John Swinney rebuffs burqa ban calls, earning applause from Labour and Greens

John Swinney faced repeated questioning from Malcolm Offord about the Green Party conference’s "zionism is racism" motion and a proposal to forbid women from wearing the burqa. Swinney asserted he does not agree with the conference’s conclusions and emphasized his duty to protect all communities, rejecting any attempt to divide them. He reminded the chamber of his parliamentary experience since 1999 and noted he has never been asked to ban the burqa.

Labour MSPs responded with applause, and Green MSPs also showed support. Additional queries from Michael Marra, Gillian MacKay, Russell Findlay and Alex-Cole Hamilton covered topics ranging from rising child homelessness to data-centre planning, fraud recovery, and school violence, with Swinney outlining cross-party talks and government measures.