CANDIDATES fighting for votes in the General Election have affirmed their commitment to human rights in a hustings.
In an event organised by Amnesty International, seven parties attended in the Mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Glasgow in the west end.
Speakers included the Scottish Conservatives’ Meghan Gallacher (candidate for Motherwell and Wishaw), LibDem Gary McLelland (Glasgow East), the Scottish Greens’ Cass MacGregor (Glasgow Central), the SNP’s Patrick Grady (Glasgow North), Scottish Labour’s Willie Bain (Glasgow North East), Scottish Socialist Party candidate Bill Bonnar (Glasgow South West) and Angela McCormick from the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.
Organisers noted: “Strangely a representative of UKIP was invited but they declined to attend.
“Ukip stated that they could not send a candidate because the event clashed with the leaders’ debate on TV but some present at the event did suggest that UKIP would not like to go to a Mosque.
“During the meeting there was very little inter party argument; the candidates seldom gave the impression that they were just putting out their own party line or that they were criticising others for the sake of bashing the other parties. There seemed a widespread commitment to human rights.”
Siobhan Reardon, programme director at Amnesty International Scotland, said “Human rights are our rights, they are freedoms and liberties which enable us to lead our lives with dignity, respect and without prejudice.
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