Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Official Report 1104KB pdf

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Dr Joe Morrow.

I am very honoured to be with you in our Parliament today. On 31 May at 12 noon, in full regalia—not a suit like this—I stood and made the proclamation for the dissolution of the Westminster Parliament. I realised that many people, including you, would now be entering a concerted effort to get their views over to the public. Today, I have this wonderful opportunity to get a view over to you. In the midst of that, I say on behalf of many people in Scotland that we are thankful for the work that this Parliament does and we wish you all well with the work that goes on. I come across a great deal of people in Scotland who are very impressed by the work of this Parliament.

Let me take you to a historic house near Dunfermline where, on 24 May, I went to celebrate young talent and their voluntary service and skills. I was in full uniform—not in this dull, striped suit, but in a big, red coat with lots of braid and gold. The young people, whose talents were magnificent—they were really talented young Scots and all under the age of 12—were very keen to know all about my uniform, and they talked very freely about it. They asked me all sorts of personal questions, which I think that we have to answer with candour when we are with young people, being as truthful as we can be.

In the middle of that, they asked me what my favourite musical group was. My answer was quite easy, because I am a product of the 1970s and 1980s, and I sprung up with it: ABBA. Next thing, I was asked what I would look like if I was in a disco, dancing to ABBA with my uniform on. I think that, with a disco ball going, I would have been the queen of the show, in terms of what went on.

It reminded me not only of my love of that music but of the fact that we can learn lessons in the least expected places. In one of the films based on ABBA’s music, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”, there is a wonderful phrase: “There’s no point in climbing a ladder if it’s on the wrong wall.” That is important for all of us.

Part and parcel of our whole concept of how we serve, particularly for me, is the need to get it right. Scotland will benefit from all of us working together to be on the right wall, and that involves something that I hold dear—the emergence of a real sense of what the values of Scotland are: leadership throughout the whole community, diversity and, above all, tolerance. The young people celebrated their talents with me—there was a piper, a reciter, a pianist and a harpist, all under 12—and we celebrated the values of service and hard work. So, please, work on your leadership and on keeping the ladder on the correct wall.

One of the most distressing things for me as an individual, and not because I am a softie, is to be placed in a situation where there is polarised activity. There is sometimes a lazy polarisation in how we tackle the hard jobs. I encourage you, in your wonderful jobs and in this wonderful Parliament, not only to look day by day at the demands that are placed on you and to keep the ladder on the correct wall, but to not be tempted to fall into lazy polarisation. Keep the values of inclusivity, integrity and hard work in all that you do, and from that will come the blessings of a healthy community. Thank you.