3. To ask the Scottish Government whether, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, any of its future publications on independence will cover any constitutional lessons that can be learned from structures used in Parliaments elsewhere that include unelected members. (S6O-02928)

As is set out in the paper “Creating a modern constitution for an independent Scotland”, the written constitution in an independent Scotland will be founded on democracy, human rights and equality protections.

We can learn many lessons from Westminster’s House of Lords, with its membership of more than 800 unelected lifelong members, largely around practices that we should seek to avoid in an independent Scotland.

Only with independence can we ensure that sovereignty rests with the people of Scotland. We have no plans for any unelected element in an independent Scotland’s legislature.

Does the minister agree that, following Baroness Mone’s disastrous television interview last month, the lesson that no Parliament, if it wishes to be accountable in any way whatsoever to the electorate, should have an unelected house has once more clearly—if rather painfully—been made?

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Minister, please speak to matters within your responsibility.

I agree with that. I should say that it is not just Ms Mone who has acted in a manner that is unbecoming of a person in public life as a member of the UK legislature. We have seen other issues, such as peers claiming expenses just for the mere act of turning up at Westminster.

However, there are serious questions regarding Ms Mone. First, there are questions around the judgment of the Conservatives in sending her to the Lords in the first place, and, secondly, there are questions regarding an individual who used her position as a member of the House of Lords—at a time of international crisis, when we saw many people in all communities across Scotland freely volunteering their time to support their communities—to seek to rake in millions of pounds for her own family and not declare an interest. That hardly speaks to a proper system of governance.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

The focus of the question was on lessons to be learned

“from structures used in Parliaments elsewhere that include unelected members”,

and I think that we have kind of got the gist of that.

In reference to the question, which referenced “future publications on independence”, rather than commit to yet more papers on separation, which will inevitably end up out of date and in the political dustbin at a massive cost to the taxpayer, when will the Government focus its efforts on dealing instead with the issues that people actually care about?

I remind Mr Cameron that this Government has a mandate to pursue that work. We won the election and his party lost it. There are many benefits to be gained by Scotland becoming an independent country. We will continue to advance the case, which will include the case that we should not have a legislature with an unelected element, including minor nobility from Scotland. Mr Cameron will have to seek to continue to be elected to this Parliament.