Scottish Parliament Science Information Service

In September 2003 the Scottish Parliament launched a science project to afford MSPs access to 'reliable and factual information':

A one-year pilot Science Information Scheme for MSPs is being launched today at the Scottish Parliament. The Scheme is a collaborative project between the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in association with the Institute of Physics in Scotland and the University of Edinburgh.

The main purpose of this service will be:

to ensure that all MSPs have access to rapid, reliable and factual information on science, engineering and technology-related issues in order to help inform Parliamentary debates on scientific issues.

The scheme will be operated through a group of 52 Topic Co-ordinators who will act as "sign posts" directing MSP queries to the appropriate expert. Queries will be directed to these topic co-ordinators through the RSC Parliamentary Liaison Officer or SPICe.^[1]

The contacts named at the end of the press release include the Parliament, the RSE and the Royal Society of Chemistry. However, the contact for the latter is named as Willie Rennie of PR company McEwan Purvis. This indicates that Rennie was passing himself off as working for a learned society while in reality he was employed by and a shareholder in the PR firm.

Furthermore all of the science related organisations involved have strong corporate links and are known to take pro-corporate views on science issues. For example:

• The Royal Society of Edinburgh
• Royal Society of Chemistry
• Institute of Physics

Resources

SPICe briefings on: [Toxins in Tobacco Smoke], [GM Crops], [TETRA Radio System: Health Issues]

References

• ^ SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT SCIENCE INFORMATION SCHEME LAUNCHED Parliamentary News Release, 055/2003, Thursday 18 September 2003