This Sunday, as we mark nine years since the start of the conflict in Syria, I will join with faith groups and many of the Syrian families who have re-settled in Edinburgh for a short remembrance service on the Mound at 1:45pm. Nine candles will be lit: one to remember the dead from each year of this terrible conflict. Nine years on, and now with the direct military involvement of Turkey, what has become a messy international standoff between international and regional powers looks no closer to resolution. 

The right to a jury trial is a cornerstone of the criminal law of Scotland and should be jealously guarded. So, yesterday, I welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to remove proposals for jury-less trials from their emergency Coronavirus Bill. 

I have no problem with the suspension of jury trials while we determine whether measures can be taken to cater for the need for social distancing. However, like the majority of lawyers and many members of the public, I don’t think trials of serious crimes such as murder and rape should continue with the verdict determined by a judge or a sheriff rather than a jury. 

If you want to get something done in politics, you need to build alliances not just in your own party but cross-party and beyond into civic society and grassroots organisations. 
 
Despite the huge majority Boris Johnson won in England in the General Election last year, dealing with the coronavirus crisis cannot work without cross-party support.  There has even been renewed talk of a “Government of National Unity’.  For the first time for years, there has been cordial and respectful collaboration with the devolved governments; particularly in drawing up the Bill currently passing through Westminster affording all four governments in these islands emergency powers. 
 

Three weeks ago, when Gail Ross announced she was standing down from parliament, no one could have guessed how relevant some of the issues she raised were about to become for all parliamentarians.  Gail explained that she was finding the demands of travelling to Edinburgh every week, covering the ground in her sizeable rural constituency and caring for a young family too much.  She suggested that MSPs who faced similar challenges should be afforded the opportunity to use online technology for meetings and voting. Now, as the Corona Virus spreads and Scotland and the UK go into lockdown, the mechanics that could make her suggestion work need to be looked at as a matter of urgency.