23 December 2010 (Jewish Chronicle Online)
Ken Macintosh, Labour MSP for Eastwood, a constituency in Glasgow with a sizeable Jewish community, has criticised the Scottish Parliament for taking a passive stance on antisemitism.
In particular, Mr Macintosh said he was concerned that there was no Scottish representation on the cross-government working group on antisemitism.
He said: “I would like to see us represented on the group, or at the very least to comment on its findings. It’s a national initiative, so why don’t we participate?”
Danny Stone, secretary to the all-party parliamentary group against antisemitism, said: “The Scottish government has not been deliberately excluded and I am sure any interest would be welcomed.”
But a spokesperson for the Scottish government said: “Unfortunately, we do not have a locus to participate in Westminster parliamentary working groups.”
Mr Macintosh added: “For some reason this has broken down at the devolved barrier. For example, they’ve just announced increased funding for security at Jewish schools, but this will not be going to Calderwood Lodge Jewish Primary School.”
See this article online here.
