THREAD - Neil Bibby MSP introduced the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Bill to Parliament to give greater protections to the tenants of Tied Pubs. The Bill was controversial with opinion sharply divided between the interests of tenants and landlords. 1/8

The @SP_Economy Committee recommended that Parliament reject the Bill at Stage 1. Only @RhodaGrant and myself dissented and recommended the Bill be supported. 2/8

At Stage 1, Parliament rejected the Committee’s recommendation and passed the Bill at Stage 1 in November with 107 MSPs voting Yes, none voting No and 4 abstentions. 3/8

The Bill then returned to Committee for Stage 2 - a closer scrutiny of the Bill’s provisions and the opportunity to lodge amendments. This is a short Member’s Bill. Deadline for Stage 2 to be completed is Fri 26 Feb. 4/8

But today we discover that there are 315 amendments to the Bill - unprecedented for a Members’ Bill and virtually all from Conservative MSPs seeking to wreck the Bill. It will take hours and hours to deal with this amendments. 5/8

Some of these amendments are here and are ridiculous 6/8 https://beta.parliament.scot/-/media/files/legislation/bills/current-bills/tied-pubs-scotland-bill/stage-2/daily-list-17-february-2021.pdf

Committee will need extra meeting on Fri 26 Feb but same MSPs who have lodged amendments are refusing to agree to such a meeting and so, unless Parliament agrees to extend Stage 2, the vast majority of these amendments cannot be considered. 7/8

I will defend the right of MSPs to lodge amendments but this process looks like an attempt by the Conservatives to derail this Members’ Bill. It is a disgrace, an abuse of process, a waste of Parliamentary time and disrespectful to the Member in charge. 8/8