Chris Ringland
Chris joined the Evangelical Alliance as public policy officer for Scotland in 2021. In this role he represents our membership of churches, charities, individuals and families to the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament, seeking to make Jesus known. He has also completed the Evangelical Alliance's Public Leadership programme. Previously, Chris worked in the Scottish Parliament. He is originally from Northern Ireland and completed degrees in both Geography & Politics and Public Policy in Scotland, and is a massive West Ham United fan (champions of Europe 2023). He is married to Eilidh.
Scotland’s Programme for Government: tough times and a new focus
26 September 2024Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government Shona Robison’s announcement of cuts of approximately £500 million to Scottish Government spending highlights the extent of this challenging backdrop. Further challenges include that there are only 18 months left until the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, leaving a short timeframe for the Scottish Government to deliver on its priorities, in addition to the fact that this is a minority government that will require support from other parties…
Read more...
The view from Scotland: our importance in the 2024 general election
28 June 2024As it stands, the SNP hold the vast majority of Westminster seats in Scotland, elected with forty-eight in 2019. The Scottish Conservatives won six seats, the Scottish Liberal Democrats four and Scottish Labour one. The Scottish Greens don’t hold any Westminster seats and while the Alba Party hold two, both defected to the party after 2019. The reason for this difference in results compared to Holyrood is because the Scottish Parliament is elected through a partly proportional electoral system…
Read more...
Hate Crime in Scotland – what does the new legislation mean for you?
12 April 2024This briefing note is not legal advice. What has happened? In 2021, the Scottish Parliament passed the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. We and our membership influenced and contributed to positive changes as it went through the legislative process, including meeting then-Cabinet Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf MSP on multiple occasions. The legislation was well-intentioned. It sought to consolidate existing hate crime law into a single piece of legislation and to extend…
Read more...
Violence against women and girls: Edinburgh Council's disappointing step back
7 March 2024The day after the City of Edinburgh Council voted to maintain three “sexual entertainment venues” in the city centre, the Scottish Government announced the creation of a national hub to help women exit prostitution, as part of their strategy to “challenge men’s demand for prostitution” and, “challenge the normalisation of men purchasing sex”. In 2022, Edinburgh Council had led the way by taking decisive action and setting the maximum number of “sexual entertainment venues” that could be…
Read more...
We urge the Scottish Government to re-prioritise homelessness and drug addiction recovery in upcoming Budget
15 December 2023Drug misuse accounted for 36% of the deaths, and alcohol-specific deaths were 13% of the total. Put together, essentially half of the deaths were due to drugs or alcohol. Due to the complex nature of homelessness, it is likely that all these numbers are an under-estimation. It has also been reported that there has been a 13% increase in drug deaths in the first nine months of 2023 – 103 more people have died than in the same period last year. The Scottish Government has taken action to tackle…
Read more...
*NOW CLOSED* Relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) draft statutory guidance consultation
6 November 2023What are the proposals? We are encouraging our members, parents and all those with an interest in education to engage with this consultation as it is the best chance to make your views known on this important subject. The guidance provides the framework for how teachers provide RSHP education in schools, and the Scottish Government is consulting the public on its wording “to ensure the updated statutory guidance is fit for purpose”. The main changes to the guidance are to: “...embed lesbian,…
Read more...
Focus on doing justice needs to go deeper – reflections on Scotland’s Programme for Government
18 September 2023In addressing Holyrood on his government’s plans, the first minister referred to his faith as a driving motivator for why he seeks social justice in Scotland: “Growing up in the Islamic faith, I was taught that one of the core beliefs of that faith is that you are not a true Muslim if you have a full stomach while your neighbour goes to bed hungry.” It was a powerful reflection and encouraging to hear as another person of faith. As evangelical Christians striving to reflect Jesus in all that we…
Read more...
Charities Bill in Scotland: What does it mean for you?
25 July 2023In Scotland, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) registers and regulates over 24,000 charities for the Scottish Government. Charities must be registered on its Scottish Charity Register, which includes us at the Evangelical Alliance. Since its establishment in 2005, charity law hasn’t been substantively updated and the purpose of the Charities Bill was to give OSCR more powers in its regulatory role and update the requirements of charities on the information they must publicly…
Read more...
What we need to see from our new first minister of Scotland
29 March 2023In anticipation of this shift, we engaged our member churches from all across Scotland and asked them: What are your priorities for the new leadership of Scotland? What would you like to see change? What are your concerns? And, how would you like the Scottish government to work with faith communities in future? The responses we received indicated three main concerns: poverty, education and our political culture. Poverty There is deep concern around the impact of the cost of living crisis and…
Read more...
Gender recognition & Scottish devolution: How can we respond?
23 January 2023In December 2022, after around 140 proposed amendments to the Bill were debated and voted on, the Scottish parliament voted to pass the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill into law by 86 votes to 39. In short, the Bill would make it easier for someone to successfully apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC), a document which legally recognises someone’s changed gender identity. This means a GRC holder can change documents such as their birth certificate. The Bill alters the…
Read more...
Scotland: Government told commercial sexual exploitation must stop
9 December 2022Scotland currently legalises violence against women. This injustice must be challenged. As Christians, we reflect the nature of our Creator in seeking to end injustices against those who are exploited and vulnerable, especially and including gendered injustices. The open letter urges the Scottish government to make four key policy changes: Criminalise the purchase of sex, while simultaneously decriminalising the selling of sex, recognising that the responsibility for change must come from…
Read more...