Opposition parties accuse SNP of ‘shamefully using children’s rights to play nationalist games’
Children’s rights protections must not become the victim of constitutional argument, Scotland’s youth campaigners have warned, as they urge the Scottish government to work at speed to address a supreme court judgment that rules a bill to enshrine the UN convention on the rights of the child went beyond Holyrood’s powers.
The deputy first minister, John Swinney, said Wednesday’s ruling, in response to a legal challenge from the UK government, “lays bare the weakness of, and the limits in, the devolution settlement”, while opposition parties accused the SNP of “petty constitutional bickering” and “shamefully using children’s rights to play nationalist games”.
