Call for longer Holyrood hours

Call for longer Holyrood hours

Mr McConnell wants more debate

Labour leader Jack McConnell has called for longer hours and tougher debates in the Scottish Parliament.

Mr McConnell said the move would allow for greater scrutiny of legislation and improve the quality of discussion at Holyrood.

At the moment, the Parliament only sits for three days a week and the working day for MSPs normally ends at five o'clock.

But speaking in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper, Mr McConnell said he would press for a shake-up of the current arrangements if Labour are returned to power on 1 May.

He said: "We need to move away from that rigid pre-programmed party political structure and move into a structure that allows much more development of ideas and reflections of constituency opinion."

Mr McConnell also gave his backing to calls for Scottish Executive ministers to be subjected to more extensive grillings in the debating chamber.

He said: "Government ministers are well paid. They should be put under scrutiny, asked difficult questions, and the system should encourage that rather than work against it."

Pensioners

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats stepped up their campaign for the so-called 'grey vote' when they launched their charter for older people.

The document contains five key pledges, including free digital hearing aids for those who need them and an extension of free bus travel for OAPs, which the Lib Dems hope will secure the support of older people on 1 May.

Parliamentary candidate Margaret Smith said: "Older people's lives can be significantly restricted by a range of problems outside of their control. Scottish Liberal Democrats want to liberate them, enabling them to live their lives to the full."

The Greens unveiled crime policies

Elsewhere in the charter, the Lib Dems also pledge to extend the free central heating scheme, increase access to GPs and other medical services and protect community post offices and pharmacies.

The Greens broke ranks with the main political parties by insisting that increasing police levels was not the best way to tackle crime.

Spokesman Patrick Harvie said: "Whilst community policing is crucial, more police will not tackle the issue of why crime happens in the first place. The priority must be to tackle the root causes of crime."

The Green Party said it wants to improve community facilities to steer young people away from a life of crime.

Scottish National Party (SNP) leader John Swinney welcomed the results of a poll which showed most Scots backed calls for Holyrood to have full control over the country's economy.

The poll, carried out by System 3, showed that 70% of those surveyed believed the Scottish Parliament should be responsible for powers that influence economic growth.

"We could cut the taxes on growth to boost economic activity. And specifically an SNP government will cut the taxes on growth to a level below the rest of the UK," said Mr Swinney.