MSPs reject industrial injuries Bill which could help footballers with dementia

dailyrecord.co.uk:

MSPs have been criticised after rejecting a Bill which could help retired footballers with dementia receive benefit payments.A Holyrood committee gave a red card to the plan despite widespread support from the trade union movement.Labour MSP Mark Griffin said: “It is bitterly disappointing that the voices of workers and the sick injured at work who support this bill haven’t been listened to.”The Scottish Government is committed to a new industrial injuries benefit but no start date has been provided.Campaigners hope a new system will modernise the payments system for people injured at work by expanding the list of illnesses.Sir Alex Ferguson is among dozens of Scottish football legends who believe ex-pros injured as a result of heading the ball should be protected.People with long covid are also among the groups who could be helped financially by the new benefit.Griffin, a Central Scotland MSP, introduced a Bill to create a new advisory body on industrial injuries.The aim was to give a voice to workers in a bid to reflect the realities of work in the twenty-first century.Holyrood’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee declined to back the Bill:"The Committee acknowledges the good and genuine intentions of the Member in Charge in bringing forward this Bill, as well as the support he has received."It appreciates a case has been made for giving an effective voice to workers, trades unions, employers and lived experience, including the lived experience of disabled people in the design and delivery of this new benefit.“However, on balance, the Committee is not able to support the general principles of the Bill.”Griffin said: “Women injured at work, people that got Long-Covid through their work and firefighters with