That the Parliament notes the warning made by the Duke of Rothesay regarding persecution faced by minority religious groups around the world; understands that his comments included a warning that society should not return to “the dark days of the 1930s”; agrees with his comment that “the scale of religious persecution around the world is not widely appreciated”; understands that the charity, Aid to the Church in Need, recently released its report, Religious Freedom in the World, which ranks countries based on the level of religious freedom that they have; welcomes the Duke of Rothesay’s stated belief that, whichever religious path people follow, the destination is the same, “to value and respect the other person”, and believes that these basic principles of tolerance and compassion are ones that everyone should fight to uphold in an increasingly uncertain world.

That the Parliament notes the comments of the US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, regarding the risks of e-cigarettes; understands that he has said that the use of electronic cigarettes among young people is “now a major public health concern” as their brains are more vulnerable to the negative consequences of nicotine; notes that Dr Murthy’s report states that “the effects include addiction, priming for use of other addictive substances, reduced impulse control, deficits in attention and cognition, and mood disorders”, and agrees with him that the negative health effects and potentially harmful doses of heated chemicals in e-cigarettes are not completely understood and that “we know enough right now to say that youth and young adults should not be using e-cigarettes”.

John Mason MSP has expressed his anger upon hearing that the Department of Work and Pensions are planning to close 8 of Glasgow’s 16 job centres with 2 of the closures taking place in Shettleston Constituency.

This comes on the day the Joseph Rowntree Foundation released its Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2016 report which shows that 21% of the UK’s population is now living in poverty. This has more than doubled from a decade before. Cuts to benefits were also identified as a factor in the increase in poverty with the report noting that “Increasingly, the social security system does not cover the full cost of essentials for those on low incomes, such as rent and council tax”.

Commenting, John said:

“I find it absolutely outrageous that the DWP are trying to make it even harder for those in the most deprived areas of our city to get the benefits they are entitled to. My office has already had to help claimants who have been forced to travel as far afield as Hamilton for their appointments. These kind of issues will only become more prevalent with this new scheme.

“The decision to close jobcentres in the East End like Bridgeton, Parkhead and Easterhouse shows a complete lack of understanding of the problems faced by these communities. Constituents will now need to travel further, making it even harder for them to access support and making it much more likely that they will fall foul of the merciless sanctions regime.

“As I understand it the decision to close these centres is also news for the staff working there. I am also calling upon the DWP to provide assurances that the proposed closures will not lead to a reduction in existing staff.

“I will be working closely with other SNP elected members across our city to do our best to stop Glasgow being used as a guinea pig for another round of Tory cuts to the most vulnerable.”

To ask the First Minister, in light of comments by the Secretary of State for Scotland, what commitments the Scottish Government has received from the UK Government regarding the devolution of further powers.