Meeting of the Parliament 07 August 2014
I thank Glasgow for the friendly games and the biggest party ever but, 7 miles down the road in Paisley, I got no invite. There was no invite for George and there were no tickets for George to go to any of the events. All I had was the antisocial behaviour from the fireworks that went off in Parkhead. I had to put the sound down to ask Stacey whether she had heard them.
To be serious, Glasgow airport was the gateway to the games. Most of the athletes came through our area and there was quite an effect on the Paisley economy. When the Queen’s baton relay came to Paisley, my friend and colleague Brian McGuire was one of the community activists who ran through Paisley High Street with the baton. He does paisley.org, which is a community-based website, and he got to carry the baton because of everything that he has done for the community. That was one of the great things about the baton relay, and we had a fantastic day in Paisley. I should say that Brian is a great photographer. I recommend him—he has made even me look good in some of the pictures that he has done for me.
Patricia Ferguson said that we should look at the sports at which we were not successful. Professor Craig Mahoney, who is professor of sports psychology and principal of the University of the West of Scotland, says that we should do what the Australians do and specialise in what we are good at. We should find out which sports we are good at and excel in them. Now, I like football, but I said on Twitter during the games that I am giving up this football malarkey and it’s the bowling for me from now on, if we can win so many medals. I ask John Mason: who can doubt that if Scotland is winning something the Scots will fill any arena to ensure that we are there to celebrate? We have to remember that.
Glasgow brought the Commonwealth games and the world to Scotland in the opening ceremony. Marco Biagi has stolen my line about John Barrowman and the Glasgow kiss—thanks, Marco. From the beginning of the games, Glasgow set out its stall and showed exactly what it is all about. Glasgow was just being Glasgow—the Glasgow that we all know. For people in Paisley, Glasgow is our next-door neighbour and there is a bit of banter between us, but we all know that Glasgow is a friendly city—not as good as Paisley, but very friendly.
At the closing ceremony, we heard Deacon Blue, Kylie and Lulu—I never thought that I would say those three names in the same sentence. It took me back to the big gigs of my teenage years in the 1980s.
The world watched as a small northern European nation of 5 million people competed at a level at which it probably would not have been expected to compete. That shows the commitment of the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council, which worked together, and it shows what we in Scotland can achieve if we put our minds to it.
There were so many high points. Erraid Davies is obviously number 1, because when she got her bronze medal her smile lit up the whole games. Libby Clegg was the first to win a gold medal, in Hampden, in the T12 100m. Many people think that Hampden is a better athletics stadium than it is a football stadium and that the roar was better—I would not know; I was not there, not having got any tickets.