As Holyrood resumed its business after recess, all eyes were on the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government. After months of speculation, we learned what specific commitments the First Minister and his Cabinet would make for the coming year.

For everyone involved in defending and extending people’s human rights, it was a deeply disheartening day.

The long-awaited and much-vaunted Scottish Human Rights Bill has been kicked into the long grass. It was due to be introduced to the Scottish Parliament in 2024. Now it will not see the light of day before the 2026 elections.

Shock and anger swept across swathes of the third sector as the news broke, given the reality so many of us are battling against every day. The recent increase in far-right extremism across the UK has highlighted the significant disparity between the theoretical rights and the actual experiences of people of colour, Muslims, and racialised communities. Scotland may have escaped the racist riots seen elsewhere, but it remains a country where racist and Islamophobic hate crimes are an alarming reality.

These are stark reminders of the progress still needed before human rights become a reality for everyone in Scotland today.

For years, people on the sharp end of human rights violations have given their time and energy to numerous Scottish Government consultations, and roundtable discussions, to change things for the better. Officials and ministers have often promised to co-create policies, respect lived experience, and ensure participatory decision-making. For many, those words rang hollow as the Human Rights Bill was delayed indefinitely. 

Take racism as an example. People shared their experience of racism in Scotland as part of the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s latest monitoring report to the United Nations on the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. As the Commission notes, “many stories showed instances of a failure of public bodies to protect people from hate, harassment and often violence” and “many people saw no benefit or incentive to report what happened to them, after many years and many experiences of inaction”. Where is the Scottish Government action to change this?

The planned Human Rights Bill would have helped to protect the rights of people experiencing racism.

In the run-up to the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government reiterated its “firm commitment to advancing human rights” in response to a letter from over 120 charities and civil society groups.

Now those same groups are talking of a breach of trust, a sense of betrayal and a deep sense of anger. We know that money is tight. But human rights are essential entitlements. To combat fascism and far-right populism, we must uphold human rights with enforceable laws.

It is way beyond time for the Scottish Government - with its significant responsibility and power - to turn its rhetoric on human rights into legal protections. A new Human Rights Bill for Scotland, strengthening everyone’s rights in law, is a must. Ministers must think again and reinstate the Bill into their legislative agenda.

Emma Hutton is CEO of JustRight Scotland

Agenda is a column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk