Hansard

There is a distinct air of the end of term all around us. There was a degree of chatter at the back of the chamber between the cabinet secretary and me and others, because people are becoming slightly demob happy, notwithstanding that an election is to come. During the debate, I have been reflecting on who I was at the start of the session as opposed to who I am now. At the start of the session, I used to write my speeches down carefully and closely. Today, I have not written anything down. That is because I know exactly what I want to say, because I know how passionate I feel about the issues and the individuals who have been involved in bringing the bill to its fruition.

I begin by paying a warm tribute to my friend Daniel Johnson for his work on the bill—for his tenacity, energy and dedication to it, and for what he has done to get to know all the different facets of it and to engage with them honestly and in good faith, which is what has brought us to this point today. I also join Miles Briggs in paying tribute to the other education spokespeople who I have had the pleasure of serving alongside in the latter stages of the Parliament, and to the cabinet secretary for her efforts on the bill and for the collegiate way in which she has sought to work on it. I know that in the coming weeks it will not seem as though we always have that collegiality, so it is important to put on the record today my thanks to her and to Miles Briggs, Willie Rennie, Maggie Chapman and others who have engaged on the bill.

There is a real sense of coming full circle at the end of a parliamentary session. For me, there is a personal element to that, given that my career at Enable Scotland ended on my election to Parliament, but that was also the point at which I began to do a lot of work with the people who have been involved with the bill.

I want to pay particular tribute to Beth Morrison in that regard. We have heard her described as “Queen Bee” and the driving force behind the legislation, and she is an incredible woman and a tenacious campaigner. Along with Kate Sanger and other parents who have experienced horrendous situations, she has fought every step of the way to ensure that we pass the bill. Behind that, there is a real kindness and warmth to Beth. It radiates out of her—I always thought that when I worked with her at Enable. I was always struck by the fact that Beth’s email address was “calumsmummy” at whatever the email provider was. I do not know whether that is still the case, but she used to laugh and say, “I had that email address because that’s how folk knew me. I was Calum’s mummy at the school gates, and I was Calum’s mummy when organising him seeing his friends and all those sorts of things. I stuck with that, actually, because that’s who I am.” Many people in the country now know Beth Morrison as Calum’s mummy, because that was behind her driving determination to pass the legislation.

I think that all of us who are parents would recognise that. When I became a dad in August, somebody said to me, “The way you feel right now about your wee boy is how you will always feel about them—they will always be your little boy or your little girl.” Daniel Johnson spoke to that experience powerfully today. It will always be our desire to protect and support them and to give them a future that perhaps will be better than what has gone before. That is what the bill is all about. It is about our children and ensuring that they can live safely at school and have all the support and protection that they need.

I was talking about the bill with some colleagues I used to work with at Enable, Kayleigh Thorpe and Jan Savage. I reflected that sometimes in life you plant trees for other people to sit under. They recognise much of their part in the journey, as I am sure many of the campaigners in the gallery do. There are days in this place when it does not feel like we are planting trees for other people to sit under, but today is not one of those days.

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