Well, plenty of telephone work today. A funeral on the go (which will be delayed until February as the next of kin are in New Zealand for a bit), plus a major requiem for Friday. Plus a session with my local MSP. Partly I went to see him to say yes to his proposing me to lead the time for reflection at the Parliament in Holyrood, partly to ask him to support the proposed Aggravated Offences Bill. This is a private members bill which will put assaults on LGBT persons into the same category as racist or sectarian attacks. This means they will be recorded as such, rather than simply lost in general crime figures and that judges will be required to take the aggravated nature of the assault into consideration when sentencing. It would mean that defence lawyers could no longer use the "I thumped him because he made a pass at me" defence, because if they did, they client would get a heavier sentence, not a reduced one. Happily, my local MSP was broadly in favour of the Bill which the Govt has indicated it will support, although it may simply incorporate the Bill into other legislation to speed up the process, rather than let it saunter through on its lonio. So I feel like a virtuous citizen today! Hassling your reps may well be a worthwhile activity.
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