Labour's Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Baker today backed the crime measures outlined in the Queen's Speech.

Measures on stopping gangland figures profiting from criminal memoirs, ensuring that driving bans don't run concurrently with custodial sentences, stopping football thugs already banned from grounds in England and Wales from attending games in Scotland and allowing the Scottish Serious Crime and Drugs enforcement Agency to carry firearms were welcomed by the North East MSP.

Richard Baker said:

"These very sensible measures will no doubt receive public backing and I hope that they will receive the backing of the entire Scottish Parliament.

"Hardworking Scots find the idea of criminals profiting from writing about their crimes to be perverse and it's time that this practice was ended.

"I also think that people will be pleased that those who end up in prison after driving offences will not start any resulting driving ban until their release.

"True football fans will be delighted that individuals who have disgraced themselves at games in either England or Wales will not gain access to matches in Scotland.

"Finally, it's absolutely right that the SCDEA will be able to call on their own officers when firearms support is needed rather than having to call upon firearms officers from other forces.

"This is a strident package of measures that puts public safety and fairness first."

3 December