part in achieving the Government’s aims in that regard.

“Not just that, but when I joined government yesterday in a clear role to support the First Minister, I signed up to collective responsibility, so I stand by the Government’s decisions and agenda to improve and progress the rights of all of Scotland’s communities.”

The First Minister also said it is “absolutely legitimate” for people to “seek reassurance”. He said: “If people are feeling uneasy or anxious, we’re better airing that.

“So that I can say on the record, and the Deputy First Minister can say on the record in front of you all, that we give that reassurance and we give that comfort to people in our society, because that’s what we believe.”

In his question to the First Minister, Harvie raised concerns that the “second most powerful job” in the Scottish Government has been given to someone “who has opposed LGBT people’s legal equality, expressed judgemental attitudes to abortion, and who has expressed the view that people who have families without being married are doing something wrong”.

Harvie asked: “Is this the Scottish Government’s vision for the future of Scotland – taking us back to the repressive values of the 1950s?

“I’m not yet sure that the

First Minister acknowledge or understands just how worried many LGBT people and others are in Scotland at the moment.”