HOLYROOD’S Easter recess has not been a quiet time in Scottish politics, as voters see democracy’s nuts and bolts scrutinised by politicians, the media and online.

The First Minister, elected by Scotland’s parliament, appointed cabinet secretaries and other ministers to form a government, exactly as at Westminster. SNP and Green ministers will deliver on manifesto promises voted for via proportional representation. Unlike Westminster’s ‘first past the post’ confrontational two-party system, Holyrood’s consensus politics can lead to cross-party working.

That was evidenced when a Holyrood bill, passed by a large majority across the political spectrum, was greeted by a standing ovation from both MSPs and people in the public gallery. The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill ensures self-determination of the person as happens in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. In France and Greece, a court permission is required.

Westminster used Section 35 powers contained in the devolution settlement to stop Holyrood’s Bill going forward for Royal Assent.

First Minister Humza Yousaf is challenging this attack on Holyrood’s legislative autonomy with a robust defence of devolved Scotland as an equal partner in a UK parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch.

On Tuesday, the First Minister set out his priorities for the next three years with a fresh vision for these challenging times, committing to using the powers of devolution to the maximum, while also making the case for independence. He placed tackling child poverty and the wellbeing economy at the heart of his programme. Westminster austerity policies have impacted the most vulnerable in all parts of the UK.

The SNP is also scrutinising its operations as a political party administered by paid officials and governed by office bearers elected by party members. The world’s democracies depend on political parties with both employees and unpaid activists. But voters always have the final say: democracies globally have vastly more voters than political party members.

Unionists who observe current difficulties and would welcome Westminster blocking Scotland’s democracy should recall Churchill’s words: “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried”.