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Scotland: Tell the First Minister it’s time to deliver the Human Rights Bill

As a new parliamentary session begins, Scotland has a real opportunity to build the fair and just society that people across Scotland have demanded and voted for.

For too many people across the country, their rights to basics like health, housing and an adequate standard of living are still out of reach. For too many, the reality is one of insecurity, a struggle to make ends meet, and a difficulty in holding those with power accountable for failing to deliver their rights. That is an injustice.

But in September, the First Minister has the chance to put it right.

Including the long-awaited Human Rights Bill in his Programme for Government, and committing to it in the first year, would not only mean transformational change by putting all of our everyday rights into Scots law. But he will also be making a statement about the kind of Scotland he wants to build.

A Scotland that rejects the divisive anti-rights voices that are growing louder across the world and at home too. A Scotland where human rights are valued, protected and strengthened. A Scotland where all of our rights are secured. A Scotland for all of us.

Now is the moment for the First Minister to act and deliver.

Email him now to demand that he put human rights first by bringing forward the Human Rights Bill without delay.

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Dear First Minister John Swinney,

I am writing to urge you to commit, in the forthcoming Programme for Government, to bringing forward the Human Rights Bill in the first year of the new parliamentary session.
The Bill is urgently needed. Right now, too many people across our communities are struggling for the basics we all need for a decent life. Too many are struggling to access secure housing, put food on the table, and get the healthcare they need. For too many, their everyday rights simply do not exist in reality.

That is why it was so welcome that the manifesto on which you were elected contained a clear commitment to the Human Rights Bill. It is now time to deliver it. People across Scotland cannot wait any longer for the change it would bring.

Against a backdrop of a growing anti-rights movement both domestically and internationally, you also have a chance to reject hate and division by showing the world that your Scottish Government will put human rights at the very heart of its agenda. To prioritise this Bill would be make clear that Scotland’s values of fairness and justice are at the very core of your vision for Scotland.

To bring forward the Bill within the first year of this Parliament would be to focus on delivering what people across the country really want – practical action towards building a most just Scotland. In helping to protect living standards and public services for everyone by incorporating a range of everyday rights into Scots law, you would be delivering on what matters most.

As Scotland’s First Minister who has been elected on a manifesto that promised to deliver a Human Rights Bill, it is now time to fulfil that promise.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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As a new parliamentary session begins, Scotland has a real opportunity to build the fair and just society that people across Scotland have demanded and voted for.

But in September, the First Minister has the chance to put it right.

Now is the moment for the First Minister to act and deliver.

Email him now to demand that he put human rights first by bringing forward the Human Rights Bill without delay.