Cherry: I expect cross-party support for plan to reform Lord Advocate’s role
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An SNP MP says there is cross-party support for her bid to allow Holyrood to split the role of Lord Advocate – the head of Scotland’s prosecution service who is also the Scottish Government’s top legal adviser.
Joanna Cherry KC said her private member’s bill would set right a “historical anomaly” by allowing these two elements of the role to be held by different people.
Her 10-minute rule bill is due to be heard at Westminster later this week.
Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Monday, she said she did not intend criticism of the current Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain, but there has long been concern about a potential conflict of interest in the two parts of the job.
She said: “Because of reservations in the Scotland Act, it’s not open to the Scottish Parliament to create a new law officer or a new public prosecutor.
“There would have to be devolution of the power from Westminster to Holyrood to do that.
“That’s what my 10-minute rule private member’s bill is designed to do.”
She said that reconsidering the role was part of the SNP manifesto, while she expected “cross-party” support from Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and Alba.
A number of events in recent years have exposed the tension in the role, she said – including the investigation into Alex Salmond, the Rangers malicious prosecution scandal and the ongoing police investigation into the SNP’s finances.
Concerns about the Lord Advocate’s role went even further back, she argued, saying it is a “historical anomaly that was rubber-stamped by the Scotland Act”.
The Scottish Government has committed to reviewing the Lord Advocate’s role. Ms Cherry’s Bill would allow Holyrood to amend the law officer’s role.
Ms Cherry also criticised comments by Mhairi Black, who said some of her SNP colleagues had grown too “comfortable” in Westminster.
The Edinburgh South West MP said Ms Black’s comments were not appropriate given she is deputy leader of the Westminster group and some SNP MPs are facing “difficult fights to hang on to their seats”.
The SNP is not an abstentionist party, she said, adding: “(Mhairi Black) needs to live up to her responsibilities or give the post over to someone who will and I’m hoping that Mhairi will apologise to her colleagues this week.”
