NINETEEN resolutions will be debated by SNP members at their Annual Party Conference, taking in issues ranging from mental health policy to environmental protection to immigration.
On Sunday October 7 four resolutions will be heard including a call to devolve migration policy from Westminster to Holyrood, strengthening Scotland’s commitment to reusable plastic, asking members to debate whether the SNP should adopt a domestic violence policy akin to that of New Zealand where victims are given 10 days of annual leave from work to cope with the aftermath of assaults, and compulsory CPR training in schools.
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The following day’s conference will hear resolutions condemning UK Government policy on child tax credits, calls for the Home Office to recognise medically-supervised injection facilities, and talks on refugee family reunions. There will also be discussion on “whole-school” approaches to mental health provision, nuclear-free local authorities, the importance of seasonal workers and free movement of labour to support agriculture and tourism in Scotland.
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The party’s Glasgow Provan branch has proposed a resolution, asking the Scottish Government to ban public bodies from asking applicants for their most recent salary on job applications. Councillor Annette Christie told the Sunday National the question “affects mainly women who have been out of work or working part-time while looking after children, or men and women who have caring responsibilities and have taken time out for that. In the US there are several states now with by-laws against the question. It also affects people going from a big salary into say a job in the third sector, and disclosing what they make may rule them out that way from getting an interview.”
Seven resolutions come to the floor on the final day of the conference, including a motion on “Overhauling Consent on Scottish Schools” which asks the Scottish Government to urgently implement a new “Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education” curriculum which “more accurately reflects modern Scotland.”
National Executive Committee (NEC) member Josh Mennie told the Sunday National he is hopeful that the motion will draw attention to the problems that young people face around consent in relationships.
He said: “We know by how huge the #MeToo movement has become that sexual consent is still a massive issue in our everyday society. By educating young people in our schools, it should bring about the process of socialisation where sexual consent is the absolute norm.”
There will also be an internal session on revising the SNP constitution. One of the amendments to be discussed is from NEC member Anne McLaughlin along with Young Scots For Independence, which would allow associate members aged over 14 to vote at branch meetings.
The 19 resolutions coming to the conference were chosen by members from a long list of 32 – some of those that haven’t made it to this stage including proposals on tourism, disability, and cracking down on ticket touts.
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