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There is a saying 'if you want to get something done, ask a busy
person'. As Deputy Convener of both the Justice Committee and the
Scotland Bill Committee, Labour Shadow Minister for Justice, as
well as working tirelessly in his constituency of Rutherglen, James
Kelly MSP is indeed a busy person around the corridors of
Holyrood.
Growing up as the oldest of seven children in Halfway in
Cambuslang, James developed a keen interest in politics from a
young age. As a young person growing up and learning about politics
in the 1970s, Martin Luther King had a big impression on James. He
admired the courage he showed in standing up for what he believed
in, and that is something which still resonates with James
today. He vividly recalls watching the February 1974 General
Election with great interest too, and looks back on it as another
of the contributory factors in his decision to become more
politically active. Growing up in "a relatively modest
background" in Cambuslang, James also owes a lot to his parents,
who "brought us up properly to do well, to work hard, to do your
best, and to treat people properly, and I was always aware of a
sense of real fairness as I grew up; the idea of doing the right
thing." When he joined the Labour Party in 1981, the Conservatives
had just come into power, and there were factory closures in his
local area, with many of those who lost their jobs never finding
work again. That was the final impetus for James to get more
involved and to stand up for his beliefs. In 2005 a vacancy arose
in his local constituency for a candidate, and a number of people
approached James to suggest that he put himself forward. "I
regarded it as an honour to have the opportunity to stand for
Labour and to represent my local area. I'd done a lot of the work
in the party, but I regarded it as an exciting opportunity, not
only to represent the local area but to speak about things that I
felt strongly about." In 2007, James was elected, and returned as
constituency MSP again in 2011.
His impression of the results of the 2011 Scottish election on
the Labour Party is pragmatic. "I think it's absolutely clear that
we suffered a major loss. We lost the confidence of a lot of voters
who had always voted Labour, and we also failed to win voters…. Our
message wasn't clear enough in 2011, or 2007 for that matter. You
can't win elections if you can't explain what you're actually
standing for." He therefore believes that the problems in the
Scottish Labour Party can be remedied in two ways: "we need to come
up with a programme that clearly communicates our message, and we
also need an organisation that backs that up." The importance
of local community-based activism is key in James' opinion: "we
need to produce an organisation which is rooted in communities,
which works cohesively and collectively together and taps into the
young, inexperienced talent we've got in the party and ensures that
they become our advocates for the 21st century." However,
reforming the Scottish Labour Party will take time. Meanwhile, he
is aware that things will be very different for Labour MSPs in this
Parliament compared to the experiences of previous years. For now,
the reality for Labour MSPs is that they are numerically depleted
from previous years, and are still considering how best to deal
with the fact that the SNP has a majority in the Parliament and on
every Committee: "we'll need to assess our strategy in terms of
what we can realistically achieve, and what we need to be saying in
the Parliament to reflect what people will be saying out in the
community, so if there are issues like knife crime for example
where we feel the SNP are not doing enough, we need to be prepared
to speak out."
As an opposition member on two of the Parliament's committees,
the Justice Committee and the Scotland Bill Committee, James notes
that "on every committee the SNP have the majority and are able to
impose their will if you like. But that has to be tempered with
responsibility." Speaking of the Offensive Behaviour at Football
and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill which is currently
being considered by the Justice Committee, he was pleased that
"because of the weight of the evidence that people were giving to
the committee, that played a part in resulting in the SNP
Government pulling back from the initial timetable and allowing for
greater consideration, so there are other pressures that can be
brought to bear." On the legislation itself, he acknowledges
that "sectarianism is a complex issue, and it's not just about
passing laws; it's about working with communities, working in the
education system, working with young people, educating people to
change attitudes in society. It's absolutely clear that if people
behave unacceptably outwith the law, they should be prosecuted, but
it is important that if we're putting new laws in place, that the
new laws are effective and they can have the confidence of the
prosecutors, the police and the public. The bill as drafted has
raised serious questions about that. For it to be acceptable it
will need some work done on it."
James also sits on the Scotland Bill Committee, which has also
hit the ground running in the new Parliamentary session. MSPs are
re-considering the provisions in the UK Parliament bill before the
Scottish Parliament will be required to debate and pass a
Legislative Consent Motion (LCM) to consent to the UK Parliament
legislating on their behalf. This process had begun prior to
the election, with a Scotland Bill Committee convened by former
Labour leader Wendy Alexander which had reported, and the Scottish
Parliament had passed an LCM, albeit with some caveats to be
revisited in this Parliamentary session. James, however, is
concerned about the potential impact of an SNP majority on the
future of this legislation: "overall the Scotland Bill passes more
powers to Scotland, and brings greater responsibility to Scotland…
and I would hope that the SNP would not use their majority
irresponsibly to vote down the LCM." However, he notes that
during the election campaign "none of the issues around the
Scotland Bill were ever raised with me on the doorstep - it didn't
seem to be an issue that was massively to the forefront of the
public's attention."
The need to react to what he's hearing "on the doorstep" is
something which James thinks is lacking in the SNP's recently
announced Programme for Government. He was particularly
disappointed to note that there was no mention of a Victims of
Crime Bill.: "This is something the SNP promised at the election
but haven't brought forward in their legislative programme.
What I find in the constituency that I represent is that, for
people who have lost loved ones through murder or serious
incidents, it's not just the stress of losing someone, it's the way
that victims and their families are treated in the criminal justice
system. The system … is not fit for purpose in terms of
helping victims overcome the difficulties that they face, and also
ensuring speedy justice is enacted." He was also critical of
the proposed economic strategy being taken forward by the Scottish
Government: "It's not just about looking at the high-level economic
indicators about whether unemployment has gone up and down each
month. The reality is that on the ground, too many young people are
leaving school and college and not going into work. That not only
is a waste, but it can create other problems in society and in the
community, and that's something that the SNP government's economic
strategy must do more to address."
However, although critical of the likely policy direction of the
current government, James is positive about the track record of the
Scottish Parliament on social justice issues, and finds Cross Party
Groups have an important role to play in continuing the good work.
He is currently Co-Convener of CPGs on Co-operatives and Fair
Trade, and sits on another CPG on Credit Unions. He values them
because: "you can have a discussion around the Parliament about
issues which haven't been formally tackled in Parliament
proceedings, and can allow members to raise them either in
Parliamentary Questions or Members' Debates." This is perhaps one
of the ways in which opposition MSPs will be able to hold the
majority SNP Parliament to account.
It has been a busy few months since gaining re-election for
James, but he still finds time to unwind, enjoying running which he
says "blows the cobwebs away". He recently completed the 13 mile
Great Scottish Run. He also enjoys spending time with his
family, wife Alexa and daughters Carys and Erin who are 11 and 13,
"so a good age, and they certainly keep my feet firmly on the
ground". However, no matter how busy life gets, James
is careful to pay heed to a piece of advice which he has heard
repeatedly: "some people go into politics, and other positions in
life, and they get too carried away with the position, and the
status… You've got to remember where you came from, who you're
representing and be realistic then about what you're about." With
his family behind him, and his ability to be pragmatic about the
work that can be done by Scottish Labour and individual MSPs in the
Parliament, James' feet will be kept firmly on the ground, except,
of course, when he is running!