Jamie Greene, Conservative candidate for Cunninghame North, has called into question details on the controversial Named Person Scheme in Scotland. The SNP proposed legislation is currently not clear on whether parents would be able to opt-out of the scheme or not according to the Tory hopeful.
In a television interview earlier in March, Nicola Sturgeon said involvement in the scheme would not be compulsory, though previous messages from the Scottish Government's lawyer and the education secretary implied otherwise.
In the final First Minister’s Questions before the official election campaign period kicked off, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson attempted to get some clarity on the "universal" nature of the legislation. She asked Ms Sturgeon to make it "absolutely clear" that families who don't agree with the scheme can withdraw, and that they would be able to do so.
The First Minister said the scheme was not legally enforceable as it was an "entitlement", but stressed it would be "available" to everyone.
Jamie Greene said that he was suspicious that should parents not comply with the appointed state guardian – which will be assigned to everyone aged 18 and below – there could be a negative impact further down the line.
He told local press that "The SNP wants to appoint a state guardian for every child, over the heads of parents, and against the wishes of the majority of this country. The First Minister suggested on television that parents could easily opt-out of this, and it would only be there for those who wanted and needed it. This is simply not true. These plans are completely unacceptable, and typical of SNP and Labour attitudes that they know better than parents."
Adding to his obvious opposition to the legislation he added "This is a dangerous and sweeping law, which will see sensitive information being gathered in a database, and accessed without parents' knowledge or consent. Parents across North Ayrshire should be deeply worried by this Scheme."