A couple of weeks ago, the RSPB published its latest report, Patterns of Persecution, detailing the illegal killing of birds of prey in the UK, much of it taking place on land used for gamebird shooting.
In response, Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell has lodged a parliamentary motion to acknowledge the report and express concern about the ongoing persecution of these birds.
It’s always interesting to see which MSPs sign up to support parliamentary motions, but particularly so after the recent May 2026 election. There are 64 new MSPs in the Parliament, many of whose views on this issue are untested.
If you’re a Scottish constituent and you don’t see your representatives’ names supporting this motion (both constituency and regional list MSPs), you might want to give them a nudge and ask them why they haven’t signed it.
Of the 20 who have put their name to it so far, nine are from the SNP, 10 from the Scottish Greens and one is from Labour.
If you’re not sure who your MSPs are, you can find them here.
Incidentally, congratulations to Mark Ruskell MSP who has been voted to serve as Convenor on the new Rural Affairs Committee. That is very good news. The new line-up looks like this:
Raptor Persecution UK 
Sorry Ruth, I can’t find the list of MSPs who support the motion.
Hi Alex,
They’re listed directly underneath the motion, where it says ‘Supported by’ (see image on blog).
Done
Greatfull thanks to Mark Ruskell for this intervention. Difficult to imagine a similar motion happening in Westminster:-(
I once had great hopes for Labour in Scotland after their support for the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill, but I think Starmer scuppered their chances in the last election:-( I see their representation declined instead, from 20 MSPs to 17 between the two parliaments… but they can still do better than just the one supporter for this motion:-(