INVERCLYDE'S MSP has advanced his proposal to have a 'warts and all' national slavery museum established within Greenock's iconic Sugar Sheds.

Stuart McMillan is pressing for the town to be the home of a human rights history centre after MSPs voted in favour of one following a parliamentary debate earlier this month.

His move has been bolstered by the recommendations of an independent expert group commissioned to explore how to raise awareness of Scotland's role in colonialism, historic injustice and how it manifests itself in today's society.

The Empire, Slavery and Scotland's Museum (ESSM) group has agreed the country is at a stage where it should acknowledge the part it played in the slave trade.

Mr McMillan said: "I welcome the group's recommendations, especially the first one stating that a new organisation should be established to create a dedicated space to address our role in empire, colonialism and historic slavery.

"I believe the Sugar warehouses would be the ideal space for a national museum telling Scotland's story.

"First and foremost, this is about doing the right thing and acknowledging our role in empire, colonialism and historic slavery.

"However, there would obviously be knock-on benefits for any town that was named to host a national museum.

"Situating such a museum in Greenock would have a far greater economic impact on the local area than it would in say Glasgow or Edinburgh.

"That said, I accept that this is not a reason in of itself to have the museum based in Inverclyde.

"That is why I have focused on the historical significance of the sugar warehouses building and its links to the unenviable truth that Scotland was involved in and benefited from the transatlantic slave trade, which I believe lends itself to such an important project.

"The recommendations also challenge other museum and gallery collections across Scotland about how they reference any connections to the empire, colonialism and historic slavery, which I warmly welcome, but the report makes clear that we must do much more as a society to see fundamental changes in the way we practice anti-racism and educate future generations about our past, warts and all."