Hansard

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak today, and I commend the Government for changing the subject of today’s debate. It is a privilege to be involved in some small way in recognising the incredible achievements of Gordon Aikman, and I am pleased to speak about the drive to defeat the disease that took him from his friends and family all too soon. In a few short years, Gordon Aikman achieved more meaningful change in Scotland than perhaps most of us are likely to do during our entire careers in the chamber.

Gordon Aikman’s legacy is not only the vastly improved support for other MND sufferers throughout Scotland; the more than £0.5 million that he raised; or even the knowledge that, thanks to his tireless campaigning for greater access to voice equipment, MND patients are no longer faced with becoming trapped inside their own bodies, unable to communicate with those closest to them. Gordon did all that, but he did something else too. He made us ask ourselves whether we were doing enough for people with MND and, in comparison to a man who chose to lead a campaign for a cure knowing that it would come too late for him, we found ourselves wanting.

People around the world associate MND with the ice-bucket challenge. It is hard to believe that the act of pouring buckets of freezing-cold water over each other could change the world, but it has. In excess of $100 million was raised, and already that money has been turned into results. Scientists recently discovered a gene that is linked to MND, which takes us one step closer to a cure—maybe not today, but, I hope, not too far in the future.

In Scotland, however, a bucket of freezing water was not the only thing that woke us up to the damage that MND does. We had Gordon Aikman. There are very few people in this world who can change the dynamic and feeling of a room when they come into it. It is a rare gift, and it is one that Gordon Aikman definitely had. He had the ability to make politicians and Governments listen and take heed—one of his many talents that, I have to say, I rather envy.

I was not fortunate enough to know Gordon personally, although many in the chamber did. Despite never having met him, I, like so many, admired him greatly. Anyone who can be given the news that his lifespan can most probably be measured in months and who chooses not only to fight the condition but to fight for his fellow MND sufferers deserves our admiration and respect.

My knowledge of Gordon comes mostly from reading his straight-talking Sunday Times column chronicling his disease and from the testimonials written in the past few days by those nearest to him. I might be wrong but I imagine that, if Gordon, who himself confessed to being “ruthlessly rational”, were still with us, he would be demanding that we stop talking about how we admire and respect him and his achievements and instead start talking about how we can carry on what he started.

One thing that always struck me about Gordon’s campaign was the name that he chose—Gordon’s fightback. There are many other names that he could have chosen, such as Gordon’s appeal or Gordon’s MND campaign, but he chose the word “fightback”. It was a good choice. He did not just fight back against his own disease; he fought back against a lack of support, against a lack of public knowledge and against anyone who told him that something could not be done. Gordon began this fightback, but it is ours to finish.

Motor neurone disease and a whole host of other genetic neurodegenerative conditions such as Huntington’s disease have blighted lives for too long. Now, for the first time, our science and technology have reached a point where the possibility of defeating those diseases is within our grasp. Professor Colin Blakemore from the University of Oxford has said:

“The vision of a world free from MND is hugely ambitious, but I agree with the MND Association that the skill and dedication of scientists make this goal achievable in our lifetime.”

I believe that we in the Parliament have a responsibility to do whatever we can to support that goal, not only for the end result but for the potential discoveries and knowledge that we will accrue along the way.

In this chamber, there will be days when we agree on nothing, but today is not one of those days. Gordon Aikman’s greatest legacy is the commitment and determination that we are hearing in the chamber to defeat MND once and for all. Gordon Aikman’s resolute determination has brought the cure for MND that much closer and I have no doubt that we in the Parliament and others across Scotland and globally will continue the fightback. One day, I hope within my lifetime, we will not be talking about Gordon’s fightback any more; we will be talking about his victory.